I LOST 51 KILOS: Motherhood, Body Image & Pretty Privilege

Vic (0:00)

So, yeah, I got kicked off a ride at Alton Towers. My peak was 130 kilos. My very first school memory is the nursery teacher telling me to get off the slide because I was too heavy. I would never speak to some of my friends how I hear myself talk to myself.

Lucy Hodgkinson (0:17)

You lost 51 kilos, is that right? God!

Vic (0:22)

It's safe to say I got dumped on the spot.

Lucy Hodgkinson (0:25)

Going in super drug on slim fast, remember that.

Vic (0:28)

I had an Ann Diamond weight loss video. Ann Diamond!

Pretty privilege is such a thing, that I fully, you are so invisible. Invisible, invisible. One of them, when you're big. People treat you completely differently when you're smaller, when you're thinner, when you're more in shape. Being a woman in a man's world really pisses men off.

Every post I put about me and Mark, somebody will come and be like, she's a gold digger and he's an idiot. I'm like, babe, where's the gold? She's very quick to pick up on my negative language. She loves her body. She's actually just said to me tonight that she loves her ballerina leg. If you're my friend, I don't care whether you've lost weight by gymming or dabbing. I don't care. If you're happy, or both, whatever. I don't care as long as you're happy.

But I honestly feel like whoever, created the jabs, it could really do with creating one that would stop people being so judgmental. Because I know a load of people that would need to take it. If you'd have asked me this yesterday, I'd have had a really good answer for you, but we've actually not spoken to each other today because I hate him. Mind-busting. Not today, Satan. Leave me be.

Hana (1:51)

Hello and welcome to Becoming Lucy with me, Hana.

Lucy Hodgkinson (1:56)

And me, Lucy.

So, we think a lot of women are going to see themselves somewhere in this episode, because life can quickly become about everybody else. You become someone's partner, somebody's mom, you've got work, a house, children, responsibilities. And without really noticing it happening, you can slowly end up somewhere near the bottom of your own list.

Hana (2:24)

Yeah, and our guest today knows that feeling really well. She became a mom at just 19, has spent years building a family and a business alongside her husband, and for a long time was much more comfortable being the person behind everybody else, rather than taking up space herself.

Lucy Hodgkinson (2:42)

But over the last few years, something shifted. Physically, the transformation is huge and she's lost an incredible 51 kilos. And we're properly going to get into that today.

Where she was at her heaviest, how she felt in herself, what finally made her decide something needed to change, what does she do to lose the weight, and probably even more importantly, what she does now to make sure she doesn't go back there.

Hana (3:10)

Because losing weight is one thing. Maintaining a completely different lifestyle when motivation disappears, life gets chaotic, the kids need you, work is manic, and you just cannot be bothered. That's something else entirely. And we're going to talk about what discipline really looks like in those moments.

Lucy Hodgkinson (3:30)

But there's another side to transformation like this, that you don't always see in a before and after photo. Your body can change enormously. Enormously? Is that a word?

But your head has to automatically change with it. So do you still see the person that you were before? Do you worry about slipping backwards? And what happens when other people start treating you differently because of how you look?

Hana (3:59)

And we're also going to get into motherhood and that guilt so many women feel when they finally start prioritising themselves.

How do you make space for yourself without feeling like you're taking something away from your family? And what are your children learning when they actually watch their mum choose herself?

Lucy Hodgkinson (4:16)

Then there's marriage, running a business with your husband, which apparently can be brilliant. And some people could say occasionally the grounds for divorce.

Putting yourself online, dealing with other people's opinions and building an identity that isn't simply somebody's wife, somebody's mum or the woman behind the business.

Hana (4:35)

Yes, because underneath the weight loss, the business and everything else, we think this episode really comes back to one question. When you spent most of your adult life being everything to everybody else, who are you when you finally start making room for yourself?

Lucy Hodgkinson (4:52)

I'm Vic. Welcome to Becoming Lucy.

Vic (4:55)

Hi, thank you so much for having me. I love that intro.