If you're considering lipedema surgery, read this...

When I was diagnosed with lipedema in 2020, it was clear to me: I wanted to do everything I could to help my body without surgery.

So I tried new approaches: personal yoga, new morning routines, Ayurvedic nutrition, hot water treatments, compression, cardio, trampoline, gym.

But at some point, nothing was moving forward. The doctors said, "This fat won't go away. It's too much. Surgery is the only solution."

After three years of discipline, I finally decided to have the surgery. I thought: I couldn't do more than what I had tried.

Today, I've undergone partial surgery (circular surgery on my arms and thighs) and have gained a lot of insight. Especially thanks to lipedema coaching I did in January 2025.

I wish someone had told me this sooner:

1. Lipedema isn't a "fat problem," but an inflammation problem. For a long time, I thought it was just about losing weight. Today I know: My tissue was chronically inflamed. An anti-inflammatory diet changed everything. Less processed, more natural, and my body is calming down more and more.
2. Strength training helps more than cardio. The cross trainer and treadmill barely helped me. Only targeted strength training provided noticeable relief, because muscles support the tissue and stimulate lymphatic flow.
3. The surgery wasn't the endpoint, but an interim step. I thought it would be "gone" afterward. But my body simply stored the fat elsewhere. It was only through my lifestyle that lasting changes occurred.

Sometimes I ask myself: Would I have come this far without surgery?

Honestly, I don't know. But I wish I had known and understood this lifestyle change path earlier.

If you're considering surgery, take the time to understand your body. I'm not against surgery. I know it's a liberating experience for many. But I wish I'd taken more time back then to understand my body. Not to avoid surgery, but to choose it more consciously. And today, I probably would have made a different decision.