While it’s easy to be defeated by the unkind remarks of others, Real Housewives of Atlanta star Drew Sidora turned hurtful comments about her body into motivation to get snatched.
In a recent interview with Us Weekly, the 36-year-old reality star got real about how body-shaming comments impacted her, including from her cast mate Kenya Moore, and her decision to get a “mommy makeover.”
“I did everything. I did a whole mommy makeover. It was like the [whole] package,” she shared. “Like, boobs back in place — you know, make them a little smaller cause I was having neck issues — and then I had a hernia and so they did a hernia repair and a tummy tuck.”
The White Chicks actress also shared how despite getting off to a rocky start with Moore, she hoped to start the new season on a clean slate. “I kind of didn’t remember why we were upset at each other,” she reflects. “I just know there were things that she said that were hurtful to me and [were] body shaming. And I just felt like last season, I was on defense a lot and it didn’t give me a fair opportunity for everyone to really get to know me.”
While the comments around body shaming did affect Sidora, she went on to reveal that the adversity, in turn, gave her the chance to speak on her underlying health issues that “a lot of people don’t know” about.
“[The show] gave me an opportunity to talk about my diagnosis, which was a form of endometriosis called adenomyosis,” she said. “The last episode, I was dealing with really bad cramps. Throughout the season I was taking pain medication for these intense cramps and I was like, ‘I don’t want to go through that this time.’”
Having gone through such extreme pain over the years, Sidora decided that she would explore options for relief after being advised by Married to Medicine star Dr. Jackie Walters of the severity of her condition.
“And once I went and had that surgery, I was like, ‘well can we just put everything back where it should be?’”
Happy with her results, the mother and wife went on to share an important note about maintaining the results she achieved through the procedure. “You can do all of that, but if you do not work out, then it won’t look like you did anything” she said.
That has served as further motivation for Sidora to adopt a healthier lifestyle and become the face of her 21-day workout program, Drop It With Drew, which she said has helped her and others reach their fitness goals. “I need to make sure that after having three kids, I am eating for my body type, I am eating for my blood type, I am working out, I’m doing the things that are going to give me a healthy long life,” she said.
“It was for me, but as a result, it’s helped so many people achieve weight-loss goals they were never able to achieve,” she added. “That for me was so fulfilling, I can do this for other people. It was really started because I needed to do it for myself.”