The Fool-Proof Two-Step Way to Deal With Cellulite
Cellulite: every woman thinks about it at some point.
Some women are obsessed with getting rid of it. On Google, there are over 2.1 million entries for "how to get rid of cellulite" and sales of cellulite-reduction devices have reached more than $60 million dollars in the U.S. Everyone from Jillian Michaels to Dr. Oz talks about it.
But here's the thing: Cellulite really doesn't matter.
What? Cellulite is gross and nobody wants it. We all know this.
THE SKINNY ON THE FAT
But here's some reality for you: 90% of women will have some form of cellulite. NINETY percent. (Only 10% of men develop it, mostly due to how connective tissue crisscrosses under the skin of a male versus the vertical columns of connective tissue under the skin of a female, among other things.)
And the older you get, the more cellulite you are likely to get. After puberty, it's almost guaranteed that cellulite will start ringing your doorbell.
So think about this: if almost every woman is going to develop some cellulite, why do we let it make us crazy? How about we all just stop freaking out about it? What if we just decide these pockets of fat cells are not that important?
Now, I'm not talking about letting yourself go and giving up this exercise thing. Oh no. We all don't need arms like our grandmothers, you know the ones that kept waving after they stopped.
Besides, we love strong and healthy women, just like we love yoga pants. We all should do some form of exercise and try to eat healthy foods.
And this we know to be true: the world gets stronger when women get stronger.
However, it's also important for women to be happy with themselves and proud of their bodies. We can do amazing things with our bodies in the gym, on the playing field, on the trail, at work, and at home. It's time to celebrate those activities and orient our minds around what we can do, instead of on how our fat cells may project through our connective layers.
RETRAINING OUR MINDS ABOUT OUR BODIES
But when we obsess about cellulite, that negativity takes away from our happiness and for no great benefit to anyone. For some folks, cellulite is almost shame in visual form. It becomes a visible representation of all that we hate about our bodies: a focal point for making us feel bad.
Yet this is exactly why our attitude about cellulite matters more than any cellulite we might have. Because, like Thomas Merton wrote: "The beginning of freedom is not liberation from the body but liberation from the mind. We are not entangled in our own body, we are entangled in our mind."
This is the good news, because there is a better way to look (okay, sort of look, like with one eye half-closed, the way you do in those dressing room mirrors) at cellulite.
THE FOOL-PROOF TWO-STEP WAY TO DEAL WITH CELLULITE
Here's what you need to do to solve your own cellulite problem:
1) Get stronger
2) Stop caring so much about cellulite
Really, that's it.
The only proven and long-lasting effective method of reducing cellulite on your body is to have more muscle and less fat. So get stronger. Find a program and stick with it, whether that's powerlifting or Olympic lifting or CrossFit or you and your buddies in your garage with dumbbells or whatever. Start lifting weight.
And if you already lift weight? Keep doing so! Because cardio isn't going to get rid of all your cellulite. (Nothing is going to get rid of all your cellulite.) But your best hope lies in getting stronger, not getting skinnier.
HAVING SOME FAT IS OKAY, REALLY
While you're getting stronger, however, try not to get super-obsessed with getting an incredibly low body fat percentage.
Why?
Because having some fat helps you. Having a little bit of fat on your body will actually assist you in doing the things you love to do with your body, whether that's running long distances or doing a long killer workout. Being the leanest you can be might not make you the athlete (or the person) you want to be.
Let's be honest: most of us are not professional athletes or models. We're not competing for money or getting photographed professionally in little clothing on a tropical island with our six-packs.
Most of us are folks who want to look good, feel good, and do good in this world – and a small amount of cellulite on us is unavoidable.
So, if you have a little cellulite, it's not the end of the world. Once you fully embrace this concept, you'll feel a little bit more free. Your body really is a wonderland. Be proud of what you can do, not just how you look!
Note: This article was originally published on the Eat to Perform website but I’ve added it here as those archives are not available anymore.