CoolSculpting: Stories

Pros: Fast, effective, natural and permanent!
Cons: Slightly painful and fairly expensive. Also, not a solution for obese people.
My Motivation: Spot fat reduction to reveal my six-pack that I've been working for for over 4 years!
The Outcome: TBD - results to follow!
How Has It Changed My Life? TBD - results to follow!
What I Wish I Had Known Beforehand? Nothing - the information out there is very comprehensive and if you do even a little research, you'll learn everything you need to know!

My Story:
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I am a 6'3", 32 yr old male, strong, fit and healthy. I eat a clean diet and exercise regularly. In 2010, I hit my goal weight and body fat percentage of 185 lbs and 6.4% body fat, from 210 lbs and 16% body fat. However, despite this huge victory my ultimate goal of revealing my six-pack eluded me - this led me to be exceptionally discouraged after realizing that no matter how careful I was with my diet and no matter how hard I trained, I would never be able to beat my genetic pre-disposition of those pockets of fat around my lower abdomen and flanks. Also, for those of you who have come down to single digit body fat, in my experience, you know that it's not very comfortable living that lean. Because I'm tall, my elbows and knees get knobbly, my hip bones get sharp and protrude out which hurts my wife during love-making and all around, I'm starving hungry all the time because my metabolism is racing so fast! Not really practical for normal living. However, not be outdone, I did some research on how to beat your genetic pre-disposition when it comes spot fat reducing, which lead me to find "Ultrashape". Google it for more info - it's an awesome procedure and would recommend it HIGHLY! I had it done in 2011 and it worked great for me although I was only able to get 2 out of the 3 recommended treatments done because I was on vacation in a foreign country and ran out of time (Ultrashape was not FDA approved or available in the USA at the time of writing this). Treatments with Ultrashape are spaced 2 weeks apart to give your body enough time to pass the fat which gets mobilized but I only had 3 weeks available so could only squeeze in 2 treatments! Results were exactly what I wanted but just not enough to see my six pack although my torso shape was DRASTICALLY IMPROVED! Then 2 years later, after some more searching, I discovered Coolsculpting which IS AVAILABLE here in the US and after reading many reviews and doing my homework, decided to go for it!

The experience was very pleasant experience - not as good as Ultrashape but not bad. My target area was the fat pockets directly below and to either side of my navel. What I found interesting is that they had to do it in two sections as they said they did not want to suck the skin over the belly button up into the vacuum due to the possibility of injury - they said that they had someone's navel bleed before doing it that way so they preferred to do each side separately. Ultimately, the cost would be the same so I only lost an hour doing it that way - no big deal. I did not have any trouble with the skin sucking up into the vacuum as other people said - it was a little uncomfortable, but not really sore or anything. The mild discomfort came when the machine started to cool my skin/fat cells and as most reviewers say, it only lasts 5 minutes and then you're numb. The hour went by fast and then we were on to the other side - same process and experience as before, a little discomfort as it cooled down, but once numb it was all good. The massage of the frozen area afterwards was a little uncomfortable but again, nothing most folks couldn't handle. The real discomfort came when the treatment was over and the area started "thawing" - I was doubled over in pain at that stage and while it passed fairly quickly (about 5 mins), it hurt like hell at the time - probably an 8 or 9 out of 10.

It's been 1 day so far and to be honest, I barely know I had any procedure at all. I feel slightly swollen and bruised on the treated area but literally no pain unless it is touched or pushed on. Area is numb to the touch, but again this is 100% normal and to be expected. I am SOOOO looking forward to seeing the results in a few weeks and will try to post the after pictures at least once a week. Thanks for reading! :-)