Our Top Tips On How To Prevent Cellulite
One of the questions we get asked most at Legology is how to get rid of cellulite. We have developed a Cellulite Plan specially to address this. And our method differs to all others on this, because it’s as much about prevention as cure because we take a lifestyle approach to managing cellulite.
That is not to say we don’t believe in quick fixes – we know that combined use of our products, especially Air-Lite and Cellu-Lite, with daily body brushing – can improve the look of cellulite remarkably quickly. But we also know that the whole answer – the solution that really works – requires a plan for life, good habits adopted to impact on every part of your life in the most subtle ways to reduce cellulite and keep it at bay.
Understandably this sometimes puts people off. They think it’s too much to do – the lifestyle approach will impact too deeply on their way of life and in a way that they can’t sustain. But it’s actually surprisingly easy and common sense. It encompasses these principles, which are the same as those you follow to prevent cellulite.
KNOWLEDGE
Always key – as with everything in life. How do you get cellulite? For too long women have been led to believe that cellulite is a sign of being overweight, that it’s about being too fat. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, quite how this theory has even developed is astonishing. How many women do you know who exercise daily and/or are as slim as a pin and still have cellulite? Exactly. Cellulite is not about being overweight.
The only part that fat plays in this is in the way the cells are organised.
Cellulite develops when fluid gets trapped around the fat cells and pushes them out of alignment. At the same time, and with age, the supportive collagen fibres that hold fat cells in place deteriorate, which contributes to the familiar bumpiness caused by the way the cells have been pushed out of place by excess fluid.
While some women are more prone to cellulite than others – yes, genes and hormones are at play for many – fluid retention, and the way the lymph, the body’s own waste disposal network, performs are common to every case of cellulite.
That means, in order to prevent, shift or manage cellulite, you need to do everything you can to maintain good drainage and lymph flow.
ACTIVITY
As your body’s natural waste disposal network, lymph runs around your body clearing away bacteria, viruses and other impurities. It’s a bit like your circulation – with one big difference: it doesn’t have a heart to pump it around your body, it relies entirely on you to move. That’s why, when so many of us are stuck on chairs in front of computers, or standing for long periods, we develop cellulite, because the lymph is sluggish, and not removing the fluid and toxins that build up in the body.
Answer? Be active. And if you want to prevent cellulite forming in the first place, being active is absolutely vital. Pack more steps into your day – walk a few extra bus stops, take the stairs not the escalator, join a running or walking club, play tennis, swim – do anything that encourages you to move more. Even standing up more regularly when you are at a desk will keep your lymph ticking over.
NUTRITION
Food
Now think about the food that will love your lymph. Increase food in your diet that helps your body to naturally detoxify. More protein, which helps to clear the body of fluid, and less white starch – carbohydrates like pasta, potatoes and bread encourage the body to cling onto fluid, causing it to retain in between the cells and make you feel puffy and bloated.
Water
Drink water. Perhaps the most important thing you can do in terms of diet. As much plain mineral water as you can manage. Start with a litre and build up to two. Have a glass of water after every cup of coffee or tea; drink it during a meal, a large glass before bed and another one (with cleansing lemon in it) when you wake in the morning. Keep chugging back the water.
SELF CARE
What happens in the bathroom is important – but not time consuming! If you’ve shied away from using a body brush because you think it will add precious minutes to your bathroom routine in the morning think again. A full body brush should take no more than a minute (yes, you read that right): you use it with quick flicks, all over the body, from feet to thighs, hands to shoulders and gently over your tummy, and it really shouldn’t take more than a minute.
Do it wet, do it dry, do it with a drop of Cellu-Lite oil on the bristles. It doesn’t matter. It’s the technique that matters and the fact that you are doing it. Nothing galvanises the lymph like body brushing. Just try it for a week and see how much better your cellulite looks and, importantly, how much more energised and positive you feel.
