My 42DD boobs looked like two deflated balloons after I lost 9st – I gasped at hubby’s holiday pic of them & took action

LYING on a sunbed and soaking up the rays in a skimpy bikini, Leia Gendre had never felt happier or sexier. But when her husband, Tim, bent down to show her a cheeky snap he’d just taken, she was so horrified that she instantly made a decision that would change her life – and her looks – for good. Leia Gendre lost 9st following gastric sleeve surgery, taking her from a size 24 to an 8-10 Credit: Supplied Leia says her 42DD boobs had shrunk to 32DD “empty sacs” following her weight loss Credit: Supplied After losing an impressive 9st following gastric sleeve surgery, Leia, 42, had been left with a trim size 8 – 10 physique. But in that moment, she realised that her once voluptuous 32DD bust had shrunk into two “empty sacs”. Leia, a nurse and mum-of-two from Peacehaven, East Sussex, says: “As I turned over onto my front to let the sun soak into my back, Tim stood in front of me and snapped a photo. “But when he showed it to me, I was absolutely gutted. ‘Oh my goodness – just look at them’, I gasped, my eyes glued to my bust. “I’d never seen my boobs from that angle before. They were hanging like two deflated balloons. “Tim told me I looked great, but I felt anything but. The old familiar shame about my body crept back in. It was 2020, and Leia and Tim, 47, a gas engineer, were on a family holiday in Limoges, France, with their children, where she was enjoying showing off her new trim figure by the pool. After trying a lot of different diets, Leia flew to Riga in Latvia and had a mini gastric bypass, left after surgery and right before Credit: Supplied After her weight loss, Leia started dating neighbour Tim Credit: Supplied Two years before, after decades of struggling with her weight, 18st Leia travelled to a clinic in Latvia for bariatric surgery. “I’d spent years feeling unattractive and hiding behind baggy clothes and my sense of humour,” she says. “Sometimes I’d look in the mirror, and I’d barely recognise the size 24 woman staring back at me. “I’d tried and failed at every diet going. I’d tried Weight Watchers, Slimming World, calorie counting, and fasting. “I’d lose a couple of stone, but then it would always go straight back on with some extra. “I was a comfort eater and thought maybe I was always destined to be big.” “I was eating huge quantities of chocolate, crisps, party snack food, and cakes constantly throughout the day. “It was due to a mix of boredom and self-loathing eating – I’d comfort eat to try and cheer myself up, and I’d feel great for an hour, but then the guilt and shame would set in, so it was a vicious circle.” Leia bumped into her old friend Lucy on a dog walk and was stunned by her weight loss transformation. She says: “She looked fantastic. She told me she’d had a gastric operation at a clinic called Weight Loss Riga in Latvia. “It was a lightbulb moment for me. I knew that if I wanted to change my life for the better and be a role model for my kids, Jaxon, ten, Max, five, I had to have it too. Leia now goes to the gym four or five times a week and has changed the way she eats Credit: Supplied “A gastric bypass can be up to £15,000, and the wait on the NHS would be too long, so I booked myself in at the same clinic for a mini gastric bypass, which uses a single surgical connection instead of a double connection. “And it’s also reversible if needed, which the gastric bypass isn’t. It cost me £5,000.” On August 23rd, 2021, Leia flew out to Riga, leaving her children with her mum Lynn, 72, a retired hospital ward clerk. “I was nervous before the op, which took three hours, and I woke up feeling groggy, but it was the start of the new me,” she says. “The surgery went well, and I flew home two days later. There was no post op pain. “My recovery was straightforward. To start with, I was only able to sip protein milkshakes, but then I moved on to pureed veg and tiny meals. “I also started walking around the block to get some exercise and joined a gym. “I started just walking each day, then I introduced light weights for my shoulders, legs and arms. “Then three months after surgery, I introduced some abs work. I was also kickboxing from four weeks onwards – although I couldn’t kick as high as I had been. “Luckily, a good friend of mine was a PT, so she helped me all the way through.Seeing the numbers on the scales drop from week to week kept me going. “I was losing roughly a stone a month, and I got loads of positive comments from family and friends about my weight loss which was really encouraging.” A year later, Leia started chatting to a handsome neighbour called Tim. “I’d never met him before; we had only passed on the stairs of our block of flats. He had been previously married at a young age, but was no longer married, and he had a daughter, 29,” she says. “I was attracted to him – he was tall, dark and very manly and instead of finding an excuse to slink away like I would have done before the op, I stayed and chatted. “He was a fellow dog lover and invited me on a walk with his two collies, Megan and Murphy. I didn’t hesitate to say yes.” After joining him on a few early morning walks along with her two Shih Tzus called Jessie and Jones, the pair went on a date to a local restaurant, and sparks flew. “It felt so comfortable that straight away romance blossomed and we became an item,” she says. “We moved in together 12 months later. I was open with Tim about my surgery. By then I’d lost 9st in total and felt great. I told him he’d definitely got a better version of me as I was half the size I’d been, with twice the self-confidence.” But it was during that holiday in 2020 that Leia realised that she hadn’t just lost several inches around her waist – she’d lost her boobs, too. “Of course, I knew my boobs had shrunk,” she says. “Whereas I’d once been a bouncy 42DD, I was now a 32DD. “My breasts looked shrivelled, and what was once full was now just empty, saggy skin.” Thanks to the amount of exercise Leia had done to tone her body, her stomach, thighs and arms had no excess skin. The 5 best exercises to lose weight By Lucy Gornall, personal trainer and health journalist EXERCISE can be intimidating and hard to devote yourself to. So how do you find the right workout for you? As a PT and fitness journalist, I’ve tried everything. I’ve taken part in endless fitness competitions, marathons and I maintain a regime of runs, strength training and Pilates. Fitness is so entrenched in my life, I stick to it even at Christmas! The key is finding an activity you love that can become a habit. My top five forms of exercise, especially if you’re trying to lose weight, are: Walking Running Pilates High-intensity interval training (HIIT) Strength training But after seeing that unflattering snap, she says she was adamant her “saggy sacks” had to go. “Five years after the snap was taken, I headed back to the clinic for breast implants and an uplift,” she says. “It cost £5,000, and I had some post op swelling, so I had to go back for a correction two months later. “It was painful for the first two weeks after the surgery, and I had to wear support bras and sleep sitting up for 12 weeks. “I paid for the operation with some savings I had, and my nan gave me some money towards it too. “They did an amazing job, and I was left with a stunning pair of 32Ds. “Tim absolutely loves my new boobs. It has boosted our love life as he can’t get enough of them, and it makes me feel sexier. “Not long after, on 23rd August 2025, Tim and I got married at a local venue, which is a campsite in the woods. We had a big marquee and BBQ for 120 guests. “Wearing a lace-top gown with a plunging neckline, I felt beautiful as I married the man of my dreams. We had a mini three-day honeymoon in Munich afterwards.” Now, when Leia goes on holiday, she says she slips into her bikini with pride. “We haven’t been away on a summer holiday this year, but we live right near the beach, so I’ve almost lived in my bikini. “I even find myself doing a double take in the mirror,” she admits. “It’s hard to believe it’s really me.” Leia says she’s not just slim, but she’s strong, too. “I’m at the gym four or five times a week, building muscle,” she says. “It’s taken discipline and dedication to get where I am today, and I’ve completely overhauled the way I eat, too. “Before my surgery, breakfast would be a tin of beans on two slices of toast with cheese, then for lunch I’d have a sandwich, crisps, and a chocolate bar. “And dinner would be a big bowl of tuna pasta, with garlic bread. “Now my breakfast is Greek yoghurt and fruit, for lunch I’ll have a rice cake, cream cheese and fruit, and for dinner, steak and veg. “But it’s much smaller portions now. “That picture on the sunbed of my saggy boobs was upsetting and a real wake-up call, but now I’m proud of myself and my body. “Tim loves the bones of me – and I finally love myself too.”