Reviews

Why My Fats Must Go – My CoolSculpting Journey with Halley Medical Aesthetics

January 31, 2019

I always thought someday – one day in the distant future – if I’ve made enough money and plucked up enough courage, I might get some liposuction done to get rid of those cellulite thighs I’ve been living with since three pregnancies ago.

I often show the kids my thighs and what pregnancy and child birthing did to these once pretty-looking slim thighs.

I even do it in a humourous way – twist up the skin around my thighs and show them how orange-peel like, dimpled-looking they can be! They laugh and think it’s gross, and it’s even change the way Becks thought about having kids (ewww Mama, I’m never gonna give birth!, she says) and I show it off like it’s a badge of honour for having done something heroic.

Three kids in four years. It was an impossibility in my world made possible through sheer grit and love.

But truth be told, the dark eye rings, the cellulite thighs, the flabby tummy, the exhaustion built up from years of insufficient rest and the occasional body chills – I do not consider them my badges of honour.

If I could do something with them through lifestyle changes or anything non-invasive, I would.

Over the years I have taken an active step to do good to my body to feel good, whether through TCM care, taking regular head space and doing yoga regularly. I’ve even tried the keto diet and intermittent fasting the whole of 2018, which I am stopping for now (more on that later).

This was me at my heaviest, most uncoordinated and tired in December 2018.

And while all these have been incorporated as a lifestyle, they never really addressed the cellulite that bothered me. It always felt like so much effort, so little results.

Heck, what results?

Truth be told too, that in my time-starved world where exercising in a gym or running or doing lots of calorie-burning workouts could definitely help, I simply do not have the time nor do I want to make it a priority.

I have a business to grow, a household to run, motherhood duties to fulfill (not for one, not for two, but for three different individuals), self-development to pursue, friendships to maintain and constant upskilling to do professionally, so in the grander scheme of things, I’d be honest to say I’ll take a quick fix anytime.

To those people who hear my woes and always answer with “Exercise, lah. How long does it take?”, try living in my world. I would prioritise 15 minutes to read with my child or write a blog post or sort out my very messy photo album on my phone anytime, than to go for a run. You know what I mean?

Anyway.

Back to those cellulite thighs, caused largely by the stubborn fat deposits in that area, which I found an answer to.

Yes, I found an answer. An answer that would get rid of them for good, forever. And it’s called FAT FREEZING.

CoolSculpting (in layman terms: a fat-freezing procedure) or technically known as “cryolipolysis”, is a technology that’s been around for several years and is a non-invasive and US FDA-approved process of fat removal.

How it works is that the process of cryolipolysis using the CoolSculpting technology cools the area of body fat in a non-invasive manner and breaks down the fat cells without affecting other tissues. The fat cells in the treated area die a natural way and are eliminated from the body through our waste system.

So unlike liposuction which is invasive and disposes of the dead fat cells right away, cryolipolysis allows for the immune system to treat as waste and for the body to dispose of the dead fat cells naturally. The effect is long-lasting; however the effects can only be seen 2-3 months after the procedure.

And of course, I didn’t pluck all these information from Google and plonk them all here. I spoke with a doctor whom I consulted regarding freezing my fats, asked all the questions I wanted, and had him walk me through the procedure.

I went to Halley Medical Aesthetics at the end of last year to learn more about this process and to clarify as much doubts I had. I consulted Dr Terence Tan, who patiently answered all my questions about CoolSculpting. I needed to be 100% sure I knew what it was, how it would affect me, if there were any implications, side effects, etc.

I’ve listed down some Q&As that transpired during the consultation with Dr Terence Tan, and my thoughts that helped me in my decision making to embark on my CoolSculpting journey. Here goes.

How does this work and how effective is this treatment in terms of fat removal?

The process uses a controlled cooling technology to kill fat cells. CoolSculpting is proven to cause the removal of fat cells per treatment area by 20-25%.

Taken from https://www.coolsculpting.com/what-is-coolsculpting/how-it-works/

Will my fats return? Is this a permanent situation?

The understanding we need to have regarding having fat cells in our body needs to be accurate. By age 5, our body stops producing fat cells and we have a fixed number of fat cells in our body. We become fat by the sheer fact that our fat cells grow in volume, not quantity. So with CoolSculpting, what happens is that the fat cells are removed for good, by 20-25%. That’s a permanent situation. Say you have 100 to start with, CoolSculpting reduces the number to 75. BUT should you continue an unhealthy lifestyle and not monitor your diet, those 75 cells will grow in volume still.

Is this a weight loss programme?

CoolSculpting is a fat reduction and body contouring procedure NOT a weight loss programme.

Side note: upon understanding my medical history, Dr Terence Tan suggested that I may wish to try Halley’s weight loss programme for a month to reduce my cholesterol. Although I have a normal BMI and my body fat percentage is not a cause of concern, some weight loss for a month may help with my cholesterol. He also mentioned that I should not go on a keto diet if I have high cholesterol and should think about working out a nutrition and exercise plan to tackle this issue.

He also recommended taking the following:

Duromine to suppress my appetite

Nopal, a medical grade fibre supplement, taken before lunch and dinner so that I will feel full quicker
Xenical, a fat blocker to be taken with dinner

These are approved medication and not meant to be ongoing for my case; but something I could consider trying.

What can I expect post-treatment?

Tugging sensation at the treatment site, some temporary redness and sensitivity to treatment area, and swelling or bruising depending on individual a few days after. Recovery time from these is short.

I took some days to think about it after my consultation with Dr Terence Tan, did lots of follow-up research including reading this FAQ here and blog reviews, and upon certainty that I wanted to have those fats of mine on the thighs gone, I made my appointment for my CoolSculpting procedure earlier this year.

It’s clear to me: a solution better than liposuction is here; it’s non-invasive and the effect are long lasting.

My cellulite must go. My fats must be frozen.

LET IT GO, CAN’T HOLD IT BACK ANYMORE!

COMING UP! Read on to find out how my fats were frozen at Halley Medical Aesthetics.