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What happened to my stomach after I tried a non-surgical tummy tuck


Ever since I lost my teenage super-metabolism - and could not longer get away with eating KFC for breakfast - I’ve been known as what we call a ‘curvier girl’.

My boobs shot out of nowhere when I was around 20 years old - to the point my mum questioned whether or not I’d somehow managed to make my student loan stretch far enough to cover a boob job (I think not). But with a fuller chest also came a bloated tummy and annoying love handles.

Plus, it didn’t help that my mum is Trinidadian and a feeder! Trinidadians enjoy food like no other culture I know, and being ‘curvy’ or ‘fat’ isn't seen as a negative thing.

My favourite Trinidadian 'oily' food. Source: Supplied
My favourite Trinidadian 'oily' food. Source: Supplied

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Over the years, I’ve announced: “I’m going on a diet” and tried to stick to it, but I’ve always failed miserably. Salads just didn’t cut it for me.

“Shall I make you a smaller rice and curry portion then?” my mum has asked, convinced she’s ‘helping me’, but no matter what I couldn’t resist her chicken curries and roti soaked in oil. And now I no longer live at home, I still crave her hearty meals.

I tried to embrace my ‘curves’, including my wobbly tummy and orange peel legs. I thought I was too confident - or maybe just lazy - to do anything about it.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t binge on McDonalds and I do a couple of exercise classes a week. But the problem is after a lifetime of carby foods and a lack of commitment, I’ve never been able to achieve washboard abs.

So when my fiancé proposed earlier this year and we set our wedding date for June next year, it suddenly dawned on me: ‘I need to get my body in order.’

This was the one chance I had to sort out my size 12 figure and get down to an ideal size 10 for the big day – and hopefully banish my wobbly bits.

*P.s. I know a size 12 isn't big. I just want to tone up and say goodbye to my muffin top for good and not feel so conscious about it on the beach!

I amped up exercise classes and tried to watch what I ate and drank, but my stubborn flabby stomach just wouldn’t budge.

Why was it so hard? I just wanted to shift my muffin top. Source: Getty
Why was it so hard? I just wanted to shift my muffin top. Source: Getty

“I need a tummy tuck,” I joked to my fiancé. And while I was scared at the prospect of being cut open and having fat sucked out of me, I decided to Google ‘non surgical’ methods.

That’s when I discovered Detail Smoother Skin Clinic. They have a VellaShape III machine, which is basically a non-surgical liposuction procedure.

Sounds too good to be true, right?

That’s what I thought!

The VellaShape III basically is a contraption that sucks up your fat into a vacuum, then it uses a laser to heat up and break up your fat cells under your skin - a.k.a. it’s like doing an intense work out, but you don't have to, the machine does it for you.

And the end result promises to banish cellulite and also helps lose centimetres from your waist!

I decided to focus on my stomach and love handles when I visited Detail Smoother Skin Clinic in Sydney, and the procedure took around 30 minutes on each side of my stomach after a thorough 20 minute debrief.

I wouldn't say it was painful, but as my stomach was pinched and heated up to around 40 degrees using the laser, at times it could briefly sting slightly. (Like the sensation of touching something hot for a second).

Bizarrely, afterwards I felt as though I’d done around 1000 sit-ups – which can only be beneficial right?!

After the procedure, you’re encouraged to exercise for an hour and massage the stomach to help stimulate the fat cells to be broken up further.

And the result?

The next day, my stomach definitely did feel tighter and I reckon maybe a few inches had been shaved off. Hallelujah!

If anything, it kick-started me into thinking about what I put into my body for the first, and I’ve been more conscious about the food decisions I make. So that sadly meant no chicken and potato curry pig-outs!

Body contouring for lower abdominal and love handles costs around $1125 for 120 minutes, and you’re advised to have a course of four treatments in total.

It also promises up to 3cm circumference reduction within 4 weeks.

For those like me, who just couldn’t seem to budge that pesky muffin top, I thoroughly recommend it.

BUT it’s not a miracle cure. You can’t throw money at the problem and then go home and eat a box of donuts!

VellaShape III should be treated as a last resort to tighten skin and reduce orange-peel skin.


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