Actress and film director Gugu Gumede has opened up about losing 30 kilograms after she had a gastric sleeve.

GRIEF

She said she wanted to open up a bit more about her grief, weight issues and having her first child.

Gugu lost his mother Zanele Magwaza-Msibi in 2021 after suffering a stroke in 2014."Those who know me, know that in September 2021, I lost my mother, unexpectedly, and I took a huge break from social media and became disengaged. The content I was posting was work-related," she said adding that when her mom passed away she was four months pregnant.

"After that, I never managed to come back and show a lot of myself. I just had my child and kind of shielded her. I didn't want people to come into our own little bubble and I just stayed in it." she said.  

She admitted that it became difficult to come out of the shell, especially once you have closed the world off. "That's what happened to me. I was going through a lot of things and I realised that I wanted to open up a bit more in 2024. I am not the type of person that will open up fully but I want to open up more," Gugu said.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

When she was in her bubble, Gugu said she started gaining weight. "That also came from me stopping to breastfeed. No one told me that if I stopped, I would be at risk of gaining weight," she said. She added that she gained about 15kg and that she was unhappy with her weight. "Physically I didn't feel good,and my feet would hurt. I would go to bed and night and my heart would be pounding. I was so scared because I had high blood pressure, which unfortunately runs in my family," she added. "I knew that I was now at high risk of becoming a chronic patient."

LOSING WEIGHT

Gugu has since lost 30kg as she was scared that she could lose her life and leave her child behind. "I knew I had to do something. The life I live as an actress and director is very busy. Set life is amazing, we have fun, but the schedule is tough." 

With night shoots, she did not have much time to herself. She would come home and want to bond with her child and have no time to exercise. "I would wake up very early in the morning to fit in some exercise, shower then get ready for work," she said. "But I wasn't seeing a lot of movement and I was eating a lot." She wanted to stop her eating habits and did research and decided to get the gastric sleeve, a surgical weight loss procedure that involves removing the stomach by 75 to 80% to reduce food consumption. "I wanted the portion control to be there. I didn't want to just lose weight and have an issue of portion control. I needed that help and decided to get it done." she added. Gugu said she is happy about losing 30kg in four months. "It has been a tough journey. It was a drastic decision but one I had to take to be happier and live longer." She advised that it's not the same for everyone,and everyone's operation success is different.