Would you consider non-invasive body contouring to get rid of stubborn fat?

Would I do it? Hard no. I could afford it. I'm not wealthy, but I'm sure I've spent a total of $8000 over a period of years on discretionary items, so I think I could save up discretionary money and get there. But I wouldn't.

If I wanted to, I think I could achieve most of what something like Coolsculpting would accomplish via recomposition, and the later would have the plus of leaving me stronger and healthier, whereas the quasi-medical approach would - at best - leave me cuter. It would take more time and work, but less money.

I'm not particularly appearance motivated, so I wouldn't have a reason to do something just to be cuter.

If I'm unsatisfied with myself, feel lesser, because of my appearance (or other factors), experience suggests that looking better via a procedure like this (or an equivalent quick fix appropriate to whatever factor was involved) wouldn't actually change the core problem of thinking I'm not good enough.

The same person, with the same psychology, is in the body. If self-critical, the tendency to be self-critical lives on through many interventions that change the features that that self criticizes. If I'm struggling with self-acceptance, I'm more likely to get results by working on self-acceptance directly - again, I'm saying that from experience.

Things that I work to achieve (not just pay money for) are more likely to improve my sense of self, anyway. Accomplishment feels empowering, can improve my self image. I can't think of anything I've ever purchased that improved my self acceptance.

On top of those reasons, I don't like optional medical-ish procedures. I've avoiding them on multiple fronts. Looking at the general question of medical or quasi-medical interventions, the history over decades, many of them have turned out to have unexpected side effects, or negative follow-on consequences long term. I don't need that.

I'm not saying I'd never do any plastic surgery or any appearance-modifying procedure, ever, under any circumstances. Probably if I had a disfiguring accident, I'd take advantage of plastic surgery to look more normal. But when already looking average-ish, I don't think I'd go for interventions to pursue some supposedly closer-to-ideal look. (Heck, I didn't even have reconstruction after bilateral mastectomies.)

As you've no doubt gathered, I'm an older woman. Some of my friends have had various procedures, mostly various tightening and youth-ifying interventions. There's only one whom I think looked good, natural, perhaps better than before. Others mostly looked . . . well, different, but kind of "worked on", though often they thought they looked better, I guess.

So, no. But that's just me, what I think, how I know myself.

If you want to do something like that, can afford it, go for it. Make a list of pros and cons, weigh the balance of those for you. If you were my friend, I'd support your decision. There's no reason, IMO, for you to seek some kind of community consensus about whether this is a good thing or not, based on whether other people would do it. (It may make sense to ask if anyone's had it done, and how they felt about the results - which is a different question than you asked, as I read it.)

P.S. I don't believe before and after photos, mostly, either. Most parties that want to show them to you, are going to want to show you the very best results . . . and some will even use tricks of pose, lighting, and maybe even photoshop as part of the sales job. For something major, I'd be seeking out actual people who had the procedure, talking to them, seeing their results . . . and looking for some "not so happy" ones, if they can be found.

As a breast cancer survivor, I've seen photos of reconstruction that were put out by plastic surgeons, and I've seen quite a few actual women who've had reconstruction, either in person or in photos under different circumstances. I'm not saying the average result looked bad or wasn't worth doing, but the photos shared by surgeons were absolutely the top-echelon version of results, not necessarily typical.

To me, a procedure like this is a pretty big deal, and that kind of thing - talking with actual experienced people - is what I'd want to do if I were hiring a contractor for a significant home remodeling project: Not just looking at shiny photos, but wanting to talk to the people whose homes were worked on, seeing the work in person if I could, etc.

P.P.S. FWIW, my loose skin kept shrinking for a long time after I reached goal weight, even at age 60+ . . . . well into year 2 at a healthy weight, at least. Big improvement, in some areas. I'd suggest others give that part some time, before resorting to expensive interventions. IMU, some plastic surgeons will even require that kind of wait, or close (not to see if the surgery's unneeded, but to get the best possible results).

My advice? Start saving now. Get back with your healthy eating and re-lose the weight. Find some exercises you actually like so you'll be more apt to stick with it.
Then when you reach goal, use your saved money to go on a nice vacation.

I haven't read up on this but I've heard enough about 'do it this way or that way' and everybody's trying to sell you their product or service. I don't believe pictures, they can be magically worked to produce magnificent results. I've also learned it takes effort and work on our part to get closer to the results we want to achieve.

Hula hoop exercises are supposed to be good for our middles.

Wishing you good luck!!

These thoughts and this advice comes from someone who's tried so many diets and gimmicks out there.

My issue with cool sculpting is that it's very expensive for fairly unpredictable results. If I were to medically remove fat, I would opt for liposuction, which in many cases can be done with just local anesthetic, which is much safer than general anesthesia.

Cool sculpting theoretically works, but how well for the individual is a huge question mark. I'm friends with a few plastic surgeons and asked them about it and they basically said that it's not usually offered in plastic surgery clinics because they can do lipo, so why would they offer something that after several sessions costs as much and doesn't work as well. It's mostly offered in clinics that can't offer lipo because they don't have a qualified surgeon on staff.

That said, I do know some plastics clinics that offer it because they also have a medical esthetician on staff, and that way they attract both types of patients, the ones who want more assured results and the ones who want less invasive treatment and are willing to pay for something that may give really suboptimal results.

Would I do it for myself? You bet, but I would do liposuction. I have really annoying fat pockets around my inner knees that are there no matter what my weight is, but they're small enough to do with just local anesthetic. I've had so many major surgeries in my life that a little local and some superficial cannulation doesn't scare me in the least and barely counts as surgery in my books. Honestly, getting adult braces was worse than a bit of knee lipo would be. I won't bother now though because I have multiple leg/knee surgeries, which are going to hack up and scar the hell out of the area.

I'll probably get a plastics friend in a few years to do some scar revision once I'm all done because the orthos tend to hack everything up and not care what it looks like, so when I get the train wreck of scar tissue fixed, I'll get them to lipo at the same time.

As the person above said though, lipo isn't perfect either, it usually shows some signs of having been done. The broader the area being lipo'd the harder it is for the results to be smooth in the end. It really is best for specific, stubborn little pockets of fat that are kind of in the wrong place, as opposed to trying to trim an entire area. So my little inner knee fat blobs are ideal for lipo, but a flatter abdominal area might be very difficult to get smooth. Don't forget too that removing fat makes the skin looser, so having less fat can actually make "muffin top" worse because the skin smooshes around more, whereas fat can smooth it and plump it out.

I would say that for the abdominal area, any option is going to be unpredictable, and if you did go ahead with treatment, I would ONLY do it with a practitioner who is very honest about realistic about your results. If you get any messaging like "you will be so happy with the results" then run, don't walk to the next practitioner who is more realistic and honest and can talk you through what your best options really are.

This is why I generally prefer plastic surgeons. At least where I live, they're all about setting realistic expectations, whereas the medical estheticians who have done weekend courses here and there have been taught everything they know about their treatments *BY THE COMPANY THAT MAKES THEM*. Don't ever forget that little scary fact.