Monday, June 6, 2011

Meet the Fat Whisperer: A-list weightloss guru 'persuades' fat cells to leave the body

It would take a lot more than a few stern words to get rid of most women’s potbellies.

But it is just this approach that Mary Ascension Saulnier - dubbed The Fat Whisperer  – adopts to banish her clients’ love handles and thunder thighs.

The weight loss guru – who has achieved cult status in West Hollywood where she is based – uses power of persuasion to encourage fat cells to leave the body.
Weight loss success story: Kim Kardashian has been seen leaving the salon of Mary Ascension Saulnier
Fat fighters? Paris Hilton has been spotted leaving the studio of fat whisperer Mary Ascension Saulnier
Fat fighters? Kim Kardashian, left, and Paris Hilton have been spotted leaving the studio of cult 'Fat Whisperer' Mary Ascension Saulnier

It may sound like hokum, but clients claim to have lost pounds using her unusual approach (that’s lbs, not £s), and Saulnier has become the go-to woman for A-listers preparing for a red carpet event - 70 per cent of her client list is now celebrity-based. 

Paris Hilton and Kate Hudson have both been seen leaving her studio – though it would have been a challenge to find any fat to chat to on their bodies – as has weight loss success story Kim Kardashian, and Saulnier is now so successful that she has achieved her own star status in the lucrative weight loss market - worth a staggering £2 billion in the UK alone.
Swish: The Hollywood clinic where Mary performs her 'fat whispering' sessions
Swish: The Hollywood clinic where Mary performs her 'fat whispering' sessions
Of course, it’s not just the gift of the gab that 53-year-old Saulnier - also a Pilates instructor and raw food chef - uses to fight flab. She has an artillery of hi-tech equipment at her disposal too. 

She uses a combination of detoxifying masks, teas and wraps, heated inflatable suits and an ultrasound machine that pelts stubborn zones with sonic waves – which all work their magic while Saulnier orders the clients’ recalcitrant fatty bits to leave the body.

‘I command you to get out!’, she is said to whisper to the fat cells in an effort to banish them.
Miracles? Mary Ascension Saulnier has been dubbed The Fat Whisperer by her satisfied clients
Miracles? Mary Ascension Saulnier has been dubbed The Fat Whisperer by her satisfied clients
Saulnier, who studied at Santa Fe Academy of Natural Healing, claims her technique allows her to get to the emotional heart of the client’s over-eating or drinking issues.
'I listen to what emotion is in the cell membrane, then I talk to it,' Saulnier tells Elle magazine.
'I tell the cell which way to move out of the body.'
She combines these treatments with a diet of her own devising, that allows 500, 700 and 1,000 calories to be eaten on alternate days. 

You could go up to 1,500, she says, but celebrities 'don't feel comfortable eating that much'. 
And this ultra-low calorie diet might, it transpires, be at the heart of Saulnier's success. Most of Saulnier's clients are vegetarian or vegan, live on six small meals a day, avoid meat, dairy, carbonated drinks and alcohol.

They sound like a disciplined bunch, with or without the input of the Fat Whisperer. Saulnier operates in a parallel universe, where women for whom 'bread' is a dirty word go to bed hungry every night. Being thin is their trade: their commitment to maintaining what we would deem a too-skinny figure is lifelong, and must come at whatever cost. 

In a way, it's a comfort to know that these devotees of Saulnier aren't simply lying around waiting for their fat to jump ship. 

They work at it - only they have more willpower - and money - than most 'normal' women. The Fat Whisperer simply helps them stay on track, and to become aware of why they over-eat, drink or yo-yo diet.
Saulnier's sessions cost up to £140 a time (that’s a lot of money to be ‘persuaded’ out of women’s purses - perhaps The Wallet Whisperer would be a more apt name?) but it is unfair to judge too harshly.
After all, most women would sell their grannies for a miracle weight loss remedy, and Saulnier simply provides a service that they say works for them - in fact, salon owner Kate Somerville says she lost 20lbs using Saulnier's technique - that is why she invited her to practise at her salon.

Without a Fat Whisperer at our disposal though, it's a simple fact that the good old fashioned ‘eat less, move more’ technique is the best way to lose weight long-term. Anything marketed as an immediate fix that doesn't involve some form of surgery is likely to reduce water retention, but not fat.

Still, if it means that dress that hasn't zipped up for years will finally fit - even if it's just for one night - then a session with Saulnier might just be worth it. Fat Whisperer: here we come! resource: Mail Online