Don't let extra skin haunt your once skinny self.

Q: I am a fit, “middle aged” male who is very frustrated by a slow increase in my weight and increasing waist line over the years. I really do watch what I eat and exercise for an hour three or four times each week. Should I be thinking about liposuction or other types of plastic surgery?

-Bill J., Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

A: I obviously cannot tell you all your options without seeing you or your photographs, but can tell you that you are not alone in your predicament! It is quite common to see people gain a little weight and a few inches as the decades march on, in spite of a balanced diet, time spent exercising and relatively good health. The reasons for this are multiple. In a nutshell, as we get older, even though we might spend time in a gym, most of us are less active than we were when we were in our twenties our metabolism slows down a little and, even though we might eat healthier foods than when we did while we were in college and have noticed a significant decrease in our appetites, we consume more calories than we burn. Alcohol gives us a lot of “empty” calories and adds to an increase of calories consumed without satiating our hunger. The extra fuel we consume will be converted into fat and stored in fat cells. Where this fat collects is determined by genetics. Females tend to store fat over the hips, thighs and abdominal walls. Men are more likely to notice an increase of their girth, chest areas and in the so-called “love handle” areas. It definitely seems that the older we are, the more difficult it is to loose a pound or an inch! These fatty accumulations can only be prevented by changing the balance between what a person consumes and what a person burns off in a day – in summary, by eating a little less and by burning a little more. It is especially important to be aware of the balance between what we are consuming and burning off during the holiday season as there seems to be no shortage of high calorie foods and beverages beckoning to us to give them a try! Should you have persistent fatty deposits in spite of your best efforts to keep your weight down, liposuction may well be a good solution for your problem areas. Such a procedure can be performed on an outpatient basis with minimal down time and minimally invasive techniques.

The best way for me to give you a clear example of this is through before and after photographs of a 39 year old Marine who gained weight after getting his legs ripped apart in Iraq 3 years earlier, who resorted to liposuction to help him with stubborn abdominal wall areas that were resistant to the amount of exercise and dieting he was able to perform.

Before

After

39-year-old Marine before and after a liposculpture to remove unwanted fatty deposits.
(Actual patient of Dr. Bunkis – your results may vary.)

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