Kia ora and welcome. I’m Matthew Tukaki, and this is a conversation about weight — but probably not the kind of conversation you’re used to hearing.
Because this isn’t about before-and-after photos. It isn’t about miracle diets, shame, guilt, or somebody telling you that all you need to do is eat less and exercise more.
This is about health, choices, cost, access — and two people taking two very different roads towards the same destination.
My guest is Rebel Reid, and Rebel is about to do something pretty significant. She’s heading overseas for gastric surgery, making the decision to leave New Zealand to undergo a major medical procedure as part of her weight-loss journey.
And then there’s me.
I’m staying right here in Aotearoa and beginning a different journey — using Wegovy, the prescription weight-management medicine that has become part of a rapidly changing conversation about how obesity and weight-related health are treated.
So over the coming months, Rebel and I are going to take you with us.
We want to compare the two experiences — surgery overseas versus medication at home.
What does it actually cost? Why would someone travel overseas for surgery? What happens before you get on the plane, and what happens when you come home? What support is available if something goes wrong?
And on my side, what does Wegovy actually cost week after week? What are the side effects? Does it change your appetite and your relationship with food? And, most importantly, does it work for me?
We’re also going to talk about something that often gets lost in the advertising and social-media hype around weight loss: the health journey itself.
The appointments. The blood tests. The conversations with doctors. The nervousness. The expectations. The setbacks. The wins. And the reality that neither gastric surgery nor a medicine like Wegovy is a magic wand.
There is also a much bigger question we want to explore.
Who gets access to these treatments?
Because if effective weight-management treatment exists but costs thousands of dollars, requires travelling overseas, or involves hundreds of dollars in ongoing medication costs, then weight loss isn’t simply a health conversation.
It becomes a conversation about money and inequality as well.
And for Māori and Pacific communities, where the burden of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and other weight-related conditions can be disproportionately high, that’s an important kaupapa.
We’re not doctors, and this podcast isn’t medical advice. Rebel and I are sharing our own experiences and choices, and anyone considering medication or surgery should talk with appropriately qualified health professionals about what’s safe and suitable for them.
But we are going to be open.
We’ll talk about what we weigh, what we’re spending, what works, what doesn’t, how we’re feeling and what happens when the excitement of starting something new gives way to the reality of actually living it.
Two people.
Two very different approaches.
Rebel is getting on a plane. I’m starting treatment at home.
So which journey will prove more affordable? Which will be harder? What will our health look like six months from now — and will either of us get where we hope to go?
Rebel Reid, welcome.
Let’s start with the question everybody is probably going to ask: why gastric surgery — and why overseas?
