Fat Elimination

Fat has become a term with a lot of negative connotations because so many Americans have a problem with excess fat. But before we pick on fat, let’s discuss its important role in your body. Having too much or too little actually makes it difficult for fat to do its job.

Fat deposits (adipose tissue) are made of fat cells, which are like little storage units that hold a drop of fat and water. (That’s important for later understanding how we can eliminate excess fat.) Fat operates as your body’s reserve and emergency energy storage. The number of body fat cells is pretty much established early in life with only minor adjustments during adolescence. So when you “get fatter” your fat cells don’t multiply – they just grow bigger! Only after a fat cell has grown about three times its normal size can it divide. How much fat accumulates before division differs from person to person. When it comes to fat cells, you can shrink the size but not the number. This has been a handy adaptation, especially when our ancestors faced seasonal extremes in food availability. Humans store excess energy as fat more easily than we burn it. Fat is generally stored in two places in the body:

Subcutaneous fat

– Fat beneath the skin – the fat reduced by our therapies.

Visceral fat

– “Deep storage fat” around your body organs. Only balanced nutrition and activity can remove this fat.

Getting rid of fat is simple math, but your body doesn’t make it a simple process. One pound of fat equals 3500 calories. To gain a pound of fat you must consume 3500 more calories than you burn. To lose a pound of fat you must create a calorie deficit equal to 3500 calories. The maintenance point depends on the person’s height, weight, age, activity level, and muscle composition. (Note- a pound gained on the scale is not necessarily a pound of fat. Muscle weighs more than fat and takes up less space in your body. Muscle also burns fat. If you are active and building muscle, your scale may “weigh more” but you’ll look trimmer and be a better fat burner.) You have to burn more calories than you consume. If you do, two things will happen:

• You’ll reduce the size of your fat cells.
• You’ll prevent fat cell division by keeping your fat cells small.

Our therapies are designed to reduce your subcutaneous fat. We can remove your fat cells permanently so they don’t return. Those stubborn fat cells below your skin won’t be around to get bigger. That’s our part of the fat elimination equation. However, you also have to do your part. No therapy can eliminate deep visceral fat. This is achieved only through balanced nutrition and activity. When we both do our parts, you can radically alter your fat equation by:

• Removing fat cells from your body through our therapies.
• Keep deeper visceral fat cells from getting fatter through good lifestyle choices.

The body naturally resists burning fat since this is your emergency reserve. As our bodies mature, they naturally want to preserve more fat. Your metabolism decreases as well as your muscle mass, so that the rate of energy use decreases, along with the muscle mass that burns fat. Hormonal changes brought on by pregnancy, menopause, and stress can also reduce your ability to lose excess fat. Of course, consuming calories in excess of what your body needs and having a sedentary lifestyle also doesn’t help. Combining these various factors leaves you with fat that may resist your best efforts to lose it.