How does the song go?….”you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone!”

I wish I had appreciated my body in my twenties. I spent the whole time thinking I could have done with losing a few pounds, toning here and there and generally feeling there was plenty of room for improvement. Ask any lady – we’re all pretty much the same. We could all name a few areas of our body that we’re just not happy with. Back then when my legs were leaner, boobs were pert and I could almost pull off a two piece -I just wasn’t happy with it!

I was convinced that cosmetic surgery was for the lazy, I felt if I actually wanted to be thinner I could eat less and exercise more. Back then if I’d given up booze I’d have been a size 8. I almost cringe at the naivety of it all – oh how time and experience change you (Thankfully for the better!).

A decade and two pregnancies later and a couple of stints of breast feeding and my body is ravaged! I have a muffin top Gok Wan would be proud of, even my stretch marks have stretch marks and no matter how much weight I lose my tummy will always have too much skin, all bent out of shape. My boobs are like empty sacks, all the pertness drained from them. I can cope with the boobs, a good bra can mask most of the issues I have with them. It’s my tummy that offends me! I’m the thinnest and fittest I’ve ever been, and I feel like it doesn’t belong to me. No matter how many sit ups I do, it just doesn’t make any difference.

For the first time ever the way I feel these days I’d consider going under the knife, removing the stretched skin and starting afresh. I no longer think surgery is for the lazy, I think it’s for the brave – The people who recognise that they’re not happy and have worked out how to fix it. We should all be so lucky. Now all I need it the courage to take the leap!