If your thighs, bottom, arms, or other body parts have that lumpy, bumpy, cottage cheese appearance, you have cellulite. Cellulite causes dimpling of the skin and occurs in people of all weights. It’s caused by fat under the connective tissue pushing its way to the surface. The fat pushes through unevenly and creates that puckery appearance. It’s harmless but looks horrible. How do you eliminate it? You don’t, but you can make it less noticeable. Diet, hormonal influences, thinner outer layers of skin, genetics, and muscle tone affect it.
Change your diet to reduce cellulite.
Cellulite can occur in any body no matter how heavy or thin the person is. One way to make it less noticeable is cutting back on food with added sugar. Eating food with added sugar causes insulin spikes. Insulin spikes contribute to inflammation and inflammation increases cellulite. Eating healthy food with fiber reduces blood sugar spikes and spikes in insulin. Sugar also decreases the production of collagen. The less collagen you have, the more you’re prone to cellulite. Increasing water intake and eliminating soft drinks helps, too.
Exercise can help reduce the appearance of cellulite.
Exercise increases circulation which can help reduce cellulite. Excess fluid can build up in the area of cellulite. That makes the uneven surface more noticeable. It makes the muscles stronger which helps keep the surface looking more even. Strength training is the best type of exercise for burning fat and replacing the fat with muscle that appears smoother. When you build your muscles and burn fat, your cellulite will be less noticeable.
You can get treatments for cellulite.
Probably the least invasive type of treatment is massage therapy. Like exercise, it increases circulation and reduces the build-up of fluid. Lipomassage or endermologie is a suction machine to knead the skin and break up the connective tissue causing dimples. It has drawbacks. It doesn’t last long and may cause the skin to lose elasticity and look droopy. Cryolipolysis freezes and kills the fat cells. It takes four months to see results. Laser therapy liquifies fat and boosts an increase of collagen. It takes six months to get results and lasts about a year. Shockwave therapy takes 12 treatments over six weeks or longer to get results lasting two to six months.
- Do self-massage with special creams. These creams contain ingredients that help break down fat, like caffeine, or help build the skin so it doesn’t show the underlying fat, like retinol.
- Many treatments work best when combined with others. If you use massage, add a healthy diet and scheduled exercise to your cellulite treatments, especially if you’re overweight.
- Smoking can contribute to the creation of cellulite. Smoking interferes with collagen production, leaving the skin more likely to develop cellulite. Smoking affects circulation by narrowing blood vessels.
- Changing your lifestyle is the key to looking better. It can address cellulite, help you lose weight, and look years younger. You’ll put pep in your step. Your skin will be healthier, and you’ll develop an attractive glow.
For more information, contact us today at Hawaii Fit Camp!