When Mike turned 65, he was 25 pounds overweight. By strict dieting, he shed the extra pounds, but he lost more weight; he also lost his energy and vitality. He was always exhausted, and his friends, seeing his gaunt, drawn face, worried about his health.
By the time he volunteered
for a particular fitness program two years later, he had put 25 extra pounds
back on. After 6 months of exercise and some willpower at the dinner table,
Mike slimmed down again. This time he felt better than he ever had, brimming with
energy and glowing with good health.
What made the
difference? The first time Mike lost weight, the second time he lost fat. The
distinction is important. According to research, a large portion of the weight
lost by dieting alone is active tissue, such as muscle and connective tissue,
while a smaller fraction is excess fat. Exercise has the opposite effect. It
increased his lean body mass and decreased his excess fat.
The same thing goes with
cellulite. Most people tend to think that cellulite is only present to people
who are obese. That is why they sometimes associate cellulite with fats and
obesity.
Even if cellulite refers
to the chain of wrinkled “fat cells” and “subcutaneous connective tissues”
beneath the layer of the skin, it should never be associated with people who
are fat or obese. Many people have cellulite but are not fat at all.
In reality, nobody knows
the main reason why some people accumulate cellulite. However, there are some
factors that health experts are considering such as the structure of the fat
cells or the poison that entered the body. Some experts say it may be caused by
some hormonal changes in the body. But none of these things has been proven to
cause cellulite.
However, the only main
reason why most of the cellulite cases are abundant in women is that the
connective tissues of women are more rigid and firm than men. Hence, whenever a
woman gets fat, the fatty cells tend to swell and get bigger. It creates a
protruding appearance to the skin producing an “orange peel” look.
For this reason, women
are more prone to cellulite than men. That is why women need to be more careful
about their bodies as they have higher chances of accumulating cellulite.
Fats and Cellulite
With the many cases of
obese people having cellulite in their bodies, most of them believed that their
cellulite is caused by being too fat.
Even though not all
those who are obese develop cellulitis, being overweight can trigger the
development of cellulite. This is because too much fat under the skin tends to
push the connective tissue creating a strain on the skin. Thus, cellulitis
form.
However, this is still
dependent on the structure of the cells. If an individual’s cell structure does
not inhibit the tendency to bulge or expand even if fat deposits accumulate,
then there will be no cellulite.
So, the most important
thing to remember here is to keep those connective tissues firm and strong and
avoid accumulating excess fats to avoid the development of cellulite.
How? Start an exercise
routine program.
Transforming food into
fat seems all too easy for most of us. Losing fat is far more difficult, and to
accomplish this, we have only three alternatives: (1) decrease food intake and
keep activity constant. (2) increase activity and keep food intake constant (3)
combine both approaches: diet and exercise.
Physical activity can
help reverse the results of inactivity. An hour of vigorous exercise burns up
300 to 600 calories. If you also cut 300 to 500 calories from your daily menu,
you can also lose weight at the rate of one to two pounds a week.
Without exercise, you
would have to eat 500 to 1,000 fewer calories a day to lose the same number of
pounds in a week. Exercise is not for everyone who is over-fat, however. The
severely obese person should exercise only under medical supervision to prevent
strain on the cardiovascular system and connective tissue. And no one should
restrict food intake drastically without consulting doctor.
Resorting to this kind
of activity will only get the matter worse. Remember what happened to Mike? He
thought that when he started dieting, he would eventually lose all the excess
fats he has accumulated. The problem is that he lost those connective tissues
rather than excess fat.
For people who are prone
to cellulite, this will be a greater problem. Losing connective tissues instead
of fat by strict dieting can only make the skin more prone to greater problems
but the fat cells are still there. That only means that the problem is not
solved at all.
Hence, if you wish to lose
that cellulite, it would be better to lose those fats first. The idea here is
to burn those fats by increasing your metabolism by 7.5% to 28% more than your
normal rate.
It is for this reason
that exercising is an important factor in losing cellulite. So for a more
cellulite-free body, always engage in an exercise routine.