Fit 34 Year Old, Tired of Stubborn Layer of Belly Fat!

So I'm really very excited! As of this writing it is about T-Minus 4 days until I get rid of my belly fat once and for all!

I'll be getting Hi-Def VASER ab-etching done on my upper and lower abs, under-pectoral etching, and side flanks in Laguna Beach, California by Dr. Arian Mowlavi (more on him and his team below).

My story is like many others who seek this procedure - I work out often, stay in shape, etc., but once I hit age 30 my figure as wells as the effects of working out all just started to slip; as my metabolism slowed down, the amount of stubborn subcutaneous fat (meaning fat that is closely attached to the underside of the skin) and visceral fat (meaning fat that is between the organs and muscles) began to gradually creep upwards and stop responding to situps, crunches, running, etc. like it used to. Working out all the time and then looking in the mirror to see that you've somehow steadily become fatter is just so demoralizing. I just want to recapture the ability to work out and have it actually pay off and look good like it did a few short years ago!

Additionally, due to an amazing coincidence in scheduling, I will be doing my procedure during a professional office visit from the venerated Dr. Grant Hamlet from the United Kingdom, who actually trained Dr. Mowlavi himself in abdominal etching and high-detail VASER work! With this duo attending my procedure, only amazing things can happen!

I will keep updating this as I progress post-op.

OK so I got up at about 6:30am, and proceeded from my nearby hotel to the surgery center - I got to have a little chit-chat with Dr. Mowlavi and Dr. Hamlet , before I stripped down to the buff so the docs could feel out the detailed topography of all the musculature in my torso, pinpoint the negative zones between them, and the feathering/transition zones at the muscles' edges, and finally mark me all up accordingly. Then I donned an open-back surgical gown and little slippers and we proceeded to the operating room, I laid down, got an IV in my head and BAM. I'm opening my eyes in a recovery room several hours later all wrapped up in my compression garment and feeling mild to moderate pain (which quickly subsided to almost nothing once I took a Percocet. As of this writing, I've made it back to my house and I'm about to take a Valium and sleep! Great day overall!

Alright, lots of progress and waaay less pain! As of yesterday (Day 6) I'm not really even needing to take Percocet anymore (I hate the way it dulls my mind and makes me irritable). I'm also way more mobile since I got my drains taken out yesterday on Day 6 at my second lymphatic massage session. These are massages where their in-house masseuse squeezes all of the built-up lymphatic fluid from between your individual muscles towards the center of your abs and then downwards to your lower abdomen (where it will eventually either drain of of the drains or - once the drains are removed - simply be reabsorbed by your body's lymphatic system), like squeezing out a tube of toothpaste. At the time it's mildly painful and you can feel all the fluid sort of squinching out from between your muscles which is weird, but afterwards you feel way better and look a little better with a little more definition.

With my drains out, I can take off my compression garment and underlying foam for a few minutes, and finally shower - which felt great after being wrapped in foam for 6 days! In the pictures you can see the imprints of the various shaped/fitted plates of foam pressed into my skin, but they will fade along with my incision scars. Even with all the fluid that's built up since yesterday making me still look kind of flat and less defined than I ultimately will, I still look way better than I did before - these pictures are relaxed (not flexing); look at my "Relaxed - Age 34" pictures above and the difference is night and day. You can already see individual ab muscle peeking out without even flexing, and my pecs look more pumped and "popped-out" the way they used to look after a heavy chest workout! Can't wait to get back to working out, and I'm getting more optimistic by the day!