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.
As the NHS was “reluctant to help”, Carlita, who has two boys aged five and three, and a seven-year-old daughter, took the plunge and had a mega mummy makeover to get the body of her dreams.
Carlita gained four stone as a result of her three pregnancies 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 made the decision to splash almost £14,000 on the surgery, which included hernia and muscle repair as well as an extended tummy tuck, breast uplift and implants.
Despite facing judgement from school mums, the mum-of-three set up a specific Instagram account to document her recovery and is keen to talk about her transformation.
Carlita, who works in data management for an electrical distribution company, 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 had been insecure about her looks for decades after being bullied at school from the age of 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.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”I forked out on a mummy makeover but it ruined my sex life – my hubby said I should put him & our 3 kids above my looks” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6356420387112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]“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’
Despite the 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.
[quote credit=”Carlita Boismaison”]I’ve never had a flat stomach. My whole life I’ve always had a pouch[/quote]“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.
“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.
“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, who is engaged to fiancé Alex, 31, toyed with travelling abroad to Turkey for cheap surgery but decided to pay £13,995 at cosmetic clinic 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.”
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.
“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
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.
[quote credit=”Carlita Boismaison”]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[/quote]“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.
“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.”
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.
“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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