2168: Cellulite Is Normal, So Get Over It by Rachel Trotta on Mental Health & Physical Fitness

[00:00:00] Now, before we start, you might want to check out our other podcasts covering topics like personal development and minimalism, money, health, relationships, and more. So, to optimize your life in other areas, just search for Optimal Living Daily in your podcast app.

[00:00:15] Now onto the show. This is Optimal Relationships Daily, episode 2168, Cellulite Is Normal, So Get Over It by Rachel Trotta of racheltrotta.com. Hello everybody and welcome to our weekly bonus episode here on ORD.

[00:00:33] My name is Greg Audino, I'm your host of the show. But just like in every other weekly bonus episode, this time I'm going to turn it over to one of our other show hosts and share previously aired

[00:00:43] audio with you from other shows in our network. Today comes an episode of Optimal Health Daily, so with that, here is the host, Dr. Neil, as we optimize your life. Cellulite Is Normal, So Get Over It by Rachel Trotta of racheltrotta.com.

[00:01:03] In my experience of exclusively training women, the phrase, I want to tone up or I just want to live a healthy lifestyle is actually secret female code for, I want you to teach me the secret workout to get rid of my cellulite.

[00:01:17] The truth usually comes out after about 1-2 months of training, and I have the opportunity to have a candid conversation with women about female physiology, hormones and body shape. For most relatively fit women, cellulite is the final frontier of the perfect body.

[00:01:33] Your abs are enviable, your body weight is healthy, your body fat percentage is in the athletic range, and you're killing it in the gym and or on the track, but you just can't get rid

[00:01:43] of the dimpled areas on your butt and thighs. So what to do? My no-nonsense answer is, get over it. For many women, their butt, hips and thighs are their biggest problem areas. The dreaded cottage cheese appearance provokes anxiety, lots of googling and the purchase of

[00:02:00] expensive gels, creams, spa treatments, QVC torture devices and multi-level marketing miracle cures. I can relate. For a long time, I thought there was a perfect workout that would smooth my butt and thighs. I felt embarrassed about the appearance of my legs and worried about swimsuit season.

[00:02:18] Now I've dealt with those demons and I've learned that it's just not worth it. The bottom line is that cellulite is a normal feature of the female body, even for lean, athletic women. It's a uniquely female aspect of physiology that can have a large genetic component.

[00:02:33] Think if your mom or aunts have had it, you probably will too. And it's not entirely related to body weight or body fat. I am 5 feet 5 inches tall, 120 pounds and 20% body fat, and I still

[00:02:46] have it. So, if you have cellulite and torture yourself over it, here are my tips for you. Stay in excellent shape. This may seem obvious, but so many women get immersed in spot toning

[00:02:59] and targeting their problem areas. And so they miss the forest for the trees and don't exercise as much as they should. The absolute best thing you can do for your overall aesthetic appearance is to stay really strong and fit through a balanced program of intense full-body workouts,

[00:03:13] weight training, and cardio. Don't spot tone. Work your whole body. Be consistent. Get into a routine and keep at it. You'll be surprised at how much you don't notice your cellulite when you're in slamming shape overall. Manage your weight with nutrition.

[00:03:29] Even though cellulite is related to the way women may store fat, it is still fat. So, the less fat you have, the less apparent your cellulite will be. Remember, crash diets and

[00:03:39] fad diets are not effective in the big picture. An extreme or fast weight loss can result in unwanted loose skin. Instead, focus on eating three square meals a day with a few snacks, never more than 3-4 hours apart, and fill up on veggies, lean protein, and whole grains.

[00:03:56] Your weight will take care of itself in time, and you'll be healthier overall. Muscle up. Contrary to what many women believe, weight training will not make you bulky. When it comes to the butt and thighs especially, the opposite is true. And it's the closest thing

[00:04:12] to a silver bullet there is when it comes to cellulite. The more muscle you build in your butt, the more metabolically active your entire body will be, and your legs will have a more shapely,

[00:04:23] lifted, toned appearance, even if there is still some cellulite. It will just be far less noticeable. Use heavy weights. You're stronger than you think, I promise. Use good form. Do lots of deadlifts,

[00:04:35] squats, and lunges. You will love the way your legs look and feel. Use your abdomen, not your butt, as your measure of leanness. The fat that we store in our butt and thighs is generally healthy.

[00:04:46] For many women, it's part of reproductive health, and it's genetic, remember? And it's a good measure of how fit you are. As long as your measurements are good, meaning your waist to hip ratio is 0.8

[00:04:58] or below, and your stomach is pretty flat when you're standing up, you're good to go. It's the fat that gets stored in the abdomen that's metabolically worrisome. If you have definition in your abs, but cellulite on your butt, it's not a big deal. Stay away from miracle cures.

[00:05:14] Nothing beats fitness. Nothing. No cream, gel, device, or procedure will make a difference in your overall appearance like regular exercise and a solid, healthy diet. The cellulite elimination industry, in fact, is an incredibly large racket that takes advantage of your insecurity. The

[00:05:32] miracle cures are expensive, and their results and methods are extremely dubious. Besides, most products say, may improve the appearance of, as well as, most effective when combined with a healthy lifestyle. So why not just skip the cream and live the healthy lifestyle? Don't compare yourself to

[00:05:50] others. This is incredibly important. When another woman seems to have a perfect body, note that I use the word seems, it's vital to remember that you don't know how much or anything about her genetics, exercise, nutrition, or overall health, or maybe what her body even looks like in

[00:06:07] context. We tend to see others in flattering environments that allow us to minimize their quote-unquote flaws while agonizing over our own perceived imperfections and the horrible lighting of a Bloomingdale's fitting room. You don't know, one, what someone's body actually looks like,

[00:06:24] and two, how they achieve their physique. So leave comparisons out of the picture. Remember, no one else notices your cellulite. As difficult as it may be at first, you just need to focus on

[00:06:37] the tips that I just mentioned and forget about the cellulite. Why? Because no one else notices it, really. You may focus on it so much that you have blown it all out of proportion, and it is actually

[00:06:48] barely visible. Trust me on this. We have an incredible ability to distort self-image, and your perception of your cellulite is probably greatly exaggerated. You may deprive yourself of wearing a swimsuit, short skirts, short shorts, or other cute clothes, but the reality is that no one

[00:07:04] else is as harsh a critic as you are of yourself. Remember, it's possible that someone else thinks you have the perfect body. So lift weights, go for a run, grocery shop for healthy foods,

[00:07:18] wear the swimsuit, wear the shorts, and forget about your cellulite. You just listened to the post titled Cellulite is Normal, so Get Over It by Rachel Trotta of racheltrotta.com. Dr.

[00:07:35] Neil here for my commentary. I have had many clients that have asked me how do I get rid of this cellulite? And unfortunately, I tell them you can't. What you can do is just what Rachel

[00:07:46] mentioned in this post. You can minimize it as much as possible by eating a nutritious diet, performing some weight lifting exercises, doing some cardio, but other than that, if it doesn't go away after doing all of these things consistently, that's just the way it is. The only way

[00:08:03] to potentially get rid of it would be surgery, and that would be elective surgery. As Rachel mentioned, so many of these cellulite creams and other devices that claim to get rid of it aren't real.

[00:08:14] And I've actually talked to a dermatologist about this because I wanted to be sure I was getting the right information. A dermatologist is a medical doctor who specializes in skin. So I asked them, does everyone essentially have cellulite, men and women? And they said, yes, absolutely.

[00:08:29] So it is normal. Everybody has it. It's just what may differ is how much of it and where it's found. And yes, when it comes to where on the body we store fat, as Rachel mentioned, if you store fat

[00:08:40] around the hips or the butt area, that is safer fat, believe it or not. And women genetically tend to store fat in those areas. Guys, we tend to store fat around the belly, around the abdomen.

[00:08:52] More fat around the abdomen raises our risk for a number of diseases, cardiovascular disease. So we're talking heart attack, stroke. There are even some forms of cancer that are associated with abdominal fat. And there are studies coming out that are discovering that measuring your waist

[00:09:09] and your hips and then dividing those may be a better predictor of your risk for heart attack or stroke than your BMI or your body mass index. So that may be more important where you store fat on

[00:09:22] your body as opposed to how much cellulite you have. That may be more important when it comes to overall health and wellness. All right, that'll do it from me for today. And I'll be back here

[00:09:32] tomorrow for our usual Friday Q&A. So stay tuned for that where your optimal life awaits.