Ask a doctor

Will Gaining Weight Help With Fat Transfer to the Butt?

I am 5'2" 28 yo I lost about 20 lbs over the last year I had a child in 2010 and 2011 I gained 14 pounds with each pregnancy and lot that plus more I am down to about 125. I am currently working on putting weight back on because I don't like to be this thin. I have a very flat butt and gaining weight and working out does not help me to gain size in my butt so I want to have a fat transfer. How much weight should I put on to be able to have enough fat harvested to get a nice full bubble butt.

Doctor Answers 8

October 10th, 2012

Gaining weight prior to Brazilian butt lift

{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}

Gaining Weight prior to a Brazilian butt lift doesn't work. The reason why it doesn't work is because fat cells don't replicate. You're born with a certain number of fat cells and you keep the same number of fat cells throughout life. When you gain weight each cell gets bigger and when you lose weight each cell gets smaller, but you don't make more fat cells. So if you gain weight before surgery and you transfer the same number of fat cells that you would have if you didn't gain weight. So when you go back to your normal weight after surgery the cells will shrink to the same size they would've been if you didn't force yourself to gain weight.

 

Before surgery you want to be as healthy as possible gaining excess weight does not make you healthy. The other thing is gaining weight may stretch the skin and damage the tone of your skin or create stretch marks. Being healthy is the best. The other thing to remember is that a small person needs less fat to make a change in the buttocks than a larger person. This is just like a breast augmentation a person whose 5 feet tall can get a C cup breasts with a 350 mL implant. A person who is 6 feet tall may need a 550 mL implant to make a C cup breasts.

 

In my opinion making a small waist with the liposuction is the key to making the buttocks look bigger and better. I've done a lot of life of suctioning fat injections in thin patients and had great results. We don't always have to inject a lot of fat to have a great-looking figure after surgery.

Learn more: http://wperrymd.com

Wendell Perry, MD
October 10th, 2012

Gaining Weight will NOT Help With Fat Transfer to the Butt in Most Cases

{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}

The pattern of fat distrubution varies according to sex (it differs in men and women) and differs with various ethnicities. As you gain fat, much as you may want, it would not necessarily go where you want it to be deposited.

The fat cell is a storage room which gets larger in volume when we eat calories we do not burn with exertion and excercise. The more we eat and do not burn, the more gets deposited in these cells.

It makes NO sense to eat up and gain weigh for a fat transfer (and acquiring other health risks) UNLESS you plan to stay at that weight. If large fat cells are transferred elsewhere and you choose to lose weight, the fat cells would deflate as the fat is burned by the body as an energy source. Therefore it is ALWAYS best to plan body contouring on women who have reached and remained at their STABLE weight.

The appearance of your butt COULD be improved with a well done Tummy tuck (which would flatten the tummy and NARROW the waist creating an hourglass figure) combined with liposuction of the low back and hips uncovering and accentuating the buttocks you don't think you have.

you should discuss it with a good plastic surgeon.

Good Luck

Peter A Aldea, MD
Memphis, TN

Peter A. Aldea, MD
Memphis Plastic Surgeon

November 10th, 2015

Should I Gain Weight Before My Brazilian Butt Lift?

{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}
This is a very common question as some women do not have enough fat for a Brazilian Butt Lift. However some patients are surprised that they have enough fat when evaluated by an experienced plastic surgeon that performs a high volume of fat transfer procedures.

Patients that have a BMI over 22 and have never had liposuction before have a good possibility of being able to have a Brazilian Butt Lift. They will need a liposuction in multiple areas such as the flanks, back abdomen and inner thighs. However this liposuction in multiple areas will allow your surgeon to shape your entire body.
I tell patients who are thin or borderline that I am always cautious about having them gain weight because if they lose weight after the fat transfer procedure they will lose some of the fat that is transferred during the Brazilian Butt Lift.

If you are too thin for a Brazilian Butt Lift there are other options such as butt implants or a combination of butt implants and fat transfer. The combination is great for shaping the waist and giving patients the projection and shape that they desire.

Please consult with your board certified plastic surgeon that performs a high volume of butt augmentation procedures.

Learn more: http://www.austinbrazilianbuttlift.com/

Johnny Franco, MD, FACS

You might also like...

*Treatment results may vary

Related content

View all Brazilian Butt Lift reviews
October 11th, 2012

Should I gain weight before a BBL?

{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}

Great question with lots of different opinions out there. I believe that a woman gains and loses weight based on how their clothes fit them, I suggest to patients that need more fat for a transfer to put on 5-10 lbs before a transfer because we will harvest these  "inflatted" cells and then transfer them to another part of the body thus acheiving the look and clothes fit that you want, and therefore you will maintain what was transferred by maintaining the same weight with a different look. Difficult for some to understand but Iave had great success using this algorithm. Good luck!

Jonathan Weiler, MD
October 10th, 2012

Gaing weight before Butt lift

{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}

I dont recommend that you gain weight if you have a normal or above normal BMI. This is a ratio of height and weight. If you are underweight and very thin then yes you could gain weight.  

Normal weight patients or slightly above average weight patients do the best with fat transfer and fat retention and survival after transfer. The liposuction will sculpt your body, and the fat injections will fill the buttocks. If you gain weight after the fat transfer the buttocks will get larger also.

Norman Bakshandeh, MD, FACS
New York Plastic Surgeon

July 15th, 2016

Gaining Weight Prior To BBL?

{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}
Thank you for your question!  It is hard to tell exactly without a physical examination of your body how much weight you will need to gain.  Find a board certified plastic surgeon who preforms these regularly and have a  consultation.  Best of luck!
Dr Dhaval PatelDouble Board Certified Plastic SurgeonChicagoHoffman EstatesOak Brook
Dhaval M. Patel, MD
October 11th, 2012

Best BBL results will be at your baseline weight

{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}

I'm in agreement with the other opinions, that you should not change your diet or lifestyle to something that is not natural for you, just for the sake of trying to gain weight before your fat transfer to the buttocks ('Brazilian Butt Lift').  If you work to gain weight, eating more than you usually would, then you will almost certainly lose that weight after surgery and the additional volume in your buttocks will go with it.

 

It's best to just stick with your regular diet and weight, and the surgeon will do his or her very best with the current body you have.  Best wishes!

Scott W. Mosser, MD
San Francisco Plastic Surgeon

October 11th, 2012

No more than 15 lbs ovewrweight is the maximum for planning a succesful BBL /no mas de 15 lbs en exceso para BBL

{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}

you are ok. now for planning a succesful BBL you  should no get more than 15 lbs in excess and  no less than 10 lbs overweight in order to get a wonderfull butts shape.

no deberias de tener mas de 8 kgs en exceso de peso  ni menos de 6 kgrs de sobrepeso para poder planear una BBL exitosa

Ramon Navarro, MD
Mexico Plastic Surgeon

These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.