Enfuse Medical Spa of Chicago

Skin Care Suggestions for The Month of September

Enfuse — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:41:13 +0000

Skin Care Tips for Dry Fall Skin

It happens every year: summer winds down and the cool weather slowly makes its way in. As hard as it can be to pack away those shorts and summer dresses, it feels good to drag out the sweaters and the jeans.

Don’t forget though, just because your jeans and sweaters cover your skin doesn’t mean that you can take a break on your skin regimen. Proper care can mean the difference between healthy skin and dry flaky skin.

Smart Skin Move #1: Exfoliate

Summer spent in the sun can make your skin appear dull. Exfoliation can remove the dull outer layer of skin, and unclog pores. Exfoliate a couple times a week with an exfoliating cleanser or with Clarisonic.

Another exfoliation option: Microdermabrasion or chemical peels, done with Bari our aesthetician. These procedures are more effective and quicker at removing the superficial dead layer of the skin.

Smart Skin Move #2: Switch cleansers

Your skin was probably oilier than usual in the summer, due to heat and humidity, so a deeper-cleansing face wash was in order. But come fall, when the heat begins to disappear, you need a gentler cleanser. Look for a non-soap product, which removes dirt and impurities but doesn’t strip your skin’s natural oils. Try a toner if you tend to be oily in the T-zone area after you cleanse.

Smart Skin Move #3: Add moisturizer

Whether you used only your sunscreen or skipped moisturizer altogether in the summer, you’ll need to add this product back into your routine in the fall. Choose a basic moisturizer which contains potent anti oxidants and rich emollients to protect, moisturize and soothe dry, tender skin. These ingredients neutralize the damaging toxins from the sun, and can help prevent further damage. Even during the fall/winter days, continue to apply sunscreen as your everyday moisturizer.

Smart Skin Move #4: Try eye cream

Older skin is prone to showing fine lines and a crepey texture around the eyes. And sun exposure exacerbates these problems. An eye treatment can help smooth the eye area again. Look for a product containing hyaluronic acid, an ingredient that effectively holds moisture onto the skin.

Smart Skin Move #5: Combat brown spots

Post-summer, you may notice more dark spots on your face. These spots are signs of sun damage-plus, they make you look older. To help remove them, try a bleaching cream containing the ingredient hydroquinone. Bleaching creams work by slowing the production of pigment deep in the skin; they usually take a minimum of six weeks to work. While there are several bleaching creams available over the counter, you’ll have better effects with a prescription cream. That’s because OTC bleaching products contain very small (read: generally ineffective) percentages of their active ingredients.

Smart Skin Move #6: Get a skin check-up

With over 50,000 new cases of melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, diagnosed each year, fall is the perfect time to schedule a skin check with Dr. Evansy. This is especially crucial if you spent your summer in the sun, as moles can change and become abnormal quickly. Dr. Evans can thoroughly examine your skin, looking for abnormalities and suspicious moles, so you can clear up any possible problems before they become serious.

Schedule an appointment for a skin evaluation and Dr. Evans will customize a skin care regimen that is right for you! Check out our products Our Products Page

SmartLipo in the News

Enfuse — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:13:27 +0000

Smartlipo Recovery Time

Enfuse — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:08:22 +0000

Today’s SmartLipo customers are increasingly concerned about SmartLipo recovery time, the nature of the surgery, and the results. Approved by the FDA, SmartLipo is a laser-assisted liposuction procedure, which has proved to be successful in treating people who have a problem with excessive fat deposits.

SmartLipo is highly effective for removing those stubborn fat deposits from targeted areas of the body including abdomen, face, neck, back, chin, hips, knees, buttocks, saddle bags, love handles, and more.

Faster Recovery with Less Risk of Complications

Only local anesthesia is required, which means fewer risks and side effects. Minor bruising, swelling and numbness occur directly after the SmartLipo procedure, but this is minimal. Depending on the procedure performed, you will be asked to wear a support garment for several days after the surgery.

The recovery time might vary from person to person and from procedure to procedure. To recover from traditional liposuction, it may take weeks, or even months. But patients undergoing the SmartLipo procedure need only lesser recovery time and often return to routine activities and work within a few days. Normally, the surgeon advises a day or two of rest. Recovery time will be longer, if large amounts of fat are to be removed with SmartLipo. It is always better to avoid strenuous sports for at least two weeks. You will also be scheduled for recovery check-ups, because professional monitoring improves your chance of receiving best body contouring results.

Choose Your Surgeon Wisely to Get Desired Outcomes

If you decide to go ahead with the SmartLipo treatment, it is important to choose a plastic surgeon you are comfortable with. An experienced and talented plastic surgeon will be able to provide you with all information regarding the SmartLipo surgical process, treatment duration, recovery time, and the expected benefits in full detail.

Smart Liposuction – Chicago and Wicker Park SmartLipo offers safe and efficacious SmartLipo treatments at our AAASF (American Association Ambulatory Surgical Facilities) accredited center. As Cynosure’s exclusive SmartLipo Training Facility we are staffed exclusively by Chicago Medspa Doctor.

Dr. William Evans is the Surgical Director of Park Avenue SmartLipo, the only certified SmartLipo training facility in Chicago, Illinois. Dr. William B Evans is a fellowship-trained aesthetic plastic surgeon who holds dual certifications from the American Board of Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery.

Radiesse Injectable Gel

Enfuse — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:01:30 +0000

Radiesse is a natural dermal filler composed of calcium hydroxylapatite (a natural mineral compound) that is combined with glycerine and cellulose to produce a soft and pliable gel-like material. Radiesse has been used in the body for multiple applications including cheek and chin implants and most recently for correcting deep wrinkles. Radiesse can be injected into the dermis of the skin to create a natural “scaffold” on which new collagen is laid down by the body. The result is a long-lasting implant comprised of the calcium microspheres and the body’s own natural tissue.

Radiesse is designed to give a longer-lasting correction to deep folds that remains soft and takes on the characteristics of the surrounding tissue. New soft tissue produced by the body gradually replaces the individual components in Radiesse over time. Although the original injected components gradually dissolve over two to three months, the benefits and youthful appearance produced by Radiesse injections can last 2-5 years.

Typical Radiesse treatments include: smoothing and contouring smile lines or nasolabial folds, marionette lines, acne scars, facial defects or recessions, frown lines, restoring volume in and around the cheeks, and providing modest enhancement or correcting asymmetrical features. Most patients treated with Radiesse should look for a correction that lasts around two years although some patients’ treatment will last three years or longer.

Safety

Radiesse has a long history of safe use as an implant material in a wide range of applications. Comprised of calcium and phosphate ions, calcium hydroxylapatite is durable and biocompatible; it also does not calcify or ossify in soft tissue. Thus, the long-term outcome is a soft, flexible implant. Because the adjacent tissues become

Because the material used in Radiesse is a safe and compatible mineral combination that is similar to the calcium hydroxyapatite found in your bones, there is little risk of allergic reaction and no pretesting is necessary to use Radiesse. Radiesse is FDA approved for vocal cord paralysis and urinary incontinence. All other uses are considered off label.

Possible Side-Effects

A mild localized anesthetic is normally used to minimize or usually eliminate the pain associated with this type of treatment. The numbing effects will wear off in 15 minutes to as long as a couple of hours depending on the anesthetic used by your physician. There is no pain reported afterwards. Some bruising and swelling may occur. Swelling will usually resolve within 24-48hrs and the bruising will usually clear up within 4-5 days. Although rare, c lumping, lumping, or granuloma formation can result when Radiesse is injected into the lips.

Juvederm XC

Enfuse — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 00:59:56 +0000

Take a look at the Juvederm XC ad, which I found in theNew Yorker Magazine, which (coincidentally) includes an article about treatment of wrinkles (“Face It: The Truth About Wrinkles”). The article does not mention Juvederm and hardly has anything at all to say about injection of gels into the skin. Do you think this ad is “fair and balanced”; ie, presents risk information that is “comparable in depth and detail with the claims for effectiveness or safety” as required by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act? FDA issues “notice of violation (NOV)” letters to drug companies when it feels that promotional pieces overly minimizes risk information. Should FDA send a NOV letter to Allergan, which markets Juvederm? “Promotional materials are misleading,” said FDA in a recent letter to Meda Pharmaceuticals regarding an Astelin promo piece (see “FDA Warns Meda Pharmaceuticals that Astelin Isn’t Approved as a Cure for House Cleaning!”), “if they fail to present information about risks associated with a drug with a prominence and readability reasonably comparable with the presentation of information relating to the effectiveness of the drug.” With regard to the Astelin promo piece, FDA noted “the only risk information contained on the sign (a disclosure of common adverse events) is presented at the bottom of the sign after the indication for the drug in extremely small font size and in a single-spaced format that makes this information very difficult to read.” Clearly, the Juvederm ad also presents risk information in hard to read “mouse typeface.” But let’s take a more scientific, quantitative approach. I compared the area devoted to risk information versus benefit information in both the Astelin and Juvederm ads. My thesis is that there is a similar quantitative de-emphasis of risk information in the latter as in the former and that Allergan should also receive a letter from the FDA.

Botox Blog Part III: The Reality, and The FDA Review

Enfuse — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:05:07 +0000

- We rewind back to 2008. It’s hard to believe that only two years . This is the second of a 3-part series by Dr. Hema Sundaram. She has worked diligently to dispel the rumors associated with the use and application of Botox Injections. People of Chicago and Chicagoland deserve to have the proper information concerning Botox and other Injectable Skin Treatments. More postings like this one will be incorporated into our weekly updates.
Enjoy-

As a dermatologist, it thrills me to see how happy Botox makes my patients, whether I’m treating them medically for excessive sweating or cosmetically for wrinkles.

Excessive sweating is no laughing matter. To those whose personal and professional lives, and clothing, it ruins, Botox often seems like a miracle. Take Jodie*, who told me that my Botox treatment of her underarms made her wedding day, and saved her dress. Or Peter, who’s 21 and told me that Botox treatment of his palms allowed him to hold hands with a girl for the first time in his life. We can certainly all live with wrinkles but, as I’ve written previously , cosmetic surgery is inspiring and uplifting if you use it to project a positive image and to balance how you look with how you feel. Anne, a recently widowed 53-year-old, was one of the first patients to visit me after I opened my private practice. The Botox and laser treatments that I gave her helped her to cope with the stress of her husband’s death and the toll it had taken on her appearance and self-image.

A recent Los Angeles Times article about the petition provides insight into how much Botox can improve the life of children with cerebral palsy. It includes an interview with a pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Hank Chambers, who says that he’s given 20,000 Botox injections to cerebral palsy sufferers and never had a complication. Dr. Chambers speaks with authority in describing Botox as “a spectacular treatment” and avowing that it has “changed lives”, as his own son has cerebral palsy and has himself been treated with Botox.

Dr. Chambers comments that some doctors who are not expert in treating cerebral palsy might inject patients with doses of Botox that are much higher than recommended guidelines. Although this could cause problems with muscle control elsewhere in the body due to spread of Botox, Dr. Chambers also notes that children with cerebral palsy already have muscle control problems, so it’s difficult to determine the role, if any, of Botox.

On February 8, the FDA announced that it will be reviewing the safety profile of Botox and Myobloc, with particular emphasis on their use in large doses for children with cerebral palsy and similar conditions. The FDA’s statement that “reactions may be related to overdosing” and that “there is no evidence that these reactions are related to any defect in the products” seems to echo Dr. Chambers’ thoughts.

During a public teleconference following its announcement, the FDA’s neurology chief, Dr. Russell Katz, stated that this review involves “a relative handful of serious adverse events” in a patient population that is already “very sick” and confirmed that none of these is related to the cosmetic use of Botox.

The product labeling for Botox already warns that patients with pre-existing neuromuscular diseases may be at increased risk of significant side effects from regular Botox doses that would not cause problems in healthy patients. So what this seems to boil down to now is that the FDA and the drug manufacturers will discuss whether a warning should be added to the product labeling for Botox stating that some children with cerebral palsy could also experience significant side effects from Botox, especially if they are given high doses which might encourage spread of Botox to other parts of the body.

In other words, should childhood cerebral palsy also be considered a neuromuscular disease for the purposes of Botox product labeling?

The doses of Botox that are used for cosmetic purposes are so tiny that there should be no concern in any healthy patient. Over a million people have been treated with Botox for cosmetic purposes, and not one has ever been shown to have died due to this treatment. Like all the cosmetic surgeons I know, I already advise patients with neuromuscular diseases or other debilitating conditions not to have Botox for cosmetic purposes.

I am one of a small group of expert dermatologists and plastic surgeons across the country that serve as Principal Investigators for FDA studies of new cosmetic therapies. As a Principal Investigator, I know from first-hand experience how thoroughly the FDA evaluates any new therapy before approving its use in the U.S. – even a therapy like Botox, which was previously used safely for both medical and cosmetic purposes for many years in many other countries

I also know that the FDA continues to monitor these therapies even after approval, to ensure that the highest standards of safety and effectiveness are being met. In my opinion, our FDA is the strictest and most stringent in the world, and I am glad of that. I believe that American consumers are better protected than their counterparts anywhere else in the world.

I’m reassured to know that the FDA is keeping an eye out for the welfare of my patients. Besides FDA regulations, I have another rule that guides me in caring for the men and women who place their trust in me every day. I call it the “rule of mom”. Basically, I won’t treat my patients with anything that I wouldn’t feel comfortable giving to my own family (such as my mother) – and to myself. (After over twelve years in practice, some of my long term patients are practically family anyway!)

There are some treatments that have been approved by the FDA but still fail my “rule of mom” because I don’t feel their benefits outweigh their disadvantages, and I don’t offer them to my patients. The FDA explicitly states in its announcement that it is not advising health care professionals to discontinue prescribing Botox. Given this, along with the thousands of Botox injections I have administered with excellent results and no safety problems whatsoever, I have absolutely no reservations about continuing to offer Botox treatment for wrinkles and excessive sweating to my patients.

Perhaps also, when all’s said and done, Dr. Wolfe of Public Citizen not only misquoted his organization’s own petition but was also wrong when he asserted that “patients don’t have a clue”. Perhaps they do have a clue, and that’s why they’re not rushing, lemming-like, to condemn a treatment that the FDA approved as safe decades ago and that, since then, has saved innumerable men, women and children from intractable pain and suffering.

So, for now, let’s sit tight and put our trust in the FDA. And, by all means, discuss the petition with your doctor. I’d also like to hear from you if you have had Botox treatment (or if someone you know has), either for medical or cosmetic purposes. Has Botox treatment impacted your life, or the life of someone you know? And, if so, in what ways? How would you feel if Botox was no longer available or restricted in its availability?

Over the past decade, I have trained many physicians from throughout the country in the use of Botox for cosmetic purposes and for excessive sweating. I have lectured on these subjects at medical conferences and at educational programs for allied health professionals, and I will continue to do so. I believe that accurate, scientific education, training and communication are essential to optimize our understanding of Botox and other minimally invasive cosmetic procedures, as they continue to increase in popularity.

*Patients’ names have been changed to protect their privacy

Botox Blog Part II:Blast From The Past

Enfuse — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 20:00:02 +0000

- We rewind back to 2008. It’s hard to believe that only two years . This is the second of a 3-part series by Dr. Hema Sundaram. She has worked diligently to dispel the rumors associated with the use and application of Botox Injections. People of Chicago deserve to have the proper information concerning Botox and other Injectable Skin Treatments. More postings like this one will be incorporated into our weekly updates.
Enjoy-

You’ve probably heard about this petition, as it’s been making the media rounds for the past few weeks, sometimes accompanied by panic-inducing headlines. It asks the FDA to issue a warning letter to physicians about Botox and another, unrelated treatment called Myobloc. What strikes me is the complete lack of panic in my patients, whether they’re having Botox for the first or the fiftieth time. In the words of 57-year-old Marcy*, one of my ‘regulars’ who came in for a Botox touch-up last week: “I’ve had plenty… and I’m not dead yet!” The only people asking me about “the dangers of Botox” are media reporters.

What also strikes me is what a closer look at the petition reveals. It claims that Botox and Myobloc have caused “serious problems, including hospitalizations and deaths” and, specifically, that Botox has caused 11 deaths from medical use and 1 from cosmetic use between 1997 and 2006. (The other 3 deaths listed in the petition are claimed to be due to Myobloc, a product I don’t use). However, a closer look at the petition reveals the telling words, “Additional limits to our data include: causality cannot be proved”.

That’s a pretty big limiting factor.

If causality cannot be proved, how valid is this petition? And if the petition itself admits that there is no proof Botox caused any of the deaths listed in the petition, then why is Dr. Sidney Wolfe of Public Citizen telling the media: “Nobody should die from the medical use of Botox. The fact that they are shows that patients don’t have a clue about these problems”?

It troubles me that this statement and others made by representatives of the group are not consistent with what is written in the petition. While I have every respect for consumer advocacy, I feel that these inconsistencies have resulted in misleading, sensationalized media reports that only serve to cause confusion and are not in the public’s best interests.

Despite the popular image of Botox as a wrinkle-fighter, it was actually introduced to our country 30 years ago to treat a medical condition – lazy eye – in both adults and children, and it was FDA-approved for this purpose 18 years ago. Botox is used now for a plethora of other medical conditions. Some are serious and painful, like cervical dystonia, which causes incurable painful spasms and prolonged muscle contractions in the neck, upper back and shoulders. Some are less painful but still physically and socially debilitating, such as migraine headaches, overactive bladder and excessive sweating (medically known as hyperhidrosis). More studies are under way to investigate and confirm other promising uses for Botox, many of which will also relieve significant suffering.

And then there are the millions of patients who have Botox for cosmetic reasons, to smooth out frown lines and other wrinkles on their faces. 10 million Americans of all ages have been treated with Botox over the past three decades, more than a million of them for cosmetic purposes. It’s been noted that even if Botox had caused 12 deaths between 1997 and 2006, your chances of dying from Botox treatment would be far less than your chances of being killed by a tornado.

Let’s add a little more context to this. Do you think of nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen (Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve) as unsafe? These over-the-counter painkillers, along with their prescription counterparts, have actually been proven to cause about 2000 deaths per year in the UK alone, in those taking them for at least two months.

But the fact is that Botox has not been proven to cause any deaths – remember that line in the petition stating that “causality cannot be proved”. Let’s look at the one death that allegedly occurred from wrinkle treatment. This one woman died from bacterial pneumonia in the winter of 2004…. seven weeks after she received Botox. While this death, due to an infection that’s prevalent in winter, is undoubtedly tragic, I fail to see the logic of linking it to a cosmetic treatment that was administered almost two months previously. According to this woman’s medical records, the physician who treated her pneumonia felt the same way.

So how did Public Citizen come by the data in its petition? The group searched ten years of the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS) Database, to which doctors and drug manufacturers are required to report any undesirable event that happens to a patient after receiving any treatment. But a report to the AERS database of death in a patient who has received Botox treatment does not mean that the treatment caused the death. It only means that a patient who received Botox died at some point afterwards. As the FDA itself cautions, “for any given report, there is no certainty that a suspected drug caused the reaction.” That sounds an awful lot like, “causality cannot be proved”, doesn’t it?

The text of the petition is posted here, and I’d be interested in your thoughts. How do you interpret the line, “causality cannot be proved”? And do you think it’s reasonable to link the death of a woman from bacterial pneumonia to Botox seven weeks previously?

Botox Blog Part I: Facts and Myths

Enfuse — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:43:29 +0000

-This is the first of a 3-part series by Dr. Hema Sundaram. She has worked diligently to dispel the rumors associated with the use and application of Botox Injections. People of Chicago deserve to have the proper information concerning Botox and other Injectable Skin Treatments. More postings like this one will be incorporated into our weekly updates.
Enjoy-

I’ve been intending to write about Botox for some time. Of all the procedures I perform in my office, Botox is the most popular, and sometimes the most misunderstood. In 2006, the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) ranked Botox number one on its Top 5 list of cosmetic procedures. But some of the men and women who consult with me about the procedure express the concern that they will end up with “face freeze” – that deer-caught-in-the headlights look that the media seems to consider synonymous with Botox treatment.

Ironically, many celebrities who are pilloried in the media for being “over-Botoxed” are actually victims of over-zealous surgical brow or face lifts, rather than Botox. When properly performed, Botox treatment smooths out your frown lines and other facial wrinkles while preserving your normal facial expressions, so you don’t look permanently surprised. A recent survey of approximately 1000 patients who had received Botox for cosmetic purposes found that 97% of them were satisfied with their results[1].

The FDA approved Botox in 2002 for the temporary treatment of moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows in adults aged 18 to 65. These vertical lines are often referred to as “the 11″ because they resemble the number 11. Since its approval, Botox has been used for more than 13 million cosmetic procedures in the United States. Some are for the FDA-approved indication – to relax frown lines. Botox is also used “off label” for other wrinkles, such as forehead lines, crow’s feet, lines around the mouth, chin dimpling and lines on the neck…

Frown Lines and Forehead Lines

Frowning before and 3 weeks after Botox.

I especially enjoy employing advanced techniques to restore a youthful arch to flattened eyebrows, fade vertical pucker lines around the mouth (often referred to as “smoker’s lines” although non-smokers can develop them too) and turn up a downturned mouth (or “mouth frown”) so that its owner looks more positive and happy. I’ve developed my own technique to relax horizontal lines on the forehead without changing the shape of your eyebrows, even when you raise them. This avoids the telltale, sharp-angled brows that are a sure giveaway of having had Botox…

Crow’s Feet

Before and 2 weeks after Botox.

Margarita*, a 39-year-old graphics designer who’s been my patient for the past four years, is delighted with the results of her Botox treatment, describing it as “the best thing that’s ever happened to my face. And it’s not just women who are having Botox.

I’m treating increasingly more men these days too – like Larry, who’s 48 and works for the Federal Government. Besides Botox, I’ve also injected Perlane and Restylane into Larry’s smile lines and under-eye hollows, faded sun spots and prominent pores with Vitalize chemical peels and tightened his jawline non-invasively with StarLux infrared skin tightening. Larry’s goal is to project a youthful and energetic image in his office where, as he puts it, “a lot of my team-mates are younger, and I don’t want to look as if I’m too old to be fresh and creative”. Statistics from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) echo what I’m seeing in my office: 300,000 men received Botox treatment for cosmetic purposes in 2006.

Botox Can Reduce Hand Tremors

Enfuse — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:37:23 +0000

Millions of people suffer from the common but mysterious ailment known as “essential tremor” — the uncontrollable shaking of the hands, head or other body parts that occurs during voluntary movement. Here, one reader asks whether Botox is a good option for somebody with shaking in the hand.
Q.

I have essential tremor, primarily in my right hand, which makes writing either impossible or at least laughable. I visited a neurologist, who quickly rejected Botox injections and urged me to take Propanolol, saying that there were “no side effects at all.” During my visit, the only other people in his rather spare office were drug salespeople. Three of them! Are Botox treatments safe and effective? Thanks.
Jules D. Zalon, West Orange, N.J.

Intramuscular injections of Botox, or botulinum toxin, may play a limited role in the treatment of wrist and voice tremors in patients with essential tremor. However, many patients with essential tremor not only have wrist tremors but also have shoulder, elbow and finger tremors.

As the number of muscles involved increases, the efficacy of these injections decreases. Furthermore, weakness in the injected muscles is a reported side effect. In a study from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, published in the journal Movement Disorders, injections of Botox into the muscles produced mild to moderate improvements. Interestingly, however, there were no significant improvements in functional rating scales.

Jennifer Hudson Weight Loss Before and After Photos

Enfuse — Sun, 09 May 2010 22:00:30 +0000

“American Idol” finalist and Oscar winning actress, Jennifer Hudson, has become the new face for Weight Watchers and she looks pretty amazing! Well done Jennifer for your determination, hard work and discipline. You look absolutely beautiful.

Hudson credits Weight Watchers and her baby son, David Daniel Otunga, Jr., for taking her in a new healthy direction. Hudson tracks her progress using the official Weight Watchers iPhone app and has praised the diet for its effects on her shape. ..

The singer and actress recently appeared on GMA to discuss her newfound weight loss.

“It’s about balance,” Hudson explained on the show, emphasizing her decision to “make better life choices, health choices, and just create a good example for him growing up.”

Hudson’s new Weight Watcher’s commercial highlights the Weight Watchers regimen.

The singer and actress also hired high-profile personal trainer Harley Pasternak for near-daily workouts. “Her middle, thighs, and butt are more toned than ever,” Pasternak told Us Weekly of his sessions with the Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winner. “She’s excited about her body.”

According to Liz Josefsberg, Hudson’s Weight Watchers leader, the “American Idol” finalist lost weight at an average of half a pound to two pounds a week, a very healthy and safe pace. Josefsberg explains that many Weight Watchers clients begin exercising while on the program, in an all-around shift towards a healthier lifestyle. “It’s not uncommon for our members to become more active. You can’t do one without the other. You change the way you eat and then you must become more active.”

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