Tag body fat

Cellulite has a very bad reputation and a lot of nicknames to go with it. “Lumpy”, “bumpy”, “dimply”, “cottage cheese”, “orange rinds”, etc. are all terms used to describe the appearance of skin that has cellulite beneath it. The anti-cellulite industry is a multimillion dollar industry because women are desperate to get rid of their bumpy-lumpy dimples.

There are miracle creams, laser treatments, and books on dealing with cellulite, special diets, massage therapy and many other ways that purportedly treat cellulite effectively.

Most of these methods are ineffective, do not have any lasting effects and are just a drain on the wallet and emotions. Disappointment and regret often follow when women put their faith in these scams and poor products.

In this article, we’ll examine if anti-cellulite diets work. These apply to pills, and special diets formulated for women specifically addressing the cellulite issue. Before we go any further, the answer is neither a yes nor a no. It lies somewhere in between.

Anti-Cellulite Diets – No Different Than an Anti-Fat Diet

The first point to note about cellulite is this – it is fat. Cellulite is nothing more than fat pushing up against your skin. These fat pockets push up against the connective tissues beneath your thin skin and that causes the dimpled and bumpy appearance. Men do not normally have cellulite because their skin is thicker and more porous. The tissues beneath their skin are also connected differently.

Since cellulite is nothing more than fat, exercise and a healthy diet will get rid of cellulite easily and very effectively. It may be argued that slim women show signs of cellulite too. This is a fallacy. Many slim women have a high body fat percentage and low lean muscle mass. They are what are known as “skinny fat” in the fitness industry.

A woman who does her cardio and resistance training aimed at the thighs, legs and buttocks will have toned muscles in those areas. Once that happens they have lower chances of gaining fat in those areas. Less fat means less cellulite. It’s that simple.

The Best Anti-Cellulite Diet is Exercise and a Healthy Diet to Follow

So if all you need is a healthy diet and exercise to get rid of cellulite, why are there pills and special fad diets on the market?

Simple. To get your money. Women spend more than 12 million a year on treating cellulite. That is not chump change and many companies want in on the action. Nevertheless, the solution is very simple and straightforward.

Anti-Cellulite Diets are No Different Than a Fat Loss Diet

Avoid sugary and sweet foods, carbs that have a high GI, caffeine, sodas and other foods that will pile on the pounds. Most women usually know what those foods are but still indulge anyway.

If you wish to get rid of your cellulite, you will have to make these sacrifices. Limit the consumption of these foods to once a week.

It would be a good idea to limit your salt intake too. Sodium causes water retention and makes you feel bloated.

Consume flaxseed and kelp regularly. Collagen keeps your skin firm and taut. Flaxseed promotes collagen growth and 2 tablespoons flaxseed oil a day is sufficient. Kelp makes your body burn about 10 percent more fat. You may buy dried kelp and cook it or just purchase kelp supplements from a health store.

Include Plenty of Water in Your Anti-Cellulite Diet

It goes without saying that you need to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day for a glowing complexion, healthy skin and to flush out toxins. One ounce or 30ml for every 2 pounds of body weight is a good goal to set for your water consumption.

Basically, this is all you need for an anti-cellulite diet. Keep it healthy and clean. Natural foods and not processed foods. Get some moderate exercise daily and you’ll be well prepared to keep cellulite at bay while feeling happy and healthy at the same time.

Why Would People Really Do a Cellulite Massage?

There are many types of massage such as Thai massage, Shiatsu, Swedish massage. All these different types of massage employ different techniques to achieve different desirable results for the body from lymphatic drainage, to alignment to improved blood flow.

Some massage parlors even offer cellulite massage. There are several books on the subject so the big question is… Does it work?

The answer is no. It doesn’t. You are better off going with the normal massages that are available. Swedish and Thai massages are great for stress relief and putting your tired, achy body in a feel good state.

Fat Cannot be Removed by Cellulite Massage; Plain and Simple.

Cellulite is body fat.

The theory behind cellulite massage is similar to cellulite brushing. In theory, the massage will result in better stimulation and blood flow in the problem areas. Usually, moisturizing lotions, ‘special’ oils and ointments are used in the massage. This gives the illusion that the skin will absorb these lotions and oils and cellulite will be eradicated. Of course, this is not the case.

The cellulite may disappear for an hour or two because the lotions may have made the skin swell up and tighten. This will hide it for a while but it is very temporary. Once the ‘swelling’ or effect of the lotion subsides, the cellulite reappears and the woman is disappointed and tells herself that she needs a few more massage sessions to totally solve the problem.

A Cellulite Massage is a Total Waste of Money

Cellulite massages usually cost more just to give the illusion that they are more specific and effective. Neither is true since the massages just do not work for the intended purpose.

The reason that cellulite looks different from normal fat is the structure of the skin and underlying tissues. Women have connective tissues beneath the skin that are perpendicular to the surface skin. This creates pockets or chambers where fat is stored.

As women age, the skin loses its supple, elastic qualities and starts becoming thinner and harder. The fats beneath the skin become more prominent and this causes the appearance of cellulite.

It has been said that cellulite cannot be “cured”. Well, it does not have to be cured because it’s not a disease. It is just fat under the skin.

All you need to do is adopt a healthy diet, exercise regularly and use a moisturizing lotion to keep your skin smooth and supple. It also helps if you consume collagen supplements.

Your exercise regime must consist of resistance training. You will need to do squats, lunges, calf raises and if you’re adventurous, you may do dead-lifts too. These exercises will strengthen your thighs, hamstrings, butt and legs in general. These are the areas most prone to cellulite.

You must also include cardio training. Stair climbing, running, cycling and skipping are excellent forms of cardio because they focus on your lower body. If you focus on training your lower body, you will be able to mitigate the presence of cellulite.

In the short and long run, this is still the most effective method of treating it. No cellulite massage can help you remove the unsightly appearance for more than a few hours. Only a healthy diet and training can. Save your money, improve your health and love your body by subscribing to the My Fitness Nut Newsletter at http://myfitnessnut.com and found at the top right of the page.

There are several websites that promote lymphatic drainage to reduce cellulite. They are all wrong. The reason for this is because cellulite is fat. It is not about toxins or poor drainage or whatever reasons that are so often tossed around. All these misconceptions and fallacies are designed to make women spend money on cellulite products and treatment.

It May Look Different But it’s Really Just Fat

The simple fact is that cellulite is fat. It looks different from normal fat. There is a reason for this. Beneath our skin is a hard fibrous tissue with bands that connect the skin to the muscle. These bands are known as septae. Women have perpendicular bands while men have bands that connect in a cross-checked pattern. This is the reason why men do not show visible signs and even thought they have it too, it just can’t be so easily seen.

When the spaces between the bands are filled with fat, the fat is squeezed upwards and presses against the skin. This is similar to a fork pressing down on a marshmallow. Notice how the marshmallow comes up looking all clumpy. That’s because the fork is hard and stiff just like the bands of tissue in our body.

Women also have thinner skin than men. That’s a double whammy because the cellulite is even more visible. So, now that we have established that it’s just plain ‘ol fat, why are people talking about lymphatic drainage?

Fat Profits in Reducing Cellulite

The reason for this is that there are several products and services such as cellulite massages and other treatments such as Endermologie that claim that they can massage it away by breaking down the fats and increasing the blood circulation to the problematic areas.

It is not profitable to admit that cellulite is fat because if it was just normal fat, women would realize that watching their diet and exercise would remove the cellulite stores. By using words like ‘lymphatic drainage’, it creates the illusion that more specific and targeted measures are required to deal with this stubborn issue.

Lymphatic Drainage Provides Benefits – But Not Cellulite Loss

The crux of the matter is that lymphatic drainage will not rid the body of cellulite. It may have other benefits such as improving circulation and maybe detoxification to a certain extent, but it will not remove it because fat cannot be massaged away.

The best thing you can do for yourself will be to try and reduce your body fat percentage. You will have to watch your diet closely and eat wholesome, healthy food. Avoid junk food and processed products which are also junk. Eat fresh, eat clean should be your motto.

Exercise to Lose Fat and Reduce Cellulite

Embark on a training program that involves a mix of cardio and resistance training. Perform exercises that tone your lower body. Squats, lunges, stair climbing, etc. All these exercises will tone and strengthen your thighs and butt. Toned muscles are taut and the visibility of cellulite will be reduced.

When you are at a body fat percentage of about 15 to 20 percent, your fat stores will be minimal. You may still have some fat but the lumps and dimples will be barely visible. If you still wish to lose the rest, you need to drop your body fat percentage even lower.

That’s how you rid your body of cellulite effectively and this way beats any lymphatic drainage method out there. Learn more about cellulite reduction to help you shape up your appearance and take the guess work out of it.

It happens to people all the time… It makes no difference how dedicated you are or how hard you workout and stick to your diet, fighting that stubborn fat that refuses to leave can be a real pain.

For the longest time your diet and exercise routine has been showing nice healthy gradual results as your body became leaner and stronger. Then suddenly, for that last bit of stubborn body fat; it refuses to budge.

What to do When You Are Stuck with Stubborn Body Fat

This is often the case when people are working on developing the six-pack abs look and they are struggling with that last stubborn layer of fat on their belly. They try their hardest to burn off that fat but with no success.

Below you’ll find 5 ways to fight that stubborn body fat and if all works out well, one that will work for you to banish that stubborn fat layer once and for all. Well, that’s the goal anyway. These are simple but that’s sometimes all it takes once you get to a certain point.

Fight Stubborn Body Fat Tip #1: Ingest Enough Omega-3

The first thing you can do is to consume a high quality fish oil supplement. Our diet these days is overloaded with omega-6 when what we really need is omega-3 fatty acids. You can find these essential fatty acids in fish such as salmon, mackerel and trout. Sardines, scallops, herrings and even shrimp are good sources of omega 3 acids.

When you have sufficient omega 3 fatty acids in your body, your fat loss will be accelerated.

Fight Stubborn Body Fat Tip #2: Drink These Teas

Another way to boost your metabolism will be to drink about 3 to cups of tea each day. This can be oolong tea, green tea or a standard black tea. Tea has been shown to increase fat oxidation and give your metabolism a boost.

When you are fighting stubborn fat, every tool that you use is an added advantage and tea is one of those tools. Beware not to add sugar or artificial chemical sweeteners but a smidge of stevia can safely give you the sweetness you’re looking for.

Fight Stubborn Body Fat Tip #3: Fight Fat with Fat

Sounds odd I know but yes, you can eat fat to lose fat. This is a secret method employed by certain professional bodybuilders to get their fat percentage down.

This is known as a ketogenic diet. They reduce their carbs to a minimum and consume lots of healthy fats such as nuts, avocados, natural nut butters such as almond or hazelnut, flaxseed oil (high in omega-3), sunflower oil, olive oil and other foods rich in omega 3 acids.

Fight Stubborn Body Fat Tip #4: Reduce the Carbs

When you reduce your carbs to the bare minimum, your body will start burning its fat stores for energy instead of glucose. That’s when the stubborn body fat you’re working so hard to get rid of will start to burn off.

Fight Stubborn Body Fat Tip #5: Increase Cardio Intensity

Extra cardio over and above what you’re doing now will help in burning off stubborn fat. I you’re already doing cardio workouts you can increase your workout sessions in either time or frequency but be sure to change your routines often and increase the intensity of your workouts.

A good way to increase the intensity of your workout and your daily workout routines is with Sandbag or Kettlebell training. A new or changed workout routine can help you break that plateau and put your body back into a fat burning mode once again to help you drop that last bit of stubborn fat.

An important thing to note here is that the extra cardio and ketogenic diets are just temporary for most people. After you’ve burnt off that last bit of stubborn body fat you can taper down your workout routine and dieting. Then you just need to concentrate on maintaining your awesome new look.

You always want to keep your body guessing and not let it get comfortable with one specific diet or one specific exercise program. This is what helps the body stay in a fat burning mode. Change your workouts, rest days, diets, etc. on a regular basis and beware of getting stuck in a comfortable rut where you hit that roadblock plateau.

If your body is constantly facing surprises, new challenges and diets, it has no time to adapt. It will work with you burn the fat to cope with the new pressures you keep throwing at it.

On a last note, some of your fats may have been there for many years and it might take time for the body to finally decide to burn off these fats. Give it time and keep working to your goal of burning that last bit of stubborn body fat.

Scientists have been shoving it down our throats for years, and by now pretty much everyone knows that losing weight is all about the calories. If you want to see a reduction in your body fat, you need to burn more calories than you are ingesting every day.

Forcing your body to dig into its own fat resources to accommodate its energy needs is, aside from surgery, the only way to drop the fat. However, making that happen is a bit more of a complicated process, but many people ignore that.

As a result, they have taken the above theory to certain extremes, with many people deciding that fasting for weight loss is the best way to go; they won’t be taking in any calories at all, meaning the body will always have to dig into its resources for its energy requirements.

Just like most ambitious plans, this one sounds logical until it is put to the test.

Is Fasting for Weight Loss Practical?

On top of requiring calories in order to function, your body also needs a large number of nutrients to support the different processes happening within itself. To remain strong and healthy, you need iron, dozens of vitamins and minerals, fats, carbohydrates, proteins, fibers, and much more.

As you can guess, the body doesn’t keep those ingredients in reserve as it does fat, meaning that by fasting you are actually going to be making your body less and less healthy with each passing day. At some point, your immune system won’t be able to function properly any more, leaving you wide open to any number of nefarious diseases.

But let’s pretend for a second that nutrients aren’t a problem, and that you have managed to fast for a certain amount of time and have a lost a lot of weight. At this point, two questions need to be asked:

Where did the lost weight come from?

How long will you be able to keep up these results?

To answer the first question, while it is true that much of the lost weight will have come from fat, some of it will be important lean muscle mass, and losing muscle doesn’t make you healthier in any way.

As for the second question, simply imagine the moment at which your diet ends and you discover that you have lost, say, twenty pounds. What is the first thing you are going to do?

Chances are that you will want to gorge yourself in a ton of food. Well, putting aside the fact that your stomach would simply burst for not being used to digest anything for a while, you will also find all of the weight you thought to have lost.

Once the diet will be over, your body will do everything in its power to get itself out of the state it considers to be abnormal in order to return to how things were before you started fasting for weight loss.

All things being said and done, fasting for weight loss is definitely not the way to go, regardless of how bad you want results; in the end, you will only end up hurting yourself with the weight coming right back on, minus the muscle loss, as fast as it left your body.

The answer is that if you’re determined… It takes as long as required. Many men or women who wish to get a six pack always ask this question. How long will it take?

They want results fast. We live in a world of microwaves and text messages. Everything is fast and almost instant. So, it’s only normal to expect to see your six pack abs after 2 weeks of slow jogging.

But this will never ever happen unless you are already at 10 percent body fat and most people are way above that number.

Your body will burn off your excess fat slowly but surely and even then you will need to be doing the right workouts consistently and consuming a proper healthy diet.

You Can Calculate When Your Six Pack Abs Reveal Themselves…

But Not How Long It Will Take

Your body can only lose about 1 percent of your body weight per week. So, if you are 150 lbs., you can expect to lose about 1.5 lbs. per week if you are creating a daily calorie deficit of about 500 calories per day. So, if you need to lose 15 lbs. to reach a body fat percentage of 10 percent, that will take you about 10 weeks… or maybe even 3 months if your body plateaus and stops showing results for a week or two.

This happens even to the best athletes. The body decides to just stop burning the fat for some reason only it knows. You will then have to change up your workouts or your diet or go from intense cardio to long, slow cardio.

Sometimes the nervous system is under immense stress due to hard workouts constantly. The stress on your body puts it in shock and it goes into preservation mode. It holds on to whatever fat it can and you see no results on the scale.

Many people, who experience this, take a few days rest from training, or switch to lower intensity training. Basically, take things down a notch so that the body can recover and go back into fat burning mode.

So, it does take time. Nobody can give you an exact date when you will see your six pack abs. You will just have to stay the course till you reach your goal. You must be happy with small results over a longer period as long as you are seeing results, and the pounds on the scale are dropping, you will see your six pack abs.

You will need to calculate your daily calorie requirement for maintenance and the figure you need to be at to create a calorie deficit. You will also need to measure your body fat percentage. This is an important number to know because if you’re a man, you will need to get your body fat to a percentage of 10 or below. Women should aim for a body fat percentage below 20 percent. It may be difficult but it is definitely attainable.

Once you reach this level, your abs will be revealed and all the hard work will have paid off. It takes time but the best things in life usually do. That’s what makes it such an accomplishment and you will be one of the 2 percent who do have a six pack; definitely something to be proud of.

Learn More about Fitness Nutrition and Getting Six-Pack Abs

To help you create the six-pack abs that you’d be proud to call yours, get a free subscription to the My Fitness Nut Newsletter at http://MyFitnessNut.com and receive a full body workout video series to help get you into shape fast. Get yours now while we’re still giving them away.

There is a saying in bodybuilding, “Abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym.” That basically means, that you will only see your abs if you watch what you eat. Is it true? Definitely! It is gospel!

You can give your best at the gym and train till your heart feels like it’s going to explode or your muscles are about to burst but if your diet is not good, all your efforts will be in vain and you will never ever see a six pack. You will be fit but you just will not have a six pack.

Why?

Because for a guy to see his six pack abs, his body fat percentage should be around 10 percent or below. Even the genetically blessed guys will have to be around 11 to 12 percent. So, every calorie you eat counts.

Stick with Six Days for Six Pack Abs

Your diet needs to be clean and healthy. You may have one cheat day a week where you go berserk and moderately stuff yourself with your favorite foods. In fact, it is highly recommended that you have 1 cheat day a week. This will motivate you, make you happier and it will boost your metabolism so that your body does not go into starvation mode.

You will want to eat single ingredient foods on the other 6 days. That means you will want to avoid processed foods such as pizza, pasta, etc. A single ingredient food would be chicken breast, broccoli, fruits, etc. It sounds cliché but it is these foods that will give you the six pack. You need the right proportion of protein, carbs and fats and they must be derived from healthy sources.

Foods That Turn Your Six Pack Abs into One Pack Abs

There are some foods that are cardinal sins to consume. Eating these will just about guarantee that you never have six pack abs. Not only do they pile on the calories but some are not even good for your body.

Avoid white flour products. Bread, pastries, cakes, etc. Avoid white rice too. These foods have a high glycemic index. What that means is that these foods will trigger an insulin response in your body. When your insulin levels spike, that is not good for fat loss. You want to maintain a steady insulin level in your body.

Avoid sodas including the diet sodas which contain aspartame. Many people have reported on the ill effects of aspartame. Nothing is proven yet but let’s err on the side of caution and just avoid them. Drink water. It is your best friend. Your body needs water to metabolize fats.

Avoid dairy products and milk. There are 2 groups of people. One who think dairy is good and the other who think it’s bad. My suggestion, stick with the water. Always.

Ice cream, candy, popcorn, pizza, pasta, peanuts, pancakes, junk food, etc. are all foods that must be kept at bay. The fact of the matter is this. You already know the foods to avoid. Deep down you know. It’s the sacrifices that make the process so difficult.

Maintain your determination and discipline with your diet and the elusive six pack will be yours in no time at all. You are what you eat.

Learn More about Fitness Nutrition and Getting Six-Pack Abs

To help you create the six-pack abs that you’d like to call yours, get a free subscription to the My Fitness Nut Newsletter at http://MyFitnessNut.com and receive a full body workout video series to help get you into shape fast. Get yours now while we’re still giving them away.