Cellulite!
UGH! What woman doesn’t start pinching body parts when they hear that word? What
is it and HOW CAN WE MAKE IT GO AWAY?
Cellulite
doesn’t discriminate – young or old -overweight or not – it can show up on
girls in their teens or even younger. Why? Because despite what you’ve heard
about cellulite being some mysterious condition linked to "trapped
toxins" or poor circulation, cellulite is simply old-fashioned fat. It
just looks different because of how it's arranged.
Everyone has
strands of connective tissue that separate fat cells into compartments and
connect fat to skin. In women, these fibers form a honeycomb-shaped pattern, so
any increase of fat tends to bulge out like stuffing in a mattress. You see
less cellulite in men because their fibers run horizontally, forming a
criss-cross pattern that prevents bulging or dimpling.
Of course, not everybody will develop cellulite in their
lifetime. That’s because genetics determines where your fat cells are and how
many fat cells you have. Activity level is another crucial factor associated
with cellulite. If you exercise regularly, you’ll decrease your odds of
developing cellulite, or if you do, the dimpled look won’t be quite as
pronounced.
Though cellulite
can pop up any time, it is true that cellulite does seem to appear out of
nowhere and gets worse with age. That's because our tissues change. Those
strands of connective tissue thicken with age, and our skin gets thinner,
making cellulite more noticeable. More importantly, we gain fat with age. The
average woman loses 5 lb of muscle and replaces it with about 15 lb of fat
every decade of her adult life, says Prevention advisor Wayne Westcott, PhD.
"Because
fat is exceptionally soft, it doesn't keep our skin taut like muscle does. It
also takes up more space, so it bulges out," he explains.
Unfortunately, too many people still hang on to the idea of quick and easy fixes. Beware of cellulite cream makers, medical procedures like liposuction or cosmetic treatments like body wraps. They don’t work. No cream applied to the skin can penetrate the skin and rearrange the fat cells beneath the surface. Liposuction is designed to remove excess deposits of fat, but it won’t change the appearance of fat. As for body wraps, the effect is only temporary. Fat is compressible, so when you do the wrap, it will smooth your skin, but by the next day, your skin will be back to normal.
This is all
very depressing information. I’ve just explained what doesn’t work. Is there
anything that does? Here’s the good
news: cellulite can be improved
upon with diet and exercise. A combination of strength training and
cardiovascular should be implemented into your workout routine - recognizing
that you cannot spot reduce.
References:
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