Cassady Jeremias”I have a trip to Mexico...

Cassady Jeremias

“I have a trip to Mexico planned and I came in to get tightened up,”

Melissa Chang said as she relaxed on her back absorbing radiant heat

from an infrared body wrap.

The high-tech body wrap system, featured at Newport Beach-based

CDMT Inc., uses infrared waves to penetrate deep into tissue to zap

fat in targeted areas, Chief Executive Jack Giangiulio said.

The process can burn up to 1,200 calories per 50-minute session by

activating the metabolism, he said. The energy rejuvenates skin,

gives toning and cardiovascular effects. This technology is not your

traditional little body wrap, he said.

“This is a totally different ballgame,” he said. “With lotions and

saran wraps, you are wrapped up like a mummy. That doesn’t sound

comfortable to me. This is technology. This is high tech.”

The fledgling business, less than a month old, is housed in a tiny

lavender-scented room in the back of the James Albert Salon. A

patient lies dressed in sweats, hooked up to pads wrapped around

target areas -- mainly hips, thighs, arms and waist. It is said to

feel like a warm electric blanket while it works.

“You will get water loss because of sweat, but you will also see

fat loss because of the metabolic action,” he said.

And you sweat.

“You sweat like you’ve just had a really good workout,” said

Chang, a 21-year-old UC Irvine student.

The technology has been used such ailments as psoriasis, aches,

pains and arthritis. The use of it for weight loss is relatively new

here, Giangiulio said.

As for results, he said, some people see a loss of up to a couple

inches per session, but it differs from person to person.

“We had one woman call in, she was on the other end of the phone

crying, saying ‘I can wear shorts now -- my cellulite is gone,’” he

said.

Giangiulio, a chiropractor by trade, dreams of one day opening a

full-service salon with his fiancee, Lisa Nelson, who administers the

wraps.

He hopes to market to bridal shops and to people like Chang, who

just want to tighten up a bit before that special occasion.