ERIKA Rose Sanders has revealed she went under the knife for a body transformation after weight loss injections left her with lop-sided breasts and loose belly skin.
The Bachelor and Below Deck star invited The U.S. Sun behind the scenes as she embarked on a mommy-makeover with renowned Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr Payman Danielpour.
Erika pictured here in 2012 when she starred in ABC’s Bachelor Pad show[/caption]
Erika said semaglutide, pregnancy and weight loss left her with uneven breasts and crinkly belly skin[/caption]
She underwent a breast augmentation and mini tummy tuck[/caption]
Erika, 42, underwent breast enlargement and a mini tummy tuck and says the surgery has helped her become a better mom – as she’s now confident enough to play with her kids at the pool.
The lawyer, who has two daughters, Holland, 9, and Aspen, 7, said she had a breast reduction and lift in 2019 after breast feeding left them saggy.
She said this left her boobs smaller and uneven, then after taking the weight loss injection semaglutide to drop the pounds, it became even more pronounced – and she ended up with one boob smaller than the other.
Dr Danielpour had to use different sized implant to even her boobs out – and she now loves her 34DDD breasts, saying they look better than before she had kids.
Erika said: “My boobs were weirdly uneven sizes. Trust me, it was a lot.
“Dr Danielpour told me that when you lose weight on semaglutide – it can do that to you.
“So I had to have two different size implants and a lift.
“I also did not need or want a full tummy tuck because I like my belly button.
“So he just went in through my C-section scar and did a mini tummy tuck. It was more about him getting rid of this crepe-y skin.
“It was a skin that had formed from losing weight, the skin had kind of like a wrinkly appearance, right below my belly button above my C-section scar.
“I’m so pleased with my body now – my boobs look better than before having kids. I just feel great. My confidence is back.
“I just feel like now when I go with my kids to the pool, they say, ‘Mommy, you actually love playing with us in the pool, splashing and having fun’.
Erika had to have two different sized implants to even her boobs out[/caption]
Erika with surgeon to the stars Dr Payman Danielpour[/caption]
Erika, pictured here in 2012, wanted to return to her pre-baby body[/caption]
“My kids are so happy about it because I used to feel self-conscious when I would take my kids to the pool and it didn’t matter that I had gotten so skinny from the semaglutide because I didn’t feel confident.
“I’ve actually put on some weight in a healthy way and I’m back to my perfect, ideal body weight.
“It just makes me feel like a happier mom when I take my kids to the pool. I think it’s really healthy for moms to do this.
“And that’s why I want to share my journey. I think when you feel your best because it does make you a better mom.”
Erika said she was shocked after she started to develop uneven-sized boobs after she started taking the non-branded GLP-1 agonist medication – the drug used in Ozempic and Wegovy injections – for weight loss.
Erika said: “People need to know that with semaglutide it can cause one boob to lose more than the other boob and that’s why people call it Ozempic boobs. That’s what happened to me.
“Then there was the crepey skin on my stomach. It was like someone in their 60s, which is beautiful in your 60s, but me I’m 42 years old.
“I don’t need to look like I’m that old. So I was feeling self-conscious for that reason.”
‘Too skinny’
Erika also said the semaglutide medication made her “too skinny” for her frame.
Her weight plummeted to 125 pounds, which she said with her 5ft 8 frame, was too low.
It also left her with loose skin on her abdomen and started to impact her face.
Erika said: “I was actually way skinnier before the surgery but in a terrible way.
“For me, semaglutide made me lose too much weight; I lost my appetite completely.
“But I also think that after my breast reduction I felt pressure to become skinny because I no longer had my curvy body type, which is my natural body type.
“I’m almost five foot eight and I got down to 125 pounds, which for me personally and my body type was too skinny. It didn’t look good and I didn’t like it. I didn’t feel like myself.
“Also, when you’re over 40, I don’t think it’s good for your face to get too skinny.
“Lots of people complain about Ozempic face. When I went to my nurse injector, she told me that some people get a facelift because of it.
“I just thought ‘no way’ that’s why I quit taking my semaglutide.”
Erika shows off the results of her body transformation with daughter Holland[/caption]
She says she loves her new post surgery body[/caption]
Dressed as Julia Roberts in pretty woman for a Halloween party after the surgery[/caption]
After surgery, she was cleared to start on a very low maintenance dose of Mounjaro, to help maintain her weight.
And she’s found the drug – a different type of GLP-1 agonist – has given her some surprising health benefits.
Erika said: “Before I had high cholesterol and high blood pressure, now I don’t, and I also had asthma which has been helped by that. It’s very crazy.
“I had allergies that have been cured by it. I also had Hashimoto’s thyroid, which the Mounjaro has helped cure.
“There’s been a lot of positive health benefits, so I don’t take it for weight loss anymore. I take it for like health benefits and weight maintenance.”
Erika said she was inspired to have her mommy makeover by some of her closest friends, including Brandi Glanville, who still have great bodies after having kids.
Motherhood’s a beautiful sacrifice, but we are still allowed to look and feel our best.”
Erika Rose
“Brandi and some of my other mom friends have really beautiful bodies and they’re older than me,” she said.
“I was like, ‘My body looks older than your bodies’. I was telling them that.
“It’s not about being competitive, but they’re mothers and they were like, ‘We get it’.”
“You know, we’ve been through this journey. Motherhood’s a beautiful sacrifice, but we are still allowed to look and feel our best.”
Erika Rose is no stranger to plastic surgery as her father is a plastic surgeon.
Originally she had wanted him to do the surgery, but as he didn’t want to operate on his own daughter – she made the trip to Dr Danielpour and Dr Lakey at the Beverly Hills Plastic Surgery Group in Los Angeles.
Erika, pictured with husband Chuck, and girls Holland and Aspen shows off her new boobs at her daughter’s birthday party[/caption]
Erika loves that she can play with her kids in the pool without feeling self conscious[/caption]
Erika also underwent CellSound to further tone up her tummy after the surgery[/caption]
Erika said: “Dr Danielpour made me feel so comfortable, and I loved the results I’d seen from his previous surgeries.
“He’s also a father, so he understands what women go through after having kids.
“All the females that work in his office, they made me feel so comfortable. And for me, that was really important.
“I also love the fact that I could get this surgery done in his office rather than a hospital.”
‘Proud of my boobs’
She said the recovery from the surgery was “so easy” and she was immediately overjoyed with the results.
“Usually I wake up grouchy from the anaesthesia but this time I was so happy,” Erika added.
“The only thing I wanted when I woke up was for my husband to bring me a latte. That was my only request – it was funny.
“My husband said also when I woke up right away I was proud of my boobs – that’s the first thing I said.
“The recovery was so easy. Having had two C-sections, I have a high pain tolerance and I had been told the recovery was easier than a reduction.
“I was so happy after my surgery that I did not feel any pain.
“I was out running around with my friends two days later in LA. We were going to the Waldorf for drinks and having great time.”
Shortly after the surgery, Erika also underwent the skin tightening procedure CellSound, which she said really boosted her healing times.
Now five months post surgery, Erika says she encourages any other moms considering surgery to: “Go for it”.
She says her daughters have been a huge part of her journey and blasts anyone who might think it’s selfish for moms to have cosmetic procedures.
Erika said: “I’m very open with my daughters. They know that I love them, I love having children and they are the most important girls in my life but they are happier that I am happier. They are like ‘Yay mom’.
“I want other moms to realize having plastic surgery is the opposite of being selfish because the happier you are, the better mom you are going to be especially if you are not happy in a bathing suit.
‘Fun mom’
“You are not going to be that fun mom at the pool throwing your kids in the air if you are self-conscious.
“They were really inspired by my process. It’s not that I’m encouraging them to ever get surgery at a young age, but my dad is a surgeon, so my children have grown up around surgeries.
“They know they were c-section babies and they’ve seen videos of their birth.
“I think other moms should not ever feel self-centred for doing this.
“My husband was very supportive, and I know not everyone has a supportive spouse. I do kind of think it’s so rude if you have someone’s babies and they’re not supporting you doing your surgery.
“I did it when my children were old enough. They don’t remember when I got my breast reduction, they were too young.
“But they know this story, my daughter came with me to my consult. She loved being a part of the process and she might even be a plastic surgeon when she’s older.
“My mom was a big part of my process too because with my dad being a plastic surgeon and my mom being a former model, she’s all about looking and feeling your best at any age.
“So that’s kind of like the philosophy inside my family.
“I’m glad that somebody wanted to hear my story and to inspire other moms because other moms inspired me.
“I have met other moms on Instagram that I became friends with that were showing themselves getting their mommy makeovers. It’s not selfish and if anyone calls any of us selfish we’ll all be there to scream back at them.”
She also appeared in spin off the Bachelor Pad in 2011[/caption]
Erika, far left back row, appeared in the 9th season of the Bachelor in 2006[/caption]
