You ask a great question here, because there are a few very important points to be made in answering it.With respect to your question about BMI, I think it should be noted that BMI is more of a "relative indicator" of the status of your body, and it shouldn't be taken as any kind of gold standard. This is because BMI, or Body Mass Index, only takes into account a person's height and weight, with different calculations for males and females. So, in general, if a person is shorter and weighs more, we might think of them as more obese, and in turn they will have a higher BMI. However, what about the person who has a lot of muscle mass because they are a gymnast or a body builder? Those people will weigh a lot more for their height, because muscle is denser than fat, and they will in turn have a higher BMI, but do we also consider them as obese? Thus, when considering BMI as an indicator of one's suitability for any body contouring procedure, including BBL, we need to look at the whole picture. This means we should also get an indication of the body fat percentage as well as just the height, weight, and BMI. This is something that is always done best in person with an examination, however, in your case, based on the one image that you have provided and your history of troublesome weight gain recently, it appears as though you may have a substantial amount of body fat in the central part of your body. This may mean that the results of a procedure like BBL won't be as satisfying to you now compared to after you were able to lose some of the excess weight.This leads to the next point I would like to make, and that is as with any body contouring procedure, our BEST results are always obtained when a person is at the optimal weight. This doesn't mean that they have to meet some arbitrary or standard definition of "ideal body weight," but it means that they are at the best weight that they can attain given a healthy and sustainable lifestyle, diet, and exercise regimen. Once we are stable at a good target weight, I find that we obtain, and more importantly keep, our long term results. Remember, the fat injected with a BBL is living fat, and it will function like any other living fat - if you gain more weight after the procedure, it will increase in volume, and if you lose weight after the procedure, it will decrease too. Thus, unless we are at a stable target weight at the time of surgery, we're "shooting at a moving target."The last point to make here is that we should always be in our best medical condition before undergoing procedures like this. We should especially address any potential medical problems that might have a direct bearing on weight gain or loss, such as thyroid or other endocrine or hormone conditions, too. These procedures are elective procedures, which means we can choose to do them or not, and we can choose when they get done. They aren't emergency procedures, like a trauma surgery, in which we have no choice in the matter. Thus, we should make sure that everything is optimized, including medical condition, weight, and body fat percentage, before moving forward. If, when you say you can't lose your weight no matter what you try, you have only tried things on your own without consulting a doctor, I suggest that you schedule an appointment to see your family doctor so that any potential issues, like thyroid problems, hormone deficiencies, and the like can be evaluated and treated before undergoing surgery like this. If all of that comes back normal, or without any definite diagnosis, there is always the possibility to begin a medically supervised weight loss program which might be more effective than the things you are doing on your own.If you do decide to undergo consultation for BBL, be sure to look for board certified plastic surgeons with experience in fat transfer procedures, as they will be the best trained and equipped to produce the safest and most effective results. In addition to being certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, your surgeon should also voluntarily participate in the Maintenance of Certification program administered by that board. This is the best way to know that your surgeon not only has the best training and experience for the procedure, but that he or she has maintained currency in the certification requirements as opposed to practicing on a "lifetime" certificate which has only been reviewed once at the beginning of his or her career. For more information on this you can visit ABplsurg.org or ABMS.org. Good luck.
