Body contouring and liposuction exist to alter the distribution of fat. At our New York practice, our goal is to take away cells from one area and forever change the shape of the body. However, we forgot one key fact: the total amount of fat in a person’s body is determined by intake of food and output of energy (i.e. metabolism). If we take in more than we put out, we will gain weight. Does liposuction alter this formula?

NO. If you are at 20% body fat and I liposuction your body, although I have removed fat, down the road you will still have 20% body fat. This means that liposuction may remove fat from a particular area, but the fat comes back and can redistribute throughout the body and the remaining fat cells. In essence, removing fat to lose weight is a bad idea. However, removing fat for a few specific areas tends to work out just great!