Nivea GoodBye Cellulite Challenge - I'm Going to Do It

Last summer I bought a bottle of Nivea's Goodbye Cellulite, but just used it now and then so can't really say if it had an real effects or not. However, being as I'm now a blogger on the topic of cellulite, and today is the start of Nivea's official Goodbye Cellulite Challenge for 2009, AND a lot of people are curious about this product, I'm going to do it! It also helps that I ran out of my regular moisturizer today. :-) I already have opinions about this cellulite lotion, but I'm going to keep an open mind. Stay tuned for regular updates.

And if YOU are taking the Goodbye Cellulite Challenge, tell me what you think!

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You Don't Have to Spend Money to Reduce Cellulite

Recently I wrote about the benefits of caffeine applied to the skin (see A Cellulite Lotion Ingredient that Actually Works).

The good news is that for pennies you can give yourself a spa-like cellulite-wrap at home, with that same effective active ingredient. The main drawback to doing it yourself is that it's messier and a bit more time consuming than using a store-bought cellulite lotion.

Still want to give it a try?

Here's how to do it:

You'll need:
- ¼ cup of warm used coffee grounds (must be caffeinated! Obviously, decaf won't work!)
- tablespoon of olive oil
- roll of plastic wrap

As I wrote above this can get messy since you're using loose coffee grounds, so there are some extra instructions to take care of that.

1. Mix about a quarter-cup of used coffee grounds with a tablespoon or so of olive oil. (You can microwave them for about 20 seconds to warm them up)

2. Lay a few sheets of newspaper on the floor (the bathroom would probably be the best place to do this!).

3. While standing on the newspaper, apply the coffee grounds "paste" to your cellulite-afflicted areas. Don’t worry if a lot of the coffee grounds fall to the floor; enough will hold to your skin to do the trick.

4. Wrap the area in plastic wrap and let it remain on for several minutes. If you have time, for maximum results leave it on for 20 to 30 minutes.

5. Remove the plastic wrap and any remaining coffee mixture. Shower as usual.

*According to most of what I've read about this treatment, you get the best results when you repeat it twice a week.

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Lose Cellulite in Four Weeks?

I feel it's my duty as a Cellulite Blogger--somehow that sounds less glamorous than Celebrity Blogger-- to let you know that this Monday, March 16th, is the start of Nivea's Goodbye Cellulite, Hello Bikini Challenge. Tyra Banks pretty much went insane over these Nivea products on her show last year. This is one product that has a LOT of hype.

It's a 4-pronged attack-- focused on:

• diet: cutting down on chips and cookies, for starters
• fitness: mostly simple exercises with dumbbells
• cellulite: applying the Nivea gel cream 2x's a day, patches 2-3 times a week, and optionally taking the new Nivea Goodbye Cellulite supplement. The supplements come packaged together with the gel cream.
  
• style: which swimsuits are "in" this season, choosing the right sunglasses for your face, pedicures, and of course getting a (fake) tan. Their resident dermatologist says, "Tan cellulite looks better than pale cellulite." We needed an M.D. to tell us that?
  

How much would it cost to take the challenge?

Nivea's Goodbye Cellulite Body Gel Cream ($12.99 x's 2) = $25.98
OR
Nivea's Goodbye Cellulite Gel Cream+Smoothing Supplement ($18.99 x's 2) = $37.98
+
Nivea's Goodbye Cellulite Patches( $13.49 x's 2) = $26.98

Total: $52.96 to $64.96 (depending on whether or not you take the supplement)

The numbers above are a minimum if you follow their program as instructed. You may need to buy more than two bottles of the gel-cream if you are applying it two times a day as instructed. The patches come in boxes of 6 and you are supposed to use them 2-3 times a week. The capsules you can take 1 to 3 times per day, and they come in packs of 30.

You can sign up on their website for the details of their plan, laid out week by week, and to get support from other people taking the challenge.



Does this stuff work? It's active ingredient, in both the gel-cream, patches, and the supplement, is fat- burner L-carnitine.
L-carnitine is found naturally in avocados, dairy products, red meats and tempeh (thats a fermented soybean product). L-carnitine helps your body use fat as an energy source and is commonly taken in supplement form as a diet aid. I wasn't able to find information about the effectiveness of L-carnitine when applied to the skin for the treatment of cellulite, though it has been patented for topical use.

Have you tried Nivea Goodbye Cellulite? What do you think of it?

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Warning: Loss of Muscle Mass Leads to Cellulite

There's a new article appearing on the news wires about how the loss of muscle mass with age plays a big role in the development of cellulite in women.

The article is a bit heavy on numbers and percentages, but those numbers might shock you:

Because the average woman loses five pounds of muscle every decade of adult life, she has reduced her muscle mass by one-third by age 50.

Because muscle loss typically doubles during the menopause years, a 60-year old woman may have less than half of her original muscle tissue.

The average American woman adds about 15 pounds of fat every decade during the midlife years. Consequently, the average 50-year old female has 15 pounds too little muscle and 45 pounds too much fat, for a 60-pound undesirable change in her body composition. She is almost 50 percent fat.

Too little muscle and too much fat are largely responsible for cellulite.

Generally speaking, cellulite is the name given to excess fat that is no longer evenly distributed under the skin, giving a smooth appearance, but is clumped together in uneven bundles, giving a rippled and dimpled appearance.

When the firm, foundational muscle layer is decreased and the soft, overlying fat layer is increased, the result is the lumpy, cottage cheese-like appearance referred to as cellulite.

A relatively brief training program coupled with a sensible nutrition plan can be highly successful for reducing cellulite.

The full text of the article can be found at the following link: http://www.wickedlocal.com/danvers/sports/x792889877/Staying-fit

If that's not motivation for taking up strength training, I don't know what is. If you're older, you can work on regaining lost muscle. If you're young, you should start now to keep the ill-effects of aging at bay.

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