Cape Town – Actress and director Gugu Gumede has revealed her weight loss secret, saying she underwent vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgery on January 29.
She discussed her struggles with weight gain after breastfeeding, which impacted her health, leading to high blood pressure and physical discomfort.
“I just got to this place where I was just so unhappy. I was unhappy with the weight, and with how I felt physically. I didn’t feel good, my feet would hurt. I literally would go to bed at night and my heart would be pounding so much, and I was so scared because I had high blood pressure. I knew that I was now at a high risk of becoming a chronic patient.
“I wanted to get the gastric sleeve because I wanted to limit the amount of food I was eating,” Gugu said on her YouTube channel on Monday
She lost 20kg in two months post-surgery and expressed happiness with the results, although the journey was initially tough.
“It has been a very tough journey at first, but now honestly I am not finding it difficult. I had a difficult three days about two weeks post-op. I struggled mentally because I was like, what in the world did I just do to myself, did I just ruin my life?
“I was just seeing people binge eating on set and I knew I was never going to be able to do that again. But then I realised why I did this and realised what a beautiful gift I had given myself. I’m so much happier, I feel so much lighter, and my blood pressure is now regulated. It’s normal.”
She said that while surgery may not be for everyone, it significantly improved her health and well-being.
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