There is simply no point in picking out our least favorite pieces and parts and magnifying them into a confidence busting bubble of self-loathing. It’s simply better to accept what you can’t change and get on with improving what you can - and with the bevy of self-improving cosmetics, surgery and self-propelled workouts and diets out there, there really is very little you can’t change.

So what happens when you’ve done the self-improving work, reveled in the results and then… watched them slowly disappear!?

In an recent Marie Claire magazine article entitled “The Fat Came Back” – we learn exactly that – fat is apparently much like a stalker, always lurking in some new place or another. The sad fact is that the only sure-fire, speedy way to eliminate our friend fat is to lipo it away – and even that (*sigh) doesn’t last.

A study from the University of Colorado did a study on 32 non-obese women, mostly in their 30’s with extra weight on their hips, thighs and stomach. The women were divided into two groups: One group had lipo on their problem areas – removing about 6 pounds of fat, and one group didn’t. The women were instructed not to alter their lifestyle over the 12 months of the study. The results were cruel. After one year had passed, the women found themselves at pretty much the same weight as when they started – leading the researchers to conclude that your body will “defend” it’s fat supply with the rabid determination of a knight defending the holy grail.

“The Fat Came Back” lays it bare for us. It seems that unless we gain a lot of extra weight as adults, we actually have about the same number of fat cells we had as adolescents. (I know, I know… we’ve all heard that our fat cells can multiply like bunnies in a field – but it seems that is only if we gain more than 50 pounds.) And yes, lipo can remove fat cells, but here’s the rub. Firstly, the remaining fat cells expand – (cause they’re jerks), and secondly, fat begins to store itself in other places. Possibly places where you thought you had it free and clear in the shapeliness department (ie. a flat stomach, a perfectly rounded rear, etc…)

Now that logic might lead us to believe that liposuction is a waste. But journalist (and two time liposuction recipient) Judith Newman says no. “The very fact that the weight doesn’t come back in the same places generally means you’ll look better and more balanced, even if you do gain something.”

It seems even the modern wonders of cosmetic medicine has it’s limits. Know what they are before you decide on a procedure – and you’ll be way less disappointed by any possible drawbacks. Now look in the mirror and repeat after me. Now pony on up to that mirror and repeat after me: “I’m smart enough, pretty enough and gosh darn-it, people like me!”