Why Lipo Doesn't Work: Tone and Shape Your Body Today

Why Lipo Doesn't Work

In the past I've had friends in the fitness modeling industry that used liposuction as a way to get rid of unwanted body fat. The goal of this undertaking was to have a more toned appearance and to get rid of fat in areas like the back of the legs or stomach area. While this method worked temporarily eventually fat begin to creep up in unwanted areas in other parts of the body.

When a person does liposuction, they get rid of fat cells in certain areas around the body. The good news is that fat cells do not regenerate. So, once you get rid of them in that area, they don't come back. The bad news is that if you are eating a daily, weekly, and monthly calorie surplus that energy has to be stored somewhere. Eventually, you begin storing body fat in weird places on your body. For instance, I have a female friend that does a lot of fitness modeling and wanted to shave off unwanted pounds of body fat around her thighs. She went and had liposuction done. Well, one year later around Christmas time, like most people around the holidays, she ate way too much food over the course of 2 to 3 months. Because she ate more calories then she could burn, she gained weight.

Think about food as energy. If you eat too much, your body has to store that excess energy somewhere. In her case, it wasn't't the thigh region, it was her arms and face which completely blew up. She never had that problem before, but now that there were less fat cells in the thigh region, that excess energy had to be stored somewhere. In her case, where did it go? It went to her face and arms. It was an odd sight. I felt really bad for her and advised her to go on a specific diet and training program. She lost the weight and then some.

The point of this story is that Liposuction is a temporary quick fix. Instead of spending $6,000 to $10,000 on Liposuction, you are much better off by hiring a nutritionist and personal trainer. This way you can learn about healthier strategies to lose weight safely and to keep it off permanently. Unfortunately our society has been plagued by quick fix solutions. While initially appealing, a person should really think about what is going to be best strategy for the long run. A healthy diet and exercise program will not only help you tone and shape your body, but will also help you to be more productive, healthier and stay younger.

Remember, you are what you eat and the best way to maintain youthful appearance is to give your body all the resources it needs to maintain health skin, hair, bones, and muscles. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Diet and Nutrition

Drink lots of water. Your body will hold less excess water weight.

80% or more of your carbohydrates should be from oatmeal, vegetables, fruits, and beans.

Eat enough protein. This tip would be in relation to your body weight and how active you are. Athletes should consume about 1 gm for every pound of body weight. If you're working out 2 to 3 days a week, then you would need within the range of .5 to .7 grams of protein per pound of body weight.

Eat 5 to 6 times a day or every 3 to 4 hours. Don't skip meals.

Keep a food journal. If you have a trainer, have them review it weekly. If you don't have a trainer, still keep a food journal. Having a journal will keep you aware and accountable with respect to your eating habits.

Your diet should be broken up into the following macro nutrients - approximately 25% Protein, 50% Carbs, and 25% fat.

Strength Training and Weight Lifting

Rest time in between weight lifting sets should vary between 60 to 120 seconds. There are cases where you should wait longer in between sets, but for most this is the "ideal" rest period for muscle growth.

Change your workouts every 4 to 10 weeks. Your body can grow accustomed to training with the same routine. In order for it to continuing adapting and growing you should change your workout routines.
Keep a workout journal. This tip is avoided by most people. Most people can't remember exactly what they did in their last workout which had 10 to 15 sets. The workout journal will help you keep track of the weights that you've lifted in previous workouts.

Also, you need to either buy a stop watch or consistently use the clock to monitor time in between sets.

Lift more weight. Now that you're keeping a workout journal, you know exactly how much you lifted last week and the week before. One of the fundamental principles of growing muscle is simply adding more weight at your next workout. Every time or every other time you workout you should be a little bit stronger than the last workout. Thereby, your next workout you should be able to go up in weight on various sets in your routine. Try increasing the weight by increments of 2.5 to 5 pounds.
Eat immediately after your weight training session. Your body will need the nutrition.

Many women do not lift weights and primarily focus on cardio and diet. While those two categories are important, you must not forget to do strength training at least twice a week. Building some muscle will add shape to your body. It tones your arms, legs, and of course your backside. Trust me, you won't look like a body builder or too masculine if you lift weights. Gaining muscle is a lot harder than you think.

Cardio

Switch up your cardio routines consistently. For example, on one day perform sprint training for 20 minutes; the next cardio routine try walking on an incline treadmill. Next workout use the stair master or spin classes, or elliptical, or the bike. Also, you can use 2 or 3 different cardio exercises in one workout. For example, 20 minutes workout on the bike, then 20 minutes on the stair master, then 20 minutes of boxing or kick boxing. Your body is an efficient machine. It will get used to habitual cardio workout routines. By changing it up, your body will continue to burn more calories then if you keep performing the same cardio routine month after month.