Hello to all...

I am just curious if anyone else has experienced what I am experiencing with the fat on my body.. especially the fat on my upper legs. To date since going 50 to 80% raw about 8 weeks ago I've lost 15 lbs. But my body is changing shape, meaning things seem to be shifting even without a lot of weight loss by the scales reading.

I walk 2 to 4 miles almost everyday.. and now on the weekends I've been hiking for 4 to 5 hours solid. So, I am in pretty good shape with good muscle tone. I am still about 20 lbs over my ideal weight.

Anyway, the strangest thing is happening to the fat on my thighs. It's gotten really loose and jiggly.. Like it's no longer attached to anything.. I've never had what a person would call flabby thighs. My legs have always been thin and shapely, but with the extra weight I have gained over the last several years I've put on a layer in my upper legs. That extra layer of fat now feels like it could easily blow to and fro in the wind.. Especially, the kind of winds we get here in North Dakota.

I just hope it's getting ready to just flush away. I've been on weight loss programs in the past, but have never experienced this phenomenon. I started eating raw for health reasons and not for weight loss but have been excited and over joyed about the extra bonus of weight loss.

Has anyone else experienced this kind of thing with subcutaneous fat? I would be interested to know what might happen next.. or at least what others have experienced

Elayne

Blowin' in the wind! But maybe it's cellulite...? It looks different. It's stored toxins in water, is dimply when you squeeze it.

well oh my gosh.. that is what it is.. dimply when I squeeze it... gosh that sounds gross... so as I detox the body is able to let that go??

Elayne

The only way to get rid of it is detox - even skinny and athletic people get it, children get it - it's stored toxins, so nearly everyone has it. It's gross isn't it!!

That's all I have on my body and I'm fairly 'thin' - mine is going very slowly as I detox.

Good luck and good riddance to the cellulite.

I lost 20 to 25 pounds in the first couple months of going high raw. Then for about 6 months I kept shrinking. I was buying smaller and smaller clothes but staying the same weight.

Pakd4fun... that is exactly what is happening to me.. I've not lost any more weight from my initial first 4 or 5 weeks, but I am continuing to lose inches. I know muscle weighs more than fat while taking up less space.. but I've not really changed my exercise program to probably build much more muscle than what I have already.. and the cellulite as it appears that is the fat I am seeing on my body is looking really strange...

I am pretty fascinated at looking at the changes taking place on the outside of my body.. It must also be pretty fascinating to think and be able to see what is happening on the inside of my body..

Other changes on the outside is my hair, skin and nails... My hair is so much more healthy looking.. My skin is clear with less lines and my nails.. oh my gosh.. i keep having to clip them... and I've not had a headache in months.. I used to have them everyday... I am sleeping really well at night... I am retaining less water weight in the afternoon in my lower body... I don't itch all over anymore... or have the feeling of restless leg syndrome when I lay down at night... These are just the changes I can think of right now off the top of my head...

Elayne

My skin was responding the same way as I was losing weight (I'm still losing). Many times my body would show changes and the scale wouldn't. I still marvel at how my body simply does what it needs to do for regaining health!

Seems to fit in with statements from Arnold Ehret and others that says in essence that by making changes and shifting the body towards normal habits we are designed for in the first place, then it will be able to sculpt our form/shape back to what it should have been all along. Others have indicated that the beneath the bulges and gobs of unsightly layers of fat is the real us, just waiting for the parts that don't belong to be peeled away.

Wishing you vibrant health

aquadecoco Wrote:
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> The only way to get rid of it is detox - even
> skinny and athletic people get it, children get it
> - it's stored toxins, so nearly everyone has it.

then how come men don`t have as much of it even if their diets and weights are worse than ours?
patty

You're right - it isn't fair, but frankly I'm glad I don't have to look at it on them too.


There was a site that offered an explanation for that, but that page was unavailable last time I checked. Sorry I don't remember. I was going to forward it to a friend. I think I got it from Sunfood forum.

[www.waisays.com] I found the link but haven't time to check it now.

Dewey,
Men can be gross in their own way when they have poor diets, and poor lifestyles. I just hate when I see the back and upper cheeks of men when they pick up something, and you see flab and or pimples, red spots etc... hair on the shoulders or back, chicken skin....

Is it my imagination, but is society more tolerant and less critical of these things then what happens in women? I don't see any anti-aging creams advertised on T.V. for men, or fancy shampoos. Actually there are some for men, but its usually dandruff shampoos. I certainly don't see as many weight loss ads for men, they do exist, but there are way more products of this sort aimed at women.

Most people I know seem to think a man is gay if he uses moisturizers, other than some cheap petroleum based product. Or if he is taking care of himself. Most guys around here don't take care of themselves, unless they are single.

Hey Mislu!!

Funny story, my husband and I were actually talking about why there are so few ads for men but tons for women. One of those commercials which has the slogan
"you're worth it" came on tv. Those commercials really bother me.

Really, L'oreal? I am worth a 5 dollar bottle of shampoo?
Ha ha, I am not worth the money it would take to go to a salon and get my hair professionally coloured, but I am worth your 12 dollar box of dye that I can do myself?
Wow!!

*sarcasm*

My husband said something then, which really surprised me in a pleasant way. He said, "The reason most men don't respond to this form of advertisment is because we understand that health and beauty comes from within and not as an immediate reaction to some crap full of chemicals that we put on our skin."

The only thing I could say in response was "How "raw" of you to say so, my love!!"


(*note- I do not personally believe men are more enlightened than women in the sense that men are the only ones to have come to that realisation. I just think with all the demands on women to be perfect, the media plays on their desparation for a quick fix. Because men don't have the same pressure put on them, the media cannot mannipulate them as easily. This is just my speculation.)

xxpeisi

~I've tasted of the fruit,
it's opened up my eyes...~
-Infected Mushroom

I live in the south. For those of you who don't know it is hot and HUMID here. I watched a movie set in Thailand and there was so much emphasis on how hot and steamy it was. I said "it's just like Louisiana." That being said, if you drive down the streets of Lake Charles or any city down here on the hottest day in August, you will see man after man in a tie and jacket. Men torture themselves just as much as women do to themselves. Men are visual creatures. Maybe it is our nature to want to look attractive for that reason.

Hey Peisinoe:

That's so funny what you say about that self-esteem thing. You should track down and read a book called "Happiness" by Will Ferguson. It is just hilareous.

It's about how the world is run on people's low self esteem, and it's a fiction about a self help book that actually resolves everyone's low self worth. As a result, all of society collapses. All the cosmetic companies go out of business because women learn to love how they look naturally. Ditto for all the overpriced haute couture. Also, all the liquor and cigarette companies disintegrate, as well as the fast food industry because people no longer need to to harmful things to themselves. Everyone learns to make peace with their dysfunctional childhoods, so the psychiatric world becomes defunct, etc, etc, etc. It's hilareous, the whole world ceases to exist as we know it. Good for a laugh (in a kind of disturbing way). I highly recommend it.

Have a GREAT day!

Sapphire

Mislu Wrote:
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> Dewey,
> Men can be gross in their own way when they have
> poor diets, and poor lifestyles. I just hate when
> I see the back and upper cheeks of men when they
> pick up something, and you see flab and or
> pimples, red spots etc... hair on the shoulders or
> back, chicken skin....
>
> Is it my imagination, but is society more tolerant
> and less critical of these things then what
> happens in women?

we are definately more tolerant of men looking this way. but...i question that cellulite is merely toxins stored in water because if that were true wouldn`t it be across the board?

<<< but...i question that cellulite is merely toxins stored in water>>>

And why would babies have it (and they sure have it)? Surely they aren't born with that many toxins.

So what do pakd and dewey think it isĀ ?

pakd4fun Wrote:
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> <<< but...i question that cellulite is merely
> toxins stored in water>>>
>
> And why would babies have it (and they sure have
> it)? Surely they aren't born with that many
> toxins.


actually babies can be born with alot of toxins depending on what the mother has been subjected too ..or taking in .. exposed too ..etc.

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

aquadecoco Wrote:
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> So what do pakd and dewey think it is ?

i`m not sure but the explanation that seems to stick with me is that cellulite is a collection of fat that pushes against the connective tissue beneath a person's skin, which causes the surface of the skin to dimple or pucker and look lumpy. since women have more fat...especially on the thighs and butt where it shows up the most than men, this explanation makes sense to me. i also think that the thinner ones skin is the more it will show up
patty

[diet.ivillage.com]

What Causes Cellulite?

Several factors contribute to cellulite, including diet as well as a sluggish blood and lymphatic circulation, which allows wastes to accumulate. But three contributing agents determine whether you develop cellulite: heredity, estrogen, and fat. If just one of those ingredients is missing, you don't have cellulite, just plain ordinary fat.

You usually inherit cellulite, that is, if your mom has it -- and by "it" we mean loose connective tissue, which fat globules pop up through -- chances are you do or will too, even if you're thin. As connective tissue weakens with age, the dimpling becomes even more pronounced. If you have thin skin, which is also hereditary, cellulite is even easier to see than it is on thicker skin. If your mother has cellulite, you've probably inherited her loosely woven connective tissue and poor lymphatic drainage, which leads to bunched-up fat cells. And as you now know, cellulite is more than just fat: It's fat trapped by a network of connective tissue fibers. If the underlying network is loosely woven, the fat bulges through the fibers, causing a "cottage cheese" effect on the skin. As connective tissue weakens with age, the dimpling becomes even more pronounced.

The fibers that extend from the muscle up through the fat and connect to the undersurface of the skin run directly up and down, perpendicularly, at a 90-degree angle, which allows bulging and puckering. In men, the fibers I mentioned run in a crisscross, at a 45-degree angle, so the fat is less likely to bulge up like it does in women.

The Estrogen Factor

Once women reach puberty, the body's ovaries begin to produce the hormone estrogen, which helps to store fat in the hips, thighs, and buttocks, in preparation for childbearing. We can also thank estrogen for adding to cellulite's puckered appearance: It makes fat cells sticky, so they bunch together like grapes, contributing to the appearance of cellulite.

I probably remembered what I read wrong - it was a new idea to me and I think she busted some wide-held opinions about it, too.


I don't think it was the same description as the post above.


Whatever it is, I have about 5 pounds of it and it won't go.

aquadecoco Wrote:
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> Whatever it is, I have about 5 pounds of it and it
> won't go.

tell me about it! hate the stuff
patty

In addition to cellulite, the jiggly fat could be because you lost marbled fat in your muscles, making them smaller, making the layer of fat over them looser. I always lose muscular and visceral fat first, then it re-distributes itself around my body later.

I think cellulite is toxins and water. If you search those two words, you get several sites stating this or that it's water, fat and toxins.

Western med sites don't really acknowledge stored toxins, but the med. types that do, often say our bodies deal with overloads of toxins by surrounding them in water and storing them in our cells. If certain organs are malfunctioning, this becomes even more necessary, to protect vital systems.

I just had a quick look - there are tons of different theories about cellulite - I don't believe it has anything to do with genes - my daughter has none, I only got it after my kidney probs started, and then only when they were really bad, off and on.

I'm just going by all the info I can check against my personal knowledge and experience.

my fat always gets really soft right before it melts away.
so i think the soft jiggliness is good.

as for cellulite- i never had it before i got pregnant. (and it wasn't b/c i didn't have any toxins in my body) but i didn't store my fat as cellulite.

the estrogen in pregnancy gave me some weight on the back of my thighs, which faded as i breastfed, and eventually went away, but i'm pretty sure hormones and exhaustion and a constant struggle with dehydration all added to the lumpiness. my husband swears what i have isn't cellulite, since it isn't pocked unless i squeeze it, but i can see it and it's too close for my comfort.

hopefully with a good diet, yours will fade soon!

peace-

I am of the opinion that if you are otherwise healthy and eat well, and are of a healthy weight and have cellulite than the best bet would be to ignore it. It is not really a health problem so much as an appearance issue. I am sure we all have better things to do with our time than feel bad about our bodies needlessly! I can guess that some raw food folks feel that raw food is the path to perfection and can cure everything, including cellulite, but perhaps our definition of perfection has simply been too influenced by advertising (notorious for airbrusing this exact thing). Well, I don't mean to sound judgmental. Appearance affects how we feel about ourselves and I understand that, but I am not sure that you will be able to get rid of it, so might as well love it! Ha ha. Take care.

Well I'm sure mine is amenable to clean raw diet. I've already healed a lot of visible problems and some of my flubber has gone too.

Hang in there ks - it will go when the more urgent health problems have been dealt with!

Mislu Wrote:
> Men can be gross in their own way when they have
> poor diets, and poor lifestyles. I just hate when
> I see the back and upper cheeks of men when they
> pick up something, and you see flab and or
> pimples, red spots etc... hair on the shoulders or
> back, chicken skin....

Mislu, I agree that both men and women can "be gross" when they have poor diets and lifestyles, but I must take issue with your listing of "hair on the shoulders or back" as being one of the symptons of poor diet and lifestyle. I think the amount and location of body hair is genetically determined.
For most of my life I've lived in very open minded communities where women weren't criticized for not shaving their legs or underarms. Most of my girlfriends were au natural and it was fine with me...they were all beautiful to me hairy or not. When I entered my 30's I started noticing some hair growing on my back. Over the years it filled in more and more. It's not super thick, like a sweater, but it is there. I started to notice that many of these open minded non-shaving women, were grossed out by my natural body hair. The crushing blow was when I was involved in a conversation with 6-7 female friends about what they found most atractive about mens bodies. There was plenty of varying opinions, but they all agreed that back hair was a universal turn-off for women. Of course none of them knew I was sporting a hairy back myself, but none the less this hurt. I was raised at the time that hairy men like Burt Renolds and Tom Sellick were considered sexy, now it seems women all want men who look like adolecent boys. I got so discouraged by this that I began waxing my back...ouch!! Three years of enduring waxing every 6-8 weeks @$50/waxing just to be less repulsive to women.

I'm sorry for the rant, but I feel like both genders have external pressures to look a certain way. Granted the pressure on women in this culture is intense and unhealthy, but we need to make a distiction between "being gross" due to poor diet and lifestyle, and appearing "gross" because one does not fit the culturally sanctioned paradigm of physical beauty.

I don't wax anymore. If a woman won't get to know me because of some hair on my back, then she is the one depriving herself of meeting a great guy. To alter one of my favorite quotes: "I'd rather be hated for the hairy person I am, than loved for the waxed and hairless person I am not."

My Husband has a hairy back and I have always loved it. It is soft and I love to run my hand back and forth across it. I have always wished I wouldn't look so out of place if I didn't shave my armpits. I don't think it is gross at all. Does any body remember the nudes that came out of Madonna in the beginning of her career? Her pits were hairy and I dare anyone to say Madonna isn't beautiful and sexy. Too bad we are so hard on ourselves.

hehe i remember one time howie mandel talking about balding and hairy backs

he said he wasnt going bald .. the hair was just shifting backwards to his back lol

i like my guys fuzzy back too

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist