CoolSculpting

Freezing The Mom-Bod With CoolSculpting, Again
Fashion & FitnessParenthoodReviews

Freezing The Mom-Bod With CoolSculpting, Again

by Jill
written by Jill

You may remember I went through a round of CoolSculpting a few years ago, and a machine that looks like a sucker fish turned my belly and muffin top fat into frozen sticks, like butter, and then it melted away.

It was glorious!

And then I got pregnant. In fact, I was actually barely pregnant in my results pictures. Oops! Hashtag: not planned.

So I get this email from them a few weeks ago, and they’re wondering if I’d like to work with them and do it again and YES OF COURSE I’M ON MY WAY.

It was truly a great experience last time and I was so happy with the results. I even noticed a big difference while my belly grew during pregnancy, and though I put some inches back on, for sure, I still see a change in the shape of my body thanks to that first round.

But there’s still some pooch going on, some smoosh and squish. You know, mom-bod. Or whatever that trendy new term for squishy parental bodies is.

I had my consultation last week, and this time I’m doing 6 treatments all on my abdomen, which they say will yield even better results than last time when I just had 2.  I’ll be breaking them up into 2 rounds, 6-8 weeks apart.

I regretted not having before and after pics in clothes last time, because I felt like that’s how I saw the most difference. So I got some before pics in some super unflattering leggings and a fitted t for you.

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You’ll get to see the bare-tummy before and after pics in my final update.

CoolSculpting isn’t a weight loss surgery, and it’s for people who are close to their ideal size, but need some help with trouble areas, which is exactly my relationship with my midsection for all of my life. I’m an apple.

They also do love handles and thighs.

It’s non-invasive, and you can do it in an hour with no recovery time. Pretty perfect since I’ll have to run home after my appointment and get back to chasing kids.

Anyway, CoolSculpting asked me to remind you all that you can get a free consultation if it’s something you think you want to look into.

I’ll be sure to post some pics of my procedure on July 16th over on my Instagram- @BabyRabies– if you’d like to follow along. And of course, the grand reveal will be posted here in a few months. Eeeek!

 

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The Big CoolSculpting Reveal
Dallas/Ft. WorthFashion & FitnessReviews

The Big CoolSculpting Reveal

by Jill
written by Jill

Excuse me while I puke from anxiety.

You guys? I have never, ever, ever liked showing my stomach in the company of close friends at a pool party, even back when I was a skinny 16 year old cheerleader with nary a stretch mark to be found.

I am about to show it all off, purple stretch marks included, and I kind of want to die.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m REALLY happy with the results of the CoolSculpting treatments I had done this summer (upper & lower abs, and right and left flank), but I’m no super model. I’m a mother of 2 kids who did a doozie on this body of mine.

I contemplated just showing off the results with clothes on, but that’s not fair. And really, ultimately, I’m okay with this body. I’m happy with it! I’m just… scared of the inevitable criticism, I guess? Okay, enough trying to talk myself out of it. Here goes.

A reminder of where I started, as illustrated by me…

To clarify and remind, that “cheeseburger” is an actual cheeseburger I ate probably 20 years ago that still resided in my belly fat…not a disgusting name for my lady parts. 

If you haven’t been following my journey, or need a refresher, here’s a little bit about CoolSculpting and how it works:

Developed by Harvard scientists, our unique, FDA-cleared, patented procedure uses a targeted cooling process that kills the fat cells underneath the skin, literally freezing them to the point of elimination. Only fat cells are frozen. Your healthy skin cells remain, well, healthy. No knives. No suction hoses. No needles. No scars. Once crystallized, the fat cells die and are naturally eliminated from your body. In a few months, boom: say hello to a new you.

Basically, they attached these giant sucker machines to me that froze my fat into what looked like a stick of butter. I wrote more about all that here.

These are the official before and after pics, taken by EpiCentre Park Lane in Dallas. I had my treatments done there and at EpiCentre at Legacy in Plano. Yes, I’m wearing my swimsuit in the after pics. We had a hot date at an indoor water park right after my appointment.

Now, I don’t think the official pics do my results justice, I guess since they are so up close and really accentuate the stretch marks? So I took some after pics of my own.

Please know that these results are 99% entirely from the CoolSculpting. Despite my intentions to work out hard at the gym and get rock-hard abs over the months between treatments and reveal, that just didn’t happen. Like, at all. Okay, like 3 or 4 times.

So maybe I would have something a bit more dramatic to show you if I had worked out, but I think this is more accurate to show you this way, you know? Totally my reason for not working out. Definitely planned it that way. Let’s go with that.

As I said, I’m really happy with it. My clothes fit completely different. I can wear my pants lower on my hips now, and not worry about a muffin top bulging over. My lower belly is still a bit bulgy, but that’s mostly because of all the saggy skin left from pregnancy, and nothing a little bit of Spanx can’t fix. I went from a size 8 to a size 6, and again, that was all with next to NO working out.

Do I think it’s worth it? I do! So much so, that I’m considering saving up for treatments to my upper back, and maybe one more for my lower abs. I know a lot will say that I could have experienced results like this if I just went to the gym for those few months, and to a degree I agree.

However, even when I’ve been my most fit, I have ALWAYS had a bulgy lower tummy and love handles. Those areas are so much smaller now that I know it won’t take nearly as long to get everything toned up and looking great.

I have to say a million thanks to the EpiCentre teams at both Park Lane in Dallas and Legacy in Plano. They were so wonderful to work with, and my appointments were all super relaxing. I’m also extremely grateful to CoolSculpting for offering these services to me at no cost in exchange for my honest reviews. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them below or shoot me an email if you want to ask in private.

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Fashion & FitnessReviews

CoolSculpting Progress Report 1

by Jill
written by Jill

I had my fat frozen this week with 4 CoolSculpting treatments. I started with my upper and lower abs on Wednesday at the Epicenter Park Lane location in Dallas. Then I had my flanks, or love handles, frozen yesterday at the Epicenter Legacy  location in Plano.

I’ll repost the detailed diagram I drew last month to explain it all better.

That cheeseburger is one I ate when I was eleven that’s been hanging out in my belly fat, refusing to let go no matter how many marathons I train for and run. To my understanding, that’s really what CoolSculpting is best for- those very stubborn pockets of fat on your abdomen, hips and back that won’t go away.

No, I’m not now suddenly 10 lbs lighter and 2 pants sizes smaller. That’s not how it works. I’ll gradually see results over the next 3-4 months as my body metabolizes the fat cells that were frozen and killed. I don’t expect to lose a substantial amount of weight from this alone. It’s not a weight loss procedure, but a “sculpting” procedure. So I do hope that as I ramp up my efforts to tone up the rest of this summer and start running more often, I’ll find it easier to get that flat tummy I’ve always strived for.

Though, while it may become flat, it will still have saggy skin and stretch marks. Yay motherhood!

So, I know what you all really want to know is how it felt and did it hurt.

On a comfort level, between 1 and 10, I was at about a 5. It wasn’t terrible, and I was able to sit through it while reading and watching TV. It didn’t make me cry, but I could definitely feel it, you know? I basically compare all levels of pain to childbirth, though, so it takes a lot for me to say something is painful these days.

The machine is like a sucker fish, and it sucks your fat in and compress it a bit, then it literally freezes it, while a layer of gel protects your skin. So the sensation is a lot like what it feels to be out in the snow with no gloves on. It gets a little sting-y at first, then it goes numb after about ten minutes. When they take it off, your fat is sort of congealed like a cold stick of butter, but then they massage it out and it goes back to normal pretty fast.

The best part of the whole experience was that I got to hang out in a private, quiet room on plush chairs, and watch TV and read magazines on my iPad that I’ve been meaning to download for over 6 months. The offices are like spas, and that’s an experience I rarely ever get. The staff at both locations were really friendly, and it was a light, fun atmosphere. Not at all “medical” feeling, which is what I was expecting. (Though their locations are very clean and professional.)

Today I’m a little sore and have slight bruising on my flanks. Basically, they just look l like giant hickeys, and that makes total sense. My stomach is a tiny bit numb and sore, but it’s not uncomfortable. These are all normal side effects that they prepared me for.

I took before pictures, but I’m not going to share them until I have after pictures to compare them to in a few months. I’m hoping I’ll start noticing results in a few weeks, and I’ll let you all know if/when I do.

I received CoolSculpting treatments for free in exchange for my honest reviews of the process. If you want to learn more about CoolSculpting, you can check out their website.

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Fashion & FitnessReviews

Operation Freeze The Fat Is A Go

by Jill
written by Jill

Remember how I told you all about CoolSculpting? How it’s this FDA-cleared, non-invasive procedure that kills the fat cells on your abdomen and love handles with nothing but the cold? 

I went to my consultation this week in Dallas at the EpiCenter Park Lane, chatted it up with Holly, who could NOT be any nicer, and I’m cleared for takeoff. I’ll have 2 areas done at the end of this month- my upper and lower abdomen. Then I’m going to head over to the Plano location – EpiCenter Legacy– to have my “flanks” done, better known as my muffin top. 

I. am. stoked.

So, the thing about this procedure is it’s not a weight loss thing, which is fine because it’s not that I’m not okay with my weight. I’m actually quite happy with it. It’s to target areas of fat that want to just stick to you and be all “HEY! Remember that cheeseburger you ate when you were ELEVEN? Still here, beesh!”

Now I get to be all, “FREEZE AND DIE, cheeseburger fat, FREEZE AND DIE.”

And yes, I asked more questions beyond just how it kills the decades old cheeseburger fat. It’s safe for breastfeeding. It really doesn’t affect anything other than targeting the fat cells and killing them off. They will slowly, naturally be metabolized by my body, so I won’t see the full effects of CoolSculpting for a couple of months. It’s possible I could experience some surface bruising and maybe even some cramping, but that’s not all too common, and even if it happens to me, I’m pretty sure I can handle both of those.

In reality, there’s no downtime. You can go on with your day after your short appointment. However, I think I just may milk this for half a day off. Heh.

“Mommy has to REST! Her fat cells are frozen and it makes her tired.” 

What it’s not going to do is tighten my skin or take away the stretch marks, so it’s not like I’ll be rocking a bikini after this, but I’ll notice a difference in the way my one-piece fits… and my shorts.. and my shirts. Holly said I can expect 1/2 inch reduction in my waist, but may see up to an inch.

I confess, I was apprehensive heading into this, but Holly and I talked for a long time. My mind really was set at ease, all my questions answered, and now I’m ready to get my freeze on.

I think this is the point when I figured I might show you all a before picture, but my camera battery is dead (true story!) and it’s late, so the light is terrible, and they’re going to provide me with one of those creepy, headless before pictures anyway so maybe I’ll show you that?? I don’t know. I promise to show some sort of before and after shot. Eventually.

Not tonight.

Tonight I’m having a going away party for that f-ing 20-year-old cheeseburger and all it’s late night college pizza cronies.

But, I won’t leave you with nothing. Here is a drawing that looks vaguely similar to the situation I’ve got going on. You can use your imagination, right?

Disclosure- I was not paid for this post, but I am receiving CoolSculpting treatments in exchange for my honest reviews. 

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Fashion & FitnessReviews

Let’s Get Naked!

by Jill
written by Jill

I have never loved my stomach. Never, not even when I was a skinny, toned 16 year old cheerleader. I’ve done more crunches than I can even begin to quantify. It’s just NEVER been flat.

And now that I’ve housed two babies below that layer of pudge, everything is pudgy AND droopy, which is just… ugh. Even after I trained for a ran a marathon 2 years ago I couldn’t get rid of the tiny little pudgy pouch that rests below my belt line.

So, I’ve always said that I am not above a tummy tuck when the ute closes shop. Except, well, you know… it’s surgery.. and it’s painful… and I’m pretty horrible at suffering for beauty, as evidenced by my aversion to any shoes with a heel.

Then my friend Sugar was all, “I know you have a hot body, but is there any little bit of pooch from having babies that you’d like to get rid of with a non-surgical procedure?” and I was all, “YES, tell me more, SIGN. ME. UP.”

Now, this post happens to be sponsored by CoolSculpting, but it’s one of those things that I’m totally shameless about getting paid to tell you all about because I KNOW so, so many of you feel the same way I do about that post-baby bulge, and I KNOW so many of you are hesitant to do the surgery thing to get rid of it.

Plus, you can enter to win a NEW iPad, so there’s that. (Click through from my home page to find out what CoolSculpting is all about!)


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