Liposuction: How to Stop the Weight from Returning

In a recent study, researchers at the University of Colorado found that women who maintained the same eating and exercise habits they had prior to liposuction post liposuction regained much of the weight they had lost, just one year later and usually in a different part of the body.

“I'm all for anybody doing what they want to with their bodies. But here's what amazes me: Many people think that once fat is removed in a given area, problem solved; you're now a thin person. Eat whatever you want because the fat cells are gone,” said writer Judith Newman in an article in the June issue of Marie Claire magazine, where she talks about having liposuction twice.


Like Newman, many people make the mistake of thinking liposuction is the end-all to weight battles. However, keeping that new body after liposuction requires changes in a lifestyle as well, a change of diet in particular. Going back to an unhealthy routine after surgery is like losing weight after dieting and going back to eating unhealthily two weeks later.

With liposuction we remove extra fat and create better shape, but the existing tissue and fat cells are still perfectly capable of enlarging and developing new cells if there is new fat to be stored. Without a healthier lifestyle, a patient has to commit herself to multiple surgeries in order to maintain shape, like Newman did.

However, liposuction is not a weight reduction program; it is shaping and sculpting areas that need to be better defined. Furthermore, while the majority of the women in the study gained weight in a different area of the body, post liposuction, it doesn’t always occur that way. If a patient gains weight after surgery it may the same amount in areas that were treated with liposuction as in untreated areas. It may be less or even more fat deposition in treated areas as well; all scenarios are possible.

To maximize results from liposuction, a patient should try to achieve a weight that he is comfortable with and would have no significant problems to maintain before submitting himself to surgery.