By Sally Scott – Tonight Editor, Daily News, Durban

The good thing about my thighs is that should a plane full of Uruguayan rugby players crash on top of me (see Alive, the film of the 1972 Andes air crash) and then be forced to live off the land (me), they would not have to eat any of their dead team mates, they could, instead, live off my thighs. Probably for a good month or so
OK, in the scheme of life, my thighs, (did I mention cellulite? No? well I am mentioning it now) are low on my priority list, but if you offer me a fabulous freebie, with a well known clinic, where I try out this machine which pretty much guarantees to fight flab, I am there.
 
Apparently – fat or thin - around 80% of women have those lumpy deposits of body fat we call cellulite. I have read that this new technology will improve cellulite by at least 80 to 95% and, in some cases, eliminate it completely. Hence, I take the plunge at the Renew Clinic in Umhlanga.
 
Yes, I sound like an advert, but believe me I am a horrible skeptic – I expect things not to work…
The course: an hour twice a week for six weeks.
 
The treatment: VelaSmooth, a medically approved (by the Food and Drug Administration) “body contouring treatment”, made by international listed company Syneron, which “unites gentle waves of broad-spectrum light and radio frequency with deep tissue massage.”
Basically, one lies on a bed, while a trained technician, (I alternated with Mary Msweli, Futhi Khumalo and Nomvula Khumalo) smooths a special cream on and runs this small roller attached to a pipe, up and down the cellulite.
The device combines “a combination of infrared heating, bipolar radio frequency and vacuum assisted deep tissue massage.”
The goal: Reduction of those horrible lumps – my saddle bags could contain lunch for the whole office…
How does it feel: A bit uncomfortable at first, like being pinched, but, after two sessions, I am in the zone with only the odd twinge here and there.
The treatment incorporates a healthy diet.
The initial consultation and weigh in (54.5kg) reveals that at 5ft 3 I am overweight! Not by much, just four kgs, but I am mortified… Then again I do not exercise – and my eating plan? A disaster.
Oddly enough, as someone who skips meals a regularly, having glanced at the diet sheet I start feeling terribly hungry. But, the very words Ryvita, All Bran, a pear, broccoli (yuck) spread  bleakness in my soul…
But, no gain without pain. So I soldier on. The eating plan, to kickstart weight loss, means I should eat five times a day, plus drink 8 glasses of water.
With salads, fish, lean meat, plenty of fruit and veg, nuts and yoghurt, this is, obviously, a very healthy diet. I stick to it as much as I can, but find it difficult to eat so often. I should also be doing a half hour twice a week on PowerPlate. But, with a full time job, night work and two kids to ferry around, time is not on my side.
Six weeks on, technicians Mary, Futhi and Nomvula are now my new best friends. As they work we chat, dissing nearly every man we know, sorting out the crime situation and those politicians we love to hate.  With trepidation, knowing I have cheated at times,  I weigh in at 52.9kg. My body lean, body fat have all gone down and I’m feeling much fitter. But, the proof is in the before and after pictures post VelaSmooth. Wow! As this is a family paper we will not frighten you with my before and after pics, but amazing results! Hardly a bump and (I measured my thighs before and after) and just under 10cms down. And I only managed two PowerPlate sessions!