Cheongju esthetic visceral fat check: Bio Photon SlimOn at It's J

Lately my activity level has gone down and my sitting time has gone way up, so my belly's started sticking out more. Sitting for long hours also leaves my feet cold — I'm often wearing socks even indoors — so I got curious not just about exercise but about ways to keep the body warm too. Then I heard about a lie-down body care program in Geumcheon-dong, Cheongju, so I went to check out It's J Cheongju Esthetic.

Since it's a treatment you just lie down for, it'd make a nice gift for a daughter-in-law or daughter worn out from Chuseok chores too, haha.

Where is It's J Cheongju Esthetic? Parking and hours

It's J Cheongju is at 250 Junggogae-ro, 2nd floor, Units 201–203, Sangdang-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk. It's J, well known for Cheongju Geumcheon-dong diet care, is about a minute from Geumcheon High School and right next to a main road, so it was easy to find.

Parking is available both in front of and behind the building.

• Address: 250 Junggogae-ro, 2nd fl., Units 201–203, Sangdang-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk, South Korea
• Hours: Tue–Fri 10:00–20:00 / Sat–Sun 10:00–18:00
• Closed: Mondays
• Parking: Available in front of and behind the building
• About a 1-minute walk from Geumcheon High School

What's on each of It's J Cheongju's three floors?

It's J Cheongju turned out to be bigger than I expected.

It's a total beauty shop where you can get several kinds of beauty care all in one place.

On the 1st floor there's a hair salon and nail art space.

The 2nd floor is for skin care, lash treatments, and waxing, with various body care program guides on the wall catching your eye right away. For reference, the restroom is inside the 2nd-floor treatment room.

From the 2nd floor up, you switch into indoor slippers.

The 3rd floor is for body care and semi-permanent makeup, and since I came for the SlimOn body care, I was guided up to the 3rd floor.

Overall it was bright and clean, and the treatment spaces were well separated so it was comfortable to use.

Consultation and InBody scan: visceral fat level 12

At It's J Cheongju, they don't jump straight into machine treatments — first I filled out a checklist. After checking off my eating habits, lifestyle, and areas I'm usually self-conscious about, the consultation began.

After changing into a gown, I also had an InBody measurement. That's where I found an unexpected result: visceral fat level 12, T_T.

The director was surprised, saying it came out higher than expected compared to other people and considering my usual eating habits, and measured my InBody a second time. The second result was the same, so I was shocked too. I thought I'd been reasonably careful with my diet and exercise, but I realized checking body composition matters more than just watching the weight number.

What is the SlimOn treatment?

It's J's SlimOn broadly consists of two steps: TNT care + Bio Photon. Simply put, TNT is a treatment that repeatedly stimulates the muscles, and Bio Photon is a heat treatment inside a dome that warms the body to make you sweat.

Since it combines exercise and heat treatment in one session, it's a program you can use as supplementary body care when you're short on time to exercise or find it hard to manage things through workouts and diet alone.

What does TNT abdomen care actually do?

Honestly, even the name TNT was a bit unfamiliar to me at first. The staff explained it's a treatment that uses a machine to induce muscle contraction and relaxation.

The device is attached to the area you want treated — in my case the abdomen — and the treatment is done lying down.

The intensity ranges from level 1 to 10, so it's not always set to maximum strength — it can be adjusted to fit your condition.

I had it done on my abdomen, and as the intensity rose I could feel my muscles moving like I was clenching and releasing my stomach. Even though I was just lying still, it felt like my abs were contracting the way they do during ab workouts — pretty surprising at first, haha.

Why get TNT abdomen care?

When dieting, managing muscle mass matters just as much as lowering the number on the scale. At It's J, TNT was explained as a body care process that stimulates the muscles. It seemed especially relevant for people who find it hard to keep up ab workouts on their own, or who want to manage their body line alongside exercise. My session lasted about 30 minutes.

What is Bio Photon heat treatment?

After TNT, next came the Bio Photon treatment.

It's a heat treatment where you lie down inside a large dome-shaped device. The shop explained it uses growth-light wavelengths to warm the body and help sweat release.

They told me that even 45 minutes of Photon has the effect of 5 hours of running. When I first got in it just felt warm, but as time passed the heat gradually built up and I started sweating.

The biggest feature was that unlike a jjimjilbang (Korean sauna) where you might move around, you just lie comfortably inside the dome — no need to exercise yourself.

How is Bio Photon different from a sauna?

At first I wondered, "Isn't this basically just sweating in a sauna?" But the staff explained there's a difference in how the heat is delivered compared to a regular sauna.

It's J's Bio Photon was explained as a heat treatment that uses growth-light wavelengths to warm the body. As time passed, I started sweating all over and my whole body felt warm.

The director even set up a phone stand for me, so I could comfortably watch YouTube during the treatment, haha.

InBody results before and after the SlimOn session

After finishing both TNT and Bio Photon, I measured InBody again to compare before-and-after numbers. My results were as follows.

• Weight → down 0.4kg
• Skeletal muscle mass → up 0.4kg
• Body fat mass → down 1.1kg
• Body fat percentage → down 1.9%
• Visceral fat level → down 1
• Visceral fat area → down 19㎠
• Body water → up 0.5L

I sweated quite a lot during Photon, so I figured my weight dropped simply because I lost water. But instead my body water actually increased by 0.5L, which was the most surprising part.

According to the director, warming the body helps sweat release while also supporting waste elimination and circulation, so it wasn't simply a case of losing water weight through sweat. That was especially striking, and it made me look more closely at the results sheet, given how shocked I'd been by the visceral fat number at the start.

Who is SlimOn at It's J Cheongju best for?

It's J's SlimOn seems suited to:

• People short on time to exercise
• People who struggle to work out consistently on their own
• People whose knees or legs hurt from exercising, making it hard to keep going
• People with cold bodies from poor circulation

If you're someone who wants to combine exercise with body care, this seems like a program worth checking out.

As part of a review event, you can get a mask pack for writing a receipt review — worth taking part in.

Honest verdict after one SlimOn session

I visited simply out of curiosity about a lie-down treatment, and I got to receive muscle-stimulating TNT care followed by warming Bio Photon heat treatment in one session.

I also liked that the whole thing started with a consultation based on InBody and a checklist. Seeing my visceral fat numbers this time really gave me a wake-up call, haha. Going forward I plan to watch my diet more carefully, get back into exercising, and add in body care treatments when needed.

If you're looking into diet options in the Cheongju Dongnam district, it might be worth checking your own body condition and getting a consultation first at It's J in Geumcheon-dong :)