Orange peel skin and wobbly thighs

One of the joys of youth is that you think many things will never happen to you. Getting old is one of them! And yet, one day you find yourself on the other side of 30 and you suddenly lament not appreciating your youth – and how good you looked when you were young.

It’s a funny irony (that actually isn’t funny at all – more like cruel), that you’re never happy with how you look, then 10 years later (or 5…) you’ll look back and think how good you looked then and you were barking mad for not realising it.

I finally had to accept recently that I have cellulite. When I was in my teens and early 20s I was one of those fortunate people who didn’t have any cellulite. So I therefore thought it would never happen to me.

Oh the folly of youth. I now have cellulite, and not just on the back of my legs – it has now decided to rock up on the front too. What?! I know, I didn’t even know that was possible.

And yet I am living proof that it is. And that I am not blessed with super-human borderline-bionic genes that make me immune to all age-related inflictions (like cellulite, wrinkles, wobbly skin and so on).

I recently complained to my mother that my body is not quite what is was in my early 20s. She then kindly reminded me that my early 20s were a long, long time ago… almost 15 years. Super, thanks mum! After going on about my cellulite, spider veins, age spots, wrinkles, saggy bum and non-perky boobs (ok, so that’s the same thing as saggy, but I just couldn’t bear to say it), my mum then told me that she thinks I actually look really fabulous right now.

Yeah right, I thought.

But then I remembered that mum isn’t overly generous with her comments, nor does she flatter merely for the benefit and ego of the receiver. She then went on to explain the phenomena described above, where at 40, she wished she’d realised how good she looked at 30 instead of complaining. Then at 50, she looked back at pics of herself when she was 40 and can’t believe how good she looked then.

At 60, she reflected on being 50, and you guessed it -  how good she looked then, and how she shouldn’t have complained.

So, not sure what the moral of the story is, but apart from giving myself a bit of a break and accepting that perhaps I don’t look so bad after all, I decided I am not that fond of my cellulite, and I would rather it took a hike. And in order for that to happen, I probably have to do something about it other than merely wishing it would go away (disappointingly, this didn’t work).

Yes there are lots of fancy creams out there that claim to minimise cellulite (though few, if any, claim to be able to get rid of it completely), but most of them are rather pricey. But there are a few other things that seem to work, so after doing some research I thought I should share them with you.

After all, you may not have it now, but the chances are, it’s going to turn up uninvited one day – sorry!

Cellulite busters:

It sounds rather harsh, but cellulite is basically a sign that your body is polluted. This ‘pollution’ results in a build-up of toxic, fatty and water deposits in your skin.

Many scientists believe that this is due largely to the toxic by-products in our food. The following things will really help to significantly reduce cellulite:

• Use a cellulite brush in the shower – it has rubber type nodules that you use to massage your thighs (and bum). Do it every day!
• Drink loads of water. Flush it out!
• Minimise caffeine and alcohol.
• Avoid nicotine.
• Drink lots of green tea and other herbal teas (they cleanse the body of the toxins that cause cellulite).
• Avoid salt – it makes your body retain water and toxins.
• Eat lots of raw foods like fruit, vegetables and salads.
• Eat lots of whole grain foods like brown rice.
• Pack as much of these cellulite preventing foods into your body as you can: citrus, tomatoes, cabbage, parsley and capsicum.
• Avoid foods that slow down your body's ability to expel the toxins that cause cellulite: dairy and wheat products, fats (saturated, polyunsaturated or monounsaturated), red meat (high in fat), refined carbohydrates (such as bread, white flour and rice).

And if it makes you feel better, Kate Moss has tonnes of cellulite and has done since she was a young, skinny little thing. If it’s good enough for Kate, I guess it’s good enough for me. Sigh.

by Sunny de Bruyn