AFTER spending six days a week working out in the gym, but still not seeing the results she desperately wanted, Carlita Boismaison finally went under the knife to say goodbye to her apron belly.
The mum-of-three, 34, from Lancaster, was fed up with her self-proclaimed “pouch” and was eager to fix her “deflated” boobs.
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But while the NHS were “reluctant to help”, Carlita, who has two boys, five and three, and a seven-year-old daughter, took the plunge and had a mega mummy makeover to get her body of dreams.
Carlita, who has been pregnant three times, gained four stone as a result and was left with an overhanging belly, two hernias and muscle separation.
And after a decline in her mental health, which left her feeling “delated”, the busy mum, who works in data management for an electrical distribution company and was bullied at school for her appearance, made the decision to splash almost £14,000 on the gruelling surgery.
Carlita, who is engaged to fiancé Alex, 31, spent £13,995 on the surgery, which included hernia and muscle repair as well as an extended tummy tuck, breast uplift and implants.
Read more surgery stories
And despite facing judgement from school mums, the mum-of-three, who even has a specific Instagram account – @mymummymakeoveruk_mrprasad – to document her recovery, is keen to open up on her surgery transformation – and how it’s sent her confidence through the roof.
Carlita exclusively tells Fabulous: “I breastfed all three of my babies and my boobs were quite deflated. I’d always had large breasts but after breastfeeding my third and losing weight, they were sagging with very loose skin.
“I’ve never had a flat stomach. My whole life I’ve always had a pouch.”
Carlita has been insecure about her looks for decades, after facing school bullying about her looks from the age of just 11.
She recalls: “Girls can be cruel and nasty unfortunately, can’t they? I got bullied for my looks and got called Scarlita for the scar on my face – which I got from a freak accident when a glass bottle exploded and hit my face when I was two-years-old.
“I’ve never been a skinny girl. I’m quite curvy naturally and I developed quite quickly – I went through puberty quite a bit younger than a lot of my friends.
“When I first started high school, at 11, I was an E-cup. Older girls would be quite negative about it towards me, calling me ‘fat’ and just general name calling.
“At the time it was horrendous, it wasn’t nice. I did have to move schools because of it.”
‘This needs sorting’
But despite the school bullies, Carlita never wanted to change her body, until she got pregnant with her third child.
Opening up on her body image, Carlita shares: “It’s never bothered me really, but when I got pregnant with my daughter, I got really bad abdominal separation.
I’ve never had a flat stomach. My whole life I’ve always had a pouch
Carlita Boismaison
“I had a natural birth with her and afterwards I noticed there was that little bit of overhang.
“When I got pregnant with my second, my middle boy, I knew there was something wrong.
“I had a lot of pain and over the years I was backwards and forwards to the doctors. They weren’t very helpful.
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“After I had my third baby, I was like, ‘this needs sorting’. I had C-sections with both my boys, so the overhang, apron belly, got worse.
“I went back to the doctors, had an ultrasound and they said it was a hernia.
“I then went to see a specialist consultant and he was so rude and awful to me, he said it was because I was overweight from having my baby.
“But I had a CT scan and it showed I had two hernias coming from my abdominal wall and that I would need surgery.
“A mummy makeover had always been on my radar from my very first child but obviously I wanted to wait until I’d finished having children.
“The NHS said they would only repair my hernias, obviously they wouldn’t do the tummy tuck.”
Weight loss mission
At this point, after giving birth to her third child, Carlita was four stone heavier than she had ever been, topping the scales at 13 stone 3lbs.
But before going under the knife, she was on a mission to lose weight first.
She says: “I wanted to keep myself healthier, so I got back into the gym. I lost four stone in the first year just through exercise and a calorie deficit.
“I went a lot skinnier than I actually wanted to, and I was proud of myself for the weight that I’d lost but I got really deflated if I’m honest.
The NHS 12-step plan to help you lose weight
FROM faddy diets to dodgy detoxes – most of us have heard it all before when it comes to weight loss.
But burning fat can be easy and mostly free.
In fact, the NHS has a whole load of medically-approved tips for weight loss and shedding body fat once and for all…
- Don’t skip breakfast
Skipping breakfast will not help you lose weight. You could miss out on essential nutrients and you may end up snacking more throughout the day because you feel hungry. - Eat regular meals
Eating at regular times during the day helps burn calories at a faster rate. It also reduces the temptation to snack on foods high in fat and sugar. - Eat plenty of fruit and veg
Fruit and veg are low in calories and fat, and high in fibre – 3 essential ingredients for successful weight loss. They also contain plenty of vitamins and minerals. - Get more active
Being active is key to losing weight and keeping it off. As well as providing lots of health benefits, exercise can help burn off the excess calories you cannot lose through diet alone. - Drink lots of water
People sometimes confuse thirst with hunger. You can end up consuming extra calories when a glass of water is really what you need. - Eat high fibre foods
Foods containing lots of fibre can help keep you feeling full, which is perfect for losing weight. Fibre is only found in food from plants, such as fruit and veg, oats, wholegrain bread, brown rice and pasta, and beans, peas and lentils. - Read food labels
Knowing how to read food labels can help you choose healthier options. Use the calorie information to work out how a particular food fits into your daily calorie allowance on the weight loss plan. - Use a smaller plate
Using smaller plates can help you eat smaller portions. By using smaller plates and bowls, you may be able to gradually get used to eating smaller portions without going hungry. It takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain it’s full, so eat slowly and stop eating before you feel full. - Don’t ban foods
Do not ban any foods from your weight loss plan, especially the ones you like. Banning foods will only make you crave them more. There’s no reason you cannot enjoy the occasional treat as long as you stay within your daily calorie allowance. - Don’t stock junk food
To avoid temptation, do not stock junk food – such as chocolate, biscuits, crisps and sweet fizzy drinks – at home. Instead, opt for healthy snacks, such as fruit, unsalted rice cakes, oat cakes, unsalted or unsweetened popcorn, and fruit juice. - Cut down on alcohol
A standard glass of wine can contain as many calories as a piece of chocolate. Over time, drinking too much can easily contribute to weight gain. - Plan your meals
Try to plan your breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for the week, making sure you stick to your calorie allowance. You may find it helpful to make a weekly shopping list.
“No matter how much I tried at the gym, no matter how much I exercised, no matter how well I ate, whether I was doing weight training, cardio, nothing was getting rid of my stomach. That overhang was there and there was no getting rid of it.
“I felt really deflated and my mental health had started to be affected. It put a dark cloud over all the hard work that I’d done.
“So that’s when I knew this sort of surgery was going to be the only option.”
Under the knife
Carlita toyed with travelling abroad to Turkey for cheap surgery, but then decided on Pall Mall instead.
She confesses: “A lot of the girls that I’d followed on Instagram and stuff had it done in Turkey. I did have a couple of consultations over the phone with Turkish surgeons but for me there’s just that uncertainty of going abroad.”
What are the risks of getting surgery abroad?
IT’S important to do your research if you’re thinking about having cosmetic surgery abroad.
It can cost less than in the UK, but you need to weigh up potential savings against the potential risks.
Safety standards in different countries may not be as high.
No surgery is risk-free. Complications can happen after surgery in the UK or abroad.
If you have complications after an operation in the UK, the surgeon is responsible for providing follow-up treatment.
Overseas clinics may not provide follow-up treatment, or they may not provide it to the same standard as in the UK.
Also, they may not have a healthcare professional in the UK you can visit if you have any problems.
Source: NHS
Five and a half hours after the mega surgery, Carlita slimmed down from a size 10 to a size 8, whilst her boobs boosted from a 34C to a 34E.
Now 15 weeks post-op and weighing just 10 stone 5lbs, Carlita reflects: “They took 1.1kg of fat and skin from my tummy.
“I’ve got quite a high pain threshold but the first five days after surgery were difficult. I think I personally underestimated it, it was almost impossible to move for a couple of days.
“The pain was manageable with pain relief. It was more that sort of uncomfortableness and not being able to get out of bed, relying on quite a bit of help to do things.
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“I struggled with not being able to stand up straight. You’re very, very hunched over for about two and a half weeks and I found that difficult mentally.
“Also sometimes during the recovery, you feel as though you’re alone, like you’re the only person going through it.
“Those first two weeks are very long and they are tough, so you do feel quite isolated.”
Huge confidence boost
And despite having fluid leaking from her boob and a large scar from hip to hip, now Carlita is thrilled with her results.
She beams: “Now I feel amazing, I feel a million dollars. I don’t have my pouch anymore and my scars don’t bother me.
In the gym I always wore leggings and a loose T-shirt whereas now I can go with my leggings and my sports bra. I don’t need to worry about a cover up
Carlita Boismaison
“I’m a confident person. People are very complimentary, they’ll say, ‘you look amazing, you look really good’.
“Just being able to wear a pair of lighter coloured gym leggings, and not being able to see that overhang or that roll underneath.
“It’s being able to wear a dress and not think, ‘do I need to wear spanx?’
“Now if I don’t want to wear a bra I can get away with not wearing one.
“My body image and my confidence has been massively boosted, it’s amazing.
“I’ve always worn high-waisted bikinis or swimming costumes. I’ve never worn small string bikinis, but now I can.
“I found it really difficult to find trendy bikinis that were high-waisted and covered all my insecurities, whereas now I can go to any shop and pick up any bikini and wear them.
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.
“In the gym I always wore leggings and a loose T-shirt whereas now I can go with my leggings and my sports bra. I don’t need to worry about a cover up.
“I felt guilty for the financial cost [of the surgery], spending all that money on myself.
“But a happy mum is a happy child in my eyes and if your mental health is not great because you’re down about the way you look, then if you can do something to get that better, I don’t see why not.”
Judgement from school mums
She understands that people will judge her for having surgery, but says it is misplaced.
She suggests: “I think we’re all warped into this feeling that cosmetic surgery is excessive and only for vanity.
“I’m a normal mum on the school run, I’m not a celebrity, I’m not an influencer. I’m not anything like that and you kind of associate those types of surgeries with those types of people.
“When I talk about it with school mums, there’s that little judgement of ‘oh, you’ve had plastic surgery’.
“Most school mums, friends and family are more intrigued than judgemental once they understand my reasons, but yes there have been a few comments about vanity or safety.”
Despite this, Carlita explains: “I believe in educating people and breaking the stigma around plastic surgery.”
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And for those considering a mummy makeover, Carlita suggests: “Don’t have it done because you think you want to look like somebody else, or because you think you should look that way.
“Only have it done for yourself and to make yourself feel better, and only have it done when you are 100% positive that that’s what you want.
There have been a few comments about vanity or safety
Carlita Boismaison
“I don’t feel like anybody should feel like they need surgery. But if it is something you really want, then I’m pro choice.
“My surgery was not for anyone else. It was for me. I’ve never felt pressured by anyone.
“I think you should be able to make that decision and not feel bad for it and not be judged for it.
“My only regret is not getting it done sooner.”
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