Latest news with #bodyimage
The Sun
2 days ago
- Lifestyle
- The Sun
I got a £15k body makeover paid for by my ex – now it's Christmas everyday for my NEW man
CHECKING the weather forecast, Melissa Jolly let out a sigh. While full sunshine and soaring temperatures might be good news for most, for the mum-of-four it was her worst nightmare. 7 7 7 'I dreaded summer coming round each year,' she admits. 'I'd cover up as much as possible, but in the heat, it was impossible.' Previously happy with her looks, Melissa admits that since becoming a mum she had become increasingly self-conscious about her appearance. 'After my eldest, Lucca, was born when I was 20, my belly and boobs had changed for the worse,' she says. 'Then I'd had Annabel, and after splitting from their dad, I'd met a new man. 'We'd married and had two more little ones. 'While I loved that my body had kept my babies safe, I hated how it looked. It felt unrecognisable to me.' Over the years, Melissa, from Manchester, had tried everything she could to try to lose the flab, from shake diets to strenuous workout routines. But at 29, Melissa was still a size 16. 'It was my loose skin that bothered me the most,' the 32-year-old says. I spent £75k to turn myself into a 'yummy mummy' - not only am I now more confident in a bikini, but a better parent too 'I tucked my saggy tum into big Bridget Jones-style pants while my 34E spaniel ears would be hoicked up in a bra. 'When I went for drinks with friends, they'd be in teeny co-ords and body-con dresses. 'I always wished I could do the same but instead, I donned a frumpy shirt dress to cover up my baggy tum.' Shopping was out of the question for the mum too. 'I couldn't cope with changing room mirrors,' she admits 'So, I'd live in oversized tees and big jumpers, two sizes too large. 'I'd moan to my husband that I looked like a woman in my 50s and gradually became more depressed about the way I looked.' Then, when Melissa's granddad passed away suddenly it made her take a new outlook at her life. 7 7 'I missed him dearly and it made me think that life was too short to live my life this way,' she says. 'I wasn't happy in our marriage, so I moved out and we got divorced.' The former couple stayed civil and took it in turns to take care of the kids but Melissa says that her body hang ups were still taking a toll. 'I'd always put my kids first,' she says. 'If they needed something, of course I'd go without. That's just what mums do. 'But I realised, I have to do something for myself.' Melissa began looking into surgery to have her excess skin removed. 'It was pricey, but I was investing in me,' she says. 'Luckily, I had a pot of money left over from the divorce settlement.' She came across a clinic with great reviews online, the Pall Mall clinic in Manchester. When a friend went in for surgery and came out looking 'fabulous' Melissa decided it was time to take the bull by the horns. After a consultation with Dr Prabad at Pall Mall, she booked in for a breast enlargement with uplift, tummy tuck, liposuction, and muscle repair on her stomach. And it didn't come cheap with Melissa's final bill coming in at £15,000, a price she was happy to pay. 'I wanted to make sure I was in safe hands,' she explains. 'I only told a few people close to me what I had planned because I didn't need unwanted opinions. 'My friend Steph agreed to help out with the kids and change dressings. 'Luckily, she was a nurse, and so was my mum. 'They'd take care of me while I rested up after the operation.' Only Steph had another idea of how she could help her friend out. 'One day, about two weeks before my surgery, she suggested that I go on a date with her brother,' says Melissa. 'I'd met her brother Will a few times, and he seemed a good sort. 'But we didn't know each other well. Still, we went on a date and had a few drinks and he was easy to chat to. 'When I explained about my surgery, he looked me up and down and told me I didn't need to have it done. 'It was sweet but I wasn't doing this for any man. This was all for me.' The pair began dating and Melissa says that she still felt self-conscious about her figure. 'I felt self-conscious getting undressed in front of Will but he made it clear he fancied me rotten anyway,' she says. 'Even with my boobs hanging down round my middle!' When the day of the operation rolled around, Melissa arranged for her two eldest to stay with her mum for the weekend while the two youngest were at their dad's so she could recover in peace. Will joined Melissa at the clinic where the reality of what she was undertaking dawned on her. 'My stomach was full of butterflies as I was wheeled into the operating theatre,' she says. Different types of weight loss surgery For many people who are overweight or obese, they may feel they have exhausted options for weight loss and want to try something more drastic. Weight loss surgery may be available to them on the NHS if they have a BMI over 40 and have a condition that may be improved with weight loss, such as diabetes. But the availability of these procedures largely depends on where you live in the UK. People can also pay privately. Weight loss surgery is a common and safe procedure. However, as with any operation, there are risks, such as a blood clot, a band slipping out of place, a stomach infection, gallstones and excessive skin from weight loss that in most cases, won't be removed on the NHS. In all of the following options, the space in the stomach is reduced, therefore a person feels fuller after eating less food. They lose weight as a result. However, it is necessary for them to also learn good eating habits and have a healthy balanced diet, too. Gastric bypass The stomach is divided into two using a staple. The smaller part is connected to the intestines, effectively cutting how much space there is in the stomach by half. The operation takes around two hours. Gastric band A band is tied around the top of the stomach and inflated so that it tightens. The operation takes three to four hours. Gastric balloon Patients swallow an empty balloon which is attached to a tube. The balloon is filled with water via the tube, taking around 20 minutes, so that it fills around two-thirds of the stomach space. Sleeve gastrectomy Around 80 per cent of the stomach is removed in surgery to make it much smaller and a sleeve shape. The operation takes between one and three hours. 'But I pictured my brand-new body as everything turned black. 'When I woke up, I looked down and there, under bandages, were my new perky 34G boobs. 'They were mountains compared to what I was used to and while I couldn't see my flat tum, I could certainly feel it.' Thrilled but battered and bruised, Melissa recovered at the clinic with Will by her side before she was eventually sent home. A week later, Melissa's drains were removed from her chest and with the help of Steph and her mum within another week she was on the mend. 'My bandages were off and, like magic, I was a whole new woman,' Melissa says. With a new found confidence, Melissa bought brand-new outfits to accentuate her size 14 curves. 'When I pulled on a body-con dress with a huge cut-out over the midriff, I gasped,' she admits. 'Will took me out to a bar to celebrate, six weeks after my surgery. 'I felt spectacular and when I nipped to the ladies, even people I didn't know were full of lovely comments. 'I didn't care what blokes thought but all those gorgeous girls fawning over my figure was the cherry on top of the cake.' Seven months on from surgery, Melissa says her kids are reaping the rewards of her new positive outlook. 'I'm full of beans, taking them on day trips and even swimming,' she says. 'We'd never gone to the pool together before. 'And on the school run, I'll be in little co-ords, proudly showing my shape.' And it's not just the kids who are benefiting. 'With my new-found confidence, it's Christmas every day for Will in the bedroom now too,' says Melissa. 'This summer, I'll be proudly wearing bikinis by the pool. 'We need to ditch the stigma around 'mummy makeovers'. 'It's OK to want to get your groove back after having children. 'I feel sexy and empowered – you can't put a price on that.' 7 7
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
M&S advert banned for featuring ‘unhealthily thin' model
An advert by Marks & Spencer has been banned for showing an 'irresponsible' image of a model who appeared 'unhealthily thin'. The picture, which appeared on the retailer's app, featured a female model wearing slim-fit trousers and a white top. She faced the camera with one hand in her pocket and the other holding a bag. In a ruling published today, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the model's pose and choice of clothing meant the ad gave the impression she was unhealthily thin. The watchdog said the model's collarbones were 'very prominent' and that she wore 'large pointed shoes which emphasised the slenderness of her legs'. It added: 'In part due to the camera angle which appeared tilted downwards, the model's head appeared out of proportion with the rest of her body and further highlighted her small frame.' The ASA said it received complaints about another three ads on M&S's app and website that featured two female models wearing a pink polka dot dress. However, the watchdog rejected these complaints after ruling that the model's face in the images 'did not look gaunt' and that 'while thin… did not display any protruding bones'. M&S said its women's clothing range 'represented a full spectrum of sizes, ranging from eight to 24', though it acknowledged that the models in the ads were size eight and at the lower end of its sizing range. The retailer said it took concerns about the depiction of body image in its adverts very seriously and that models were selected not only for professional suitability but also for their health and wellbeing. M&S confirmed that it had removed the image after receiving complaints. However, the ASA said the ad must not appear again in any form and told M&S to ensure the images in its campaigns were prepared responsibly and did not portray models that were too thin. The ruling comes amid concerns that the fashion industry is returning to 'super-skinny' models following the rise of the 'body positivity' movement in the 2010s, which celebrated diverse body types. Chioma Nnadi, Vogue's fashion editor, last year warned the industry should be concerned after data revealed a 'worrying return to using extremely thin models'.
CBC
5 days ago
- Health
- CBC
Dieting culture stole years of my life. Then, I unlocked the key to break free
This First Person article is the experience of Natasha Ngindi, who lives in Saskatoon. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ. For most of my life, I believed my body was a problem. I believed that if I could just lose weight, everything would be better. I'd be more confident, I'd be happy and I'd finally feel good enough. So I dieted. I exercised obsessively. I lost weight. And for a moment, I thought I had won. But the truth? Diet culture stole years of my life before I broke free. As a child in South Africa, I grew up surrounded by family, culture and food that felt like love. There was no counting calories, no "good" or "bad" foods. We just ate, and we enjoyed it. I never once thought about calories and I never thought about the size of my body. I moved, played, danced and ate with joy. But when I was eight, my family moved to Canada. That was the moment everything changed. I realized that I didn't fit into Western beauty standards that seemed worlds apart from the beauty standards in South Africa at that point in time. I was the Black girl in a mostly white school in Brampton, Ont., and I became hyper-aware of my size, my skin colour and just how "different" I was. I quickly learned that I was the bigger girl in a society that praised thinness. WATCH | Natasha Ngindi shares her journey to self-acceptance: Saskatoon woman shares her journey from dieting to food freedom 2 days ago After moving from South Africa as a child, Natasha Ngindi felt the pressure to fit in with Canadian beauty standards. She spent years dieting and cycling through weight loss and gain before getting the help she needed to change her relationship with food and embrace her body. Now, she's helping others find food freedom. Diet culture crept into my head, whispering that I wasn't enough. I started feeling insecure and fearing loneliness because I didn't feel I was good enough. I used to love movement — figure skating, dancing and even climbing trees. But as I got older, I felt like spaces for movement weren't made for bodies like mine. So I stopped. Food was something I used to enjoy without guilt. But here in Canada, I learned that thinner meant better. I went on my first diet in high school. It started small — cutting out certain foods here and there and working out more. But then it became an extreme obsession. I was counting calories, tracking everything and skipping meals. I believed that if I could just be smaller, I'd finally be accepted. I even fell for the idea that my worth was tied to my weight. And when I lost 50 pounds, suddenly, people noticed and praised me. They told me I "looked amazing." That I had "glowed up." I thought: "This is it. I've finally made it." I truly believed I was the healthiest I'd ever been. With all the praise, I thought I could help others as well, so I decided to study nutrition science in university, thinking I could teach people how to lose weight just like I did. I thought I was happy. But the truth? I was exhausted. Nobody tells you this, but when your confidence is built on weight loss, it's never enough. The fear of gaining it back consumes you. And like most people, I couldn't keep the weight I lost off, because our bodies are designed to fight against restriction. Despite this fact, I tried harder. More diets. More guilt. More shame. About three years into studying nutrition science at the University of Saskatchewan, I hit my breaking point. That's when I sought professional help and met a dietitian who introduced me to intuitive eating. This self-care approach encourages people to focus on listening to their body's hunger, fullness and satisfaction cues rather than following external diet rules. Learning about intuitive eating changed everything for me. My dietitian helped me realize that I was spending more time thinking about food than actually living my life. I was skipping meals to save calories or punishing myself for eating cake. And for what? I asked myself: "Is this how I want to live forever?" The answer was no. I deleted my diet apps. I stopped labelling food as good or bad, and I let myself eat what I loved. For the first time in years, I listened to my body instead of punishing it. I also rediscovered joyful movement — working out because it felt good, not because I wanted to shrink myself. I started dancing again. I became a Zumba instructor. Slowly but surely, I started to feel free. After spending years studying and working in nutrition science, I knew I wanted to help others. I started sharing my outlook with others through social media, encouraging people to make peace with food, love their bodies and find joy in movement — free from diet culture. I am also trying to inspire others to practice the self-compassion I wish I'd shown myself when I first moved to Canada. I know now that my body is enough, just as it is. And so is yours.
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Jelly Roll shows off weight loss as he guest hosts Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Jelly Roll displayed his slimmer figure when he guest hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live! for two nights this week. The star, 40, filled in for the late-night talk show host and debuted his slimmest look yet after losing 200lb. He wore all black for the gig, adding a gold chain to his look. Jelly poked fun at himself on Thursday's episode, treating fans to a parody song made up of insults hurled at him on the Internet. He said: 'I've never been the one to let my haters get me down. So tonight I'm going to debut my brand new single, and this entire song is going to be made up of comments that people have written about me online. Y'all want to hear it?' Some of the digs that made up the song included: 'Being forced to listen to Jelly Roll against my will and it sucks,' 'I used to hate Jelly Roll. I still do,' and 'Jelly Roll looks like a meth addict grabbed a microphone.' The good-humored entertained also quoted a social media snub that said, 'Jelly Roll slimmed the f*** up, lookin' more like a Fruit Roll-Up.' 'I wanna be on the cover of Men's Health by March of 2026. That's my new goal,' he announced five months ago. 'I wanna have one of the biggest transformations.' He added that he was 'so glad' to be having the discussion in front of an audience. 'I did this publicly for a reason. I wanna be honest about my struggles with it with people,' he noted. The musician explained about body image and fame: 'I think that people that become as big as I became, when they lose the weight, they're kind of ashamed. 'They're so ashamed that they go hide and lose the weight, and then they come back out [and] they don't really know how to interact with the world looking different or feeling different, and they kinda gotta find their whole new way. 'I wanted to lose it in front of everybody. I wanted to talk about it.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Jelly Roll (@jellyroll615) Jelly added about losing weight in the spotlight: 'I wanna bring people along with me…I didn't become successful because of my weight. I became successful in spite of it.' He also acknowledged, 'I somehow managed to be this successful with carrying 550 pounds. That's insane.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jennifer Love Hewitt says she was never ‘insecure' until she was shamed for these 2007 photos
Jennifer Love Hewitt can hardly believe what the tabloids said in the early aughts. The actress, 46, was always confident in herself since stepping into Hollywood at age 10. But things shifted in 2007 after photos of her in Hawaii surfaced with the headline 'Stop Calling Me Fat!' 'I just had blind faith in myself,' Hewitt told Vulture in an interview published Friday about growing up. 'I highly recommend it.' The 'Ghost Whisperer' star was gutted after catching wind of the headline. 'I was having the time of my life,' Hewitt recalled. 'I had made up the dumbest song about eating snacks and playing in the ocean, and I was singing it to my boyfriend out loud, doing some weird dance move, and they got the picture and then it was on the cover.' 'I don't think I was ever really insecure until that cover,' she expressed to the outlet. 'And then when it happened, I don't know that I've ever recovered from it.' The paparazzi shots permanently shifted Hewitt's mentality. The 'Client List' actress detailed: 'There's a part of me that's always like, 'Is this version going to be good enough, or is that going to happen again?' Where somebody's going to be like, 'Hey, this is her without makeup at the cleaners. She looks 59.'' As for why that moment in particular was so traumatizing, Hewitt explained, 'Because that was me. I think that's why the insecurity carried on. I don't know if I've even ever put that together for myself other than right now.' 'I think I was like, 'Oh my God, I was myself one time, and this is what happened.'' Luckily, Hewitt's mother, Patricia Mae Hewitt, who died in 2012 after a battle with cancer, was there with words of wisdom. 'She was like, 'You don't get it. You can't win. This is just people having a problem with the version of you they think belongs to them.' And she said, 'Take your power back. Belong to yourself, and don't worry about it.'' Hewitt also touched on becoming a sex symbol in her late teens and early 20s after starring in hits like 1997's 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' 'Can't Hardly Wait' in 1998, and 'Heartbreakers' (2001). 'It bothers me more now than it did at that age because I was in it,' Hewitt stated. 'Before I even knew what sex was, I was a sex symbol. I still don't know that I have that fully defined for myself because it started so weird.' Now, after decades in the industry, the 'Tuxedo' alum has found a home on ABC. Hewitt stars as Maddie Buckley on the ABC drama '9-1-1.' 'I get to be, not ugly, but raw in a way that doesn't matter. I get to put all those little things into her that maybe I didn't notice or get to pay attention to along the way and heal them,' she shared. 'I give that to Maddie constantly.' For Hewitt, it feels like this is the first time since starring in 'Party of Five' in the '90s that people are focused on her work. 'It was the work and then it was the body. And not the body of work,' she reflected. 'Now we're getting back to the work part of it.' Along with playing the beloved 911 operator, Hewitt also stepped back into the shoes of the iconic Julie James. She reprised her role in the new 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' 27 years after the original film debuted in 1997. Hewitt stepped out for the sequel's premiere at LA's United Theater on Broadway on Monday. Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr., who starred in the original project together, turned the premiere into date night. Prinze Jr., 49, reprises his role as Ray Bronson in the sequel. Gellar, 48, played Helen Shivers, who died in the original movie. Despite both being on the carpet, Hewitt and Gellar didn't pose for pictures together. 'For everyone asking — I never got to see @jenniferlovehewitt, who is fantastic in the movie. I was inside with my kids when the big carpet happened. And unfortunately, JLH didn't come to the after-party,' Gellar commented on Instagram Wednesday. The 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' star added, 'If you have ever been to one of these, it's crazy. I sadly didn't get pics with most of the cast. But that doesn't change how amazing I think they all are. Unfortunately, some things happen only in real life and not online.' For her part, Hewitt also shut down rumors of bad blood between the two. 'I haven't seen Sarah,' she told Vulture. 'Literally, we've not talked since I saw her at 18 years old when the first movie came out. That's why it's so funny to me. People were like, 'Say something back.' And I'm like, 'What am I going to say? I've not seen her.' On my side, we're good. I have no idea where this is coming from.' Solve the daily Crossword
