Being followed around by a TV crew every moment of every day would be too much for most people. Now imagine baring your body – breasts and all – for a cosmetic surgery reality show and you’ll have some idea of Levin mum-of-three Karen Sebire’s honest and emotional journey.
As the 46-year-old confidently chats away, happily revealing her recent surgical scars, it’s hard to imagine that five years ago, she was 60kg heavier and utterly miserable.
In 2010, Karen tipped the scales at 130kg. But it wasn’t until she was diagnosed with multiple food intolerances that she realised something needed to drastically change.
“I was tested for a whole heap of food intolerances which was the first massive lightbulb moment – gluten intolerance, no dairy, sugar, wheat, yeast, rye,” recounts Karen.
Inspired by a friend’s weight-loss journey, Karen, who works as a finance trainer for the New Zealand Defence Force, finally enrolled in Dr Cohen’s Lifestyle Program, which controversially does not allow exercise, rather prescribing six wholesome meals a day.
Six years ago, Karen tipped the scales at 130kg.
Over the next five years, she experienced many ups and downs with her progress.
“In 2010, I lost about 40kg and then I just hit the wall and I was stuck and so the weight slowly crept back on. At 113kg, I just went, ‘This is crazy! I just need to get it together.’ And I put my foot down and was relentless,” she recalls with a laugh.
In the nine months that followed, the star of Levin’s roller derby scene stuck to a healthy diet programme and found that the weight just fell off.
“I lost about five kilos a month. In the first month, I lost 11.5kg, but after that it was a really steady progression,” she says. But when she reached her goal weight of 69kg, Karen still wasn’t happy – she now had excess skin and deflated breasts.
She always intended on having a breast augmentation after the weight-loss because her breasts felt “empty”, but a friend spurred her into having it televised.
She relaxes post-op at a resort in Thailand.
“For me, it was a no-brainer, I didn’t think too hard about that. I tend to jump before I look where I’m going to land, which is quite a good way to live actually,” she says with a laugh and a shrug.
Eagerly she applied for a role on the reality television show Beauty and the Beach, where ordinary people are given the opportunity to travel to Thailand to undergo life-changing plastic surgery.
But despite her newfound confidence, Karen nearly gave up on the idea when she struggled to fill in the application form section that asked why she deserved this experience.
“I struggle to have something if someone else is going to miss out. So I thought what if I turn the question around – what if the question becomes ‘Why don’t you deserve this opportunity?’ I couldn’t think of a reason. I’d worked really hard and I try to be kind and courteous to others, so why shouldn’t I have this opportunity? And then it was like, this is a no-brainer – I deserve it!”
Over eight weeks, Karen went to Phuket twice, firstly to have a breast lift and augmentation and a tummy tuck, and returning a few weeks later to have a thigh lift – without the thigh lift, Karen felt “half-finished”. She says she wanted to feel like the complete package.
While having plastic surgery in Thailand may seem risky for some, Karen said she had no concerns at all.
“If I’m going die, I’m going to die. If my time’s up, my time’s up. And it doesn’t matter if I’m on a table having surgery in Thailand or if I’m crossing the road and get hit by a bus in New Zealand. It doesn’t matter where in the world I am,” she laughs.
Having a television crew in her face for weeks on end didn’t bother Karen either, in fact, she says she loved it!
Now, the 46-year-old is a star on Levin’s roller derby scene.
“It was so good! I cried, laughed and cried. And the film crew were kind and courteous.” Karen says the film crew became part of her journey and went through the whole experience alongside her.
The only time she ever felt a twang of nerves was when her stitches were removed.
“I obviously had a glimmer of apprehension – I’m completely naked and the cameraman is filming. But he just gently touched the bottom of my leg as if to say ‘It’s okay,’” she recalls fondly.
Friends and colleagues take a moment to recognise the Levin woman these days!
Returning from her second stint in Thailand on her 46th birthday in early December, Karen describes the procedures as “the best birthday and best Christmas presents ever!”
And now? She says that her friends and colleagues don’t even recognise her.
“I’ll be walking down the street and I’ll have people saying, ‘Karen?’ as if to say, ‘Is that you?’ and then they all go, ‘Oh, my God! That is you. I didn’t recognise you,’” she beams proudly.
“I am comfortable now when I look at my body in the mirror, when before I’d want to get dressed in the dark. I’d avoid the mirror until I had clothes on and then I’d look in the mirror, but for only as long as I’d really have to.”
While she knows cosmetic surgery is daunting for many, Karen can only give it a glowing recommendation.
“I know it’s not for everybody, but for me, I realised for you to grow as a person, the only way you can do it is to step out of your comfort zone.”
Words: Pheobe McCreath
