Article By Belinda Benn

Do you remember when you were younger and you first noticed cellulite on someone else?

Maybe it was on your mother, grandmother, aunt or other relative.

Or maybe you first noticed it on a friend or neighbor who was wearing shorts.

And perhaps you prayed that you'd never get that dimpled, "cottage cheese" look as you grew older.

And then it happened. One day you realized your prayers for warding off cellulite were in vain. Maybe it happened under the unforgiving lights of a department store dressing room. Maybe you noticed it in the mirror. Or perhaps you caught site of it in an unflattering photograph of yourself. However it happened, you realized that you too were now cursed with cellulite.

One of the most devastating parts of discovering cellulite is that many people don't even realize they have it until after they start losing weight. Indeed, an otherwise slender person can have problems with these dimpled fat deposits. And while we generally think of cellulite as something that afflicts older women, it can happen to anyone at any age.

So now here's the question: What, exactly, is cellulite?

In order to understand cellulite, you need to understand that your body has several layers of tissue. Naturally, the top layers consist of your skin layers. Beneath this skin sits a layer of fat. And beneath this fat sits your muscle.

Now, it's pretty clear that the layer of fat is what causes your cellulite problems. So the answer is to get rid of your fat, right?

Not quite. You actually need this fat. And the real problem isn't the layer of fat itself, but the fact that the fat cells are irregular. So, instead of your fat cells lying down in a nice, smooth layer, you get these irregularly shaped fat cells creating the dimpled appearance on your body. And as you no doubt have already discovered, cellulite tends to be a particular problem on the lower half of your body (such as your butt, thighs and even your calves).

So if you don't have any extra fat to lose and you're still struggling with cellulite, what's the solution?

Simple: you need to flatten these irregular fat cells out. And one of the best ways to do that is building the layer of muscle that's underneath the fat. Because as you build the muscle, it pushes up on the fat layer, which in turn smooths out the dimpled appearance of this fat.

Consider that for a moment…

No more dimples. No more "cottage cheese" thighs. Say goodbye to cellulite and say hello to shorts and swimsuits again!

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