If you have ever contemplated liposuction as a weight-loss strategy, or as a way to make your body look better – please think again.  Before getting liposuction, you need to understand some basic anatomy/physiology of the human body.

Fat Cells: You are born with a set number of fat cells in your body.  Fat cells do not divide and multiply.  They also do not migrate from one place to another one in your body.  Fat cells stay in the same area for life.  Fat cells can, unfortunately, expand to extreme proportions.

How does a  fat cell grow? When you consume more calories than you burn during the day, the extra calories are deposited as fat.  It does not matter what type of food you eat. You can eat carbohydrate, fat, or protein.  You can eat healthy or you can eat poorly.  The body does not care.  The body simply converts food into energy.  If it is left with a surplus of energy at the end of the day, the excess is deposited as fat.

Where does fat deposit? Everyone's body has a favorite fat deposition spot.  In most men, it is around the waistline.  For ladies, the hips receive the extra layering.  Because of these tendencies, these areas are also most people's favorite areas to liposuction.  This can present a problem.

Creating Deformity. As mentioned above, fat cells do not migrate.  So when you remove the fat cells from your body's favorite deposition site, fat will no longer be stored in that area.  While this might sound like a good thing, it can result in your body taking on an unwanted look.  Provided that you do not gain any further weight following liposuction, you will not have to worry about this effect.  If, however, you do gain weight – look out!  Now that the fat cannot deposit in its favorite spot, it must look for another place in the body to store.  This will result in your body taking on a whole new look.  For example, a man that has had liposuction on his abdominal area may now start depositing fat on his hips and thighs.  He may now have saddlebags.  This may cause him to look more like a female than a male from the chest down.  Ladies getting fat removed from the hips may start to deposit fat around the stomach area. This may result in a male, "potbellied" appearance (fat deposit around abdominal area also presents a greater health risk).

Loose skin.  If that is not enough to convince you to avoid liposuction, then also keep in mind that liposuction removes not just fat from an area but also connective tissue.  Connective tissue is like thick, tough Saran wrap that envelops the entire body. Connective tissue helps hold things together.  Removing the connective tissue from an area will allow the skin to move around more.  This may eventually result in wrinkling skin.

As with many things in life, there are no free rides. The best way to get rid of fat is still the tried-and-true diet and exercise program.  It takes longer but there are no side effects (unless you count the good side effects such as decreased risk for almost all diseases and illnesses), no health risks, and the cost is far more affordable.