So this is my shoutout to Dr. Murad

Would you like to know what these pictures are?


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Before and afters....OF ME!

Ladies I kid you not, this is a few months work. The more yellow toned pictures were taken at the beginning of August, and the more bluish, today.
You may have noticed a measurable difference in say CELLULITE!!!
I know, I amazed myself. Yes it still looks like more in natural light then it does in these pictures (believe me, plenty noticeable) but just to look how far I've come in the course of a few months is incredibly encouraging.

I know you may be pooping yourself and asking what I did. It's called pills, and prescription retinoids. This summer, frustrated with being unable to hit the beach (yet again) I finally broke down and got Dr. Murad's "The cellulite solution". I read it, and well....monumental at the very least. Dr. Murad got down to the very root causes of cellulite, and began to tell us how to relieve them. One of his ways is inside out. That means either eating, or supplementing, the nutrients that skin lacks in order to be able to behave how it should. The other component was treating the skin from the outside, with the correct topicals.

Now I am definitely not the most ardent follower. I stuck to the diet for about 2 weeks (though that IS when I saw the most difference, what we eat ladies, makes a HUGE difference). You cannot get my butt out of bed in time to be able to dry brush myself every morning. I certainly haven't done any healing yoga, or been hitting the gym (um yeah, max 10 times in the last few months). Massage...PFFT! What I did do, was somewhat consistently take the supplements and apply a prescription retinoid cream to the area. This was supposed to alleviate my stretch marks, and it certainly has been helping, but the effects on the celly are much much better.

Dr. Murad, you are my hero. And those of you who haven't read this book, get your hands on it. It may change your butt forever.

Things you could do to worsen cellulite that you never thought of

Ah, cellulite. You bane of mine and 95% of women's existence. WHAT in the world have I done to God in order to have more cellulite than my own mother?

Apparently some of this stuff:

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1. Using temporary tightening products: What, cellulite products can actually worsen it? Yes, if they contain caffeine or any other diuretic. While these certainly do temporarily create the look of tighter skin by absorbing the water surrounding the fat cells that let's the come up close to the surface of the skin, over time they exacerbate the problem in just the same way. They absorb water. Instead of figuring out a way to have skin cells absorb the water and learn to strengthen themselves against fat cells, we take teh water away, over time weakening skin's own processes and structures? Sigh. Biotherm's cellulichoc is by far my favorite but ever since reading Dr. Murad's cellulite solution book (seriously check it out) I have relegated it to only the most special occasions. This same rule applies to drinking too much coffee, yet another reason to put away the cup and embrace tea. And B12.
2. Those old old culprits, too much sun and smoking. Yes, they weaken collagen in the face, but also in the body. Leading to skin's weakened ability to protect against sag (let me tell you about that one) stretch marks, wrinkles and yes, cellulite. A few more reasons to stop.
3. Sitting too long/crossing legs/any action that cuts circulation at the legs....How? Blood vessels are the wonderful little workhorses that bring any nutrient you may eat or supplement with to the skin and nourish and save it. Better blood flow really does encourage collagen production, fat metabolization and overall cell health. This is half the reason we exfoliate. If only every time I sat at the office for 15 minutes I could go take a quick dry brush break to reawaken the blood flow. WHEN will employers be forced to consider women's cosmetic needs :P
4. Forgetting your eggs and shrimp. Egg yolks contain a lot of Lecithin, the human body's favorite nutrient for cell strength. What it does is literally help repair cell walls, thereby leading to less water retention around the cells themselves and more inside the cells, thereby helping increase cell strength. I've noticed since I've started taking a Lecithin supplement my eyes are much less puffy and I bloat a lot less around the time of the month. And off course my cellulite has gotten a bit better. Shrimp contains a lot of Glucosamine, which is largely used by Arthritis patients because of it's ability to lubricated joints. But it also lubricates every other non-tissue zone within the body. Which includes the fluids surrounding and supporting skin's own collagen and elastin proteins. And we all know what a lack of those leads to.
   
5. This one will surprise you: Oral contraceptives/any female hormone therapy. What, how? Well why do men rarely get cellulite, I'll tell you why, a lack of estrogen. Estrogen is the hormone that causes thinned skin around the danger zone for most women and this is the component of cellulite that is genetic. Your mother's hormone balance, is probably a lot like yours. Mine, well my mother lucked out. I'm not about to go check out the backsides of my other female relatives but I bet I got these elevated levels from my grandma (who is also the one from whom I got my chesticles). Switch to Progestin only if your doctor permits. I promise you from personal experience, as soon as I went off the Pill my cellulite actually improved (not to supermodels levels, but visibly better).

I hope to make you think of what your daily actions may be doing to exacerbate any current body issues (the most stubborn of which is off course celly).

Image courtesy of: monstersandcritics.com