April 19, 2026 • 34 mins
A few years ago we had Justine Shera, creator of My Balance Project, on We Need To Talk to chat with Toni about her experience getting weight loss surgery. Now Justine is back on the podcast to talk about the most recent step in her weight loss journey, getting a tummy tuck.
In the episode Toni and Justine talk about how she came to the decision to get the procedure done, why weight loss surgerys aren't a cure-all solution, and Justine's new career where she's helping women see the world.
Listen to the earlier parts of Justine's story:
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We need to talk Tony Street's lifestyle and wellness podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hello, it's great to have you with us for we
need to talk now weight loss. It's one of the
most watched and talked about topics on social media, in fact,
not just on social everywhere, whether it's transformation photos, surgery journeys,
or conversations around body confidence. People are deeply invested in
how we look and how we feel about our bodies,
and that has shifted hugely over time. Today's guest knows
(00:28):
that space incredibly well. Justine Sharer from at My Balance
Project has built a community of nearly thirty thousand women
by sharing her own journey and helping others feel more
confident in their bodies. We've had Justine on this podcast before,
we might remember where she opened up all about weight
loss surgery, and today we're catching up again about something
(00:48):
quite different. So she's recently had a tummy tuck overseas,
and in this conversation we're going to talk honestly about
the decision, the experience, and what it's really like on
the other side, and we're also going to throw a
little bit about her quitting her job to go out
on her own. Justine it's great to see you. You're
looking remarkably well. So I'm guessing from what I've seen
online as well that the surgery was a roaring success.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Yes, so good. Yeah, challenging, definitely challenging, and harder than
I expected. Quite a few things that I didn't expect.
But really, yeah, I'm feeling really really good. I feel
like I've come out the other side, and I'm feeling
a bit more like myself, particularly in like the last
two weeks. So I'm one week like ten at the moment.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Can you just remind us about your weight loss journey
from the beginning, yes, and why you decided to get
weight loss surgery initially.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah. Absolutely so. In twenty twenty two, I had Guestrick
bypass sugery. I was around one hundred and thirty seven kilos.
My son was, Oh my goodness, how old to say? Seven?
I think, And I was just finding that I was.
It was really hard to keep up with him, you
know what little kids are like, hard to keep up
with him. I couldn't do what my shoelacers like. My
husband had to help me. I just had all sorts
(01:58):
of barriers, I guess to feeling good, and I knew
that I wasn't healthy, and yeah, I just I got
to the point where I was like, I need to
do something, not just for the esthetic of like you know,
people assume it's all about how you want to look,
but it was like, I need to feel better, and
I so desperately wanted to be active. I was already
(02:20):
being active, but it was really really hard. So made
the decision to have the guest bypass Sudery and absolutely
changed my life. Lost like fifty kilos in the first
ten months, I think it was, which is a wild,
wild right and quite disorientating. I think, like to go
from being one hundred and thirty seven kilos down to
(02:43):
like I think it was, you know, eighty five or
whatever it was, it was like whoa quite jarring, but
just absolutely amazing how much it's changed my life, how
active I became. I think a lot of people do,
like they lose a lot of weight and they kind
(03:03):
of decide in which direction they're going to go. For me,
it was fitness. I really just leaped right into it,
got back into doing a lot of my wooks and
kept at the forefront of my mind why I wanted
to lose that weight and really took it as a
big opportunity. So yeah, it's been incredible, and that was
four years ago and I've had, you know, some ups
(03:23):
and downs since then. It's definitely not I don't think
it's what people think it is. It's not a one
and done like I'm good now, like I'm never I'm
never going to regain that weight or I don't have
to ever be careful again. You face the same struggles
as you always did once you get past about eighteen
months postop. So I think it's quite different to what
people expect. It's certainly not easy, but I think you
(03:46):
just I think everyone has to choose their hard Like
it's hard whether you go this route or it's hard
whether you got that route.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
You just choose which hard you're going to do. Really,
did you feel like you put on weight again?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
I definitely did so. Last so I got into running.
I decided it would be real smart, at age like
forty five forty six to start running. I don't know
why I thought that would be a good idea, but
I thought, yeah, I'm going to do this because I'd
never been able to, So it's I'm going to do
it because I can. But during that process. Just after
running my first five k at an event in Tatanaki,
(04:17):
I tore my meniscus and my left knee and I
ended up needing surgery. So I had about four months
where I didn't exercise and I didn't adjust my diet.
Same old, same old, same old, didn't adjust my diet.
I had the surgery in the July, and then basically
the four months leading up to there and the four
months after that or five months after that, I gained
(04:39):
eight kilos, like just just like that. And when you've
had weight loss sudery, the word regain is like the
most terrifying thing because everyone talks about it. When you're
on social media. You've even got people saying to you, Oh,
you're going to regain all that weight. Lother people give
you that advice, I know, And I was like thanks,
we'll see and I was like, I was like no,
I'm not, no, I'm uh so when you when it
(05:01):
starts to happen, which I was also perimenopausal, so things
were changing a lot, and yeah, I was terrified. But
and around April of last year, I was just like,
I've got to get a handle on this, and I
started being able to be active again and started to
understand a lot more about perimenopause and what my body
(05:22):
was going through and how I could support it through that.
And I've lost yeah, lost that weight again over the
following like six months, so feel like and have now
lost extra So it's it's like with anyone, right, Like
I think, I think women are really really hard on
themselves whenever there's a change in the scales, like obviously
(05:42):
we feel great when it goes down, and then when
it goes up a little bit, we start freaking out out. Yeah,
and it's like it's so normal to fluctuate, Like it's
so normal. So I think keeping your head in check
and not getting the freak out is one of the
biggest challenges that we face. So at what point did
you decide I think I want to get a tummy tuck,
do you know? I when I actually had the surgery,
(06:05):
a lot of people asked me, because I was in
a public space, a lot of people said to me, well,
what's the next step, like are you would you get
skin removal surgery? And I was like, well, I don't know.
I always just said never say neither. I would To
be honest, I skewed towards No, like I don't think
I would do that, not sure. And then after losing
(06:26):
that amount of weight, like I've always had around tummy.
I've always had a big tummy, and I remember even
being like eight nine years old, being unhappy with my tummy,
and which is just heartbreaking, right because you see all
these you know you've got daughter, it's you know that
it's something that starts affecting girls quite young. So when
(06:47):
I'd lost all the weight and I was always like
this is and when I was running, it really annoyed
me because it was it was quite They call it
a pouch, you know, like it actually like hangs and
it's quite weird. Yeah, exactly. No, it doesn't just evaporate, No,
and it's all over like you know, it's under my arms,
it's it's all sorts of places, and it's kind of
like when people say, oh, would you get surgery, it's like, well,
(07:08):
how long is a piece of string? Like I'm sure
we've all got like, oh, I'd love my boobs lifted,
and I'd love you know, this done and that done.
But to me, those things were purely cosmetic, whereas with
my stomach, I feel like there was all these layers
of shame and trauma almost and there it's so complicated
(07:30):
how we feel about our bodies, and that area for
me was, Yeah, I'd held a lot of shame around
for a long time. And then when I left my
job last year, which we'll talk about more later, but
I got some money when I left, and it was like, oh,
you know, we're going to put this on the mortgage
and we're going to be so sensible with this, like
it's going to be great. And then I was like,
(07:50):
do you know what i'd actually like to do with
some of it? Just like a small portion. It was
not that small of a portion, but with a portion
I'd like to I think I want to explore getting
a tummy tuck to. I think I want to get
like this removed and just starting. I'm the kind of
person that as soon as I start, like, as soon
as I get an idea, like it's over, like it's happening,
so we're going, yeah, we're it's on. It takes a
(08:12):
lot to then dissuade me. And I was the same
with weight loss surgery, Like I was anti weight loss
surgery for a really long time, and then as soon
as I like yes, started thinking I was going to
do it. It was like it happened six months later
type thing.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Just going back to the you know, being anti weight
loss surgery because you copped a little bit of fleck
from some of your followers on that a who were
bigger and sort of looked to you as your big
you love your body. Yeah, I feel comfortable in this space, yes, yeah.
And I think I had a lot of people who
followed me who felt really betrayed because they followed me
(08:45):
because I was bigger. They loved saying the plus size
fashion and I'm always someone who like I'm not the
person who got weight loss surgery. And then all of
a sudden felt good and started dressing really well.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
I have been doing that for ten years, you know,
so hasn't always been that way. I had really really
bad negative self talk and self esteem ten plus years ago,
and then in twenty seventeen, I was like this has
got to stop, Like I cannot keep doing this to myself.
My head is a horrible place to live. I've got
a lot of life left, like I can't do this anymore.
(09:19):
And had a few circumstances that just led me to
challenging all that thought and turning around the way that
I viewed myself to the point where I had very
very little negative self talk and still don't because when
it comes, I'm like, nope, sorry, not today, not allowing it. Well,
we know that what you tell your brain is how
you feel. Yeah, right, one hundred percent. It's I don't
(09:41):
think people realize how much of an impact it has,
Like you one hundred percent have the right to argue
with yourself, Like all of these thoughts that are coming
in over seventy thousand a day, over half of them
are negatively biased and what you think is not the truth.
So I would always just stop and say is this true?
And what is the source? Who am I listening to here?
(10:01):
So yeah, I shared a lot of that, and I
know a lot of women really resonated with that and
it really helped them to gain more confidence. So and
I always just felt like I really wanted to be
a leader in that space as well, Like I really
wanted people to look at me and be like, oh, well,
she's larger, but she still looks really fashionable and she's
still on treeing and she's still got confidence. She's like, yes,
(10:22):
you can have all of those things. So when I
then came into the space and said, look, I'm not
healthy anymore. I need to change now this thing, there
were a lot of people that were really upset, and
at the time, I was ready for it because I
was like, oh, I'm just really I'm really not sure
how this is going to go down. But I will
(10:44):
say that ninety percent of people were amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
And you're actually allowed to change your mind too. You
can be anti something and then decide actually, this is
right for me now.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Yeah. And that's also how I feel about the tummy tuck,
Like I think it's I think we can be really yes,
stuck in our ways of like, yeah, this is the
right thing, and then if someone or even of ourselves,
if we challenge it, it's it's totally okay to change
your mind. You've got it's your life, Like you write
the next chapter, nobody else does. So I just felt
(11:14):
like I wanted to be and it's been the same
about the tummy tack. But I wanted to be fully transparent.
I didn't want to be someone that secretly got the
weight loss surdery and then lost all this weight and
people were then like, oh my god, how did you
do it? And I'm just diet just started an exercise, Yeah,
just drinking more water. And I completely understand there's a
lot of people out there that secretly get weight loss surdery,
(11:36):
and it's no shade towards them, but being somewhat in
the public space, like I'm not you know, big by
any by any means, but you know, at that time,
there was twenty thousand women that followed me, and I
know were a lot of them, were there, Yes, they
were following you because of your body image, right, And
I didn't feel I felt like not disclosing that was dishonest.
So it was either I don't do Instagram anymore or
(11:58):
I front up. And I just thought, and you know what,
I have nothing to be ashamed of. This is the
reality that a lot of women who have obesity face,
and it is a disease. It is super super hard,
and so I just thought, I need to share all
of that, like I need to share why I'm doing it,
not that I need to defend the decision, but so
that people that maybe don't understand or maybe it's something
(12:21):
that they want to do but feel ashamed about doing
because there is a lot of shame and stigma associated
with it, and now it's like the GLP ones, Like
you know, do you wish that they had been available
before you got your WF just this quite a few times.
I I don't know if I would have had the
faith that it would have been a permanent solution, like
I don't. Maybe if it had been around for a
(12:41):
couple of years, then definitely, I think yeah, because from
everything I've read and everything I've seen and friends that
I know and people that I know that are on them,
you know they're doing great things for them. But I
don't know if I would have viewed it as just
like another thing, like I'd done every diet under the sun.
So yeah, I'm not sure. And I don't have any.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Regrets like I And they don't have the same success
rate either as what.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Lossuit No, not that no, not at the mariton. I don't.
I don't. I don't think so, And I could be
speaking out of tune, but I don't know. If a
few things stopped taking them, what then what then happened?
So and I was definitely at the place where like
I needed something, what I felt was going to be permanent,
because I needed to stop the trajectory that I was on,
Like I'd lost thirty five kilos over three times and
(13:29):
the prior ten years. I mean, that's so hard on
your body. It's a lot of weight to lose on
your own too. Yeah. Yeah, And so I knew that
I could lose weight, Like losing weight was not an issue.
I was keeping it off when so I would quite
oftenly keep it off for about a year to two years.
But any time anything really hard would happen, or any
kind of trauma would happen in my life, Like that
was my coping mechanism, and I went back to it
(13:50):
every time, and even post surgery. You know, I've had
some hard shit go down and I find it's still
because it's up here.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
It's not.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Yeah, it's about the snips that they do in your tummy.
So you've really I think when you have weight loss,
you do you really have to be committed to understanding
why you why you eat when you eat, when you
eat for nourishment, when you eat for you know, hell,
your emotions and pleasure or But for me, it was
like if it wasn't just because I was sad, because
I was bored, because I was happy, any sort of emotion, Yeah,
(14:21):
everything was all was all like tied up with food.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Follow on Instagram and we need to talk with Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So you decided to push the play on the tummy
tuck sitting here now one hundred percent worth it.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
One hundred percent worth it, And it's been so interesting, Tony, Like,
it's been way more emotional than I imagined because I knew
that I was getting it because I wanted the discomfort gone.
So one of the things about women who carry extra
raightway around the tummy that actually like falls down like
mind and SAgs and stuff, is it gets infected under
their Like you get to summer and you've got infections,
(14:56):
and it's it's just not it's just not nice all around,
and it was uncomfortable. So I was like, you know,
this is my reasoning. And I also knew that, you know,
it was a part of my body that i'd never really,
never really loved, even though I had come to a
place of acceptance around all of my body pre and
(15:19):
post weight loss surgery, because you know, you'd lose a
whole bunch of weight and you've got a whole set
of new problems, you know, if you want to call
them problems, You've got a whole new set of things
that you're like, oh, well, now maybe this isn't so
good and that's so good. And I just always was like,
don't care. I can hike up the mountain if I
want to, or I can actually now run around a
soccer pitch with my son. So I've always tried to
(15:39):
keep them in the forefront. But the emotions that came
with getting the tummy tuck, like when the surgeon like
came in on this on day three and like removed
the the binder thing that you have to wear, and
I like looked down and I just like burst into tears.
I was like, what is going on? Is cose body?
Is that? Like that is actual flat, like there's like
(16:02):
nothing there. And he was like, yeah, that's what an
extended tummy tuck. Like he was kind of looking at
me like what were you thinking. I was like, I
don't know, yeah, I thought in going that because I
got an extended tummy tuck. So a regular tummy tuck
is where they cut just like the center of your
stomach yep, right for people who may have had lots
(16:23):
of babies and have got like a little bit of
a pouch or something there. Mine went from hip to hip,
so my incision line goes from one hip right round
to the other. And they literally, I called it a belt.
They literally removed three and a half kilos from my stomach,
this panel and my belly button, Like where the hole
for your belly button is. That all gets removed, so
(16:45):
your your belly button gets kind of recreated or and
you refixed from like up here to down. Sorry, I
know it's not a visual platform, but yeah, so they
removed all of that, and I just thought, I just
want the bulk it gone. And they had said to me.
My surgeon was amazing. He was like, you know, not
everyone ends up with a flat You may not end
(17:06):
up with a flat stomach because it depends on how
much visceral fat versus subcatonious fat that you have. And
I was like okay, and he was like, the visceral
fat is around your organs. We don't touch that. So
if there's a lot of that, you may still end
up with a rounded tummy. And I was like, I
don't care if it's rounded. I just want all of that.
You just don't want it flapping. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
I don't want to flapping in the wind, and I
(17:26):
just want all of the bulk gone. But he in
my post op and particularly in the ten days postop
follow up, he was like, he was like, you know,
this is a real big success story. And I was like,
is it. Tell me more? Tell me more, and he
was like, well, I've told you. Like it was successful.
We removed through and a half kilos. He was like,
since your weight loss, Sugeri. He was like, your level
(17:48):
of fitness means that you have He's like, you have
very little visceral fat around your organs. And I was
expecting there would be a lot, because I just have
this thing in my head that not that I'm an
unhealthy person, but that fat sticks to me, you know. Yes.
So when he said that, and he was like, so
being able to remove all that subcutaneous fat, he was like,
(18:09):
I just finished the job. He was like, the last
four years of your life. Emotional, He's like, the last
four years of your life. You've done all the groundwork.
He's like, and I have just given you back your
natural shade. Isn't that a lovely way of describing it?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
And I just looked at it and I was like,
oh my god. He was like, you've done all this work.
He's like, you're out exercise because he now follows me
on Instagram. He was like, you're out walking every day
and you're doing you're taking trying to take so much
care of your health. He was like, and so when
patients like you come in and you've done that work,
it's really successful because I can do my job to
the fullest as well. Yes, and so. And I actually
(18:45):
had a really beautiful follower who is in Taranaki who
messaged me after the surgery and she was like, I
just want to say to you, like, I know, you
got to tell me. Can I know the Sugeon did
all this? She's like, but you have done so much
work and you've shown up every day and this is
just kind of like a finishing touch almost. And I've
really taken on that way of thinking as well. I
thought that was a really beautiful way to like look
(19:06):
at it. So for me, it's been really really worth it.
And it just blows me away, Like I look in
the mirror and I'm like, what what's it like wearing clothes? Now?
Do they sit differently? So differently it's completely this is
the other thing I didn't expect. So I bought my
husband Bill, I bought an expensive pair of like Levi's,
like there were like one hundred and fifty dollars or something,
which I considered to be expensive considering you can get
(19:28):
ones who came out for like thirty bucks. Bought this
beautiful pair of Levi's and Wellington and like November, and
he was like, should you be buying like buy what
you want, but should you be buying those like right
before the tim attack And I was like, Babe, it's
just they're just gonna be like removing the bulk, so
stuff's still gonna face, it's just not gonna stick out anymore.
So I'm gonna be the same size. But yeah, yeah,
(19:49):
I'm going to be the same size. But yeah, cut
to I think it was four weeks post surgery, and
someone said to me, oh my god, I can't wait
till you try on jeans and I was like, they're
gonna let you know anyway. I put them on. I
don't know if you saw my stories, but put them
on and they were just like I'd lost not just
three and a half kilos around my waist, there was
like I'd lost ten kilos. It was like, damn it.
(20:09):
The jeans. The jeans anyway, I had someone say, oh,
buy those jeans, you can buy a new people, which
I did. But yeah, things fit definitely, very very differently.
And I find that I just have this new found
confidence to try things that I knew, not that I
wasn't confident to wear before, because I think I'm I'm
pretty confident, you know, pre the tummy tuck. But it
(20:33):
was I knew they didn't suit my shape, not as
flattering as yeah, yeah, yeah exactly, And so I thought,
you know, like I own like bias cut slip skirts right,
and I would always just size up one or two sizes.
Hot tip, ladies, if you want to wear those skoots
but you got around tummy, you can still wear rid
of you want. It's just all about the fat. So
(20:54):
I would wear those. But it's the way in which
you carry yourself when you're self conscious about an area.
So for me, if I was out somewhere and the
wind was blowing, I would always be like holding my
skirt or my pants or my dress out from my
body because I because it would be suctioning in and
showing this thing that I quote unquote hid so well.
(21:14):
And when I actually went on Instagram and said, okay, guys,
I think it was like day three post rap. I
had some stuff pre recorded from before the tummy tuck,
and I just said, you know, I'm going to show
you some video of why I got this done. Because
I know you're all going to be saying like you
didn't need to do that. I'm going to show you
what I was hiding under all those great outfits that
you didn't see and hear it end the way you're
(21:36):
nervous to put that up. I was like, it's so
vulnerable because I literally I was in my bra I
mean for me being in my brain nundties on the auntie,
it's actually no big deal, but being and knowing that
I was going to lift, like fold down the underwear
that normally holds everything in and so I recorded it
with it with the mindset of like I don't have
to share this, like this is this doesn't feel comfortable,
(21:58):
but I'd like to have it for afterwards self anyway. Yeah,
I'd like to have it. And I filmed quite a
few things like that that I still have that I've
never shared preweight loss surgery as well that I also
like to look back on. Yeah, and then but then
even like just day three of surgery, like after he'd
showed me myself, I was just like, I need for
people to see what a like a difference, this is like,
this is insane. So I shared it, and yeah, I
(22:21):
just got I mean we're talking probably a thousand messages
from women who were just like, oh, my goodness, and
all my body looks like that. Like, so my biggest
thing was in showing all that and sharing all that.
I wanted to be very unapologetic that I was getting
it done. I know it's not for everyone. I knew
once again that people may feel alienated, or that people
(22:42):
might feel like, oh, like, you're getting plastic surgery. But
I think cosmetic surgery of any kind is so complex
and quite heavy for a lot of people on the
layers of their self esteem that kind of go into it.
But yeah, I I I wanted same with my weight
loss ADERI I just wanted to share it all. I'm
(23:03):
an oversharer by nature, and I wanted it to be
a real depiction so people can make up their own
mind if it's something they want to do or just
out of interest, if they want to see what the
journior is like. Because I always just see before and
after photos. Here's me here, and then here's me six
months later, and look how amazing I look. And there's
no like sharing of the physical or even the mental
(23:26):
stuff that goes into that. Like it's been super emotional.
Like I remember being like ten days post op and
being like laying in the recovery a beautiful villa that
I was in in Bali and being like, I now
look down and I look at my body and there's
nothing that I would change. And I've never expelled like
that in my life, Like the fact that I worked
(23:48):
so hard to come to a place of acceptance around
my body, like so hard when I was plus size,
to then be looking in the mirror and have me
looking back and be actually satisfied and happy and not
have to have that that acceptance that you know, let
you come to terms with things, and you're just like, well,
(24:10):
this is just how it is to not have that anymore.
I mean, certainly I could start to come up with things,
I'm sure, but I don't want to. I'm just like,
I'm I'm good, like I'm happy.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
What item of clothing have you noticed is the best
to wear now that you couldn't perhaps or you could wear,
but you just didn't feel right in before.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
I wouldn't say it. Well, So the slip skirts, like
I've got a couple of them, and I bought one
the other day, and I also bought this. I was
in cottona on and they had just like this black
strapless dress. I saw that. Oh my god, it's so hot, toding,
it's so hot, like I love it, like I actually
feel when I put that on. I'm just like girl
(24:51):
million bucks, a million and a half like so, but
it was it's a drop waist, so I've never worn
anything with a drop waist. Anyone with a round Timmy knows,
like all it does is cling to your tummy. It
just it's super clinging. It makes feel self conscious. Anyway,
I bought it and I took it home because I thought,
I'm doing this on camera. I want to know like
how this is going to feel. And it was just
like yeah, I'll never forget that moment. Actually, And then
(25:14):
even just putting on swim where like I even as
a size twenty four, was you know, out at the beach.
It took me a lot of work to be able
to like, you know, wear the togs out in public
and like do all of that, realizing that nobody's actually
looking at you because they're all too self consumed. But
trying them on after the tummy tack, because I'd always
before i'd put them on and been like, yep, you
(25:36):
look great, Oh the tummy Okay, No, we're doing it anyway.
We're doing it anyway. And now I put them on
and I'm just like yay, yay, like that looks so good,
and yeah, I just feel it's the comfort level is
I think what has been the best part. And also
how I feel like the physical weight is gone. And
(25:58):
then there's just also this this weight that's come off
me that I don't know was emotional or mental like
what it is. But to not have that part of
me that I'd carried so much shame around and it's gone,
I just feel like there's Yeah, I don't know, it's
really hard to explain, but it's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Nayq, we need to talk podcast. A pre said on
your iHeart app just tab and never miss an episode.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
And you've actually had more than just the physical changes,
You've actually changed your job as well. Yeah, all throughout
this process, they've kind of coincided which I know if
that's a coincidence or that was meant to be. So
you quit your full time job yeap, whichhould you have
been doing for nearly twenty years? Yeah, twenty five and
went out on your own.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Yeah, I gess that be.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
I worked for a really really big corporate, big multinational
company for yeah, close to twenty five years. Started there
working in Canada when I was you know, twenty, the
early twenties, so I was a professional in a business
analyst role and just have felt probably over the last
five years really that like this is not my passion,
(27:05):
like seeing as like when I'm on Instagram and I'm
doing social media stuff, people think it's quite like like
flippant or dis like this. You know, it's just you're
an influencer or you're a content creator. The connection that
you get to build with women and the conversations that
you get to have with other women going through similar
things to you, it's actually you'd experiences as well. It's
so incredible how I've found Actually it's actually really profound.
(27:28):
And to have someone message you and say You've changed
my life in this way, or you know, while I
went swimming with my ten year old girl today for
the first time ever, because I want to show her
that I'm not afraid of like that, I'm not ashamed
of my body, like I get messages like that all
the time. So there was that pull of that bang,
a really powerful and profound thing that gave me meaning.
(27:49):
And then there was like my spreadsheets at work and
I was like, I don't love this anymore. I don't
feel pan passionate about this anymore. And yeah, there was
just some stuff going on that I wasn't happy worth.
And I felt like twenty twenty five was my really
big year of change. Like I felt like the year
before had been quite like up and down and quite emotional,
(28:11):
and stepping into twenty twenty five, I was like, I
need to change the story here, and I need to
do what's right for myself, what's right for my family.
I'm forty eight and I what am I waiting for?
I just keep saying to myself, what are you waiting for?
And I'd started doing these. I got approached by a
(28:31):
travel company in twenty twenty four to host women's or
it didn't need to be women's it was like to
host group trips somewhere around the world. Travel yeah, And
I was like, oh, well that sounds really fun because
they were like, we know you love to travel, You've
got you know. And I'd had so many people on
the Internet saying to me, oh my god, I wish
you could organize for me because or I need this,
(28:51):
and you know. So I was writing lots of blogs
and things like that to help people. But I was like, yeah,
I'll give it a go, like sure. So I did
the first one to Bali and eighteen spots sold out
in like less than twenty four hours. It's amazing, And
I was like, oh my god, people want to come
on holiday. This was as wild. So I did that
and then I planned a few others and it was
all like in my vacation time, so it was like
(29:12):
trying to plan my holiday time with work. I just
got to the point where I was like, I'm clearly
being led in a direction here that is really bringing
me a lot of joy. That first trip, I know
probably every single one of them, those ladies, because the
group chat is still active. It's now like, what a
year and a half later, we'll probably be listening to this.
But that trip and all the ones that have followed,
(29:34):
like have just been so special, Like you had this
group of people whose only thing in common that they
thought was in common was me all came together in
one place and we had nine magical, amazing days in Bali.
The connection that you get to see these women have
women who half of the group comes on their own.
Some of them like come with a sister or with
(29:55):
their you know, their bestie or whatever. And this not
as adults as women in their forties and fifties. And
I get people basically from their twenties through to their sixties.
And one of the big things I've learned is like,
there is so much that connects us that's nothing to
do with our age. So people quite often are like, oh,
I'm not sure, you know, can I come? I'm like
(30:16):
sixty five, and I'm like yeah, And they end up
buddying up with the twenty nine year old and being
like best mates. You know.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
I go, I go on holiday with my parents all
the time, and they're in their sixties.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
Well, your parents are great. They're at the super cul
this year. So my first trip coming up is in
Bali and another Bali one. But like last year, I
did Scotland, I did Vietnam, which was they were like incredible.
Another Bali one this year. I've got Bali and then
Italy and Croatia. Wow, I know. And they're back to
(30:47):
back so that people can book on one or they
can do both, and over half the group is doing both,
which is amazing. So there is store space on the
Italy trip, just you know, just saying Croatia, there's a
wait list. And then Vietnam, which is gonna be amazing.
I'm doing a repeat because everyone just and I loved
it so much. There's also room on that trip. And yeah,
(31:08):
and then I've just announced all my trips for twenty
twenty seven, almost twenty twenty eight, twenty twenty seven. So
where are you going for twenty twenty seven? Oh? So excited? Okay,
So in twenty twenty seven, we're doing I'm going to
do the Camino in Spain. So that's going to be
like more of an adventure based one. So we're doing
like seven days of hiking like one hundred kilometers the
last one hundred k's of the Camino trail in Spain.
(31:29):
I'm going to do a Tahiti like a retreat in Tahiti.
I got to go to Tahiti last year. And check
that out, which I was just beautiful. Oh my god,
it's like incredible. Also doing Scotland again, Scotland in Ireland
and Spain as well after doing the Camino, and the
other one that I've got this year and next year
(31:51):
is the European Christmas Markets. Yeah, so like magical Christmas.
Like I'm basically just ticking off my bible all the
things you'd love to do.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
But that's we travel is the best when you've got
recommendations and it's those yes bucket list items.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Yes, yep, those places that you know. And so it's
really designed for women who either don't have anyone to
go on holiday worth they like they want to travel.
So and many of the women that come are married
but their husbands are just not interested or are happy
for them to go off and do their thing, or
who are single. You know, I just it runs the
gambit of like the women that come, but mainly I
(32:27):
think the biggest poll and for me, the biggest magic
that I see happen is that connection that happens because
it's so hard to maintain and make new friends as adults,
and so you know, there's that magic happens when it's
just women, and when everything just like clicks right and
everyone's on the same kind of wavelength, it's really beautiful
(32:48):
to like sit down and see like we might be
at a group dinner or something, or people you know
all in the group test saying, Oh, I'm gonna run
or go in our free time this morning, I'm gonna
go do this, Like who wants to come? And like
eight women are like I'll come, Like that's all And
it's just this real freeing kind of experience. While you're
getting to see like amazing things in the world, you're
also getting to experience this beautiful connection and do something
(33:11):
that's just for you. Like at every welcome dinner, I
do like a little speech and I say, what's you know,
why are you here? And everyone says a variation of
exactly the same thing, which is I just wanted to
do something for me. I just wanted to take some
time for myself, like I'm a mum, or like I
don't ever take time for myself, or I'm so busy,
(33:32):
and so I plan it all for them. They just
have to show up and then yeah, they get to
come on this slate magical experience somewhere that they have
always wanted to travel to. So it's incredibly rewarding, it is.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
And you know what, We've caught up a couple of
times now, and I can see the sort of passion and.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Fire for this as well.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
So I start talking faster, telling you and you know,
you know that it's the right move. And I can
see that you've made the right move with everything that
you've decided to do with your body, but also you.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
Outside of it as well. So that's such a pleasure
to catch up again.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
And I can't wait for our next catch up who
will be Oh my god, Stay tuned, Stay tuned everyone, Thanks.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
For listening to We need to talk contact us on
Instagram and we need to talk with Tony Street or email.
We need to talk at cost online, dot co, dot
in z
We need to talk Tony Street's lifestyle and wellness podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Hello, it's great to have you with us for we
need to talk now weight loss. It's one of the
most watched and talked about topics on social media, in fact,
not just on social everywhere, whether it's transformation photos, surgery journeys,
or conversations around body confidence. People are deeply invested in
how we look and how we feel about our bodies,
and that has shifted hugely over time. Today's guest knows
(00:28):
that space incredibly well. Justine Sharer from at My Balance
Project has built a community of nearly thirty thousand women
by sharing her own journey and helping others feel more
confident in their bodies. We've had Justine on this podcast before,
we might remember where she opened up all about weight
loss surgery, and today we're catching up again about something
(00:48):
quite different. So she's recently had a tummy tuck overseas,
and in this conversation we're going to talk honestly about
the decision, the experience, and what it's really like on
the other side, and we're also going to throw a
little bit about her quitting her job to go out
on her own. Justine it's great to see you. You're
looking remarkably well. So I'm guessing from what I've seen
online as well that the surgery was a roaring success.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Yes, so good. Yeah, challenging, definitely challenging, and harder than
I expected. Quite a few things that I didn't expect.
But really, yeah, I'm feeling really really good. I feel
like I've come out the other side, and I'm feeling
a bit more like myself, particularly in like the last
two weeks. So I'm one week like ten at the moment.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Can you just remind us about your weight loss journey
from the beginning, yes, and why you decided to get
weight loss surgery initially.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Yeah. Absolutely so. In twenty twenty two, I had Guestrick
bypass sugery. I was around one hundred and thirty seven kilos.
My son was, Oh my goodness, how old to say? Seven?
I think, And I was just finding that I was.
It was really hard to keep up with him, you
know what little kids are like, hard to keep up
with him. I couldn't do what my shoelacers like. My
husband had to help me. I just had all sorts
(01:58):
of barriers, I guess to feeling good, and I knew
that I wasn't healthy, and yeah, I just I got
to the point where I was like, I need to
do something, not just for the esthetic of like you know,
people assume it's all about how you want to look,
but it was like, I need to feel better, and
I so desperately wanted to be active. I was already
(02:20):
being active, but it was really really hard. So made
the decision to have the guest bypass Sudery and absolutely
changed my life. Lost like fifty kilos in the first
ten months, I think it was, which is a wild,
wild right and quite disorientating. I think, like to go
from being one hundred and thirty seven kilos down to
(02:43):
like I think it was, you know, eighty five or
whatever it was, it was like whoa quite jarring, but
just absolutely amazing how much it's changed my life, how
active I became. I think a lot of people do,
like they lose a lot of weight and they kind
(03:03):
of decide in which direction they're going to go. For me,
it was fitness. I really just leaped right into it,
got back into doing a lot of my wooks and
kept at the forefront of my mind why I wanted
to lose that weight and really took it as a
big opportunity. So yeah, it's been incredible, and that was
four years ago and I've had, you know, some ups
(03:23):
and downs since then. It's definitely not I don't think
it's what people think it is. It's not a one
and done like I'm good now, like I'm never I'm
never going to regain that weight or I don't have
to ever be careful again. You face the same struggles
as you always did once you get past about eighteen
months postop. So I think it's quite different to what
people expect. It's certainly not easy, but I think you
(03:46):
just I think everyone has to choose their hard Like
it's hard whether you go this route or it's hard
whether you got that route.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
You just choose which hard you're going to do. Really,
did you feel like you put on weight again?
Speaker 3 (03:57):
I definitely did so. Last so I got into running.
I decided it would be real smart, at age like
forty five forty six to start running. I don't know
why I thought that would be a good idea, but
I thought, yeah, I'm going to do this because I'd
never been able to, So it's I'm going to do
it because I can. But during that process. Just after
running my first five k at an event in Tatanaki,
(04:17):
I tore my meniscus and my left knee and I
ended up needing surgery. So I had about four months
where I didn't exercise and I didn't adjust my diet.
Same old, same old, same old, didn't adjust my diet.
I had the surgery in the July, and then basically
the four months leading up to there and the four
months after that or five months after that, I gained
(04:39):
eight kilos, like just just like that. And when you've
had weight loss sudery, the word regain is like the
most terrifying thing because everyone talks about it. When you're
on social media. You've even got people saying to you, Oh,
you're going to regain all that weight. Lother people give
you that advice, I know, And I was like thanks,
we'll see and I was like, I was like no,
I'm not, no, I'm uh so when you when it
(05:01):
starts to happen, which I was also perimenopausal, so things
were changing a lot, and yeah, I was terrified. But
and around April of last year, I was just like,
I've got to get a handle on this, and I
started being able to be active again and started to
understand a lot more about perimenopause and what my body
(05:22):
was going through and how I could support it through that.
And I've lost yeah, lost that weight again over the
following like six months, so feel like and have now
lost extra So it's it's like with anyone, right, Like
I think, I think women are really really hard on
themselves whenever there's a change in the scales, like obviously
(05:42):
we feel great when it goes down, and then when
it goes up a little bit, we start freaking out out. Yeah,
and it's like it's so normal to fluctuate, Like it's
so normal. So I think keeping your head in check
and not getting the freak out is one of the
biggest challenges that we face. So at what point did
you decide I think I want to get a tummy tuck,
do you know? I when I actually had the surgery,
(06:05):
a lot of people asked me, because I was in
a public space, a lot of people said to me, well,
what's the next step, like are you would you get
skin removal surgery? And I was like, well, I don't know.
I always just said never say neither. I would To
be honest, I skewed towards No, like I don't think
I would do that, not sure. And then after losing
(06:26):
that amount of weight, like I've always had around tummy.
I've always had a big tummy, and I remember even
being like eight nine years old, being unhappy with my tummy,
and which is just heartbreaking, right because you see all
these you know you've got daughter, it's you know that
it's something that starts affecting girls quite young. So when
(06:47):
I'd lost all the weight and I was always like
this is and when I was running, it really annoyed
me because it was it was quite They call it
a pouch, you know, like it actually like hangs and
it's quite weird. Yeah, exactly. No, it doesn't just evaporate, No,
and it's all over like you know, it's under my arms,
it's it's all sorts of places, and it's kind of
like when people say, oh, would you get surgery, it's like, well,
(07:08):
how long is a piece of string? Like I'm sure
we've all got like, oh, I'd love my boobs lifted,
and I'd love you know, this done and that done.
But to me, those things were purely cosmetic, whereas with
my stomach, I feel like there was all these layers
of shame and trauma almost and there it's so complicated
(07:30):
how we feel about our bodies, and that area for
me was, Yeah, I'd held a lot of shame around
for a long time. And then when I left my
job last year, which we'll talk about more later, but
I got some money when I left, and it was like, oh,
you know, we're going to put this on the mortgage
and we're going to be so sensible with this, like
it's going to be great. And then I was like,
(07:50):
do you know what i'd actually like to do with
some of it? Just like a small portion. It was
not that small of a portion, but with a portion
I'd like to I think I want to explore getting
a tummy tuck to. I think I want to get
like this removed and just starting. I'm the kind of
person that as soon as I start, like, as soon
as I get an idea, like it's over, like it's happening,
so we're going, yeah, we're it's on. It takes a
(08:12):
lot to then dissuade me. And I was the same
with weight loss surgery, Like I was anti weight loss
surgery for a really long time, and then as soon
as I like yes, started thinking I was going to
do it. It was like it happened six months later
type thing.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
Just going back to the you know, being anti weight
loss surgery because you copped a little bit of fleck
from some of your followers on that a who were
bigger and sort of looked to you as your big
you love your body. Yeah, I feel comfortable in this space, yes, yeah.
And I think I had a lot of people who
followed me who felt really betrayed because they followed me
(08:45):
because I was bigger. They loved saying the plus size
fashion and I'm always someone who like I'm not the
person who got weight loss surgery. And then all of
a sudden felt good and started dressing really well.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
I have been doing that for ten years, you know,
so hasn't always been that way. I had really really
bad negative self talk and self esteem ten plus years ago,
and then in twenty seventeen, I was like this has
got to stop, Like I cannot keep doing this to myself.
My head is a horrible place to live. I've got
a lot of life left, like I can't do this anymore.
(09:19):
And had a few circumstances that just led me to
challenging all that thought and turning around the way that
I viewed myself to the point where I had very
very little negative self talk and still don't because when
it comes, I'm like, nope, sorry, not today, not allowing it. Well,
we know that what you tell your brain is how
you feel. Yeah, right, one hundred percent. It's I don't
(09:41):
think people realize how much of an impact it has,
Like you one hundred percent have the right to argue
with yourself, Like all of these thoughts that are coming
in over seventy thousand a day, over half of them
are negatively biased and what you think is not the truth.
So I would always just stop and say is this true?
And what is the source? Who am I listening to here?
(10:01):
So yeah, I shared a lot of that, and I
know a lot of women really resonated with that and
it really helped them to gain more confidence. So and
I always just felt like I really wanted to be
a leader in that space as well, Like I really
wanted people to look at me and be like, oh, well,
she's larger, but she still looks really fashionable and she's
still on treeing and she's still got confidence. She's like, yes,
(10:22):
you can have all of those things. So when I
then came into the space and said, look, I'm not
healthy anymore. I need to change now this thing, there
were a lot of people that were really upset, and
at the time, I was ready for it because I
was like, oh, I'm just really I'm really not sure
how this is going to go down. But I will
(10:44):
say that ninety percent of people were amazing.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
And you're actually allowed to change your mind too. You
can be anti something and then decide actually, this is
right for me now.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Yeah. And that's also how I feel about the tummy tuck,
Like I think it's I think we can be really yes,
stuck in our ways of like, yeah, this is the
right thing, and then if someone or even of ourselves,
if we challenge it, it's it's totally okay to change
your mind. You've got it's your life, Like you write
the next chapter, nobody else does. So I just felt
(11:14):
like I wanted to be and it's been the same
about the tummy tack. But I wanted to be fully transparent.
I didn't want to be someone that secretly got the
weight loss surdery and then lost all this weight and
people were then like, oh my god, how did you
do it? And I'm just diet just started an exercise, Yeah,
just drinking more water. And I completely understand there's a
lot of people out there that secretly get weight loss surdery,
(11:36):
and it's no shade towards them, but being somewhat in
the public space, like I'm not you know, big by
any by any means, but you know, at that time,
there was twenty thousand women that followed me, and I
know were a lot of them, were there, Yes, they
were following you because of your body image, right, And
I didn't feel I felt like not disclosing that was dishonest.
So it was either I don't do Instagram anymore or
(11:58):
I front up. And I just thought, and you know what,
I have nothing to be ashamed of. This is the
reality that a lot of women who have obesity face,
and it is a disease. It is super super hard,
and so I just thought, I need to share all
of that, like I need to share why I'm doing it,
not that I need to defend the decision, but so
that people that maybe don't understand or maybe it's something
(12:21):
that they want to do but feel ashamed about doing
because there is a lot of shame and stigma associated
with it, and now it's like the GLP ones, Like
you know, do you wish that they had been available
before you got your WF just this quite a few times.
I I don't know if I would have had the
faith that it would have been a permanent solution, like
I don't. Maybe if it had been around for a
(12:41):
couple of years, then definitely, I think yeah, because from
everything I've read and everything I've seen and friends that
I know and people that I know that are on them,
you know they're doing great things for them. But I
don't know if I would have viewed it as just
like another thing, like I'd done every diet under the sun.
So yeah, I'm not sure. And I don't have any.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
Regrets like I And they don't have the same success
rate either as what.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Lossuit No, not that no, not at the mariton. I don't.
I don't. I don't think so, And I could be
speaking out of tune, but I don't know. If a
few things stopped taking them, what then what then happened?
So and I was definitely at the place where like
I needed something, what I felt was going to be permanent,
because I needed to stop the trajectory that I was on,
Like I'd lost thirty five kilos over three times and
(13:29):
the prior ten years. I mean, that's so hard on
your body. It's a lot of weight to lose on
your own too. Yeah. Yeah, And so I knew that
I could lose weight, Like losing weight was not an issue.
I was keeping it off when so I would quite
oftenly keep it off for about a year to two years.
But any time anything really hard would happen, or any
kind of trauma would happen in my life, Like that
was my coping mechanism, and I went back to it
(13:50):
every time, and even post surgery. You know, I've had
some hard shit go down and I find it's still
because it's up here.
Speaker 1 (13:58):
It's not.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
Yeah, it's about the snips that they do in your tummy.
So you've really I think when you have weight loss,
you do you really have to be committed to understanding
why you why you eat when you eat, when you
eat for nourishment, when you eat for you know, hell,
your emotions and pleasure or But for me, it was
like if it wasn't just because I was sad, because
I was bored, because I was happy, any sort of emotion, Yeah,
(14:21):
everything was all was all like tied up with food.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Follow on Instagram and we need to talk with Tony Street.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So you decided to push the play on the tummy
tuck sitting here now one hundred percent worth it.
Speaker 3 (14:34):
One hundred percent worth it, And it's been so interesting, Tony, Like,
it's been way more emotional than I imagined because I knew
that I was getting it because I wanted the discomfort gone.
So one of the things about women who carry extra
raightway around the tummy that actually like falls down like
mind and SAgs and stuff, is it gets infected under
their Like you get to summer and you've got infections,
(14:56):
and it's it's just not it's just not nice all around,
and it was uncomfortable. So I was like, you know,
this is my reasoning. And I also knew that, you know,
it was a part of my body that i'd never really,
never really loved, even though I had come to a
place of acceptance around all of my body pre and
(15:19):
post weight loss surgery, because you know, you'd lose a
whole bunch of weight and you've got a whole set
of new problems, you know, if you want to call
them problems, You've got a whole new set of things
that you're like, oh, well, now maybe this isn't so
good and that's so good. And I just always was like,
don't care. I can hike up the mountain if I
want to, or I can actually now run around a
soccer pitch with my son. So I've always tried to
(15:39):
keep them in the forefront. But the emotions that came
with getting the tummy tuck, like when the surgeon like
came in on this on day three and like removed
the the binder thing that you have to wear, and
I like looked down and I just like burst into tears.
I was like, what is going on? Is cose body?
Is that? Like that is actual flat, like there's like
(16:02):
nothing there. And he was like, yeah, that's what an
extended tummy tuck. Like he was kind of looking at
me like what were you thinking. I was like, I
don't know, yeah, I thought in going that because I
got an extended tummy tuck. So a regular tummy tuck
is where they cut just like the center of your
stomach yep, right for people who may have had lots
(16:23):
of babies and have got like a little bit of
a pouch or something there. Mine went from hip to hip,
so my incision line goes from one hip right round
to the other. And they literally, I called it a belt.
They literally removed three and a half kilos from my stomach,
this panel and my belly button, Like where the hole
for your belly button is. That all gets removed, so
(16:45):
your your belly button gets kind of recreated or and
you refixed from like up here to down. Sorry, I
know it's not a visual platform, but yeah, so they
removed all of that, and I just thought, I just
want the bulk it gone. And they had said to me.
My surgeon was amazing. He was like, you know, not
everyone ends up with a flat You may not end
(17:06):
up with a flat stomach because it depends on how
much visceral fat versus subcatonious fat that you have. And
I was like okay, and he was like, the visceral
fat is around your organs. We don't touch that. So
if there's a lot of that, you may still end
up with a rounded tummy. And I was like, I
don't care if it's rounded. I just want all of that.
You just don't want it flapping. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.
I don't want to flapping in the wind, and I
(17:26):
just want all of the bulk gone. But he in
my post op and particularly in the ten days postop
follow up, he was like, he was like, you know,
this is a real big success story. And I was like,
is it. Tell me more? Tell me more, and he
was like, well, I've told you. Like it was successful.
We removed through and a half kilos. He was like,
since your weight loss, Sugeri. He was like, your level
(17:48):
of fitness means that you have He's like, you have
very little visceral fat around your organs. And I was
expecting there would be a lot, because I just have
this thing in my head that not that I'm an
unhealthy person, but that fat sticks to me, you know. Yes.
So when he said that, and he was like, so
being able to remove all that subcutaneous fat, he was like,
(18:09):
I just finished the job. He was like, the last
four years of your life. Emotional, He's like, the last
four years of your life. You've done all the groundwork.
He's like, and I have just given you back your
natural shade. Isn't that a lovely way of describing it?
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (18:23):
And I just looked at it and I was like,
oh my god. He was like, you've done all this work.
He's like, you're out exercise because he now follows me
on Instagram. He was like, you're out walking every day
and you're doing you're taking trying to take so much
care of your health. He was like, and so when
patients like you come in and you've done that work,
it's really successful because I can do my job to
the fullest as well. Yes, and so. And I actually
(18:45):
had a really beautiful follower who is in Taranaki who
messaged me after the surgery and she was like, I
just want to say to you, like, I know, you
got to tell me. Can I know the Sugeon did
all this? She's like, but you have done so much
work and you've shown up every day and this is
just kind of like a finishing touch almost. And I've
really taken on that way of thinking as well. I
thought that was a really beautiful way to like look
(19:06):
at it. So for me, it's been really really worth it.
And it just blows me away, Like I look in
the mirror and I'm like, what what's it like wearing clothes? Now?
Do they sit differently? So differently it's completely this is
the other thing I didn't expect. So I bought my
husband Bill, I bought an expensive pair of like Levi's,
like there were like one hundred and fifty dollars or something,
which I considered to be expensive considering you can get
(19:28):
ones who came out for like thirty bucks. Bought this
beautiful pair of Levi's and Wellington and like November, and
he was like, should you be buying like buy what
you want, but should you be buying those like right
before the tim attack And I was like, Babe, it's
just they're just gonna be like removing the bulk, so
stuff's still gonna face, it's just not gonna stick out anymore.
So I'm gonna be the same size. But yeah, yeah,
(19:49):
I'm going to be the same size. But yeah, cut
to I think it was four weeks post surgery, and
someone said to me, oh my god, I can't wait
till you try on jeans and I was like, they're
gonna let you know anyway. I put them on. I
don't know if you saw my stories, but put them
on and they were just like I'd lost not just
three and a half kilos around my waist, there was
like I'd lost ten kilos. It was like, damn it.
(20:09):
The jeans. The jeans anyway, I had someone say, oh,
buy those jeans, you can buy a new people, which
I did. But yeah, things fit definitely, very very differently.
And I find that I just have this new found
confidence to try things that I knew, not that I
wasn't confident to wear before, because I think I'm I'm
pretty confident, you know, pre the tummy tuck. But it
(20:33):
was I knew they didn't suit my shape, not as
flattering as yeah, yeah, yeah exactly, And so I thought,
you know, like I own like bias cut slip skirts right,
and I would always just size up one or two sizes.
Hot tip, ladies, if you want to wear those skoots
but you got around tummy, you can still wear rid
of you want. It's just all about the fat. So
(20:54):
I would wear those. But it's the way in which
you carry yourself when you're self conscious about an area.
So for me, if I was out somewhere and the
wind was blowing, I would always be like holding my
skirt or my pants or my dress out from my
body because I because it would be suctioning in and
showing this thing that I quote unquote hid so well.
(21:14):
And when I actually went on Instagram and said, okay, guys,
I think it was like day three post rap. I
had some stuff pre recorded from before the tummy tuck,
and I just said, you know, I'm going to show
you some video of why I got this done. Because
I know you're all going to be saying like you
didn't need to do that. I'm going to show you
what I was hiding under all those great outfits that
you didn't see and hear it end the way you're
(21:36):
nervous to put that up. I was like, it's so
vulnerable because I literally I was in my bra I
mean for me being in my brain nundties on the auntie,
it's actually no big deal, but being and knowing that
I was going to lift, like fold down the underwear
that normally holds everything in and so I recorded it
with it with the mindset of like I don't have
to share this, like this is this doesn't feel comfortable,
(21:58):
but I'd like to have it for afterwards self anyway. Yeah,
I'd like to have it. And I filmed quite a
few things like that that I still have that I've
never shared preweight loss surgery as well that I also
like to look back on. Yeah, and then but then
even like just day three of surgery, like after he'd
showed me myself, I was just like, I need for
people to see what a like a difference, this is like,
this is insane. So I shared it, and yeah, I
(22:21):
just got I mean we're talking probably a thousand messages
from women who were just like, oh, my goodness, and
all my body looks like that. Like, so my biggest
thing was in showing all that and sharing all that.
I wanted to be very unapologetic that I was getting
it done. I know it's not for everyone. I knew
once again that people may feel alienated, or that people
(22:42):
might feel like, oh, like, you're getting plastic surgery. But
I think cosmetic surgery of any kind is so complex
and quite heavy for a lot of people on the
layers of their self esteem that kind of go into it.
But yeah, I I I wanted same with my weight
loss ADERI I just wanted to share it all. I'm
(23:03):
an oversharer by nature, and I wanted it to be
a real depiction so people can make up their own
mind if it's something they want to do or just
out of interest, if they want to see what the
journior is like. Because I always just see before and
after photos. Here's me here, and then here's me six
months later, and look how amazing I look. And there's
no like sharing of the physical or even the mental
(23:26):
stuff that goes into that. Like it's been super emotional.
Like I remember being like ten days post op and
being like laying in the recovery a beautiful villa that
I was in in Bali and being like, I now
look down and I look at my body and there's
nothing that I would change. And I've never expelled like
that in my life, Like the fact that I worked
(23:48):
so hard to come to a place of acceptance around
my body, like so hard when I was plus size,
to then be looking in the mirror and have me
looking back and be actually satisfied and happy and not
have to have that that acceptance that you know, let
you come to terms with things, and you're just like, well,
(24:10):
this is just how it is to not have that anymore.
I mean, certainly I could start to come up with things,
I'm sure, but I don't want to. I'm just like,
I'm I'm good, like I'm happy.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
What item of clothing have you noticed is the best
to wear now that you couldn't perhaps or you could wear,
but you just didn't feel right in before.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
I wouldn't say it. Well, So the slip skirts, like
I've got a couple of them, and I bought one
the other day, and I also bought this. I was
in cottona on and they had just like this black
strapless dress. I saw that. Oh my god, it's so hot, toding,
it's so hot, like I love it, like I actually
feel when I put that on. I'm just like girl
(24:51):
million bucks, a million and a half like so, but
it was it's a drop waist, so I've never worn
anything with a drop waist. Anyone with a round Timmy knows,
like all it does is cling to your tummy. It
just it's super clinging. It makes feel self conscious. Anyway,
I bought it and I took it home because I thought,
I'm doing this on camera. I want to know like
how this is going to feel. And it was just
like yeah, I'll never forget that moment. Actually, And then
(25:14):
even just putting on swim where like I even as
a size twenty four, was you know, out at the beach.
It took me a lot of work to be able
to like, you know, wear the togs out in public
and like do all of that, realizing that nobody's actually
looking at you because they're all too self consumed. But
trying them on after the tummy tack, because I'd always
before i'd put them on and been like, yep, you
(25:36):
look great, Oh the tummy Okay, No, we're doing it anyway.
We're doing it anyway. And now I put them on
and I'm just like yay, yay, like that looks so good,
and yeah, I just feel it's the comfort level is
I think what has been the best part. And also
how I feel like the physical weight is gone. And
(25:58):
then there's just also this this weight that's come off
me that I don't know was emotional or mental like
what it is. But to not have that part of
me that I'd carried so much shame around and it's gone,
I just feel like there's Yeah, I don't know, it's
really hard to explain, but it's been amazing.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
Nayq, we need to talk podcast. A pre said on
your iHeart app just tab and never miss an episode.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
And you've actually had more than just the physical changes,
You've actually changed your job as well. Yeah, all throughout
this process, they've kind of coincided which I know if
that's a coincidence or that was meant to be. So
you quit your full time job yeap, whichhould you have
been doing for nearly twenty years? Yeah, twenty five and
went out on your own.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Yeah, I gess that be.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
I worked for a really really big corporate, big multinational
company for yeah, close to twenty five years. Started there
working in Canada when I was you know, twenty, the
early twenties, so I was a professional in a business
analyst role and just have felt probably over the last
five years really that like this is not my passion,
(27:05):
like seeing as like when I'm on Instagram and I'm
doing social media stuff, people think it's quite like like
flippant or dis like this. You know, it's just you're
an influencer or you're a content creator. The connection that
you get to build with women and the conversations that
you get to have with other women going through similar
things to you, it's actually you'd experiences as well. It's
so incredible how I've found Actually it's actually really profound.
(27:28):
And to have someone message you and say You've changed
my life in this way, or you know, while I
went swimming with my ten year old girl today for
the first time ever, because I want to show her
that I'm not afraid of like that, I'm not ashamed
of my body, like I get messages like that all
the time. So there was that pull of that bang,
a really powerful and profound thing that gave me meaning.
(27:49):
And then there was like my spreadsheets at work and
I was like, I don't love this anymore. I don't
feel pan passionate about this anymore. And yeah, there was
just some stuff going on that I wasn't happy worth.
And I felt like twenty twenty five was my really
big year of change. Like I felt like the year
before had been quite like up and down and quite emotional,
(28:11):
and stepping into twenty twenty five, I was like, I
need to change the story here, and I need to
do what's right for myself, what's right for my family.
I'm forty eight and I what am I waiting for?
I just keep saying to myself, what are you waiting for?
And I'd started doing these. I got approached by a
(28:31):
travel company in twenty twenty four to host women's or
it didn't need to be women's it was like to
host group trips somewhere around the world. Travel yeah, And
I was like, oh, well that sounds really fun because
they were like, we know you love to travel, You've
got you know. And I'd had so many people on
the Internet saying to me, oh my god, I wish
you could organize for me because or I need this,
(28:51):
and you know. So I was writing lots of blogs
and things like that to help people. But I was like, yeah,
I'll give it a go, like sure. So I did
the first one to Bali and eighteen spots sold out
in like less than twenty four hours. It's amazing, And
I was like, oh my god, people want to come
on holiday. This was as wild. So I did that
and then I planned a few others and it was
all like in my vacation time, so it was like
(29:12):
trying to plan my holiday time with work. I just
got to the point where I was like, I'm clearly
being led in a direction here that is really bringing
me a lot of joy. That first trip, I know
probably every single one of them, those ladies, because the
group chat is still active. It's now like, what a
year and a half later, we'll probably be listening to this.
But that trip and all the ones that have followed,
(29:34):
like have just been so special, Like you had this
group of people whose only thing in common that they
thought was in common was me all came together in
one place and we had nine magical, amazing days in Bali.
The connection that you get to see these women have
women who half of the group comes on their own.
Some of them like come with a sister or with
(29:55):
their you know, their bestie or whatever. And this not
as adults as women in their forties and fifties. And
I get people basically from their twenties through to their sixties.
And one of the big things I've learned is like,
there is so much that connects us that's nothing to
do with our age. So people quite often are like, oh,
I'm not sure, you know, can I come? I'm like
(30:16):
sixty five, and I'm like yeah, And they end up
buddying up with the twenty nine year old and being
like best mates. You know.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
I go, I go on holiday with my parents all
the time, and they're in their sixties.
Speaker 3 (30:25):
Well, your parents are great. They're at the super cul
this year. So my first trip coming up is in
Bali and another Bali one. But like last year, I
did Scotland, I did Vietnam, which was they were like incredible.
Another Bali one this year. I've got Bali and then
Italy and Croatia. Wow, I know. And they're back to
(30:47):
back so that people can book on one or they
can do both, and over half the group is doing both,
which is amazing. So there is store space on the
Italy trip, just you know, just saying Croatia, there's a
wait list. And then Vietnam, which is gonna be amazing.
I'm doing a repeat because everyone just and I loved
it so much. There's also room on that trip. And yeah,
(31:08):
and then I've just announced all my trips for twenty
twenty seven, almost twenty twenty eight, twenty twenty seven. So
where are you going for twenty twenty seven? Oh? So excited? Okay,
So in twenty twenty seven, we're doing I'm going to
do the Camino in Spain. So that's going to be
like more of an adventure based one. So we're doing
like seven days of hiking like one hundred kilometers the
last one hundred k's of the Camino trail in Spain.
(31:29):
I'm going to do a Tahiti like a retreat in Tahiti.
I got to go to Tahiti last year. And check
that out, which I was just beautiful. Oh my god,
it's like incredible. Also doing Scotland again, Scotland in Ireland
and Spain as well after doing the Camino, and the
other one that I've got this year and next year
(31:51):
is the European Christmas Markets. Yeah, so like magical Christmas.
Like I'm basically just ticking off my bible all the
things you'd love to do.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
But that's we travel is the best when you've got
recommendations and it's those yes bucket list items.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Yes, yep, those places that you know. And so it's
really designed for women who either don't have anyone to
go on holiday worth they like they want to travel.
So and many of the women that come are married
but their husbands are just not interested or are happy
for them to go off and do their thing, or
who are single. You know, I just it runs the
gambit of like the women that come, but mainly I
(32:27):
think the biggest poll and for me, the biggest magic
that I see happen is that connection that happens because
it's so hard to maintain and make new friends as adults,
and so you know, there's that magic happens when it's
just women, and when everything just like clicks right and
everyone's on the same kind of wavelength, it's really beautiful
(32:48):
to like sit down and see like we might be
at a group dinner or something, or people you know
all in the group test saying, Oh, I'm gonna run
or go in our free time this morning, I'm gonna
go do this, Like who wants to come? And like
eight women are like I'll come, Like that's all And
it's just this real freeing kind of experience. While you're
getting to see like amazing things in the world, you're
also getting to experience this beautiful connection and do something
(33:11):
that's just for you. Like at every welcome dinner, I
do like a little speech and I say, what's you know,
why are you here? And everyone says a variation of
exactly the same thing, which is I just wanted to
do something for me. I just wanted to take some
time for myself, like I'm a mum, or like I
don't ever take time for myself, or I'm so busy,
(33:32):
and so I plan it all for them. They just
have to show up and then yeah, they get to
come on this slate magical experience somewhere that they have
always wanted to travel to. So it's incredibly rewarding, it is.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
And you know what, We've caught up a couple of
times now, and I can see the sort of passion and.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
Fire for this as well.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
So I start talking faster, telling you and you know,
you know that it's the right move. And I can
see that you've made the right move with everything that
you've decided to do with your body, but also you.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
Outside of it as well. So that's such a pleasure
to catch up again.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
And I can't wait for our next catch up who
will be Oh my god, Stay tuned, Stay tuned everyone, Thanks.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
For listening to We need to talk contact us on
Instagram and we need to talk with Tony Street or email.
We need to talk at cost online, dot co, dot
in z
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