At Centre for Surgery, our surgeons get commonly asked whether your body weight can affect the results of a Brazilian butt lift. Our prospective patients often ask what is the ideal weight for BBL surgery. Can you be too slim to have a BBL?. Will being overweight affect my suitability for a BBL? Will losing or gaining weight after the procedure affect the results of a BBL?
All these questions are very reasonable and we aim to empower patients with all the right information prior to making a decision on whether a Brazilian butt lift is right for them. To begin with, there is generally accepted to be no ideal body weight for a Brazilian butt lift. Although the most important prerequisite to having a BBL is to have sufficient fat deposits, it is also important not to have too much fat.
Do I need to gain weight to have a BBL?
The principle of BBL surgery is that fat must first be removed with liposuction from an area of the body such as the abdomen, flanks or back followed by the transfer of this fat also known as fat grafting to the buttocks to give a more rounded or curvaceous appearance. Patients who have insufficient fat deposits from being too thin will not be able to achieve sufficiently enlarged buttocks to result in a discernible increase in size. The potential outcome of this is dissatisfaction due to not being able to notice any improvement in results.
For patients who are very slim and are very keen to have a Brazilian butt lift then we would advise a period of controlled weight gain for a period lasting from a few weeks to months and then book in to see our surgeon again for a reassessment of the areas for harvesting of fat.
Having said that, for patients who we advised to gain weight for the BBL then this most likely suggests that you may be classed as underweight or have a BMI which is under 18.5. Patients who are significantly underweight may not be ideal candidates for BBL surgery at all.
Patients who have a BMI within the normal range of 18.5 to 25 and have maintained a stable weight over time then these patients will most commonly have enough fat stores on defined parts of their body to use for fat transfer to their bum. It is commonly thought that patients who are heavier or more overweight are more appropriate candidates for a BBL but this is not correct.
What if I am too overweight for a BBL?
At Centre for Surgery, we have strictly defined criteria for body mass index prior to having a surgical procedure under general anaesthetic. We, therefore, advise all patients to be at both a healthy and stable weight and are able to maintain their weight after their procedure. Patients who are looking to lose weight or are in the middle of actively losing weight should not consider having a BBL until they have reached their target weight or are within 3 to 4 kg of the target weight and their BMI should also be under 30.
There are a number of reasons for this policy. Firstly we see ourselves as a result-driven practice and want to make sure that you get the best possible result following surgery. However, the main reason our surgeons require your weight to be both stable and under BMI 30 is to reduce the risks associated with both anaesthesia and surgery. There is a clear link between patients who are healthier and who also go on to have a safer procedure.
With a Brazilian butt lift procedure, there is also a specific reason for maintaining a healthy and stable weight. A Brazilian butt lift involves the removal of fat from an area of the body before fat transfer to the buttocks and the pre-requisite for a successful fat transfer is to have good quality donor fat tissue. If a patient is overweight, they are more likely to have enlarged fat cells and with BBL surgery your surgeon will want those fat cells to be small enough so that they are more likely to survive the fat transfer process.
If you are unsure about your body mass index, please read our article on body mass index and cosmetic surgery to learn more.
Why should I maintain a stable weight after a BBL?
It is well known that fluctuations in weight can potentially affect the results of your BBL and this applies both before and after the procedure. The behaviour of fat cells is fairly predictable if the patient gains weight then these fat cells will enlarge in size and if a patient loses weight the fat cells will reduce in size. If you significantly gain weight after the procedure, then the volume of your buttocks will also increase in keeping with the rest of your body. The volume of the buttocks will decrease along with other parts of the body with significant weight loss.
This is why it is crucial that all BBL patients should keep to a steady weight without fluctuations in weight to maintain their BBL results over time. As we age, the distribution of our body fat also changes over time often due to hormonal influences. Although this can’t be controlled, maintaining a healthy lifestyle will help to prolong the results over time. It is also not possible to undergo targeted weight loss from certain body regions such as the abdomen without simultaneous volume loss from the buttocks. In other words, when you gain weight, you’ll gain it everywhere and when you lose weight you’ll lose body fat you will lose body fat uniformly from all areas of the body.
We would advise all patients to maintain a stable weight following the BBL so that they can maintain their nicely contoured and curvaceous shape and also so that the areas from where fat was harvested remain nicely contoured and sculpted.
