Hello! A few months ago I was being bombarded by spa offers with anti-cellulite treatments, ranging from massages to wraps, and some curious machines, and I decided it was time for me to look into this subject with a deeper approach.

There is so much information on the web, and contradictory sometimes, that it’s hard to know where the truth is, but as the saying goes “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”, and, to put it bluntly, I found a no-nonsense program, Symulast Naked Beauty, that doesn’t rely on expensive creams or gym apparatus to reduce cellulite, it works only with our body, and this is the information I’ll be passing on to you, because I’ve been testing it, and it’s working for me!

So I’ll post two articles, and this is what we’ll be talking about:

• Part 1 – What is cellulite, why do we get it and what daily habits worsen it?
• Part 2 – What can we do to reverse it?

On this article, we’ll be exploring what cellulite is, why we get it and what we may be doing to worsen it.

So, I’m a slender and fit woman, but I’ve had cellulite since my teenage years (and I was even thinner then), which doesn’t make any sense if there was any truth to the claim that cellulite is due to excess fat. Both younger and older, slender and curvaceous, fit and unfit women (and even men) have cellulite, so it cannot be attributed to excess fat or toxins.

As I’ve learned in the Symulast Naked Beauty program “There are layers lying just below your skin. You skin, the epidermis, is the wrapping. Just below that is a deeper layer called the dermis which lies on top of your subcutaneous fat. Then, beneath that fat is a layer of muscle tissue. And, holding all of this up, is that muscle tissue.”

The fat layer, which is what is targeted by creams, lotions and spa treatments, is a natural and absolutely necessary layer of our body. The only reason it shows in the way we call cellulite is because of muscle atrophy, where the muscles do not have the ability to support the layers above it (epidermis, dermis, and fat) like they are meant to do, and this leads to the surface of the skin not being smooth and tightened, but showing dimples and irregularities instead.

So, we get cellulite because of muscle atrophy, and muscles atrophy due to the lack of correct exercise or because of genetic predisposition. And yes, genetics may play a role in cellulite, but only in the part that we may be more prone to muscle atrophy or hormone imbalances that make it more likely to occur.

With that awareness, it stands to reason that we could apply all the creams in the world (and there are many, and quite expensive!) or try whatever new creative spa treatment there is, that it wouldn’t make our cellulite any better because they don’t target the real reason behind cellulite, which is muscle atrophy.

Ok, so we’ve covered what cellulite actually is, now let’s now go into what daily habits we may have that can help or worsen it. If cellulite is caused by muscle atrophy, there are two major areas in which we may be affecting our muscle tone: exercising and hormone affecting habits.

Our hormones influence every aspect of our well-being, be it physical, mental or emotional. If our hormones aren’t balanced, we can experience a decline in muscle tone, and it can cause the muscle atrophy that leads to cellulite. This can be reversed, but it is a good idea to keep in mind some principles that help maintain our hormones balanced:

• Remember to relax, stress affects our hormones and wreaks havoc on our health.

• Sleep! Sleep has a direct effect on hormone regulation, and when you’re sleep deprived you’ll just walk around all day without the energy to do anything.

• Certain medication can interfere with natural hormone balance, and this is something that must be discussed with a physician whenever they prescribe a drug.

• Certain ingredients in processed foods also impact our hormones negatively. Try to avoid these four: Aspartame, Acesulfame Potassium (ace-K, as-k), Sucralose and MSG (monosodium glutamate).

Poor nutrition and electrolyte imbalance also aid in causing muscle atrophy: processed foods, packaged meals, excessive caffeine and not enough water cause imbalances and dehydration on all our tissues, including skin and muscle tissue, and this affects both the level of tone of the muscles and the outer appearance of the skin.

To help balance electrolyte levels, consider exchanging table salt (which is highly dehydrating) for unrefined sea salt, which maintains its essential minerals (92 minerals, as opposed to just sodium and chlorine in table salt) and helps balance the body’s hydro-electrolytic balance.

Some exercises may also be worsening cellulite. Here are recommendations from Symulast Naked Beauty on what exercises to avoid:

• Too much cardio: a heavy cardio regimen for someone who is not overweight can actually cause muscle atrophy because without the excess fat to burn as fuel, the muscle itself will be the fuel. The same applies to heavy weight lifting.

• Gym machines and weights don’t do anything to help you get rid of cellulite, and can cause back and neck injuries, as they usually rely on momentum to lift the loads, and are very isolated on the muscle groups they target. For cellulite reduction to occur, the 90 muscles in the legs, buns, hips and thighs have to be gently stimulated in a synergistic and balanced way, using functional movements.

And that’s it for now! 🙂 I know that’s A LOT of information, but now we know what to avoid so as to not worsen our cellulite. If you want to check the information straight from Symulast Naked Beauty, you can see their article that explains the 5 keys to get rid of cellulite. See it here!

Hopefully this new knowledge will make you think twice before reaching for the new “anti-cellulite” cream, or the new spa treatment that advertises an easy fix.

In the next article we’ll be discussing, in detail, what we can do to get rid of cellulite! See you there!