Cellulite, the bane of some women’s lives, can make skin look less attractive forcing some women into changing which clothes they choose to buy and wear. Cellulite causes bumps or an “orange peel” look to the surface of the skin. You will mostly find cellulite on the hips, thighs and legs, however, it can also be found on the stomach, upper arms and breast area.
Cellulite is often accompanied by stretch marks. It’s also associated with circulation problems, swelling and water retention (oedema). None of which are desirable in any way. It is not harmful, and is sometimes referred to as a cosmetic condition. Moreover, it is indicative of other problems within the body and is certainly not a sign of healthy tissue.
Cellulite is not exclusive to people who are overweight, plenty of slim ladies suffer from it too. Even Supermodels and Olympic athletes have it.
What Causes Cellulite?
The causes of cellulite are multifaceted. Anatomically or structurally, cellulite is caused by the fibrous connective cords, made of collagen, that tether the skin to the underlying muscle.
As the fat cells swell, they push upwards, against the tethered skin, and cause the lumpy or uneven look to the skin. Cellulite does not appear overnight, it’s a long term effect and creeps up on you over years not months. Weight gain and or body fat increases would have preceded the cellulite formation.
One major problem in cellulite formation is the hormone – Estrogen. This combined with other factors such as lack of exercise and dehydration can then lead to weight gain, water retention, loss of blood flow and cellulite will eventually appear on your body.
The Fat Cells Are Broken
In a general sense the fat cells are not working properly. Toxins are meant to be removed from your system by your liver. When your liver is overwhelmed, it can’t do its job.
Then toxins in our food and environment are pushed back into the bloodstream and then absorbed by the fat cell. Long term, high levels of pesticides and other toxins mean the body will need to create additional fat to absorb the toxins or “mop up the waste”.
These toxins find their way into the fat cells where they can be stored for many years and cause oxidation/Inflammation (free radical damage).
The toxins are stored in the cell membrane and the membrane becomes tough and impermeable causing fat loss to be more difficult.
Constant exposure to all of the toxins in today’s world makes your fat cells toxic, this soon becomes cellulite. Fat cells normally are nice and smooth but once these harmful toxins enter the fat cells it becomes misshaped, this is what the little bumps and lumps are on the outside of the skin are.
Exercise is also an important factor in determining whether you will have cellulite or not. The more exercise you do the less chance you have of getting cellulite.
There is also a lot of evidence to suggest that genetics are very important in determining if you will get cellulite and more specifically where. Have a look at your closest family members and if they have cellulite there is a chance you could get it in the same place.
How Do We Get Rid of It?
A pill or cream won’t get rid of cellulite properly and in the long term. So ladies please don’t waste your money on expensive pills and lotions. Here are 3 ways of getting rid of cellulites.
Detoxify Your Fat Cells by Changing Your Nutritional Habits
The best way to get rid of these harmful toxins which play a huge part in the development of cellulite is to detox. The primary aim of a detox is to cleanse the body inside out and flush out all of the harmful toxins in the process allowing our body to function like it’s meant to.
The first and most important step to removing cellulite from the body is just to remove unnatural processed foods from your diet. So ditch the sweets, chocolates, fried food and fizzy drinks for healthy organic natural fruit and vegetables, good quality carbs and lean meat. Drink plenty of water too! This will aid the detoxification process and help to flush out toxins from the body.
One thing we need to remember is that these toxins don’t only enter our bodies via the food we eat. Toxins also come from alcohol, perfume, make up, cleaning products and much more, so aim to use environmentally friendly toxic free products where possible.
Exercise More
Cellulite is more common in the lower body area. There are over 90 muscles in your lower body all waiting to be strengthened and smoothed over! As mentioned earlier, pills and creams don’t address cellulite at the root, exercising will.
Working the areas efficiently where cellulite exists will help to improve circulation, smooth out and support the skin around the cellulite; this will reduce the appearance and give a better look. A well thought out balanced exercise programme will really help to blast away the cellulite.
Mixing some quality cardio training with resistance training is the best way, again to increase the circulation to the area. You need to really focus on the areas where cellulite exists. A shoulder press isn’t going to help the cellulite on your thighs. Exercises like squats, glute bridges and lunges will – indirectly.
The exercise is there to promote better blood flow and oxygenation of the tissues and stimulate the surrounding muscles. To give yourself the best chance aim to exercise 3-5 times a week, it is also important to rest your body between exercise sessions.
Massage
Simply massaging the worst affected areas can help to reduce the appearance of cellulite, this is why some creams seem to work a little, a basic massage oil will be fine and much cheaper. You don’t have to worry about any fancy spa treatments or spending loads of money, you can do a lot of the things yourself or get your partner/friend to help, I’m sure they’ll be more than happy!
Toxins are eliminated from our body through the lymphatic system; applying pressure to the muscles stimulates the blood and lymph flow, this then helps the lymphatic system expel the stored away hard to reach toxins from our body. Massage with circular motions and ensure you don’t press too hard, this can lead to bruising.
So there are my top 3 tips for blasting away cellulite from the body, if you apply all of these tips properly the cellulite should disappear over the coming months and years, you should start to see improvements in as little as a couple of weeks.
Remember the longer the problem has existed the longer it will take to go away, so be patient if needed and if you don’t do it, I’m afraid to say it will only get worse in the long run. Doing nothing is the worst thing you can do. Avoid progressing through the levels, nip it in the bud as soon as possible is the best strategy.
