My Body Contouring Experience

 

Illustrated by Jacqueline Davis Moranti

Working in the fitness industry, there's a lot of pride and also timidness that goes with it. On one hand, you're prideful for the knowledge and experience you have a trainer/ instructor to teach your clients how to achieve their "dream" bodies. Then on the other hand, you start to criticize yourself for not having achieved the body that you're "dream" body. As someone who's been in the fitness industry since 2015, one fitness figure competition and teaching various group fitness classes, I still pick myself a part. I know I suffer from body dysmorphia, I work on it every single day by how I train myself, how I eat and how I speak and think of myself and I speak that into existence with my clients. When I learned about body contouring, I was intrigued and yet very skeptical. I thought, "there's no way that you can get the results of liposuction without going under the knife?!" Or is there?

Body contouring or body sculpturing has the appeal of being non- invasive, affording no down time, zero risk of infection or scarring. Being located in Philadelphia, one of the top places for body contouring is Contour Body Studio which has also been voted Best of Philly 2020. My curiosity prompted me to want to try out the non- invasive lipo treatment, it combines ultra sound and radio frequency for body shaping, firming and overall fat reduction in the applied area.

I hold all of my excess water weight in my lower abdomen/ waist area, no matter how many advanced leg lifts or hanging ab exercises I can do, it would never go away. A body sculpting procedure sounded like the perfect solution for it. During my first visit, I was treated by Steph, who was able to explain the entire process to me and help me with my skepticism. Contour Body Philly body contouring uses heat  to induce lipolysis to kill your fat cells. It actually ruptures the fat cells, and they are then removed from your body via the lymphatic system over the span of 2-3 months. You have a set amount of fat cells by the time you’re two years old, and they can only get bigger or shrink with diet and exercise. You can’t grow new ones but non- invasive lipo treatment removes them, so you have fewer in the area you’re treating.

Here's how it began, I came in, filled out some forms, and then Steph took lots of photos of the area and measured my circumference. The entrance was really beautiful, a lot of zen vibes and the treatment area decorated with a lot of florals and also light and airy. First step was the laser treatment that used radio frequency to zap the fat. It would make a sound that only I could hear because the machine was on me and not anyone else. The laser targets deep tissue – not the surface of your skin, so no worries about it causing visible spots on your skin and also it was totally comfortable. After that, Steph began the wood carving massage. She had these specialty wood tools for a deep tissue massage, not going to lie this part of the process was a little bit painful. All in the name of beauty! That was then followed by a 30 minute sauna steam while wrapped in what reminded me of saran wrap. The sauna or as Steph liked to call it "the bubble" was comfortable up until the last ten minutes, I was sweating buckets and ready to cool off! 

After the sauna, the final step was the slim waist laser belt. It helps to capture anymore remaining visceral fat and move it through the lymphatic system. All in all, the treatment was about 2 hours and I was always offered water to stay hydrated. Post treatment it's advised to drink a lot of water, a gallon a day, avoid caffeine and alcohol while undergoing this treatment and eating less refined carbohydrates to see and keep the results. While everyone's body is different, someone might require 10 visits before seeing results and someone else would require only 4 visits, it's hard for me to say whether or not it worked for me yet. I'll have to update after my follow up!

Steph and the whole staff I met at Contour Body Philly were awesome! Everyone was welcoming and warm, not once did I feel uncomfortable. Major plus is that Contour Body Philly is not only women led but also a black owned business which for me, I knew I wanted to check out and support. 

*Thanks to Contour Body Philly and Philly PR Girl