It’s every city girls nightmare … you are feeling rather trim and turn to get a rear view of yourself in the mirror and see the dreaded CELLULITE!  You have lost a few pounds, can fit into your size 8 jeans and are hitting the gym 3 times a week. How is this possible you ask? Julia (see pic on the right), NYC fitness trainer, came up with this timely article in her newsletter Fit and the CIty (check it out!).

Ask Julia - Is It Possible to Get Rid of Cellulite?

Q: I’m a 40-year-old high school teacher who is happy with her body in general except for the fact that I have cellulite on my thighs and not just on the backside but on the front too. This has been going on for the last 7-8 years now despite that I work out with weights two times a week and then I also do either the stairmaster or I run 3-4 miles two to three times a week. I’m 5′6 and weigh 138. While I have to admit that I love food, I watch what I eat, I drink lots of water, and try to stay away from sweets and greasy food. From what I understand, those cellulite creams don’t really work, so I haven’t tried them. Now I’m thinking that maybe I should. Please help me! 

 
A: I know how irritating cellulite can be, so I will do my best to help you. As I’m sure you know already, the grand majority of women have some cellulite (myself included, I hate to admit…) while very few men do. The true cause of cellulite is not completely understood. However, it appears that in individuals with cellulite, there is irregular connective tissue under the skin. When enough fat is deposited under the skin, it will tend to bulge through the connective tissue much like a balloon bulges when you squeeze it. In essence, the irregular connective tissue squeezes the fat and causes it to bulge. This may explain why cellulite has an irregular or “cottage cheese” appearance. It also appears that women are much more prone to have this irregular connective tissue that can, with increased fat storage, lead to cellulite. Some of what you can do to combat cellulite, you are already doing it seems like: exercise regularly to increase circulation and minmize fat storage, eat a healthy diet of mainly unprocessed, organic, fresh foods (vegetables, fruit, lean protein, and good fats on top of that list), drink good-quality water and minimize intake of alcohol. It’s also important to lower your stress in life (as stress leads to more cortisol which leads to more fat storage) and sleep adequately. However, if you, in addition to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, can lower the subcutaneous body fat on your legs, your chances of a cellulite free life increase dramatically.

The reason just about every man, fat as well as skinny, have such smooth, cellulite-free legs is because they accumulate very little fat on top of their thighs and butt. This means that women who have little fat on their legs also have a cellulite-free lower body - despite their tendency for more irregular connective tissue. I have come to this conclusion based on years of measuring the subcutaneous body fat on hundreds of men and women. The only women with completely smooth legs are the women who store their fat more like men (around their stomach as opposed to on their butts and thighs) or women with an extremely low body fat percentage (12-15%).

Lowering your body fat percentage to such a low percentage is hard to do and not particularly healthy. But what you can do if you want to improve your cellulite is to try to get it down to, say 17-18%. Unless you are very muscular weighing 138 and measuring 5′6, I’m guessing your body fat isn’t close to this number but a lot higher, especially since you say your cellulite started appearing in your early thirties. This is a time most women notice changes in their bodies because they lose more and more muscle mass. Are you doing a full body workout when you weight train or are you just working out certain areas? Are you changing your workout routine regularly, including cardio workouts? Was it only recently that you started working out? If you don’t know how to properly train yourself, I suggest seeing a good trainer for at least a few sessions to learn more about what you should do to lower your body fat. Lastly, some experts claim foam rolling your trouble areas every day may improve cellulite. But stay away from creams as these only temporarily relieve your problems.

Martha: Thanks for the great article Julia.  Of course, once again it’s not fair… guys can eat more then we can AND they don’t get cellulite!

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Are you one of those people who think about raiding the vending machine at 4 pm? Sugar on the brain? Are pasta and bread two of your favorite foods? Do you find it hard to have just one chip or one cookie? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not alone!

“How can I control my cravings for carbs” is one of the most common questions I get asked in my private practice. Let me start by telling you that you are not alone. Carb cravings are very common. The good news is that there is usually a reason as to why you are craving carbs. By making some changes in what and when you eat, you may be able to at least lessen these cravings.

Common causes of carb cravings:

1. Going too long without eating. This will lead to low blood sugar which will increase the urge to eat carbs. I doubt many of you crave broccoli when you haven’t eaten for 8 hours! My guess is that you would be looking for something starchy or sugary.

2. Consuming too many processed low fiber carbs. Foods such as white rice, white bread, sweets and other sugary food are low in fiber and have a high glycemic index. Eating high glycemic foods (especially larger portions) can cause a quick spike in blood sugar, followed by a quick drop. This stimulates hunger and can cause the urge to eat more carbohydrates.

3. Not eating adequate protein at meals.  Eating meals that contain only carbohydrate (i.e. a jumbo bagel, big bowl of pasta or frozen yogurt with granola) will cause a more rapid rise and fall of blood sugar. This can exacerbate cravings. Protein helps to keep blood sugar levels and promotes satiety. Therefore, you feel full longer when you include protein at meals.

4. Not eating adequate fat at meals. Many of my clients are fat phobic and will go out of their way to avoid eating fat. Fat free butter spray, fat free salad dressing, etc.  Fat takes a long time to digest, helps to prevent rapid peaks and drops of blood sugar and helps keep you full longer. Of course, the key is not to overdulge in fat as loaded with calories. I will talk more about how fat you should eat a day in a later post.

5. Taking your caloric intake too low. When your consume too few calories, your hypothalmus produces extra NPY (neuropeptide Y),  a chemical messenger that encourages you to eat more carbohydrates. In addition, the hypothalmus secretes another chemical called galanin which increases cravings for foods rich in fat and carbs. Take home message: eating too few calories = cravings for high carb foods.

6. Getting inadequate sleep. Sleep affects hormones that regulate satiety, hunger and how efficiently you burn calories. Too little sleep can lower levels of leptin and raise levels of ghrelin, which can increase hunger for sweet and/or starchy foods.

7. Consuming inadequate carbs, especially if you are an active person. Exercising on a regular basis and not consuming adequate carbs will cause you to have powerful carb cravings as well as low energy levels. This is because carbs are the major fuel used by exercising muscles. Your body likes to keep your energy stores full of energy (called glycogen). If you exercise on a regular basis and don’t eat enough carbs, your body will go into “carb seeking mode” as it tries to replete its glycogen stores. In addition, you will likely find your energy levels plummet.  

8. Having high stress levels. High levels of stress can cause chemical imbalances in your body. Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands in your body when you are under stress. Cortisol will increase production of a neurotransmitter called neuropeptide Y, which as I previously discussed, can increase cravings for sweet or starchy foods.

9. Insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body tends to oversecrete insulin in order to get the glucose into the cells. This “hyperinsulinemia” can cause carb cravings. Women who have PCOS often secrete high levels of insulin - hence their frequent carb cravings.

So now that you have some ideas as to why you have carb cravings, you can take a look at your diet and come up with a plan as to what you need to work on.  Stay tuned for my next post in which I will give you tips on how to decrease your carb cravings!

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