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A friend of mine turned 65 and he was 25 pounds overweight. By following a strict diet and a lot of will power, he managed to get rid of the surplus weight. Unfortunately, he lost more than just weight; he also lost his energy and vitality. He was always exhausted, and his friends, seeing his gaunt, drawn face, were worried about his health. Two years later, the diet had become a distance memory and he had put those 25 extra pounds back on. After his first visit to the locker-room he resolved to lose it again. After 6 months of regular exercise and rigid dieting, Mike had slimmed down again. This time he felt better than he ever had, brimming with energy and glowing with good health.

What made the difference?

The first time Mike lost weight; the second time he lost fat.

The distinction is important. Studies have shown, a large portion of the weight lost by dieting alone is active tissue, such as muscle and connective tissue, while a lesser portion is excess fat. Exercise has the opposite effect to dieting. The exercising increased his lean body mass and lowered his excess fat.

The same thing is true for cellulite. Most people tend to think that cellulites are only present to people who are obese. That is why they sometimes associate cellulite with fats and obesity.

In actual fact, even if cellulite refers to the chain of wrinkled 'fat cells' and 'subcutaneous connective tissues' beneath the layer of the skin, it should never be associated with people who are fat or obese. There are many people who have cellulite but who are not fat at all.

In reality, nobody knows the main reason why some people accumulate cellulite. However, there are some theories that health experts are considering such as the structure of the fat cells or the poisons that enter the body. Some experts say it may be caused by some hormonal changes in the body. But there is still no agreement as to the cause of cellulites.

However, it is known that the reason why most of the cellulite cases occur in women is that the connective tissues of women are more rigid and firm than men. Hence, whenever a woman gets fat, the fatty cells tend to swell and get bigger. The fatty cells give a wrinkled appearance to the skin producing the infamous 'orange peel' look.

This is the reason women are more prone to cellulite than men. That is why it is important for women to be more careful on their body as they have higher chances of accumulating cellulite.

Fats and Cellulite

With many of the cases where obese people have cellulites in their body, most of them believed that their cellulite is caused by being the body fat.

Even though not everyone who is obese will develop cellulites, being overweight can trigger the development of cellulites. This is because too much fat under the skin will tend to push the connective tissue, so creating a strain on the skin. As a result, cellulites form.

However, this is still dependent on the nature of the cells. If an individual's cell structure restricts the tendency to bulge or expand as fat deposits accumulate, then there will be no cellulites.

So, the most important thing to remember here is to keep the connective tissues firm and strong and so that they avoid accumulating the excess fats that develop into cellulite.

How can this be achieved? Start an exercise routine program.

Converting food into fat is all too easy for most of us. Losing fat is far more difficult. To achieve this, there are only three options: (1) decrease food intake and keep activity constant; (2) increase activity and keep food intake constant; or (3) combine both approaches: diet and exercise.

Physical activity can help reverse the results of inactivity. An hour of vigorous exercise burns up 300 to 600 calories. If you also remove 300 to 500 calories from your daily diet, you can reduce your weight at the rate of one to two pounds every seven days.Without exercise, you would have to eat 500 to 1,000 fewer calories a day to lose the equivalent number of pounds in a week.

Exercise is not for everyone who wants to lose weight, particularly if you are severely overweight. If you are an obese person then you should exercise only under medical supervision to prevent placing too much strain on the cardiovascular system and connective tissue. Anyone who is very overweight should never drastically reduce their food intake without consulting doctor. Both exercise and diet should be treated with respect and carefully thought through.

Rushing into a physical exercise program may only make the matter worse. Remember what happened to Mike? He thought that when he began to lose weight, he would eventually lose all the excess fats that he had put on. The problem is that he lost those connective tissues rather than excess fat.

For anyone who is prone to cellulite, this will be a greater problem. Losing connective tissues instead of fat by quick dieting may only make the aggrevate the situation as the fat cells are still there. That means that the problem is not solved and the cellulite is likely to remain.

So, if you want to remove that cellulite, it would be a good idea to loose the fat first. The idea here is to burn the fat by increasing your metabolism by somewhere from 7.5% to 28% more than your normal rate.

This is the reason why exercising is such an important element of losing cellulite. So for a more cellulite free body, you must maintain a regular exercise routine.