While there is no miracle solution, the scientific health community is investing more and more into finding low-effort solutions to aid weight loss.
Style.com/Arabia’s Lazy Chronicles investigates these so-called wonder treatments by putting our own bodies on the line. See our reviews of Ultrasound Cavitation and Hypoxi Training. Dear readers, we sacrificed for you—read on to find out how.
Treatment: Lipocryo
Tester: Sofia Guellaty, Senior Editor
Tested at: Biolite Clinic, Dubai.
Middle Eastern Locations: Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, KSA, Oman, Qatar
I like to think of myself as a workout extremist…For I am rigorously against it. Since turning 30, I’ve noticed that my body has begun to work against me. Meanwhile the adage Mens Sana in Corpore Sano (a healthy mind in a healthy body) has been resounding in my mind like all irritatingly good advice handed down from my mother. That said, I tend to think that doing things by the book is quite boring—and I know that I’m not the only one. Cue the non-invasive weight loss procedures.
The idea behind Lipocryo, in a nutshell, is to freeze the fat. The saturated, fatty acid rich cells are sensitive to extreme cold, while blood vessels, nerves, and surrounding areas are not. The cold selectively eliminates the fat of your problem areas while the rest is left intact. Sounds good, doesn’t it?
Entering the newly inaugurated Villa Biolite in the Dubai’s Umm Suqeim district, I was greeted by a pleasant staff, a delightful smell, and a gift basket. On the top floor, while I was lying down and getting comfortable, the beauty practitioner explained that long-lasting results would only materialize three-to-four weeks following the procedure, while the fat cells would be eliminated by the body’s natural metabolism over a period of one or two sessions. She also advised me to exercise regularly and diet in the interim, but when I explained to her that exercising completely defeated the purpose of the procedure, she guaranteed results regardless and seemed very sure of herself.
Joyce, my practitioner, measured me and applied gel to my problem area (my thighs), and informed that she would later send me the before and after numbers.
Joyce positioned an elliptical vacuuming device against my thigh, which sucked my skin in and began to emit an extremely cold breeze. Joyce said it wouldn’t be painful. She lied.
Here I was, attached (like a gigantic leash) to a “pinching” machine that froze only a small percentage of my body. When Joyce removed the device, my thigh was red and then it turned blue. But I can only assume that women are extraordinarily resilient when it comes to beauty-induced pain.
Joyce, if you read this, I am sorry to call you a liar about the pain, but I will give you this: you were right about the procedure—it worked. My thighs got firmer and I lost two centimeters on each one; even a few months after the fact, I can still see that my thighs are significantly less prominent.
Let’s all celebrate this news with a Belgian waffle.
