Non-Surgical Weight Loss

Two-thirds of Americans are overweight and half of those meet criteria for obesity. 

If you're struggling with your weight and are not gaining anymore additional grounds with your diet and exercise routines, there are a few more things Allure Aesthetics can offer you.

Many of our clients who came in for skin care realized their weight is an even bigger problem and asked if we offer anything to help them with weight loss. Below is our recommendations for non-surgical weight loss, simplified.

Start with a Diet that You Can Stick with Long Term

First and foremost for weight loss is of course to watch what you eat.  You must accept that every calorie in your body has gotten there through your mouth.

Changing your diet is challenging because you must change your life-long habits and humans are stubborn when it comes to making changes.

I find that most patients fail to lose weight, not because they picked the wrong diet plan, but they fail because they are not persistent.

Almost any of the diet regimen will work as long as you stick to the plan.  The common plans are:

• low carbs - reduce the carbohydrate's stimulus to store fat
• low calories - take in less calories than you can burn each day
• ketogenic - extreme low carbs to burn more fat
• intermittent fasting - put your body in fasting mode to burn fat for energy
• Structured meals (Slimfast, Weight Watchers) - packaged meals that take into account calorie and carbohydrate contents for you.

Read up on them and pick a plan that is agreeable with your other medical conditions (i.e. diabetes, high cholesterol)... and pick a plan that you will have no problem sticking to for years to come.  Find a phone app to help you track your progress. 

Whichever diet plan you pick, expect to see the Weight Loss Plateau at about 10% weight loss or 2-3 months in - when you continue the diet but stop losing the weight.  This is when your body is making changes to keep you from losing weight to "protect" you.

Stick to the plan here and eventually the weight will start coming off again. Remember "persistence" is key!

Exercising To Lose Weight

There is exercising for fitness, then there is exercising to "lose weight."  The focus is slightly different, but it is rather very simple.

Once you are on a diet and limiting how much calories you take in each day.  Your next step is "tip the scale and burn off more calories than you consume each day".  Achieve the targeted daily Calorie Deficit, and your body has no choice but to burn the fat to make up the difference to keep you alive.

Here is what studies have shown to work well to lose weight through exercising:

1. Exercise for at least 45 minutes: working out for less than 30 minutes is only good for maintaining weight, but to lose weight you have to up to 45 minutes.  Aim for 1 hour/day for 5 days a week.  
2. Do cardio or circuit training: consistent constant movements work better than bursts of exercises with rests in between (which is what you do to build muscles).  
3. Bring heartrate up to 120 beats per minute and keep it up there the entire time.
4. Exercise in the morning before eating: The mornings are the best time to exercise to lose weight because you wake up in a fasted state where it is already burning fat.

Once you have a diet and exercise regimen, get going and stick to the plan through rain or shine, holidays, vacations.  It shouldn't matter as long as you pick a plan that you enjoy.

There are still some stubborn areas that might need more help to lose fat that diet and exercising don't target too well.  These are the buttocks and stubborn abdominal fat areas.  There are a few things we can help you with here.

Targeting Your Intra-Abdominal Fat (Visceral Fat)

If you're overweight, you likely have intra-abdominal fat as well. As you gain weight, you gain subcutaneous fat as well as intra-abdominal fat, which accumulates along your intestines and internal organs like your liver, spleen, and pancreas.

How can you tell if you have intra-abdominal fat?

Intra-abdominal fat will make your midsection heavy and make you feel bloated. If you had labs done, you might have been told you have elevated liver enzymes. While other liver diseases can cause your liver enzymes to be elevated, for an overweight person you likely have fatty liver.

Your doctor can confirm this with imaging studies. An abdominal ultrasound or CT scan would be able to verify that you have a "fatty liver" and not some other liver disease.  The problem is when you exercise, you can burn off the fat surrounding your superficial muscles... but it next to impossible to target your intra-abdominal fat! You can't just flex your liver and force it to burn the fat!

This is where you need metabolic Vitamin injections with Lipo-C to target that intra-abdominal fat. Lipo-C injections provide your body with extra stimulants to target burning that stubborn abdominal fat that is so hard to get rid of from dieting and exercising alone. These vitamins have also been shown to reduce fatty liver, and reduce abdominal bloating. As it burns off the fat, it will also release energy to reduce fatigue.

What is in the Lipo-C injections?

• Methionine:  Without enough methionine, you can develop fatty liver and body edema. 
• Choline: This essential nutrient may be able to reduce fatty liver and abdominal fat buildup.
• Inositol: Helps clean the liver of unwanted fat buildup. It immobilizes stored fat so that body tissues can use it for energy instead. It also reduces cholesterol levels.
• Carnitine: helps metabolize abdominal fat storage to release energy so it helps fight fatigue as well.

You can get up to 2 injections per week at Allure Aesthetics to expedite your abdominal fat reduction while working on your diet and exercise routines.

1 Lipo-C Injection ( $75 ) 

4 Lipo-C Injections 

8 Lipo-C Injection (BEST DEAL)

Save another 15% on top when you order the monthly subscription!

 Vitamin B-12 Injections

Vitamin B-12 (Cyanocobalamin) can also be added to boost your energy and is commonly added to diet and exercise plans.

If you have gastroenterology problems or have had gastric bypass, you may be low on B-12.  With a verified vitamin B-12 deficiency, your health insurance will usually approve the cost of your injections.

If not, you can still pay a bit extra.  Just ask us to to add vitamin B-12 to your Lipo-C injection order so you get them both on the same visit.

Oral B-12 supplements do not absorb as well, so the injections have higher bioavailability and will give you a lot more energy so you can work out harder to lose weight.  It also reduces mental stress.

Targeting Your Subcutaneous Fat

The other area of stubborn fat that you might have a hard time burning off with dieting and exercising are the subcutaneous fat.

Subcutaneous fat tend to accumulate in your abdomen, buttocks, thighs, or upper arms. 

How can you tell if you belly fat is visceral or subcutaneous?

This is important because we target the 2 areas differently.  You can use a skin caliper or simply pinch the skin and feel how far apart your fingers are.

Use InMode's Radiofrequency Technology target that stubborn Belly Fat with

You can use InMode to take inches off your abdomen, buttocks, or thighs, or upper arms. 

We have been using InMode's Evolve machine for 4 years to help our clients melt away their excess fat.  In 2022, the technology got even better with their new TransformX probe. 

InMode EVOLVE is the only FDA-approved hands-free non-surgical treatment for skin and subdermal fat, and for muscle tone improvement. It delivers RF energy and electromagnetic pulses to remodel large body areas, and improves the appearance of your skin.

This machine is intense!