Weird Ways People Have Tried to Get Rid of Fat

If you’re like a lot of people, you likely have a bit of extra fat that you’d love to say goodbye to. But it might be the case that exercising regularly and eating a relatively healthy diet aren’t enough to get rid of that last inch or so of unwanted fat.

People have been battling the bulge for decades, if not centuries. While some methods of fat reduction are pretty helpful, others have proven to be either downright dangerous or completely worthless. Here are just a few of the weirdest ways people have tried to eliminate unwanted fat.

Eating a lot of Grapefruits

You’ve probably heard of the grapefruit diet, as it’s been around since the 1930s or so. A few celebrities have even given it a go and have managed to drop some weight and lose some inches, at least temporarily.

Why grapefruits (instead of say, apples or oranges)? The thinking is that the citrus fruit contains a special enzyme that blasts away excess fat. The diet calls for eating a grapefruit before or during a meal. There are variations on the diet that influence the amount of other types of food you can eat or the total number of calories you get to eat.

The one thing that the grapefruit diet has working against it is that, well, grapefruits don’t have any magical fat burning abilities. You can eat grapefruit with every meal if you want, but don’t expect it to vaporize your unwanted fat.

Jiggle Machines

You might have seen a jiggle machine, sometimes called a slimming machine, if you’ve ever watched a sitcom from the 1950s or 1960s. For the rest of you, here’s a quick rundown of what the machines are and what they claim to do. Essentially, a jiggle machine features a motor and a belt. You wear the belt around an area of the body, such as your waist or thighs. The motor pulls the belt back and forth, so that it “jiggles” the area.

The thinking was that all that jiggling would help you burn away fat, no exercise or special diet required. Given that there isn’t a jiggle machine in every home, we think you can rest assured that the product never lived up to its claims.

Wearing Saran Wrap

Saran or plastic wrap isn’t just for preserving leftovers. It’s also apparently a way to melt away excess fat, supposedly. Here’s how the trick is supposed to work. You wrap a section of your body in the plastic wrap (such as your abdomen or thighs). Then you go work out.

While you work out, you sweat up a storm. The plastic wrap makes you more likely to sweat, which helps to speed up fat burning.

The trouble is, fat and sweat are two different things. People do lose a bit of water weight when they wrap themselves in plastic wrap (or wear a plastic body suit). But once they drink or eat anything, that weight comes back.

To make matters worse, wrapping your tummy or thighs in plastic wrap can actually be pretty dangerous. Sweat plays an important role when you’re working out — it evaporates and helps to keep you cool. But when you’re wrapped up in plastic, the sweat doesn’t evaporate, which can put you at risk of overheating.

Swallowing Tapeworms

A tapeworm is a type of parasite that lives by ingesting nutrients found in the digestive system of their host. In the case of a tapeworm diet, a person decides that swallowing a tapeworm is the best way to get rid of unwanted fat and lose weight.

The “good” news about the tapeworm diet is that yes, it will help you lose weight. The bad news is that it will also most likely give you diarrhea and vomiting and a host of other medical issues. It’s also worth noting that it’s illegal in the US to buy a tapeworm and swallow it in an attempt to lose weight.

Sleeping It Off

The logic behind the Sleeping Beauty diet is that you can’t eat while you sleep. That’s where any sense ends, though. The diet calls for swallowing a sedative and sleeping for most of the day. It’s very dangerous to do since it calls for both avoiding food and for abusing drugs.

How to Really Get Rid of Fat

Luckily it’s much easier today than it was in the 1950s to get rid of unwanted fat without resorting to dangerous or illegal methods. One non-surgical option for fat reduction is Coolsculpting, a method that actually freezes fat cells and allows the body to dispose of it naturally. Depending on how many areas you want treated and how much fat you want to eliminate, you could get the results you’re after with just a single 35-45 minute treatment.

Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique in Houston, Texas has a team of Coolsculpting University graduates on staff. The practice also has more Coolsculpting applicators than any other in the area, meaning you can treat multiple areas at once. To learn more about the benefits of this FDA-approved, safe fat removal treatment, call 281-810-9083 to schedule a consultation today.