body works
Our intrepid editors road test the latest firming treatments

This machine purportedly lifts, tightens and trims problem areas. There is no way I was going to refuse this assignment - a series of treatments that promised to boost my butt, tighten my stomach and lift my breasts. When I arrived at Dr. Everett Lautin's Manhattan office, he explained that I wouild be hooked up to what he called an Arasys unit, a machine he said would send tiny electric impulses into my muscles to make them contract. Fifteen minutes on the machine, for example, is supposed to be equivalent of doing 300 sit-ups. Lautin tols me I would need five treatments at $250 each before I would see any results. Then his assistant took my measurements and began to attach wet pads all over my "problem" areas.

    At the end of the 45-minute session, Lautin took my measurements again. I had lost half an inch from my waist! Two days later I lost another half inch from my waist and hips. The bottom line: It worked, which is great. But the practical part of me says that if you've got $250 to have electric currents sent through your system, do yourself a favor: Find a nutritionist and join a gym.

-asha bandele, Features Editor