Liposuction is a safe, popular, and effective way to contour the body. Although liposuction is an excellent way to remove stubborn fat, it is not effective as a means of weight control. For best results, you should receive your surgery when you have lost all the weight possible and you are at your stable weight.
This will allow your surgeon to determine which areas should be treated and help you obtain a long-lasting and beautiful result. (Pat Pazmino, MD, FACS, Miami Plastic Surgeon)
Liposuction results are best when at your ideal weight
I recommend reaching your ideal goal weight prior to surgery or atleast lose as much weight possible before the procedure to ensure the best possible results.
Liposuction is best for those isolated areas that are resistant to exercise and dieting.
If you plan on losing a significant amount , I would hold off to make sure you are still a good candidate for the procedure. You do not want to be left with lose, excess skin after the procedure is done.
It is in your best interest to have surgery once you are content with your weight loss. For more information regarding liposuction precedures, check out and compare before and after photos of patients. (Tom J. Pousti, MD, FACS, San Diego Plastic Surgeon)
It is always a good idea to get down to your ideal weight before liposuction. The results are usually better at this point becuase the fat is often isolated to small areas. (Steven Wallach, MD, New York Plastic Surgeon)
It’s better to be at a stable weight rather than trying to lose weight right before your surgery, but then just putting it back on afterward. Weight fluctuations after surgery can affect your results. (Michael Constantin Gartner, DO, Paramus Plastic Surgeon)
Be in the best physical shape, but get there safely with proper exercise and diet
The ideal candidate for liposuction is not more than 10 pounds overweight. It is far better to get to your best physical shape and then have liposuction, rather than to schedule the procedure and force a rapid weight loss through severe calorie restriction.
This could lead to poor postoperative healing. Exercise and eat a prudent diet. I would much rather have you see a nutritionist for counseling, reduce the weight safely and reschedule the liposuction. You will get a better result depending where on the body the liposuction will be performed. (Ronald Shelton, MD, Manhattan Dermatologic Surgeon)
You should be at a stable weight before surgery which you will be able to maintain afterward. (Malcolm A. Lesavoy, MD, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon)
Liposuction at your best weight gives best results
Sometimes we talk about completing liposuction, which is essentially a sculpture procedure, at an individuals “ideal” body weight. This implies that we can look up on a table the weight we are to be based on height, sex, and age.
Most individuals do have a set point however which will determine where they are on the curve. This weight I discuss with my patients as their “best” weight.
This is a number which is achievable, comfortable, and a weight an individual can maintain.
At this best weight the surgeon can study the profiles and contours present and use liposculpture to give you a stable result which is true to you.
Patients who are not at the weight they will maintain should be encouraged to lose weight before a liposuction procedure, but the goals should also be realistic and practical.
If your best weight is 142, you are active, healthy, trim and feeling well it is not worth the fight for a few extra pounds, especially if the weight is comfortable for you.
Liposuction for contouring now should be OK. (Peter E. Johnson, MD, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)
You should be at your comfortable weight before Liposuction
I always ask my patients before undergoing liposuction procedure, “Are you comfortable at the current weight you are?” This is because liposuction is not a weight reduction procedure. So you can not expect to lose any weight after the surgery.
It is a procedure to shape the area of desire. So I would say is you should be at a comfortable weight for yourself. If you are there then go for it! (Farbod Esmailian, MD, Orange County Plastic Surgeon)
Don’t try to lose any weight.
The principle of liposuction is to eliminate the bulges and to bring the treated areas (belly, thighs,etc.) into pleasing balance with the surrounding areas. Before liposuction, there is much more fat in the bulges.
After liposuction, you will have a similar fat layer in both the treated areas and in the rest of you. This improvement in CONTOUR (no bulges) will persist for a very long time, even if you later lose a few pounds.
The really good news is that if you later GAIN a few pounds, the improvement in contour will still persist, because the new pounds will be distributed evenly in your body and they will not selectively go back to the old bulges. (George J. Beraka, MD (retired), Manhattan Plastic Surgeon)
It is best to be at a stable weight prior to any liposuction procedure. Patients who crash diet or have fluctuating weight may see undesirable changes in body proportion afterwards. The ideal patient is one who has a stable weight and is on a regular exercise routine but who is unable to lose weight or has an undesirable bulge in a certain body area.
These are also the patients who tend to get the best results and are the most satisfied after liposuction. (Edgar Franklin Fincher, MD, PhD, Beverly Hills Dermatologic Surgeon)
Patients are always encouraged to maintain a healthy diet and should continue to exercise before and after surgery. This will only enhance their results as liposuction shapes the body’s natural curves and removes the fat pockets.. (Jeffrey Weinzweig, MD, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)