text: i heard that once you gain fat cells, they dont ever leave-they can only shrink?!?! is this true!?   yes, it's sad but true.  they can pretty much "empty" if you lose fat, but the cells will still be there.  that's why so many people who lose a lot of weight easily gain it back again, much more quickly than they gained it the first time around.  although, new medical techniques may change all that.  first of all, there's liposuction, where the fat cells are vacuumed out through a small tube.  also, i recently read about lipotherapy (i think i have the name right) which involves a certain drug being injected into the fat problem area (for people who aren't overweight, but have a fat area they can't lose) and the drug helps the body process and destroy the fat cells!  pretty amazing.  here's a website with more info about it, and pictures.