It sounds like a Faustian bargain: skinny thighs in exchange for fatty shoulders, roly-poly arms or a doughy bulge under the breasts.
Liposuction may result in a Michelin Man look, a study from the University of Colorado has found.
Just when women in the study thought their adipose tissue was a goner, the fat came back - in places they least expected.
Within a year, the patients (average weight: 138 pounds) who had the fat-vacuuming procedure saw their body-fat percentage creep back up and reappear primarily in the abdominal area, the L.A. Times reports.
Dr. Felmont Eaves III, a plastic surgeon in Charlotte, N.C., and president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, told The New York Times the study was "very well done" and said he'd mention it to his patients.
Liposuction is the most popular plastic surgery in the United States, with more than 450,000 operations carried out each year.
But like any procedure, it involves risks - and can be fatal if an untrained practitioner is doing the fat suctioning.
But the dream of slimmer hips and thighs lives on.
Although the lipo'ed women in the study ended up with extra fat elsewhere, patients were still glad they'd had the procedure done, according to the researchers.
The women in the control group were similarly unfazed by the study results. More than half of them opted for the study perk: liposuction for less than the going rate.
Would you consider liposuction knowing your fat will come back?