Upper/Lower Abs - Brooklyn, NY

Update on my results, my conclusion is this: while the lipo got rid of the belly fat that seemed impossible to lose, I think my current success is credited to cutting back on calories, and eliminating alcohol and bread from my diet. I try not to consume more than 1000 calories a day and I am very very active. Ab workouts have been helping to define the muscle. I only lost 1lb of fat from the Lipo itself, but in the past 3 months I have used it as motivation to clean up my diet, so I feel it was totally worth it. Since august, I have lost 20lbs from healthy diet and exercise alone, my best advice is: don't expect lipo to substitute that.

I have officially reached the 4 week mark.
Swelling still sucks. It just appears when I take off the compression garment or consume even the slightest amount of sodium. It's mostly water retention. Not letting it phase me!

Checking your progress first thing in the morning is really helpful to keep a positive outlook on the healing. Your body is rested, well compressed (if you sleep with the garment) and had metabolized whatever you ate previously--so you can get a better idea of your results before you go on about your day and the swelling takes it toll.

Otherwise I feel good, I've been leaving the garment off for little periods of time, I'm currently a bit swollen but I'm posting a pic I took this morning when swelling was minimal.

I do think I've slimmed down a lot and while the lipo got rid of the hardest fat to lose, it mainly gave me a harsh realty check on my diet. Alcohol, especially beer and sweet cocktails, make me gain weight very rapidly, as well as other carbs. The sodium bloating was something I never noticed but am now aware of. Before surgery I actually never knew that's something that contributed to swelling and feeling bloated. Since cutting back on sodium I notice my skin is healthier and I feel better overall.

The swilling is tricky because it makes you look pudgy, even though there's no fat in the area. Apparently swelling doesn't go down for real for a few more months. Bleh! Meanwhile, I'm going to start intensifying my ab workout routine now and hopefully have a awesome stomach by next spring! :)

Went for a follow up with Dr Testa yesterday, he said all looked good! He said the swelling will continue to go down. Yay!

Also, I didn't mention it before and I know it's not completely relevant because "Lipo isn't a weight loss solution" but I lost 6lbs since surgery. I have pretty much stopped drinking alcohol (okay I had 1 or 2 cheat days with a glass of wine) and have cut back 98% on bread, fried stuff, and high sodium food. So it's probably more to do with the clean eating but I feel good.

Also, I ordered and started to use a latex waist trainer and something went wrong, I may have an allergy or something... I was out working and my skin started itching, then it started to burn and feel like a million little continuous stings all over my back ever time I moved. Hot, burning, stings in waves across my skin. So painful and weird. It definitely was the latex material and not related to the surgery because I didn't have anything done to my back. As soon as I switched to a non-latex waist trainer my skin felt fine again and it hasn't happened again. I got a latex-free mesh waist trainer and have been wearing it with my ab board. Much better!