Sneaking out the door without a hearty breakfast may not be such a bad idea.

Contrary to the popular belief that the morning meal is the most important of the day, new research suggests that deliberately skipping breakfast and prolonging the time between your last meal (yesterday) and first meal (today) could have a positive impact on your health.

For one, skipping breakfast extends your nighttime fast and compresses the window of opportunity to overeat, says Carolyn Williams, a James Beard award-winning dietician, who served as a consulting expert for The Mens Health Guide to Intermittent Fasting.

The Men's Health Guide to Intermittent Fasting

And dont worry about slowing your metabolism by fasting.

Skipping meals may even slightly boost your metabolism, Williams says.

Heres are five more reasons to consider bypassing breakfast tomorrow morning.

You might think that fasting would make you feel famished and trigger insatiable cravings for foods, especially carbs. But studies show thats not always the case. In fact, a study in the journal Obesity found that people who ate only during a 6-hour feeding window felt less hungry than people in a control group who were allowed to eat normally.

Simply changing when you eat can trigger weight loss. A 2018 study found that intermittent fasting can help promote weight loss even if you dont cut total daily calories from your diet. When we shorten our calorie-consumption window by skipping breakfast, we minimize the constant release of insulin and force the body to find alternate fuelslike body fatfor energy, says Williams.

Simply eating food triggers inflammation in your body, and chronic, sustained inflammation may play a role in obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Skipping breakfast gives your body a needed break from a constant onslaught of food.

When you refrain from eating in the morning, you automatically avoid potentially inflammatory foods like bacon, the refined carbohydrates found in such baked goods as bagels, muffins, and pastries, and breakfast cereals, highly processed breakfast sandwiches, and sugar-laden coffees and fruit juices.

Several human studies have shown that people who fast improve their cardiovascular health.

In one study, Germany researchers put 1422 people on an intermittent fasting diet for a year and found that those who fasted lowered both their diastolic and systolic blood pressure and reduce their resting heart rates.

Researchers believe the drop in BP may be caused by an increase in parasympathetic activity due to brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that regulates blood pressure.

Fasting advocates say going without food allows them to stay focused and do more work.

Researchers say that may be due to the cocktail of hormones, such as testosterone and cortisol, and other biochemicals that are released when your body transitions from fed to fasted.

When that happens your body generates energy by burning fat, while arousing it with adrenaline, which increases your alertness and focus, say biochemist Trevor Kashey, Ph.D., founder of Trevor Kashey Nutrition.

And now for a caveat (you knew it was coming, didnt you?)

All of these terrific health benefits will likely disappear fast once you go back to starting your day with a Dennys Grand Slam breakfast.

But why stop intermittent fasting? Following a skip-breakfast fast is pretty easy to maintain. After all, you are asleep for most of your fast.

You can learn how to do the popular 16:8 intermittent fast in The Mens Health Guide to Intermittent Fasting, available here. It explains the science of fasting, gives you simple instructions for getting started, and supplies 46 delicious recipes, including 16 Keto-friendly meals.

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Fasting and Breakfast - Is Eating in the Morning Good - Men's Health

13 Jan 2020

Tired of hearing the same old-school suggestions for losing weight? We feel you.

As more people are turning health-conscious nowadays, diet experts around the world are breaking the monotony and coming up with unusual and bizarre tricks to help us get slimmer.

Here is a collection of weight loss tips and tricks that might seem a bit weird, but they actually work.

#1

Turns out, food photography is not another useless obsession of our generation.

Believe it or not, snapping your food can actually help you in shedding some extra kilos.

Well, if you are wondering how, here's the catch- by taking pictures of every meal you are going to consume, you might think twice before indulging or overeating, thereby keeping your intake in check.

#2

Traditionally, less noise and soft lighting have been associated with better sleep quality, but a certain report by Today stated that reducing the noise and dimming lights can help in losing weight as well.

The trick behind it is to help diners focus mainly on their food. This will help you enjoy your meal better, and you may end up eating mindfully.

#3

Yes, you read it right, sniffing can result in weight loss.

According to research, sniffing tends to make people feel less hungry, thereby making them eat less and eventually aiding in weight loss.

But how? Basically it's all mind game. By sniffing food items, you can trick your brain into thinking that you are actually eating them.

Interesting, right? Don't forget to try it.

#4

This is quite a weird regime that some weight-conscious women in France follow.

They take a ribbon and tie it around their waist area, underneath their clothes, usually before going out for dinners/parties.

This helps them stay conscious of their food intake. The tightening ribbon acts as an indication that perhaps it is time to stop munching.

#5

Russians tend to grow their own vegetables and fruits, which automatically makes their food consumption healthier than those who depend mainly on junk/fast food.

Not only do they grow their eatables, they also preserve them for keeping their food healthy for as long as possible.

Also, it is more pocket-friendly and way better than buying foods loaded with chemicals/fertilizers.

Stay healthy!

Read more:
Five weird weight-loss tricks that actually work - NewsBytes

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Weight loss advice is constantly coming at youwhether you ask for it or not. You might hear about it via the latest wacky plan some influencer tweets out, a buzzy bestselling book, or your judgey sister-in-law who has been eyeballing your body at every family gathering since your brother first brought her home. There is certainly no shortage of tips on how best to slim down.

The problem is, of course, that most of them are (low-fat) baloney, and wont result in long-term, lasting weight loss. Research shows that almost half of all Americans have tried to lose weight within the last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and many succeed. Its keeping it off thats a heck of a lot harder: A meta-analysis of 29 long-term studies showed that more than half the weight people lost had been regained at the two year mark, and by five years, folks had put 80% back on, according to a 2018 article in Medical Clinics of North America.

So Prevention asked 10 top weight loss and obesity clinicians from around the countrypeople who are up on the latest science and whose main motivation is to help their patients be healthier, if not radically sveltefor their perspectives. Heres what they would like you to know.

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1"Know your why."

People who have a good reason to lose weight are more likely to get it off and keep it off. For example, if someone wants to look great for her daughter's wedding, she is very likely to be successfulbut to regain the weight after the wedding. If a person wants to lose in order to have less knee pain or better control over their diabetes, these reasons will persist after weight loss, and support keeping the weight off permanently. Ethan Lazarus, M.D., FOMA, obesity medicine physician at Clinical Nutrition Center in Greenwood Village, CO, and president-elect of the Obesity Medicine Association

RELATED: Hey, Let's Talk About Why You Want to Lose Weight

2"You are not a number."

People always ask me, 'What should I weigh?? As if we could just program ourselves like robots! The answer depends on what you want. If thats improved health, less pain, prevention of diabetes and other diseases, theres strong evidence that quite small weight loss5-10% or sois often sufficient, even if you end up nowhere near what the ideal weight tables suggest. Many people think they need 10 times more weight lossbut once they make some small changes and lose a few pounds, they often feel so much better than they expected. Scott Kahan, M.D., M.P.H., director of the National Center for Weight and Wellness. He also serves on the faculties of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the George Washington University School of Medicine, and the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.

3"Pick a routine you can stick with."

Determine an eating routine of planned portions of plants and protein every three to four hours. Pick a routine you can stick with 80% of the time. Angela Fitch, M.D., FACP, FOMA, associate director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center and an assistant professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School; She is also Vice President of the Obesity Medicine Association.

4"One size does not fit all."

Know yourself. One size does not fit all when it comes to a weight loss plan. Ive developed a short quiz that people can take to quickly identify which lifestyle factors have been tripping them up and getting in the way of successful weight loss, which includes questions about when you tend to eat, how much you exercise and the role food and body image plays in your life. Knowing what to focus on can make changing the way you approach weight loss feel less overwhelming. Robert Kushner, M.D., medical director of the Center for Lifestyle Medicine at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, and Professor of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. His new book is Six Factors to Fit: Weight Loss that Works for You!.

5"Movement is everything."

The best predictor of successful weight loss maintenance is the amount of physical activity you are doing. Long-term successful weight loss maintainers are doing LOTS of physical activity...about one hour of moderate activity, 6 days a week. Donna H. Ryan, M.D., professor emeritus at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA. She served as associate executive director at Pennington Biomedical for 34 years where she was active in research, teaching, and administration.

6"Start before it becomes a disease."

Start working on it immediately when you begin gaining weightbuilding muscle through strength training, doing cardio, and stop eating processed foods, which we think is causing inflammation. You want to reduce inflammation by healthy eating and exercise so that the disease of obesity wont take hold In your bodyonce it becomes a disease, diet and exercise alone wont work. Caroline Apovian, M.D., professor of medicine and pediatrics in the Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition at Boston University School of Medicine. She is also director of the Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at Boston Medical Center.

7"Obesity is complicated."

I'm often asked, I dont eat that much, so why am I not losing weight? I tell patients that obesity is a complex disease and typically there is not a simple solution. It may not be the quantity of the food you eat, rather it may be the quality. In addition, it may be more related to other lifestyle factors, like sleep or stress. These may directly or indirectly influence eating behaviors and food intake. Some people are on medications that promote weight gain and impair their ability to lose weight. In the end, its important for clinical providers to understand the multitude of potential contributors in order to assist patients in treating their obesity. W. Scott Butsch, M.D., director of obesity medicine in the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.

8"A plateau is normal."

I wish everyone understood that all weight loss efforts end with a plateauno one should be disappointed or surprised if the treatment plan results in limited or no weight loss at some point. That is the natural adaptation of the body to the changes you've made. Rather than throwing in the towel and feeling resigned that your plan is not working, people can choose to work on maintaining the weight lost or modify the treatment plan if more weight loss is desired. This is especially important if your goal is to lose more than 10% of your initial weight. Jamy Ard, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention and the Department of Medicine at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. He is also co-director of the Wake Forest Baptist Health Weight Management Center.

9"Adherence is more important than speed."

The most common question I am asked by new patients is What should I expect my rate of weight loss to be? There is no right answer to this question, and there are many factors that determine the answer. The key concept is to be focused on adherence to your plan. And dont compare yourself to others. Be content with your results, whatever they are, knowing that you are doing all you can do to lose weight. Wickham Simonds, M.D., FOMA, founder of Dr. Simonds Metabolics & Weight Loss in Raleigh and Durham, NC, and a trustee of the Obesity Medicine Association

10"You need a backup plan."

The body fights back against weight lossit does this in many ways that were very productive 150+ years ago when food was scarce, but which are maladaptive today. You have to plan for this to happen and have a backup plan when it does. See an obesity medicine trained provider who can help you determine the best ways to deal with this challengethe the provider has medicines, diets and counseling, techniques and tools that you do not have access to by just reading a book or using an app. Remember, we are all a bit different so that what works for one person may not work for you. Craig Primack, M.D., president of the Obesity Medicine Association and co-founder of the Scottsdale Weight Loss Center in Scottsdale, AZ..

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See more here:
What 10 Obesity Experts Wish You Knew About Weight Loss - Prevention.com

Actor Ethan Supleeis sharing his impressive weight-loss transformation with hisfans.

The "Remember the Titans" and "My Name Is Earl" star has been posting photos on Instagramand is also speaking about his journey on his new podcast "American Glutton."

In the premiere episode earlier this week, the 43-year-old explains that he had a very complicated relationship with food at an early age.

MARK WAHLBERG SHOWS OFF 6-MONTH BODY TRANSFORMATION AND FANS ARE STUNNED: 'UNBELIEVABLE'

I guess the first diet I was ever on, I was 5 years old I went to visit my grandparents in Vermont and they were kind of shocked at the state of me, Suplee recalled. Now, back then this was like late-70s, early-80s the fat version of me at 5 years old was probably closerto what the average is today, but back then it was startling So they weighed me and they were just shocked. I have no idea what the numbers were but their response was not good and they started limiting my food."

He continued: "Ilearned really quickly that if I wanted a second helping of lasagna when I cleared my plate, I had to eat it in the kitchen without them seeing, that I was not supposed to have that second helping of lasagna."

TOM BRADY, MARIO LOPEZ THIRST OVER MARK WAHLBERG'S INCREDIBLE ABS

Ethan Suplee during "John Q" Los Angeles Premiere at Directors Guild Of America in Westwood, Calif. (SGranitz/WireImage via Getty Images)

I was also made to walk every day ... which was exercise, which I hated. I did not like being put on this forced march every morning," Suplee added.

By the time he was 10, Suplee said he weighed over 200 pounds, and his father put him on a liquid diet, but his mother took him off, and he "had a big upsurge of weight gain."

During his adulthood,Suplee dieted on-and-offfor years, experimenting with different ones.

I lost a sload of weight. I went from 530 to, at my lowest, 220, Suplee said. ... At 220, I was very, very thin."

However, he said due to his weight loss he "definitely struggled with work." "... At some point I was like, Well f, Im just gonna get fat again because maybe itll be better for work,' he said. And honestly, it was.

ADELE TOLD VACATIONING FAN SHE LOST 100 POUNDS: REPORT

Suplee estimates that throughout his life,hes gained and lost probably close to 1,000 pounds at this point.

Fast forward to today, Suplee says that he uses "food as an energy source" and his current goal is to geta six-pack.

MY NAME IS EARL -- Season 4 -- Pictured: Ethan Suplee as Randy Hickey (Photo by Mitchell Haaseth/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

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"... Im not far off. Pretty f close actually, he shared. So its an utterly vain goal. I dont care. Who cares? Ive never had a vain goal like that before.

See more here:
Remember the Titans star Ethan Suplee shocks fans with massive weight loss transformation - Fox News

WisContext serves the residents of Wisconsin, providing information and insight into issues as they affect the state. We want to share what we've learned, and media and educational organizations are welcome to republish our articles online and/or in print.

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Despite the millions of Americans who go on a diet each year, obesity rates are higher than ever thanks, in part, to lifestyle. In Wisconsin, only 50% of adults meet the state's physical activity recommendation of at least two-and-a-half hours of aerobic activity each week, and only one in six adults eat five or more fruits and vegetables each day. Habits like these may contribute to a 32% obesity rate, ranking Wisconsin the 21st most obese state in the United States.

Given these numbers, many people are looking for ways to lose weight quickly and easily. In recent years, the ketogenic diet (also known as the "keto diet") has become all the rage, partly because it promises such fast results. While it may be trendy, it's important to know just what the keto diet is before jumping onto another health bandwagon.

What is a "ketogenic" diet?

The human body uses glucose, derived from carbohydrates in the diet, as its main source of energy. Fat is the body's second option. When the body burns fat, it uses these products and converts them into ketone bodies, another fuel source for the body's organs and tissues. This is called ketosis and is a process that usually only occurs during times of starvation or fasting, when the body needs to use its fat stores.

There is no standard keto diet for weight loss. A ketogenic diet restricts carbohydrate consumption usually to less than 50 grams per day. A typical keto diet may call for 5% of total calories from carbs, 20% from protein and around 70% from fat. Meanwhile, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends a diet made up of 45-65% carbs, 15% protein, and 20-30% fat.

Ketogenic diets have been used to treat epilepsy since the 1920s. Studies have shown that the diet can be effective in some patients whose seizures do not respond to medications. The University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics uses nutrition therapy to treat epilepsy with individualized ketogenic diets. A registered dietitian provides nutrition education and counseling for patients with epilepsy.

How might the keto diet help with weight loss, and how is it problematic?

Doctors and nutritionists don't know all the ways the keto diet works, but it seems to suppress appetite and burn more of the fat that the body already has stored. Evidence is conflicting, as some studies have shown that weight loss on a ketogenic diet is greater for some people than weight loss on a conventional diet during the first six months, but have found no differences in weight loss at one year. Other studies have demonstrated maintained weight loss at one year, but the long-term implications of a ketogenic diet are still unknown.

A very low carb diet may assist with quick weight loss, but much of that is water weight. There are also initial side effects, including nausea, headaches and fatigue.

Longer term, a lack of enough fruits, vegetables and whole grains means a ketogenic diet will be low in important vitamins, minerals and fiber. This may lead to its own short- and long-term health problems.

Because the keto diet isn't more effective at providing long-term weight loss than a typical healthy diet and routine exercise, most people would be better off managing weight by following the U.S. dietary guidelines, paying attention to portion sizes and increasing physical activity. The keto diet may be more promising for people with certain medical conditions than for weight loss in the general population.

Finally, anyone considering a special diet should first talk to a healthcare provider.

1 In 3 Wisconsinites Is Obese, But The Keto Diet Likely Won't Reduce That Rate was originally published on WisContext which produced the article in a partnership between Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin.

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1 In 3 Wisconsinites Is Obese, But The Keto Diet Likely Won't Reduce That Rate - WisContext

I HAVE known the joy of putting lose weight at the top of my New Years resolutions and the devastation of feeling like a failure by breaking that resolution one month into the new year. Losing weight is one of the top five New Years resolutions people make, and its one of the most difficult resolutions to keep.

The good news is that shedding excess pounds is no longer difficult and painful. Forget the days when getting thinner meant starvation, guess work and the latest fad diet. This is new-age eating now and the word diet isnt even part of our vocabulary.

My weight has been a battle my entire life, but finally, I feel in control thanks to the new science of weight loss.

On New Years day, 1999, I hit the scale at 199 pounds. My daughter, Ijanaya, had come home for Christmas and the day she returned to her job in Sudan, I felt depressed and certain if I didnt get a grip, I would soon weigh 250 pounds. This wasnt far-fetched because I had tipped the scales at 230 pounds about ten years ago.

Fed up and depressed from sugar highs and lows that I managed like a drug addict to cope with depression, I took my trainer Colins advice to return to the nutritionist he had sent me to five years ago.

The task looked daunting, but then I began to think that ten years ago I had gone from 230 pounds to 199 pounds, and I had never crossed the threshold of 200 pounds again. Maybe there was hope.

I realised exercise alone was not enough to keep weight off. It probably kept me from reaching my peak weight again, but I did serious weight training and swimming and only managed to lose weight when I went to the nutritionist for a sensible eating plan and realistic calories. Nutritionists have a gadget that measures your water, fat and muscle content, and they can determine the exact amount of calories you can eat to lose weight.

Simply going on the internet and plugging your weight, age and height into one of those formulas that gives you ridiculously low calories and body weight goals is courting failure. The internet tells me I should eat 1200 calories a day and weigh 105 pounds. My numbers at the nutritionist showed I would lose weight on 1600 calories a day, and I should weigh 145 pounds.

Good nutritionists like mines works with what you like to eat. They help you to find creative ways to cut calories, use sites like Yummly to find new recipes, manage calories on My Fitness Pal and eat like youre living in the real world. They give guidelines for balancing proteins, carbohydrates and fats at each meal, and they provide strategies for getting back on track on bad days, which everyone has.

My only restrictions were no white flour, no white rice and no processed sugar. I knew sugar would be my battle, but I quickly discovered that adding cacao nibs to protein drinks completely cut my sugar cravings.

Planning proved key to success. If you dont cook your food, you can be doomed by eating out, but my nutritionist gave a list of possibilities of food I could buy at the nearby mall when I didnt bring food to work.

Mindful eating became my mantra, and I learned how to extract myself from possible downward spirals. I accepted that weight loss would be slow and steady and would decrease over time. By the end of the year, my calorie intake for losing weight actually increased by almost 100 calories because of the lean muscle I built.

At the end of this month, I should reach my goal weight of 145 pounds. I used to daydream about my dream meal when I hit my goal, but there is nothing I look forward to eating that I dont already.

I am right on track to register the perfect weight loss for a year pounds. If you follow a sensible eating plan, which accepts that a body can lose no more than eight pounds a month, and understand that weight loss will taper as you go, you can lose around 52 pounds in a year.

Its a new decade full of possibilities for new beginnings, and rest assured if you put losing weight as a New Years resolution, you can do it. The bottom line is this: if I can lose weight anyone can.

Read more:
Slow and steady to weight loss I HAVE known the joy of putting lose weight - Trinidad News

Dr. Gunter, I am a postmenopausal 63-year-old woman. I am wondering if the fate of all women my age and older is to wear pads for leakage. I understand your specialty is gynecology and not urology but thought you could weigh in on any advances in this area as the two specialties are related.

Gail Barraco, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

[Have a question about womens health? Ask Dr. Gunter yourself.]

Urinary incontinence is a common and distressing problem for many women. While the rate of incontinence increases with age, there are many therapies available to reduce leakage and improve your quality of life.

Urinary incontinence, the involuntary leakage of urine, affects women of all ages. Approximately 25 percent of young women, 50 percent of middle-aged women and 75 percent of older women have some degree of urinary incontinence.

There are two main types of urinary incontinence:

Stress urinary incontinence The loss of urine with physical activity, coughing or sneezing

Overactive bladder Also known as urgency incontinence, this is the strong, sudden urge to empty the bladder with or without leaking urine. (Basically, when you have to go you have to go. Now.) Many women with overactive bladder have to get up multiple times each night to empty their bladder.

Women can also have mixed incontinence, which is both stress urinary incontinence and overactive bladder.

Women with urinary incontinence often do not seek medical care. Some women are not bothered by their symptoms, others feel ashamed, some have been brushed off by health care providers, led to believe there are no therapies, or they have been offered only a limited range of treatment options.

There are many therapies for incontinence, from bladder training, pelvic floor exercises, pessaries, medications, injections and surgeries. Making a recommendation for specific therapy without a medical history isnt possible. However, there are some incontinence basics that everyone should know to help them get started.

Wear incontinence pads, not menstrual pads. Choosing the right protection matters. A menstrual pad (or period underwear) is likely to keep urine next to the skin, which can cause irritation, itching and even skin breakdown.

Try pelvic floor muscle exercises, also known as Kegel exercises. Some women can learn to do them on their own and others may need help from a pelvic floor physical therapist. These exercises can help both stress urinary incontinence and overactive bladder. Kegel exercises include: sustained contractions (holding the squeeze or contraction with a goal of working up to 10 seconds) and quick flicks, which are a simple contraction and release taking 1 to 2 seconds. For women with overactive bladder, doing a set of five quick flicks as soon as the urge to empty is felt can relax the bladder, giving time to get to the toilet without leaking.

See a provider and get a diagnosis. Many gynecologists, urologists and primary care providers are very knowledgeable about urinary incontinence, but a urogynocologist may be needed for anyone having difficulty getting help and for those with more challenging incontinence issues.

Women have told me that when they brought up their incontinence to previous providers, they were told it was a normal part of aging and the conversation ended quickly with the implication that it was something to be tolerated. It isnt just medicine that treats incontinence as shameful; our society does as well. Imagine if we treated everyone who needed glasses with shame and told them their visual impairment was something they had to live with.

Dr. Jen Gunter, often called Twitters resident gynecologist, is teaming up with our editors to answer your questions about all things womens health. From whats normal for your anatomy to healthy sex and clearing up the truth behind strange wellness claims, Dr. Gunter, who also writes a column called The Cycle, promises to handle your questions with respect, forthrightness and honesty.

Continue reading here:
Is Incontinence Inevitable? - The New York Times

On the whole, its a more progressive world in which we live when it comes to body positivity. While truly loving ones own body image is, for most of us, a lifelong journey of ups and downs, there seems to be more space than ever before to accept ourselves as we come sort of.

As we track and celebrate the bo-po movement and body-neutrality push, we also cant deny that non-invasive and surgical procedures to modify our appearance are more in demand than ever. According to The International Medical Travel Journal, the UK cosmetic surgery market was estimated at around 273m in 2018, with non-invasive cosmetic treatments predicted to exceed 3 billion over the next five years. Its ignorant to believe that the bo-po movement has left us all satisfied with our natural bodies and shapes. At Dazed Beauty we like to confront, examine, and celebrate both ends of the needle, from natural to surgically enhanced (and everything in between); when it comes to divisive conversations around body image we believe in your body your choice.

Whether we like it or not, fat reduction procedures notably on the increase. Enter CoolSculpting, an FDA approved non-invasive treatment thats shaking up the non-invasive cosmetics industry. With minimal downtime, and little to no discomfort its being spoken off as the lunch-break alternative to liposuction. Areas that can be treated include; the chin, upper and lower abdomen, male chest, bra and back fat, flanks, inner and outer thighs, knees, and calves. You only need one treatment (a rare thing) and the results are permanent unless of course, you put on a considerable amount of weight in which case the fat may not return to those areas but will evenly distribute. Results, as always are dependent on a number of factors such as age, medical history and lifestyle, but its clear to see why the treatment is so popular.

We headed down toThe Cavendish Clinic in South Kensington, who have overseen 10,000+ CoolSculpt procedures, to trial the treatment, ask all the questions and give you our verdict.

At The Cavendish Clinic, which is pristine, Im greeted by Joelle, and her fellow technician Gaila. Both Joelle and Gaila are keen to stress that the treatment is on offer because of the incredible results, minimal downtime, and also because of the sheer demand. Both are super informed, professional, and welcoming I feel in very safe hands. I ask what kind of people are seeking the treatment out. It really varies but often its people who cant shift a small bit of weight and this procedure means they can explains Joelle. Treatments like this work best when paired with a healthy lifestyle and exercise. Its not about a shortcut to being thin its about balancing procedures like this out with an active life. Its fine-tuning, its not a radical overhaul of the way someone looks.

Its evident that at the clinic theyre not interested in promoting one idea of what a good body looks like. We treat people of all sizes and well turn people away if theyre not good candidates for the procedure, says Joelle. You have to have enough fat in any one area for it to be effective. I undress and pop on a fetching pair of paper shorts and bra. Part of the prep is to be weighed-in and photographed. I put them to the test, and ask to have my upper arms treated as well as my stomach. They flat out refuse to do my arms but agree the treatment should work on my flanks and tummy area. In my experience, its always a good sign when a practitioner refuses to treat candidates it shows discretion and professionalism, something thats becoming increasingly scarce in the land of lunchtime tweakments.

Im asked to fill out the usual kinds of consent forms and begin to ask what to expect. The room looks like any other boujie treatment room in a spa, bar the presence on the giant cool sculpt machine that has large tentacle-style suction applicators. Im told that two suction pads will be applied to two areas at a time for the duration of 35 minutes each. All in all, Ill be there for two hours. I ask what it will feel like. The pads will grab onto your body, and create a vacuum, Gaila explains, youll then start to feel an icy sensation as the targeted fat cells in the body start to cool down and start the process of a natural, controlled elimination of fat cells she smiles. Will it hurt? I ask. Most people only complain about the bit when you take the applicator off and we have to massage the frozen area. I pull a worried face. Its not that bad I promise and we have chocolate and Netflix. I feel reassured. I ask about the downtime. No exercise for 48 hours and the areas will feel numb for three weeks or so. You may also feel an itching sensation, but that will not last. Finally, I ask about the promise of permanent fat removal in one treatment which sounds bonkers. Joelle doesnt miss a beat Yep. The treated fat cells are gone for good. Youll start to see a change after around three months. Adding exercise into your routine is a good way to speed up the process too she adds but if you put on weight again, you may see fat build up in those areas again.

I feel confident about beginning the procedure, but mainly just really curious. Gel, and then applicators, are applied one by one to areas on my abdomen. Im sat remote control in hand, under a set of duvets. The sensation is bizarre, first a sucking as the applicator glues itself to your body. Then the freezing begins, which sort of feels like stomach cramp (hence the chocolates that are there to alleviate any nausea) but the tummy-churning weirdness quickly fades off into numbness. I quickly zone out and start to focus on Netflix, making calls and sending emails. Im actually on a call when Gaila comes in and releases one of the nozzles from my stomach and starts to massage what feels like an icy lump in my lower stomach. It is not a pleasant feeling. As she needs my stomach proficiently I feel slightly sick, it feels as though I can feel the flesh gnawing with every pinch, but its over quickly. By the time the fourth nozzle is removed, Im used to the discomfort.

Two hours later I emerge a little swollen and quite red, but otherwise relaxed. Im told the swelling will last a week or two. Joelle tells me I can text her whenever I like, and that Im not to take paracetamol or anything that reduces the swelling the swelling is good and proof its working. When I get home I undress and examine my little bowling ball of a tummy. The next week or so I find myself scratching my stomach every now and then to confirm that, yes, Im still completely numb. Its weird but not as odd as being swollen for the next ten days, which makes wearing my old jeans pretty impossible.

Three weeks later I feel completely back to normal. Im worried as its been an extremely sedentary period (Christmas) and I cant see any changes but I mentally mark three months time in my diary.

With prices starting from 450 and a single cycle for the belly being 600 a session its an expensive treatment and its also not for the impatient, but... it works. My stomach is flatter, and my waistline more defined (two were attached to my lower back/waistline as a means of sculpting the waist). Im more happy with how contoured my waist looks than I anticipated. I quite like my little pouch (I think theyre sexy) but didnt anticipate how much more feminine my silhouette could look. I look more hourglass, like Ive had a waist trainer on, which is definitely a bonus, not necessarily slimmer but my jeans feel nicely looser and my waist looks neat. Im not a dieter or a gym bunny, but the results have inspired me to be more active. Ive taken to heart what they said at The Cavendish about no shortcuts to a healthy body and the procedure was more an experiment than anything else, but its been a positive reminder to cherish the body I have, for bigger or smaller.

More here:
WTF is cool sculpting and does it work? - Dazed