Dr Zac on how to lose weight from stubborn pockets of fat

It’s the kind of fat that won’t budge no matter how much you diet or exercise but now Dr Zac Turner has found a solution.

Welcome to Ask Doctor Zac, a weekly column from news.com.au.

This week Dr Zac Turner talks about why we have stubborn pockets of fat.

Question: Hi Dr Zac, despite exercising my butt off for the past few months, the mirror has recently become my enemy as I start to notice the little difficult to target areas.

I’ve been diligent with my weight-loss routine, dieting, exercise and all the fads in between. I’m losing weight but I’m not losing these stubborn pockets of fat on my body. Is it possible there are certain areas of fat you simply can’t get rid of?

I look at my reflection and all I can focus on are the areas I don’t like. I want to be positive about what I’ve achieved but it’s pretty tough when I still don’t feel comfortable in my own skin. It’s been a bit of a seesaw between my self-esteem going up and my weight going down but I wanted to know if there’re any new methods to losing this weight that may help my problem? – Belle, 26 Sydney

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Many people have areas of their body where they struggle to shift fat from.

Answer: Hi Belle, I understand your plight with having had a bit too much COVID couch time and being left with stubborn fat that just won’t budge.

Everyone goes through this battle at some point in their life and my first piece of advice is to remember that you are beautiful and that any weight management plan should also include a brain plan.

In my experience many of these really stubborn areas of fat are the same ones that have always bothered us and I think there is a lot of psychological pressure and stress that we put on ourselves and often put ourselves down because of them; so it is a mindset as well.

These small pockets of fat may look enormous in the mirror but I can assure you that they are not the first thing that everyone else sees and nor do they define you in any way.

Maintaining and improving your body image so that it becomes healthier as well takes time and training. Getting your self-esteem tight and perky is a combination of past experience with new learnings and it needs some regularity as well so be kind to yourself as guilt around food I think is a key factor in stubborn fat not moving and regret about food is a terribly unhealthy avenue to go down.

Try to up your self-esteem from personal reflection and growth rather than influences from social media.

Why some people hold onto fat

Certain people are naturally predisposed to be lean and others are more likely to hold fat. I can safely assume you would have an Endomorph body type, which means you are naturally curvier, tend to have more body fat, gain weight easily and find it hard to lose it. Unfortunately this is the reason why you are finding it hard to lose these pockets of fat on your body, and it may only get harder as you get older unless you try new, modern techniques for shaping your body.

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Certain people are predisposed to hold onto fat.

Non-surgical body contouring is steadily becoming the future of weight-loss, or rather body shaping. For people like yourself where dieting and exercise doesn’t quite work wholeheartedly, body contouring can help with tricky pockets of fat.

You may be aware of body contouring already from old videos of your parents standing on a machine that is shaking them. Back then those machines were very underdeveloped compared to the technology we have at our disposal today.

I really must stress here though that often patients spend thousands of dollars on the wrong type of treatment and I meet people every day who have had no response or had their expectations and hope for a quick fix dashed – please speak to your regular GP about this and if you don’t have one as I always say get one (a good GP that you visit a minimum once yearly is so important whether unwell and especially when healthy so they can help prevent you getting sick).

Melting away stubborn fat

To freeze, to melt, to jab or suck … so many options and who can help me decide? When it comes to stubborn fat, the answer is usually “get rid of it” — but in which manner should you do it?

Fat ‘freezing’ and fat ‘melting’ are two of the most well-known non-surgical body contouring treatments, and both use extreme temperatures to make fat cells disappear. While both are marketed as non-invasive treatments for fat reduction, the body contouring techniques are not the same and I’ve seen a number of bad injuries from burns to scars, pigment changes and more. So, what’s the difference between the two?

Laser lipolysis

Laser lipolysis, or ‘fat melting’, is a procedure which uses heat from fibre-optic lasers at various wavelengths to break down the cell wall’s body fat.

I’ve had patients who’ve been told at clinics that this treatment is permanent and fat cells can’t grow. While that is true, fat cells can also expand to enormous sizes so stubborn areas can come back if you’re not consistent with the rest of your health kick today and into the future.

Laser lipolysis procedure.

Hot temperature related treatments are also thought to have the added benefit of spurring production of collagen, which will make skin more taut. The treatment has been proven in a number of studies of varying credibility with a large spectrum of outcomes, however, to paraphrase several off them, they do cause lipolysis (fat breakdown) and can certainly be helpful especially in the abdomen and flanks.

All the broken down fat cells then circulate through the body via the body’s lymphatic system for up to twelve weeks after the procedure. With this in mind it is important to keep up regular training, healthy diet and lots of water for the following few months for best results.

Cryolipolysis

Cryolipolysis, commonly referred to as ‘CoolSculpting’ or ‘fat freezing’, uses cold temperatures to break down fat cells. Cryolipolysis is intended for fat loss, not weight loss. The ideal patient would be close to their ideal body weight, but has stubborn areas of fat that are difficult to get rid of with diet and exercise alone.

Apart from freezing and melting, high-intensity focused electromagnetic (HIFEM) technology uses new adaptations of previous less effective treatments and is recommended not only for stubborn fat but also to increase muscle tone.

Woman getting cryolipolysis fat treatment.

One such machine that gets very good results is the EMSCULPT machine, which uses HIFEM technology. It works by targeting both fat and muscle with direct electromagnetic energy. The muscles contract in a way not possible through exercise, causing muscle reconstruction and fat to be metabolised.

It can be painful and feel similar to cramps, and also due to the muscle contraction and workout there can be aching the next day from the lactic acid release, which is why sessions are short.

Finally, please remember that a healthy body is not just about what you see on the outside but what is going on internally. Make sure you have a plan, and that it includes blood tests, nutrition education, exercise training and some mental health workouts as well.

Belle, we live in a time of medical advancement that caters to all body types. I recommend you speak with your GP to get a referral if you’d like to explore these areas further. Make sure you always undertake these types of procedures with fully licensed practitioners.

Summer bodies are made in winter so if you need any help to get motivated, a good referral or have any questions then please send me an email.

Please note that all information in Ask Dr Zac articles has been obtained through analysis of peer-reviewed journals, clinical practice with real patients and ongoing research that is continually being reviewed by scientists and medical practitioners.

Dr Zac Turner has a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Sydney. He is both a medical practitioner and a co-owner of telehealth service, Concierge Doctors, and is also a qualified and experienced biomedical scientist, past Registered Nurse and currently a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering. | @drzacturner