A Natural Cure for Cellulite

Definition
Cellulite is not a disease condition, per se, but a lay term for unsightly looking dimples in various parts of the body, especially the thighs, knees, buttocks, stomach, and arms. It occurs more frequently in women than in men.

Cause
Cellulite is due to an increased ratio of fat cells to lean body mass. In order to reverse it, reducing body fat content and building up muscle mass is important. Spot reducing, aimed at fat reduction at specific body sites, is extremely difficult, and often is not possible.

Cellulite is formed by fibroid masses of protein that have accumulated in the spaces between the cells due to faulty elimination of waste by-products through the lymphatic system, your body's filtration system.

Natural Cures

Aromatherapy: Juniper, rosemary, lavender, lemon, or geranium essential oils rubbed into the affected areas can be very helpful.

Bodywork: Self-massage the affected area regularly.

Diet: Eat a whole foods diet with less complex carbohydrates and sugars than is usually recommended for the average person. Also drink large amounts of filtered water and decrease your total fat intake to below 20 percent of your total diet. Also avoid eating animal fats and processed fats, and do not eat protein at night since unused protein in the body puts a greater load on the lymphatic system.

Exercise to Reduce or Eliminate Cellulite: Since gravity is the primary force that creates cellulite, the following exercise is beneficial: First, gently jump on a mini-trampoline or rebounder (if available) to create pumping action in the lymph system. Then, using gravity to drain the lymph system, place your legs up against a wall or over a chair and massage, very lightly, the crease formed by the legs and the abdomen in order to open the deep inguinal lymph nodes, which is where all of the accumulation that forms the cellulite must pass to be eliminated from the body.

Flower Essences: Crab Apple can help release feelings associated with negative body image. Add two drops into 4 ounces of pour water four times a day and continue until you reclaim your positive body image.

Herbs: Combine equal parts of horse chestnut bark and gotu kola tinctures and take 1/2 teaspoon three times a day. Topically apply a compress made with white birch oil, morning and evening, or apply an ointment or lotion made from horse chestnut twice a day. Aloe vera extract can also be applied topically to the affected areas.

Juice Therapy: Beet and carrot juice combined together can help flush out toxins and stimulate the lymphatic system, helping to reduce cellulite deposits.

Skin Brushing: This staple of naturopathic medicine, which involves the use of a natural bristle brush that is gently used to scrub the skin of the entire body in gentle circular motions to encourage removal of dead skin, stimulates the lymph system and increases blood circulation in underlying organs and tissues, contributing to better elimination of fat deposits such as cellulite and enhanced skin function generally, leaving your skin soft and glowing. It should be performed daily for at least 5 minutes and ideally be followed by a bath in which essential oils are used.

Alternative Professional Care
If your symptoms persist despite the above measures, seek the help of a qualified health professional. The following professional care therapies have all been shown to be useful for treating and relieving the symptoms of cellulite: Detoxification Therapy, Energy Medicine (Light Beam Generator), Magnetic Field Therapy, Massage Therapy (especially Lymphatic Massage), Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy, and Naturopathic Medicine.

Weight Loss Benefits of Drinking Water

Drinking water and losing weight!

"Drink 8 glasses of water each day" is what we hear all the time but what weight loss benefits do we get from drinking water?

All functions within the body require the presence of water. A well hydrated body enables these functions to occur quickly and efficiently. All chemical processes involve energy metabolism and drinking plenty of water will make us feel more energetic and boost our metabolic rate. 

Water makes your metabolism burn calories 3% faster.

Drinking water is important if you're trying to lose weight, some studies have shown that thirst and hunger sensations are triggered together. If there is a slight dehydration the thirst mechanism may be mistaken for hunger and one may eat when the body is actually craving fluid. As most food contains some water, if one doesn't drink much they may be subconsciously driven to eat more to gain the necessary water supply however, you also gain the undesired effects of increased calorie consumption. Drinking more water can help to prevent overeating and benefit weight loss.

Importance of drinking water in the modern diet

So many new food product created today not only contain high amounts of energy from added sugar and fats, they also contain very little water. Foods today need to be stored for longer periods and foods with a high water content tend to spoil much faster, think about milk, yogurt, eggs, fruits and vegetables. It may be great to think that we can stock our cupboards full of all these tasty foods that last for months, trouble is, it means less water consumption from foods.

If a weight loss diet doesn't allow much food or if food consumption is mainly in the form of processed, TV dinners it may be necessary to drink even more water to help stop strong cravings for food.

How Much do I need to drink to benefit losing weight?

For the average person experts suggest getting at least 64 ounces of water daily or eight 8-ounce glasses. If you are on a diet to lose weight it is more important to consume more and keep drinking water throughout the day, unless you have any medical condition that doesn't allow much water intake. A good guide for daily intake is to drink 1 ounce of water for every 2 pounds of body weight. A 200 pound person should be drinking around 100 ounces (12.5 cups) of water in order the gain the benefits of increased energy and metabolism.

If exercising is part of a weight loss program a bit more water should be included to account for water loss from sweating. Drinking water before, during and after exercise will keep energy levels high and help recovery after training.

Many people don't like drinking pure water. Gaining water from eating fruit high in water content is a great way to boost water consumption without drinking it directly. Fruit will also help fill up the stomach with low calories and gain tons of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients to increase vitality. In fact any food with high water content can boost water consumption, most foods high in water are naturally occurring, healthy foods, another reason to eat a healthy diet!

Try adding flavors to your water for a better tasting beverage!

Health benefits of drinking water

• regulate appetite

• increase metabolism

• boost energy levels

• less water retention

• alleviate some headaches

• help reduce blood pressure

• help reduce high cholesterol

• ease joint pain

• decrease in risk of some cancers

• less chance developing kidney stones

• release toxic waste products

• improves skin

Cautions to consider

People with kidney problems or other conditions were fluid intake needs to be limited should follow their doctor’s recommendations with correct sodium intake.  One potential but rare side effect of fluid intake can be hypoatremia in which electrolytes become imbalanced. Always seek advice from your doctor before trying any new diet or changing eating / drinking habits!

WARNING!

If you possess a high number of fat cells you MUST exercise & diet using correct scientific principles in order to empty fat cells, any other way will result in water loss and potential regain after diet stops.

Make Your Body Burn More Calories
Metabolic Rate is the rate at which the body burns up calories. A body that consumes 2500 calories a day, and burns 2500 calories a day will stay at the same weight. A body consuming 2500 calories daily but burning only 2000 will gain weight at the rate of about 1lb a week. You can do quite a lot to speed up your metabolism – the secret of burning calories lies in knowing what determines your metabolic rate and what you can do to influence it.

You burn calories to provide energy for three main functions:
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
This is the amount of calories you burn just by being alive – even when you are lying down, doing nothing. BMR accounts for approximately 60% of the calories burned for an average person.


Burning Calories for Activity
This is the energy used during movement – from lifting your arm to operate the remote control to cleaning the windows. This accounts for approximately 30% of the calories burned by an average person.


Dietary Thermogenesis
The ‘thermogenic effect’ described as meal-induced heat production – the calories burned in the process of eating, digesting, absorbing and using food.
You can influence all these factors, and speed up your rate of burning calories using some, or all, of the following tactics:

1) Build Muscle
Increase the amount of muscle in your body. For every extra pound of muscle you put on, your body uses around 50 extra calories a day. In a recent study, researchers found that regular weight training boosts basal metabolic rate by about 15%. This is because muscle is ‘metabolically active’ and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you’re not moving. Training with weights just 3 times a week for around 20 minutes is enough to build muscle. Not only will you be burning more calories, you’ll look better – whatever your weight.

2) Move More
Although the average person burns around 30% of calories through daily activity, many sedentary people only use around 15%. Simply being aware of this fact – and taking every opportunity to move can make quite a dramatic difference to the amount of calories you burn. The trick is to keep the ‘keep moving’ message in mind. Write the word ‘move’ on post-it notes and put them in places you’ll notice them when you’re sitting still. Here are some ideas for burning calories:
Tap your feet
Swing your legs
Drum your fingers
Stand up and stretch
Move your head from side to side
Change position
Wriggle and fidget
Pace up and down
Don’t use the internal phone – go in person
Use the upstairs (or downstairs!) bathroom
Park in the furthest corner of the parking lot
Stand up when you’re on the phone
Clench and release your muscles
You’ll find lots of opportunities for burning more calories if you remember that you’re looking for them! Keep thinking ‘keep moving’.

3) Eat Spicy Food
There is evidence to show that spices, especially chilli, can raise the metabolic rate by up to 50% for up to 3 hours after you’ve eaten a spicy meal. Drinks containing caffeine also stimulate the metabolism, as does green tea.

4) Aerobic Exercise
As well as the actual amount of calories burned during exercise – studies have shown that sustained, high-intensity exercise makes you burn more calories for several hours afterwards.

5) Eat Little and Often
There is some evidence to suggest that eating small, regular meals will keep your metabolism going faster than larger, less frequent meals. There are two reasons why meal frequency may affect your metabolism. Firstly, levels of thyroid hormones begin to drop within hours of eating a meal, and metabolism slows. Secondly, it may be that the thermogenic effect of eating several small meals is slightly higher than eating the same amount of calories all at once. Provided your small meals don’t degenerate into quick-fix, high fat, high sugar snacks, eating little and often can also help to control hunger and make you less likely to binge.

Yesterday night was horrible. My mother made a HUGE dinner and called me down to eat. I didn't come down. She then screamed for me to come down. I came down and decided I would take my palte upstairs and throw away the food. But no, she wanted me to sit at the table and it is. Which is werid because NO ONE in my family EVER eats at the table.

So it was horrible. I quickly started to excercise like crazy. I didn't gain any weight and I'm still the same. So I guess that is good. I'm full so I believe I'll be able to fast this whole day.

I feel sick, eck. My total calorie intack today was 60 calories. That's good for me. I weighed myself today and I am at 105.5 lbs. That's good. Not much to say. My mother ordered this new work out video that we are going to start tomorrow.

Hope everyone is doing good.