How Cosmetic Surgery Procedures Made Patricia Heaton Feel ‘More Confident'

Christina Dugan
Updated

When it comes to looking your best, Patricia Heaton is all in.

In this week’s issue (on stands Friday), The Middle star opens up about her history of cosmetic surgery, what made her choose that route, and how it affected her mentally, emotionally and physically.

“I think there’s good plastic surgery and bad plastic surgery,” Heaton, 60, tells PEOPLE. “I had four C-sections. I gained 50 lbs. with every kid and I’m 5’2?. Wasn’t pretty. It just does something to your body.”

Heaton, who has also had a breast augmentation, adds, “I was really in the prime of my career when that was all going on, so it just felt better and made me more confident to reconstruct my stomach, take care of all that stuff.”

While Heaton, who has four sons with husband David Hunt, just celebrated her 60th birthday in March and admits that ‘age is just number,’ she says nothing will slow her down from being and feeling her best.

“I also love beauty products and I love fillers and Botox, if you do it so that you still look like yourself, you just look like your best self,” says the actress, who is currently exploring an all-plant based diet and works out weekly. “We’ve all seen people who have gone way over the top with that stuff. Obviously, that’s not what you want to look like. I think in our industry in particular, any actress who has had too much work done stops working because you start looking kind of strange, and the camera really picks up stuff.”

  • For more on Patricia Heaton, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on stands Friday

She adds, “I think we’re just in this great time where we have all these incredible scientific advances for your health and for the way you look. I think, if you use them in the right way, it’s a beautiful thing. I’m so happy to be able to take advantage of it.”

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With The Middle coming to an end this month, America’s favorite TV mom is looking forward to the next chapter.

“I am so aware of how blessed I am,” says Heaton, who is currently registered for a UCLA extension course in screenwriting. “There’s more challenges ahead. I think the key is to keep curious. The more you keep curious and questioning and trying and pushing yourself into uncomfortable places, the more you’re gonna grow. And life is gonna be brilliant.”