00:00I felt very uncomfortable with my body.
00:03There was one guy that I was talking to on an offer.
00:06Three years, he told me he didn't want to date a fat girl.
00:10I realized this is not the life
00:12that I want to live for myself.
00:13I didn't want to have to fake it to make it.
00:15I just want to feel it.
00:19After my weight loss surgery,
00:21I'm excited to have fun with my style.
00:23Definitely not plain Jane.
00:24Definitely a glow up for sure.
00:27I hope she feels like a superstar.
00:30Oh my God.
00:40This is when I lived in Rhode Island.
00:42I felt very uncomfortable with my body.
00:44I mean, it's summertime and I'm wearing like ripped jeans,
00:47a flannel and a t-shirt walking around the city,
00:50like sweating like crazy.
00:52I just look so different.
00:53It's a little, it's kind of weird looking back
00:56at how I used to look.
00:58Hi, my name is Leslie Figueroa.
01:00I live in Massachusetts and I am 25 years old.
01:04I think at a very young age,
01:05I started struggling with my weight.
01:07Sometimes I would want to make a change
01:08and then when it was too hard to make a change,
01:10I would just go back to like,
01:11oh, like this is the body that I'm supposed to be in.
01:14After high school,
01:15that's when my mental health started declining.
01:17It was like that transition from like high school
01:19to college.
01:20I hated going on campus just because
01:23I hated the way I looked.
01:24I didn't want to be around like so many people.
01:26So I missed a lot of class during that time.
01:30There was one guy that I was talking to on and off
01:34for three years.
01:36I was always wondering like why he never wanted
01:38to make it serious with me.
01:40So finally one night I asked him
01:42and he told me it was because of my weight.
01:44He didn't want to date a fat girl.
01:47I realized like,
01:47this is not the life that I want to live for myself.
01:50I didn't want to have to fake it to make it.
01:52I just want to feel it.
01:54Sorry.
01:59I just want to feel it.
02:01That night I had the realization
02:03that I didn't want to live that way.
02:05I didn't want to feel validated through other people,
02:08whether that was like relationship or friendships
02:10or anything like that.
02:11And so I decided like,
02:12I wanted to make a change,
02:13like a real change because before I've tried like dieting
02:16and watching what I was eating,
02:17but then it would just be like an ongoing cycle.
02:19So I decided to look into weight loss surgery.
02:24Before the surgery,
02:25I weighed 275 pounds.
02:27And after the surgery,
02:29I now weigh 143 pounds.
02:32Wow.
02:33I remember this day.
02:35Like it was yesterday too.
02:37It was very emotional day.
02:40So after the surgery,
02:42you're on a liquid diet.
02:43So you have to stay very hydrated.
02:46And it was hard for me to keep liquids down.
02:50Like I would always just feel really, really nauseous.
02:52I became extremely dehydrated.
02:55There was one night where I felt really,
02:58really, really sick.
02:59I thought I was like gonna pass out.
03:00So I told my mom.
03:02So she ended up calling the ambulance.
03:04And when they came,
03:06I tried to get up.
03:07I realized I couldn't walk.
03:08So they had to carry me down the stairs.
03:10They brought me to the hospital.
03:12And from there on,
03:13it was like a blur.
03:14I guess I started hallucinating.
03:16From there,
03:17I was sent to the rehabilitation center.
03:19I was there for a month.
03:21After that,
03:23I did outpatient therapy.
03:25I continued with my recovery that way.
03:27Who was around to support you
03:29through this whole process?
03:32My mom.
03:32Well, my family in general.
03:34But I don't think I would be as well as I am now
03:37if it wasn't for her.
03:38It's crazy to see like how far I've come from then to now.
03:42I think it makes me appreciate the weight loss surgery
03:44more than I would have
03:46if I hadn't gone through everything that I went through.
03:49It keeps me motivated to keep off the weight
03:52and do what I have to do,
03:54like, you know,
03:55to make myself feel good,
03:56to make myself the healthiest version of myself.
03:59I would also want people to know
04:01it's definitely a decision that you want to make
04:02for yourself,
04:03not for anybody else,
04:04because it's a huge decision.
04:07And if you make it for someone else,
04:08I just don't think that it'll be successful
04:11in the way that you hope or wanted it to be.
04:14How are you feeling about today?
04:16I'm excited to see what I'm gonna look like.
04:21I think, I think I'm gonna like it a lot.
04:24I think I might get emotional,
04:25but you guys know I'm a very emotional person.
04:28Okay, now it's time for me to go and get my makeover.
04:30So I will see you guys when it's time to reveal it to you.
04:33Yay.
04:34So you can check us out?
04:35Yeah.
04:36I think I'm looking forward to seeing myself
04:39in a way that I've never seen myself.
04:41I thought it would be fun to dress up my new body.
04:45So today we are doing a glam look for Leslie.
04:49So first we want to prep and prime the face.
04:54That smells really good.
04:55You don't really do your makeup on a day-to-day basis?
04:58No, I don't.
04:59If anything, I'll put on like mascara
05:01and like gel from my brow just a little bit.
05:04What are you hoping to get out of today's experience?
05:07I'm hoping that this will inspire me
05:08to get out of my comfort zone
05:10when it comes to makeup and clothing
05:13and experiment a little bit more with my look.
05:18So how does it feel to have someone else do your makeup?
05:21Yeah, it feels really nice.
05:22It's relaxing.
05:23It'll probably be like unrecognizable a little bit.
05:26I want you to feel like you, but like even better.
05:31Okay, I think you're ready to meet the stylist.
05:34Hi.
05:34Hi.
05:35I'm Shilda.
05:36Nice to meet you.
05:37You look amazing.
05:39Your makeup looks great.
05:40Thank you.
05:40So here's everything I have for you.
05:42I know it's a lot of pink.
05:43You look great in actually the color that you're wearing,
05:45but we can mix and match.
05:46We can do jeans.
05:48We can do some camis and we can throw on a layer
05:50or we can just do a simple dress and a great shoe
05:52because your makeup looks amazing on its own.
05:54Okay?
05:55Sounds awesome.
05:56Yay, so let's dive right in.
05:57I can kind of show you and walk you through
05:59what I have here.
06:01Oh, I like this.
06:02This is cute.
06:04It's pretty.
06:05Yeah.
06:06It's pretty.
06:07Very figure flattering.
06:09This is kind of cool too.
06:10Yeah.
06:11Is there anything that's like kind of sticking out to you?
06:14Maybe I want to try on this.
06:15Okay, I'll hold that for you.
06:18This is cute.
06:19Is there anything else you mentioned?
06:20The pink.
06:21Maybe we'll start with this and then end the blazer
06:23and see how you feel.
06:24Okay.
06:25All right, cool.
06:26So I guess we'll go try some things on.
06:27How do you feel like your family is going to react
06:29to this pop of color and this feminine look and these heels?
06:34I think they're going to be shocked
06:35just because they've never seen me in anything
06:37but like dark clothing, pretty plain Jane type of vibe.
06:40Definitely not plain Jane.
06:41Yeah.
06:42Definitely a glow up for sure.
06:44My boyfriend has never seen me glammed up.
06:46I think he's going to love it.
06:47We have been together for a year and a half.
06:50My mom, I think she's going to be shocked.
06:53I think she's going to fall in love
06:55and want me to dress up like that all the time.
06:58All right, perfect.
06:59So your outfit looks amazing
07:00and now it's just time to do your hair.
07:05I think this is it.
07:13You have the full look and you look amazing.
07:18So are you nervous to see yourself in the mirror?
07:20Are you excited?
07:21I'm excited.
07:22I just want to see myself already.
07:24Three, two, one.
07:27Oh my God.
07:31I look so different.
07:32I love the makeup.
07:33I feel like a Barbie doll.
07:35Oh my God.
07:37I look so different, wow.
07:39Yeah, I really like the dress.
07:41I think it's really flattering.
07:42I really like it.
07:43Oh my God.
07:45I really, really, really love the lip.
07:48Wow.
07:49I look so different.
07:51I love it though, wow.
07:54I feel really pretty.
07:55You look really pretty.
07:56Yeah, you look amazing.
07:58I'm surprised I like it as much as I do.
08:00I was a little nervous about it.
08:04I'm not going to lie, but I'm honestly shocked.
08:05I think it came together beautifully.
08:07And yeah, I really, I really, really like it.
08:10I never really wear items that like reveal
08:13like this part of my chest, like my body.
08:15And I like, I like how it looks a lot.
08:17So it's very flattering.
08:20I think she's going to look amazing.
08:22Stunning.
08:23Beautiful as always.
08:24I hope she feels like a superstar.
08:29With, oh my God.
08:33You look so cute.
08:35So different.
08:38Don't cry.
08:44I didn't think you were going to cry.
08:45What's up, Hollywood?
08:46Oh my God.
08:48Yeah, just wow.
08:49Are you surprised?
08:50Just wow.
08:51Were you expecting this, or?
08:53No, I, you didn't know what to expect.
08:55Speechless.
08:56Oh, I'm just speechless.
08:59What do you think?
08:59I think it's beautiful.
09:00I think it's beautiful.
09:01I'm just speechless.
09:03What are you thinking?
09:05Are we going out to eat?
09:06I don't know.
09:09So how do you feel?
09:10I feel really good.
09:11I feel beautiful.
09:13I love how it all came together.
09:14And even though I was a little skeptical at first,
09:17like I trusted the process and then I love it.
09:23I didn't expect for my mom and Stavros to cry.
09:27Their reactions were priceless.
09:29I really, I really like how everything turned out.
09:31So I definitely feel inspired to do something new.
09:34I think from this experience,
09:35I learned that it's okay to get out of my comfort zone.
09:38I think it's good for you to grow as a person
09:40and to discover more things that you like
09:43or you might be into.
09:44And if you don't give it a chance,
09:45you might not ever find that out.
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