Wednesday was my third Vanquish body contouring session and I was pretty excited. I have also been back in the gym now for a month, after having been out because of injury for almost four weeks before. I figured my workouts could only help what the Vanquish is doing for me.
I brought a book this time, Seven Years in Tibet, to keep my mind off the heat on the treatment area. That poor book has been sitting on my nightstand for months and I keep passing it over for other reads. So, I entered the treatment room, book and gym shorts in hand, and belly button ring left at home.
Kit, the lead Vanquish technician, followed me in and said: Let’s get you weighed.
Me: (slightly panicked) With my pants on?
Kit: Do you want to do it without them?
Me: (In my head I’m thinking, YES I want to weigh without them, and preferably totally naked and before I eat breakfast!) But instead of sounding crazy I just said: It’s OK.
Not to worry too much....My body fat remained the same from the treatment before.
My previous Vanquish session was during my period and so the heat was a little more uncomfortable, but this time the heat was very bearable and the only adjustment we had to make during the session was to just put a fan on me to help with a few “hot spots.” Sometimes small parts of the treatment area can feel hotter than other areas and the fan helps minimize this feeling.
Vanquish treatments used to be 30 minutes instead of 45. Here's why treatment protocol is now 45 minutes: During the first 15 minutes of the session, the Vanquish is heating up the fat cells to the target temperature of 41 degrees Celsius, which is the temperature that the fat cells turn to lipids and leave the body as waste. By the last 15 minutes of the session, the fat layer is being maintained at that target temperature. So when adding on an additional 15 minutes to your session, your treatment area is already at the optimal temperature and you are only getting treatment time with no added warming up period.
I got lucky this time and Kit stayed with me for my whole 45 minutes and we chatted about men and houses and vacations and Seven Years in Tibet got overlooked once more. As we talked I expressed my annoyance with my weight and body fat from my weigh in. My weight has essentially remained the same during the treatments and overall my body percentage is down one percent. So really that’s not too shabby. Kit reminded me again that final results with Vanquish are seen 30 days after the last treatment. And I will be measured again at my fourth treatment so we can compare circumference size of the treatment area from the first to last Vanquish sessions.
It is important to keep in mind that the fat cells are leaving the body as waste and we can help with this process by exercising and drinking plenty of water. Just think how your body rids itself of any sort of waste. The liver and kidneys are what helps cleanse our body, and water and physical movement help with detoxifying.
That said, I left my third Vanquish treatment and headed out for a three day weekend on Padre Island National Seashore, where I promptly ingested many snack foods I never eat, and drank more than my fair share of wine. Lying in the surf for hours reading Nomad’s Hotel (see, NOT Seven Years in Tibet), remaining slightly tipsy and snacking on Triscuits and tuna fish did wonders for my brain and mood. I even notice that my body feels less achy than normal – generally I’m sore all the time from workouts. So I’m very happy with how it feels coming off this three-day beach vacation, but I sure didn’t help my body out at all as far as hydration and better nutrition!
So this week I’m committing to more of that. (And considering a lipotropic injection.) Back to the regular clean eating routine this week. And I’m also going to try to leave that wine in the fridge this week and care for myself a little better. Not because it’s “the right thing to do” but because, why bother with body contouring if I’m going to sabotage it with loads of white wine and Triscuits?
And we should be good to our bodies…it’s where we live!