Breast Implant Illness - A Healing Journey w/ Tiffany Robinson-Brown

How far would you go to feel comfortable in your own skin? Join us for an incredibly personal and profound discussion with our guest Tiffany, who shares her story of body transformation and self-perception. Navigating us through her journey, Tiffany opens up about her decisions to undergo a breast reduction, get implants, and later, opt to remove those implants. This episode is heavy with emotion as we dive into the deep waters of self-care, self-love, and the pivotal role they play in our decisions about our body image.

Tiffany's narrative takes a compelling turn when she recalls her decision to have the implants removed. What sparked this choice? A combination of intense research, spiritual guidance and a life-altering motorcycle accident. We also touch on the often neglected topic of detoxification post-implant removal. Tiffany shares her detox experiences and provides valuable insights on reducing toxicity in our bodies, starting with small, manageable changes in our daily habits.

In the final act of this riveting conversation, we discuss the power of language and its impact on self-perception and body image. Tiffany's revelation about rewiring her brain to form a more positive self-image is an incredible testament to the transformative power of language. The episode concludes with reflections on Tiffany's journey with implants and their removal and a surprising discussion on fat transfer as a potential alternative to implants. This is a soul-stirring conversation that teaches us about resilience, self-love, and the power of positivity. Join us for this enlightening journey.

RESOURCES FOR TODAY'S Episode

Breast Implant Illness Website
Symptoms Checklist

INSTAGRAM LIVE WITH TIFFANY 2 YEARS AGO

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

You're listening to the what Women Want Today podcast. If you love the idea of being part of a community of women who are looking to thrive, not just survive, you're in the right place. Join hosts Terry Cullums and Amanda Keeper each week, as they bring you topics and guests to help you improve your relationships, your health and your emotional and spiritual well-being.

Speaker 2: 0:29

Tiffany, my friend, thank you so much for joining me today. Yes, you're welcome. So good to be back with you. It's been a while, but you and I did an Instagram Live. I think you said it's been like two years ago now. Right, as you said it was, yeah. So just let's give our listeners just a little bit of background.

Speaker 2: 0:50

We talked on the Instagram Live about how do we get to the place where, as women, I want to talk in general a little bit, but I also want to talk both you and I like our individual feelings. Like society puts a lot of pressure on women, and even more so as we age in some ways, that we feel like we need to make decisions about our body, whether it's Botox or Implants or Tummy Tux or whatever they are facelifts, you name it. So many things we can do to ourselves to keep up this feeling Like I don't know. How are we still valuable? Do we still look attractive? What is our place in this world and how does our looks fit into that? So can we just visit a little for a few minutes about where you were when you made the decision to get your implants in the first place?

Speaker 3: 1:42

Yeah, that's a really great question, because as I was thinking about this conversation, I had to think back to that, because it would have been 13 or 14 years ago that I had them put in. So there was kind of two reasons for that. One was 15 years prior to that I had had a reduction, because growing up I was so large and so I had a reduction. When I had the reduction there was too much taken out and so I was left with really nothing. So for me, part of it was well, I'm supposed I'm a woman, I'm supposed to have something, so I just want something little so that I can have something.

Speaker 2: 2:24

Part of it was that so I think you said you're about 20-ish when you had the reduction. Uh-huh yeah, what does that feel like at the 20-year-old to see your body change so drastically?

Speaker 3: 2:37

Oh, it was so emotional Because that's all I knew. I mean, I think I had large breasts from like 12 years old or something. So it was what I knew growing up. But yeah, it was such an emotional experience. And every time we change our bodies or alter our bodies in any way, shape or form, it is an emotional experience because there's so many emotions tied to things with it. So, yeah, when I had the reduction, it was such. I just remember feeling such joy Because to me it was so painful for so long and I got made fun of and just all the things that brought a lot of sadness and anger. So when I had the reduction and I was just so full of joy, I just remember looking in the mirror for the first time and falling because I was just so happy that I wasn't going to be teased anymore, I wasn't going to be in pain anymore, all the things. So it was a good experience for me then. Good.

Speaker 2: 3:41

So then fast forward. How many years was it later that now you're in this mindset where I need some breasts, I need some bigger boobs.

Speaker 3: 3:48

here it was about probably 12 or no, probably about 11 or 12,. Yeah, because I had the reduction and they did a good job, but I continued to lose weight, which was another part of my history. I was very overweight Mom grew up very overweight, kid, all that so I continued to lose weight and that's when just all disappeared. Then I had nothing, yeah, nothing. So, yeah, I was about 10 or 11 or 12 years later, probably.

Speaker 2: 4:20

So, okay, so you haven't removed, you lose a bunch of weight. Now you're dissatisfied with your body for a totally different reason and yeah, I'm not laughing at you, believe me, I just left me, oh, I know. And so then you decide I'm not happy with my body again. So now I'm going to make this really life-altering decision to get implants put in, and we discussed this on the Instagram Live that you and I did a couple years ago, which I'm going to link in the show notes so that the listeners can go back and listen to the entire history, because we're just kind of glossing over some of it here.

Speaker 2: 4:55

So you said in that Instagram Live that part of the reason that you did it was because you were kind of seeking outer approval. You weren't at the place, you weren't the Tiffany yet that I knew when I first met you, where you had so much confidence. So at the time when you got them put in, I think I remember you saying like you just were seeking some outside validation and that came through. My body is rocking and all other aspects, but I just really feel like I need some boobs.

Speaker 3: 5:25

Yeah, you know, when you go through that, when you go through quite a significant change especially when someone's on a weight loss journey you know and you go through that. You know I used to be over 200 pounds and on a 5-2 frame for me that was extremely overweight, and so you go through this, you go through this journey and when you finally hit a point where you're like I'm satisfied with where I'm at, then you're like wait a second, what else is what else? Wait, this is now, this is out of proportion, or this is, oh, I'm not satisfied with this. So now I need to do this. So, yeah, you know I had done so much work on myself and that was the one thing that was left and I was like, well, just not comfortable with this.

Speaker 2: 6:06

You know, when you say you did the work on yourself, do you mean your physical body, or do you also were you also starting to get introspective at that point about the inside?

Speaker 3: 6:14

not yet, oh no, none of that. No, it was all my physical body working on my physical body. I had no idea, Like when you said, you know, 10 years ago, when you had those put in, where was your? You know, what was your reasoning? Like I mean, I had no mental state of being secure in any way. My identity was found in being accepted by others. My identity was found in, you know, looking good and feeling like I needed to be loved by people and all that stuff, which is not that today, but that's what it was then.

Speaker 2: 6:46

And I remember from our live interview on Instagram that you said you never felt like you needed to hide that you had it done. So what was that like to like? Go back into the workplace after? And I'm sure yours was obvious, right, Wasn't it obvious? Because you were thin?

Speaker 3: 7:03

So small. The implants were small C's. It's not like they were big, but I'm sure people noticed but I wasn't like you know like. But if people would ask, I would just be honest and say, yeah, this is why this is my journey.

Speaker 2: 7:22

Yeah, my experience is different. So, like you, I had, you know I'd had four children. And well, you didn't have four children. I had four children and you know, had gone through the whole weight gain, weight loss, weight gain, weight loss, the whole thing and then breastfed my younger child and when she was about 10, I think it was when I got divorced and I did the divorce diet and lost a ton of weight, about 55 pounds, and you know, looking at myself in the mirror was kind of painful, like just the way they look, my way my breasts looked. I was just just. I didn't even want to look at myself in the mirror and I never felt like and I was with Brian, my husband now I was with him at this point. I never felt like he made me feel any less desirable, but I had these feelings of if I could just gain a little more confidence there and look at me.

Speaker 2: 8:17

Even now I'm like wanting to learn. If you're watching this on YouTube, I'm like trying to cover up my. It was never about anybody else, it was always about me and how I felt about myself. So I think you know in some ways we're the same and in some ways you know we're different, and we acknowledge this on our live talk, where every woman arrives at this point in the journey for very, very different reasons. And oh, absolutely. You and I are not here to judge anybody or convince anybody that the way we feel about it is the way they should feel about it.

Speaker 2: 8:52

I just believe that when we have information, as people, we are empowered then to make our own decisions, and so I had you on the live because I was shocked, first of all because I guess I didn't know that you had implants at the time to begin with Not any reason you would have ever told me, but that you were so brave to go public and kind of talk about this.

Speaker 2: 9:15

And you know, since our talk two years ago, I feel like it's becoming more and more prevalent that people are talking about this. Before we start recording today, I told you that I had this list of symptoms for breast plant illness and I just quickly went through it just to kind of see like could these be easily missed in comes by most women, and 19 of the symptoms on this list are things that I think women heading into midlife, in perimenopause or menopause, they could very well be experiencing some of these symptoms, and so they might be missing, that they're related to breast implant illness. Breast implant illness those are three hard words to say together for some reason, right implant yeah yeah, yeah, but I mean, look at where.

Speaker 2: 10:04

I'm not going to read all of them, I'm going to gloss over them real quick. But like that, like what middle-aged woman do you know? That's not to hear. Let's see, I got to put my glasses on. Let's see what else.

Speaker 2: 10:18

Brain fog, muscle pain and weakness, joint pain and soreness, weight gain, low libido, estrogen imbalance, body odor, which you know. Your pH level changes as you go through perimenopause and menopause, so I could see that for sure. What else? Premature aging, decline in vision you and I were talking about before we recorded, I was telling you my, I need my glasses more now than ever Digestic issues, depression, mood swings, anxiety. I mean I think all perimenopausal and menopausal women are talking about this shit. You know this is what we're all going through. So it is. Let's go back to when you you had married Billy by this point, and you had, you know, started seeking out a relationship with Jesus Christ. You shared, and so your mind is now starting to catch up with where your body was. And how did that lead you to discover that you potentially had breast implant illness?

Speaker 3: 11:26

I don't know that that part led me to discover that. I think that's kind of a separate entity, you know. As to the decision to actually explain them, okay, but just like you said, we are just in a day and age where everything is so easily accessible to us now, mm-hmm, everything, every topic in the world. Where it used to be, we only knew one side of it. Now we can know 12 angles of it, right, easily easily. And so, as stuff just kind of started to pop up on social media, I wouldn't even have even said, oh, I have symptoms, I mean, because it was just my normal life, it's just what I knew it to be. Right, as you said, I was getting older as well, I had had kids, you know it's, and so all those hormonal changes and things like that. So I would have never said, oh, it's breast implant illness.

Speaker 3: 12:23

But as things started popping up, I started reading, you know, and seeing more things. And you know, at the time I started, this is when we started going more of a natural route in our life, in our lifestyle, you know, more holistic natural route. And so my functional medicine doctor was like bringing things to my attention and just you know, just you know how you like. You see a red car, you buy a red car and you see that same car everywhere, like yes, that's kind of what started happening and I was like okay, wait a second. And it wasn't big brother on my phone Now I'm going to get all these messages now about all this but it wasn't that you know so well. So I think I was just getting more educated. I was getting more educated about things that were possible symptoms and signs that were possible from breast implants and what breast implant illness really was.

Speaker 2: 13:17

So I remember you mentioned and I was going to write it down, so why don't you give it to me now? What is that website that you talked about where people can go and start digging into it? I can go back and listen to our episode again and make sure yeah, let's play. I remember you saying that was a great resource for women.

Speaker 2: 13:34

It's a really great resource. Yeah, listening, staying. You're like, oh geez well, symptoms, terry said you know like what else is on that list. So I'll post both the symptoms list and the website that you mentioned and there's. I know you mentioned a couple of doctors. I'll make sure everybody has that information very readily accessible. But how did you, what did that conversation sound like when you started saying, hey, I think I'm going to, I think I'm going to have my implants taken out? Do you remember the conversation?

Speaker 3: 14:06

I mean, I think the conversations were these are the things that I'm finding, here's what I'm reading, here's where and again, we can call things whatever you want to call them. For me you can. You know, somebody can call it gut instinct. For me, I was like here's where the spirit is nudging me, showing me things that I feel I need to know, and so all of that, for me, was enough to say to my husband or to you know, whoever I was talking to, I have done enough research, I have asked enough questions. The Holy Spirit has moved me enough that I'm ready to make this leap and make this decision for myself, because I want to live longer. I want to live longer, yeah, and any form of toxicity that I can work on removing, this is a big one, this is a big toxic form, so I want it out.

Speaker 2: 15:00

I kind of watched the evolution for you happen on Facebook a little bit, where you were talking about, you know, the more holistic things that you and your family were doing, and I don't I mean as much as I respected what you were saying I don't think I was ready to receive that message yet because you know, I love perfume, I love my house to smell pretty, I love scented body lotion, you know like the whole thing. So I mean I think I just kind of like stuck it over here on a shelf and it was like gosh you know Tiffany is, she's so smart, like this is so interesting, but I didn't take any action on it and I think what is like been on my mind for the last couple of months and the reason I reached out to you again to bring this back up was because I don't know if you saw on Facebook that Brian and I were in a pretty serious motorcycle accident back in May and I'm sorry, I yeah, yeah, rough time. But one of the things that happened as a result of the accident was I had a very sore left breast and that's where all my injuries were on my left side. They also found like a nodule on my thyroid during my CAT scan in the emergency room, and so I've had this host of things going on. You know, for several months now that I've kind of just been dealing with one by one.

Speaker 2: 16:15

My husband had a cancer scare, you know we just kind of been going through the gamut and so it's been, and this is an excuse, just so you all know it's been an excuse for me to kind of ignore the fact that I could have ruptured my implant in that fall.

Speaker 2: 16:31

I mean, I had a pretty significant swollen red area on my left breast for a while and I remember I kind of been keeping an eye on it.

Speaker 2: 16:42

But I kind of remember you saying and I was definitely there when I listened to our live episode this morning it's really hard to detect if you even have a small tiny little tear. So I haven't, you would never know yeah, I haven't taken any action, but I have started doing my research. In addition, that information that you talked about so many years ago, with the toxicity you know, has been taken off my shelf and planted right in front of my face in many different ways and I am really starting to look at things like external things that you can control, like not storing your food in plastic, not wearing toxic theodorants and all these things right, you know that can lead to so many health problems. For us, what you mentioned, you know, being in an inflammatory state leads to all these disease, and so I've been kind of facing this decision myself whether or not I'm going to have these implants taken out, and it's not an easy decision. No, it.

Speaker 3: 17:47

I made it sound easy when I just said those things, but it took me. It was about a three year process for me to make the decision.

Speaker 2: 17:58

Yeah, and then yeah, and decide where you were going to go. I know you went to California, right?

Speaker 3: 18:03

I did, yeah, and I don't regret it. I have, since then, coached many women through this who have chosen to take pieces of my advice and not others, and one of the pieces of advice is the doctors yeah, taking one that we know has ultimate success.

Speaker 2: 18:24

And when they had chosen to go a cheaper route or, unfortunately, you know the circumstances present themselves to be, not so great, right, because you said if they don't get the well, I forgot what you called it, the capsule Capsule, yeah, and you're still left with the all the chemicals, obstecity, okay, gotcha, yeah, absolutely. So you made this decision, you went to California, you know you had some support of a close girlfriend, which was awesome, yeah, what was it like afterwards? Like, is it the same kind of pain you go through when you have your implants put in the first place, or is it different?

Speaker 3: 19:02

Way harder, oh, geez, Way harder. Yeah, but I already knew the pain because of breast reduction is the same exact surgery as an transplant. Same exact surgery. So it was with the implants that I remember correctly. It was like it felt like a couple of weeks and I was like golden, something I mean. I didn't. I don't remember it being bad at all for the implants, the X plans.

Speaker 2: 19:25

Mine might have been more, a little more painful, because I had a lift and implants. Okay, because, okay, like, if you just lift, then you end up with this concave area, yeah, so you know, I never had any intention of getting implants, I just wanted them to be back up where they were supposed to be. And once he told me about the concave, look, I was like, okay, I guess I'm getting implants, but I think those muscles that are involved with the lift probably made it just a little bit more painful.

Speaker 3: 19:51

But yeah, I also had a lift with my ex-parent. Oh, okay, yeah, they pretty much tell you that you're going to have to when you take out two big bags. Yeah.

Speaker 2: 20:02

Okay. So this is kind of like the elephant in the room and it's a tough question for me to ask because I feel like it's really nosy. But so what options are you given? Post-explet Like I mean, what's it going to look like? Because my mind is going back to avoiding myself in the mirror because I didn't like the way they looked when they were just saggy. So you know, then, when I think of like looking at something that probably looks worse than saggy, like how do you prepare mentally for that?

Speaker 3: 20:33

And the thing is is they can't tell you what it's going to look like. But a good surgeon can do a pretty dang good job. But you know he I remember him saying to me we need to really consider if you're going to need a lift or not need a lift, and so I need to do a little bit more further examination to really think do we need this or doing that? And he said absolutely you need it and here's why. And I don't remember all the medical reasons and how, but basically, if I didn't get that, there would be a significant you know, not good looking chester.

Speaker 2: 21:11

Right, because yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 21:14

So, but you know I I was at a point, though, terri, where I I didn't really care that much. I was so ready to have them out, and my mindset, from the time I had them in, has completely shifted. And I know every woman's on a journey and I do not judge any woman where they are. But at this point I, of course, as a human woman, I have some level of vanity. You know, I like to wear makeup, I like to do my hair, I like to wear, you know, clothes that look good on me, but I will not make any decisions to do anything other than that, like to tailor my body, anymore For me.

Speaker 3: 21:59

My mindset is so different from when I was there 10, 11, 12 years ago, and I play such a big part in all of it, you know. So, hey, I can't tell you that I really was like that worried about it, okay, but one of the things he said was, because of your history reduction in plants X plant you have a 50% chance of your nipple turning black and falling off. Now, now that here's a living daylights out of me, okay, let's, let's draw a line of vanity Like I don't know that I really care about my boobs look like you know, when I have a hole there, you know, or whenever I don't want that, you know. So that's the part that freaked me out a little bit.

Speaker 2: 22:43

But here's a little TMI for you in the audience. And so after I had my implants, one breast sort of went back to normal as far as sensation, and my left one. I've never been able to really feel anything there and what I can feel doesn't feel so great. So it's kind of like just leave that one alone, let's just pretend that one's not there. You know, I had the same Yep. So after, after X plant, did they go back to where they were before?

Speaker 3: 23:15

or yeah, I mean they're pretty, they're pretty, I like them, they did. And if he did a great job, great job, I'm satisfied with them. The scarring's minimal. You know I followed his directions for that and I already had scarring from the reduction same scar, the anchor, same thing may open up and then around the nipple, around the nipple. So I already had those scars. But yeah, no more. I mean, it's they, just they're. They look fantastic, they really do, and I'm very pleased with them. The physical part of it, you know I would give women some advice when they're coming out of surgery. That I did not do. And so I have pain in both of my breasts and I had some nerve issues and stuff like that, but nothing I can't deal with, it's just I wish I would have done some different things after the surgery.

Speaker 2: 24:15

So three years post-X plant surgery.

Speaker 3: 24:18

Where do you think you've been on the emotional scale of it, Like has it been a little bit up and down or like yeah, I like the right thing to tell you would be to say yeah, like, oh, I have my moments where I, I, oh, this dress that I used to wear looks horrible. I have not had that at. I love the look of my breasts, the way that I the clothing and how it falls, bathing suits and what they look like. Like I have fully accepted I just I know I have not Now, within the first, like you know, three, four months after, girl, it is such an emotional journey, from the moment you make the decision, have the surgery scheduled, up to the days to going through it, and then, months after it, it is I can't.

Speaker 3: 25:11

It's just so emotional. There was so much, but once it's kind of all done and you're like you, you're like okay, now they, this is what they're supposed to look like. You know, if I had no, I had no, I wish I went back. No, nothing regrets, I mean no, absolutely no regrets.

Speaker 2: 25:30

I remember you saying that it takes like one to I think you said one to two years for like a detox kind of thing. So would you go into that just a little bit more? Like what does that mean, like the detox period?

Speaker 3: 25:41

Yeah, and you know, that's kind of what what is being said in these rest and plant illness circles.

Speaker 3: 25:49

I guess I don't know that I necessarily believe that fully, but I think that you know, when you have a foreign object in your body, your, your body doesn't want it there, it doesn't want it there, and so it's going to do all these things to try to push it out, but it can't push it out right.

Speaker 3: 26:11

And so, as that state happens over one year, 10 years, whatever many years, as your body is in that constant state, it's like it's doing other things right, like it's you have chronic inflammation, it's you know you have immune disorders, you know all these other things, because it really wants to get rid of that. But you're not doing that. And so I, when they say like one to two years of detox, I think what they're really meaning is like if you had any remnants or if there was any leakage or if there was anything that had gotten out into your system, that it would take that long for that to kind of detox. But as far as our bodies are concerned, girl, we are in a constant state of detox and we should be, yeah, hence I am so like strong about limiting toxicity in our bodies. We're already getting toxicity, Even if I like, did everything I could do, like I'm sitting out here breathing in pollution. I mean, you know that that.

Speaker 2: 27:13

I feel like what you just said is so powerful because I feel like, even when you're intentional about it, like it can overwhelm you. Like it can overwhelm you when you think about all of the toxicity. And I listen to things and I read things and I end up getting so pissed off because you know, like the new spray that they're putting on our fruits and vegetables, that can't be, can't be taken on, you know, like that pisses me off. I should have a choice, you know. Yeah, so like you can get very overwhelmed, why don't you? This is a great, this is a great opportunity for you, because I know you're so knowledgeable about it. Like, what would you say to the person who is just taking that information they heard a couple of years ago from their very smart, beautiful friend and kind of put it on a shelf and now is taking it back up like where it starts? And I mean, what kind of advice do you have?

Speaker 3: 28:05

Yeah, that's my, my two words of advice baby steps, yeah, that's it. I love that. I mean because you cannot like, if I look back at the last 12 years, however long we've been in this lifestyle, you cannot do all the things we've done in a year to like you like. Oh my gosh, you would be so overwhelmed, oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 28:27

I mean, you have a background in fitness, so you know what it's like when you very first start out a new program. If you think you're going to show up at the gym five days a week and work out for two hours, you're bound to fail. You're going to fail because you're going to get the answer or you're not going to see the results you really want to get, and you're going to be like this doesn't work.

Speaker 3: 28:45

So yeah, I think baby steps and I think, like, if you were like, okay, if there's, if there's 100 baby steps, where do I start? So the most important place to start in priority is the things you're putting in your mouth. Okay, so that's medications over the counter, prescription drugs. That's why I started out with essential oils. That was where my journey started, right there. Essential oils, because I was on like six medications, okay, and so that's where it started. So you know, medications, food, right, food kind of go organic as much as possible, specifically in meats that are pumped full of. I know it's more expensive and that's what people say, but, like, at the end of the day, meat is pumped full of steroids and antibiotics and chemicals and just, yeah, toxic, toxic stuff. So you know that first baby step is what you're sticking right here in your mouth. Yeah, I love it.

Speaker 3: 29:42

And then the second baby step is after that is, the largest organ in your body is your skin. So it's what you're putting on your body, in your skin, Our pores will literally take every chemical in Yep. So those are the first two baby step priorities that I would always kind of coach people through, and then from there, man, you could just go down some rabbit holes for days.

Speaker 2: 30:07

So true. I got down to rabbit hole one day about I had read something that nut milks like I have all these additives and chemicals and stuff in them, and so I kind of like I became a little obsessed about it for a little while. But I just bought one of those machines that you can do at home where you just put your own nuts in there and you make your own. I use cashews, Like I have done almonds too, but my preference is cashews. It is so darn delicious, Isn't it? Yeah, we used to have that.

Speaker 2: 30:38

It was not a sacrifice at all, no, and price-wise I think it's a wash, I don't think. I don't think it's any more expensive, or really probably not that much less expensive. It's definitely more convenient because I've run out of cashew milk and had to run to the store to get some, whereas now I can just Absolutely. I think it may get in five minutes, but I love that advice. I love that advice. I'm going to ask you to give the listeners one more piece of advice and then I have two questions to kind of throw at you. And so if you're listening today and you are thinking about getting implants or you have them and you're thinking, some of this information is starting to settle into my spear a little bit. What advice do you give those ladies?

Speaker 3: 31:31

Number one just do your research. And I think it's easy to say, well, I did. I would always say do your research on both sides of the opinion polls Right, like a lot of people are like well, I'm so bent on this decision. I've done my research on why it's okay. My recommendation is always dig on the other side too, why it's not okay. Because sometimes we just start, we don't want to. It's a fear, we don't want to know what we're going to find. I just want to stay with what I know I'm going to do and I feel good about the research I've done on this side. So always do two sides of the research.

Speaker 3: 32:15

And I think the other thing is too Terri. Like we're sitting here talking about medical this and whether or not to do it. I think it all starts with and I have a book here in my hand that I think that every woman should have in their portal. It's called you Can Heal your Life by Louise Hayes.

Speaker 3: 32:36

And I think it all starts Terri, with how we talk to ourselves and what we believe about ourselves, because at the end of the day, I'm not going to judge any woman for making a choice for vanity, and I would always caution us to question what's the thing behind the thing? What is the thing behind the thing? Why are we doing what we're doing? Because I think a lot of it is like the universe totally supports us in every thought we choose to think and believe. Our subconscious mind accepts whatever we choose to believe. So if we believe that we're not good enough, if we believe we need bigger boobs to secure a date, if we believe we need bigger boobs to feel good about ourselves, and then our subconscious mind is going to support that, and so part of it is just rewiring our brain, rewiring our neural pathways, to believe that we are enough, we are loved, we are wanted, we're seen, we're enough, we're loved and all those things like and the only way to do that is to continuously, day in and day out, have a practice in place where you are telling yourself a new story, telling yourself a new story, and that's what this book is about.

Speaker 3: 34:08

It's incredible and I have been on this journey for a couple of years now and really being purposeful about I've got stickies on my mirror all the things about just positive affirmations and what I need to speak to myself because we can rewire our brains and what we think about ourselves, and so that's kind of the second part of the coin.

Speaker 2: 34:30

Absolutely agree with that, 100%, absolutely. That was awesome. All right, so here's my two questions for you as we wrap up today what's one thing that makes you feel most connected to your own body, to your own self? What's the one thing? No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Speaker 3: 34:48

No, no, that's a really good question.

Speaker 2: 34:52

Um, I think you might have already said it in your previous answer, buds.

Speaker 3: 34:58

No, I mean yes, and I know this is going to sound really strange Um, and maybe a how-so, but one of the things that makes me feel very connected to my body is music, oh, how-so, Whether I'm playing it guitar, whether I'm singing, whether I'm dancing, it is like those moments are the moments that I'm so in tune with my body and how comfortable I am. How it moves, how it can project, how it can share beauty with so many people, like and words in music and how they affirm because I only really do Christian music mostly but how they can affirm who you were created to be and how you're good enough, where you are, Like, just all the things about music that really, um, make me feel like I am who I am supposed to be in my body and it's perfect.

Speaker 2: 35:58

I love that answer and this is one. You're not my typical podcast guest, but I think you can answer this question. So who do you know that should be a guest on our show, or what topic would you like to see on our show, Mmm?

Speaker 3: 36:17

Um, I have someone, do you? Yeah, oh yeah. So the friend that went through this, all the surgery, with me. She's been my best friend for 15 years and she has been a really pivotal part of my mental growth. I have seen her grow incredibly, like over 15 years, and so she's also a certified well, I don't know if she's practicing, but she's a certified NLP coach, which is neurolinguistic, yeah, and so she's so good at like, when you're going through something or saying something about yourself, she kind of helps to coach you. To bring that back full circle, and I just think that what she has to say in a lot of situations is so wise and so powerful, and so she'd be an incredible guest. I have a little on my phone. You know the notepad you know you have on your phone, yeah, and it's called the Elizabeth Journal, where you collect all the little tidbits.

Speaker 3: 37:21

I'll be good things. I'm like wait, hold on. I got to put that there. I mean like a book on my phone about it. But yeah, I just think she would be. I wish more more women had someone like her.

Speaker 2: 37:32

Yeah, I do too. I do too, You'll have to. You'll have to make that connection for sure, because she sounds like she would be a great guest.

Speaker 3: 37:39

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 37:39

Well, tiffany, I know you've got other things to do today. Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to be with me. I appreciate your candor and your braveness and your authenticity every single time we talk, and just thank you for being here with me today. Thank you, terri, I appreciate you I mean, I so wish you could have met my friend Tiffany. It was such a great interview. I wanted to have you just join me for a few minutes and I wanted to hear some of your thoughts on the interview.

Speaker 4: 38:09

Yeah, I loved listening to it. I was getting my steps in and listening to her story and one of the things that I noticed right away is that she's gone through this evolution where her voice she refers to as her spirit, like her spirit really led her and she kept listening to her voice about the changes that she wanted to make in her body, and I know that that's one of the things that we really want women to recognize. The best version of yourself is really when you can listen and pay attention and respond to what your body is saying to you. Yeah, I think that's struggle.

Speaker 2: 38:44

I think, it's a struggle for me, for sure, you know, like I don't. I can't sit here and tell our audience or tell you and feel good about myself if I don't admit that some days I wake up and I have no problems when I look in the mirror at my body, and other days I'm just like, oh, I don't like how my body is changing. I feel like I'm so out of control. And so I do sort of understand that push and pull feeling that we feel as women, you know, especially if you're in the public eye or like you stand up in front of a classroom and teach or whatever, and people are looking at you and you want to be your best. And you know, where do we sort of draw the line between what makes us feel good about ourselves and what is like too much?

Speaker 4: 39:33

you know, and I don't think Tiffany necessarily had that struggle, but I think I would probably have that struggle, yeah and I think that's one of the things that I learned from that episode is that every woman is on her own journey and the decisions that she made for herself. She was in no way shape or form trying to like push any of her decisions on anyone else. She was just saying this is what I experienced, and maybe you have had a similar experience and if you have here some resources it was a lovely conversation and I think you know one way that we can know if it's if it's maladaptive or adaptive. If it's adaptive, it means that we're making conscious choices and that we really care about it and so we think about it. If it's maladaptive, it's a preoccupation and we can't get other things done because we're so preoccupied by the subject. So if you have this like preoccupation with your body and you can't get through your day because it's always in your mind, then that's kind of another level that I would see counseling for.

Speaker 2: 40:28

Oh, I like that. I don't think I've ever heard those two terms before. I think you're for sharing that I think even you know, as I was sharing with Tiffany, you know that I had that moment after my accident that I wondered you know, did I rupture my implant? And I still don't have an answer for that question. But I think the bigger answer is you know, can I go have them removed and be as happy as she seemed to be with the final outcome? I hope I can, yeah, but you know, I don't know if a lot of women know that you're supposed to have your implants replaced every 10 to 12 years. So I'll be coming up on that 10 to 12 years and just a couple of years, and I really am, you know, leaning towards just getting them taken out.

Speaker 2: 41:16

You know you can do like fat transfer. I follow a doctor on Instagram and he has great results with fat transfer, even with women who don't have very much body fat. That that's a route that women could consider. But I mean, she just seems so happy. I'm just I'm trying to picture that. You know it was a decision for her to come to have a removed. She said three years.

Speaker 4: 41:41

And I was really listening to you listen to her, because it was interesting for me to observe you listening to her, because I know that that's been something that really helped you gain confidence when you were at a certain place in your life and you felt like you needed something that would, you know, just be reflective of how you want to feel, and I know that you've been really happy with your decision for the most part. So you know. That's why I really want listeners to know that every woman has a different journey, and this was, this was her journey.

Speaker 2: 42:12

Yeah, absolutely. So now, before you listen to this today, what was your level of exposure to this kind of information? And you heard much about breast implant illness.

Speaker 4: 42:23

Yes, I had heard about it. I think I've seen shows. When I was younger, I was what I call flat as a pancake, and so I always dreamed about having breast implants. And then over the years, I would say I'm going to do it and I never did it. And now I'm glad I didn't do it, which which is interesting, because I think like if you think back on all the things you thought you wanted, if you just kind of wait and be patient and just really make sure that that's really what you want, your decision could be different. If you had some patients.

Speaker 2: 42:55

But then I know other women that, like I, have a female right now in my mind and I'm like best decision ever, no regrets, best choice of my life, love it, you know so yeah, I have a friend who her breasts were very different sizes I mean like extreme, and she she had implants and she's thrilled, she's happy, like she doesn't have to worry about when she wears a swimsuit If she, you know, puts something in the you know in the one, you know part of the swimsuit and relieves it out or you know whatever she just she's so happy with it and she's so, so much different from me. Again, talking about the whole journey, like I have been told, starting to talk about it on the podcast, I really kind of kept it a secret. It wasn't something that I went around telling just anybody.

Speaker 2: 43:44

I shared with my friends. I remember when we were at your house for my bachelor or bridal shower, I think it was. You know I shared with that group because that was our. You know, that was our little group for quite a while, but I didn't go around sharing with everybody. And I remember when we were in Cancun and you were posting some pictures on Facebook or something, you asked me if it was okay and I was like, just don't show my boobs, like I don't, I don't necessarily really want the whole world to see them. It was always more about how I felt about myself.

Speaker 2: 44:15

And you know what's interesting is, after I got done talking to her, I started thinking about you know how our values play into it and I was thinking, gosh, this is where my values are probably really like, like you know, one of my terms say colliding a little bit, because you know, I have this value for health and some of the things her and I were talking in there about toxicity and stuff, and I've been really like reevaluating some of the things that I do.

Speaker 2: 44:41

I do Botox, you know, and so I'm like, okay, really want to be healthy, but I really still want to look youthful and attractive. I mean she talked about the vanity thing. I admit I have the vanity thing. You know, beauty is something that's very important to me. I love flowers and beautiful things and so, yeah, I think you know, we probably need to admit to ourselves a little bit when our values kind of collide, and this is, this is tough, all these decisions. And I love how she said just take small steps, because it can be overwhelming to make big, huge decisions about your life, whether it's whether you're going to stop Botox or you're going to stop spraying perfume on yourself all the time. I like how she said just, you know, take it, take it slow.

Speaker 4: 45:27

Yeah, she does a lot of research. I really liked that about her. She said do research on both sides, and even sides that you haven't thought about yet, because you can pretty much find things on either side. So just keep digging until and then she goes back to like that inner voice Keep digging until that inner voice and your spirit is telling you, like this is the right choice.

Speaker 2: 45:48

Yeah, so I think the listeners will yeah.

Speaker 4: 45:51

I think the listeners will enjoy the episode, especially if they have implants or they've been thinking about getting implants. It's another piece of the puzzle that would be great for every woman to listen to.

Speaker 2: 46:01

I think so too. Thanks for joining me today.

Speaker 4: 46:04

Yeah, absolutely have a great day.

Speaker 2: 46:06

You too, talk soon. I mean, I don't know if this ever happens to you, but I sometimes will learn something really cool on a podcast, on a YouTube video, audio book, whatever, I think. I'm going to remember it and then I forget. Does that ever happen to you?

Speaker 4: 48:57

Yeah, I call it brain. After 40 all the time Look that's what we'll officially call it.

Speaker 2: 49:02

When we come up with something, do you want to introduce it?

Speaker 4: 49:06

Sure, it's from an app called Quick Jim Quick and it's an acronym called FAST.

Speaker 2: 49:12

Yeah, in the F it stands for Facebook. So we're inviting you officially right now to come over and join us on Facebook. Get involved with the community, Share your favorite episodes with your friends on Facebook.

Speaker 4: 49:22

Yeah, the A is go ahead and take an action, so you can't remember anything if you don't act.

Speaker 2: 49:29

And S is for subscribe. Make sure you're subscribed to our YouTube channel.

Speaker 4: 49:33

And then T is teach. Teach what you've learned to somebody else. Share the love.

Speaker 2: 49:37

All right, we hope that works for you. Thank you for joining us. We'll see you next week.

Speaker 4: 49:41

Bye-bye.