Summer has arrived and with the hot weather comes t-shirts, shorts and skimpy bikinis. For many of us, the summer months mean fad diets and skipping meals in order to shed the pounds we’ve gained while snuggled up inside over winter.
Achieving the perfect body is no easy task, we all want to look great, but sit ups alone aren’t going to get rid of that muffin top. There are many studies that suggest that fad diets don’t work and that diet and exercise are the only way of truly keeping your weight down. But achieving results through diet and exercise takes time; it is not a quick fix.
There are two types of fat that are typically found in the abdomen region, these are visceral and subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat is the fat that surrounds our organs and can lead to dangerous problems such as cardiovascular disease. The amount of visceral fat we have usually reflects how healthy and active we are, a person with a healthy balanced diet who partakes in regular exercise should have little visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat is found below the skin and again can be tackled through diet and exercise.
Getting rid of abdominal fat is no quick fix, at least not without liposuction or a tummy tuck. Trying to get rid of fat build up requires a lifestyle change: reducing portion sizes and increasing the amount of exercise you do.
A study conducted by the BBC’s ‘Trust me I’m a doctor’ team suggests that diet and exercise really is the only way to reduce the amount of body fat we have. Increasing the amount of exercise you do, alongside reducing your portion sizes is bound to achieve results. This will, however, involve patience and consistency in order to achieve the results you want.
Body rejuvenation techniques such as abdominoplasty and liposuction, which are the commonest plastic surgery procedures to improve body contour, should not be considered as an alternative to diet and exercise.
Visceral fat cannot be removed by plastic surgery techniques and plastic surgery can only address subcutaneous fat. Although the abdominal wall can be tightened which can improve the abdominal contour and skin excess can be removed, patients should consider diet and exercise as a critical part of all body rejuvenation surgery.
The best candidates for plastic surgery are those that have a healthy lifestyle and are weight stable and Mr Ross always advises patients to be at their ideal weight before considering plastic surgery.
