How to Stop Fat from Returning After Liposuction

If you think liposuction will make you lose fat forever, you’re wrong. A recent study shows that if you are not too careful, fat will come back one year after liposuction.

This recent study, published in the July 2011 issue of Obesity, did a prospective, randomized-controlled trial of suction liposuction in non-obese women to determine if fat will come back and redistribute itself after the procedure. Researchers from the Division of Endocrinology of the University of Colorado Denver evaluated 32 women with an average body mass index (BMI) of 22 to 27. Of the 32 women, 14 were assigned to get liposuction. During the liposuction procedure, doctors removed up to 5 liters of fat from these women in the hips, thighs, and lower abdominal areas. After six months, there was indeed fat loss; however after a year, fat came back redistributed from the thigh to the abdomen. The researchers also noted that the type of fat which came back is not just the subcutaneous type of fat but fat which is deep and visceral, the type which is linked to heart disease risk.

Thus, we can conclude that if we do not take care of ourselves after a liposuction procedure, fat will certainly come back.

So how can we ensure that fat will not come back? We can only do this by following certain diet and lifestyle changes. If you are interested, here are some tips on how to stop fat from coming back after a liposuction procedure.

Change the Way You Eat

If you are not eating breakfast before you underwent liposuction, you better eat breakfast regularly after the procedure. There are many studies which show that eating breakfast within one hour after waking up can keep your insulin and LDL (bad) levels within normal limits. You should also try to eat your breakfast during the same time each day. The tip is to eat as soon as you wake up in the morning.

You should also include high-fiber and high-protein foods in your breakfast. These foods take longer to process than refined and complex sugars so that you will not feel hungry all throughout the day. Eggs, peanut butter, vegetables and fresh fruits are good choices. Avoid foods such as waffles, sweet cereals, pancakes, French toast, pastries, and sweet bread because they will make your blood sugar levels spike up.

You also have to reduce your calorie consumption if you are overweight. You can burn off excess calories in exercise or eat fewer calories. It is said that you will lose one pound of fat if you eat 3700 calories lesser than what you eat now. If you are overweight, you should aim to lose about two pounds per week. Losing more than two pounds per week may bring harm to you. Avoid crash dieting because it will ruin your health.

If you can’t keep track of how much food you are eating, you should consider making a food diary. A food diary encourages you to write down everything that you have taken every week and analyze the results. There are many online food diaries available. There are also many calorie calculators online that you can use to determine how much calories you are taking every day.

The foods that you eat should be rich in fiber. The tip is to add fiber to your diet slowly and choose soluble fiber. Soluble fiber can lower your insulin levels and can speed up burning of belly fat. Examples of foods that contain soluble fiber include apples, cherries and oats. Gradual addition of soluble fiber in the diet allows ample time for bacteria in your gut to adapt to it and digest it.

Sometimes it may be a healthy choice if you eat edible skin of fruits along with their contents. Fiber is mostly concentrated on the skin of fruits. Do not peel apples or similar fruits. In the case of potatoes, you may leave some edible skin on while you mash or boil them.

Include healthy foods in your diet such as split peas and whole grains. Split peas are rich in protein while whole grains encourage the burning of visceral fat which is responsible for heart disease. You can choose to eat brown wheat bread and brown rice over processed white bread or white rice.

Quit eating junk food and processed food. These can spike up your blood sugar levels and make you fatter than you think you would after liposuction. Also, don’t forget to drink 8 to 12 glasses of water per day!

Change the Way You Live

If sedentary has been your word ever since, then change your ways! Being sedentary makes you at risk of deadly diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and stroke!

You can actually exercise in small bursts. Alternating short bursts of energy with resting periods in between are efficient in improving muscle mass and building more endurance. One exercise you can try is sprinting in which you run as fast as you can for 20 seconds and slow to a walk and repeat every 10 minutes. Or, you can incorporate exercise in your daily routines such as walking instead of driving and standing up and walking for 30 steps every 30 minutes. Treadmills, stationary bikes, jogging or sports are also alternatives. Crunches and sit-ups are not that good in burning belly fat and may actually make your abs look thicker.

Relax

If you think that relaxing does not help in making you shed those unwanted pounds, they actually do! Research shows that the secretion of cortisol during times of stress increases belly fat. Stress can be in the form of not getting enough sleep, working for too long and worrying about problems. You should aim to get sleep for 6 to 8 hours every night for your body to burn fat as it should.

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