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The Confidence Journey

"The Confidence Journey” documentary is here! Watch two ladies go through an incredible transformation and change their lives forever! Morgan and Sarah are young mothers who experienced the harsh effects of childbirth and the impact it had on their self-confidence. Their story starts with plastic surgery procedures, followed by an 18-week fitness competition prep, with the goal of having the confidence to compete in the bikini division at the 2019 Dallas Europa Games!

Many athletes juggle their families with children and full-time careers, possibly more, and still make time to train and prep for the thrill of competing. In my opinion, these athletes are inspirational ambassadors of a healthy and fit lifestyle. As an experienced bodybuilder and trusted plastic surgeon, I’ve had the privilege of helping many athletes attain the physique they strive for so they can get on stage and compete to win. Many women and men have areas of their bodies that make them feel self-conscious about their bodies. Getting on stage as a bodybuilder is the ultimate test of self-confidence

It’s no secret that many female athletes have had some plastic surgery. Breast surgery is one of the most common procedures for women in the U.S. but it’s even more common among bodybuilding athletes. For women, leaning down during prep dramatically decreases breast volume and can impact physique proportions. Many athletes feel that breast augmentation can help restore proportions, achieve more of an hourglass frame, and therefore make them more competitive in the sport. Pregnancy also can have a significant impact on women’s bodies. Normal changes include stretched out skin of the abdomen, and reduced tone. Sometimes these changes can be permanent, and resistant to diet and exercise. A tummy tuck (abdominoplasty) can rejuvenate the abdomen by removing skin and tightening the muscle wall again back to its original tone. A breast lift can restore a tighter breast form and shape if breasts have deflated with childbearing. These procedures in combination are commonly referred to as a mommy makeover.

Our documentary features two athletes during their “journey” beginning with their surgery. Morgan Mayo had started her weight loss journey before she auditioned. With diet and exercise, she lost over 80 pounds! But there were physical changes of her body associated with the weight loss, as well as having multiple children that remained. Her procedure corrected the deflational changes of her breasts (breast lift and augmentation) and rejuvenating her abdomen (tummy tuck). Sara Huante, had a deflational volume change after having a child very young. Her procedure was a breast augmentation to restore her volume loss, and improve her proportions. We followed them through recovery, their contest prep, and finally to competing at the 2019 Dallas Europa Games In June 2019. My wife and I had the honor of competing alongside them! They both did amazing! You can see highlights of their journey on our social media profiles on Facebook and Instagram at @theconfidencejourney and you can view the complete documentary here or on our YouTube channel.

MorganMayo

Morgan Mayo

Sara Huante

Sara Huante

Related Frequently Asked Questions (for women):

  1. "When is the best time to get plastic surgery if I plan on competing?
    Most bodybuilding shows are in late spring through late fall. The biggest component in answering this question is recovery. I always recommend that you are in "off-season". You should be off all supplements and not strictly dieting. Your body will need normal hormone levels and calories to recover quickly. Most preps are 3-6 months. You need to be realistic with yourself. If you fell off the wagon and need to lose 20 pounds just to get to a good starting point for a prep diet, then you should reconsider the season. Extreme diets to lose weight rapidly are not healthy! It is not worth it! If this is your first time having surgery (breast augmentation specifically), you will have a two-month recovery before resuming unrestricted training. At two weeks, you may resume cardio and at three weeks, you may resume weight training with restrictions, which we will discuss extensively. I assure you that you will not atrophy to nothing with three weeks off of full training!
  2. "What kind of implant is best for me?"
    I recommend a silicone breast implant. As women lean down, breast fat is lost and the visibility of implants increases. A "high-fill" ratio implant like the Allergan Inspira, or Mentor Xtra are fuller and have less rippling than their predecessor styles. I've had great success with these profiles in athletes.
  3. "Are these implants placed under the muscle?"
    Yes. To be more specific, the technique is partially under the muscle and breast tissue. This is called a dual-plane technique. Some of the benefits are to decrease visibility of the implant edges of the upper pole, decrease scar formation (capsular contracture), and it ages with the breast more naturally. For women's physique athletes, the implants are placed above the muscle, and are anatomically shaped to have a more natural appearance. These athletes are the exception and are judged on their pectoralis development.
  4. "Will I be able to do chest exercises?"
    Yes. But please watch my YouTube video https://youtu.be/3eTwdThiceI explaining why I strongly discourage these three exercises (dips, chest press, and chest flies) for women with breast implants under the muscle. Physique athletes are the exception here also.