Liposuction is NOT a Weight Loss Strategy

(c) http://betterbodychemistry.com/obesity/liposuction-feels-fat-problem-fixed-isnt/

I have worked with thousands of clients over the years, many of whom have come to me after having a liposuction procedure to learn how to eat correctly to lose a small amount of weight, 10 to 15 pounds, as well as how to keep it off so that the procedure they had would benefit them for a very long time. There have been others who were very overweight and asked me at the outset if I would be able to recommend to them a good plastic surgeon when they got to goal weight, or very close to it, to take care of excess skin and to contour their bodies. I recently, however, had a consultation with a very overweight woman who had 75 pounds to lose, who told me she only wanted to lose 50 pounds and then she wanted to lose the rest by liposuction! She was adamant about the course she wanted to take.  I was adamant in refusing to take her as a client.

To anyone who thinks that liposuction is a good weight loss tool, here’s a newsflash:  It most certainly is not!

1. Liposuction is a surgical procedure and requires some type of anesthesia, whether local or general. There is no such thing as a surgical procedure without risk, and the heavier a person is, the greater the risk.
2. While liposuction does remove excess subcutaneous fat to improve the contour of the body, it does not impact weight significantly because the number of pounds of fat that can be removed from the body is minimal: Liposuction does not remove the intra-abdominal toxic visceral and dangerous fat that surrounds the vital organs of your body.
3. Although there will be no (or much fewer) fat cells in the area where the liposuction procedure was focused, and while those areas won’t fill out the same way they used to when the patient gains weight (or more weight), the remaining fat cells in the rest of the body will pick up the slack. In other words, post-procedure, as you consume more calories than you spend, your body will store those excess calories as fat in all remaining fat cells throughout your body. (So, picture, if you will, having a flatter, more contoured stomach, and doing nothing to change the way you eat. As you gain weight, all those excess calories go to bigger thighs, buttocks, breasts and more back-fat . . . but, hey, what does that matter as long as you still have a contoured stomach, eh?)

As with any cosmetic surgical procedure, it’s in your best interests to give the plastic surgeon — the “artist” of the medical professional — the best possible palette with which to work so as to give you the most beautiful, long-lasting results. The best candidate for liposuction is someone who is at or near their ideal body weight, a healthy individual with a good diet/exercise lifestyle who perhaps has a bulge that doesn’t go away in a focused area, despite proper diet and exercise.

There is no easy and permanent means to losing weight other than your personal responsibility and commitment to behavioral modification, including learning what to eat, how much and when; and regular exercise can only enhance those endeavors.  Suctioning out fat does not remove the reasons you gained weight in the first place, nor does it eliminate the reasons why you may — dare I say, will — be doomed to disappointment . . . and more fat.

Losing weight with liposuction is a losing proposition.