Let’s play a little visualisation game. Close your eyes. Imagine a zip-top plastic bag filled with fluid and little white blobs. Then open your eyes (otherwise you can’t keep reading). You’ve just created a mental picture of what adipocytes, also known as fat cells, look like. At Austin Clinic, we know a lot about fat cells and what can be done to get rid of them when traditional fat-busting methods simply don’t do the job.
Here’s what you need to know…
Your Fat Cell Family
To begin with, your body has not one, not two, not three, but four different types of fat cells:
- Brown fat
- Beige fat
- White subcutaneous fat
- White visceral fat
It’s the last two types of body fat that prove the most challenging to lose and the most deadly. Subcutaneous fat is the source of the spare tyre at your middle linked to heart disease. Visceral fat wraps itself around your inner organs. Brown and beige fat cells simply help keep you warm.
Fat Cells are Forever
Your fat cells love you. They want to stay with you forever, and they do. In fact, research studies conducted at the University of Cambridge revealed that fat cells release a specific protein called sLR11. sLR11 sends signals to your brain to preserve body fat, making your own body your biggest enemy in the weight loss battle.
“The problem isn’t so much that we add new fat cells,” explains Dr Austin. “The problem is that the cells we already have just get bigger and bigger and bigger.” Liposuction and Cooltech are the only way to truly remove fat cells.
How to Get Rid of Body Fat
So what can you do if you want to get rid of excess body fat? You’ll be happy to know that there are lots of options. Let’s start with what comes naturally…
Diet and Exercise
The prescription to lose one kg of fat is simple and written in stone: you must reduce your weekly caloric intake by 3,500 either through eating less food in (diet) or expending more energy out (exercise). “A combination of the two is the real winner,” says Dr Austin.
When natural weight loss methods fail, there are still things you can do to sculpt your body. Our patients have been very pleased with an affordable, non-surgical approach that delivers permanent results with no downtime:
Cooltech
is the trending procedure for fat loss. Non-invasive, a single treatment can remove up to 20-30% of excess fat in the treatment area. At Austin Clinic, we create customised body contouring treatment plans based on an individual’s body, goals, lifestyle, and budget, too.
Other ways to keep fat from getting the upper hand on your bottom, middle, top, etc. include:
Liposuction
An incision is made at the treatment site and a cannula is used to suck out cells from fatty areas. The loss of fat cells is permanent, but the incision opens the door to risks such as infection and scarring.
Fat Emulsification
This non-invasive contouring treatment uses a laser to emulsify adipose tissue. It is quick and painless, however studies show that patients regain an average 2 cm’s across their thighs, hips, and waist.
Laser Fat Removal
Using a light-based technology, new lasers use controlled hyperthermic fat reduction to remove fat from the inner and outer thighs, flanks, back, and abdomen. It is also known to cause bruising, tenderness, redness, itching, bleeding, and swelling.
It’s A Jungle Out There…
…and you need a guide. We invite you to contact Austin Clinic to discover a rainbow of options that will make excess fat part of your past, not your future.