Firming up the fat?
 

Okay, I've been working at it for at least 10 weeks. I've been walking 2.5 miles at a minimum four times a week - why do my legs still shake like jello and look like cottage cheese? Since the Atkin's diet allows the fat - does this mean I'll continue to keep the fat cells? I thought ketosis meant I was burning the fat - it sure doesn't look like it. Any words of wisdom from anyone? I don't think liposuction looks like too much fun - nor can I afford it.

Well, honestly, if the issue is actually cellulite, I don't think there's really any way to get rid of it. But, what you're doing is great, so maybe you just need to give it some more time before you start to really firm up.

No, eating fat will not cause you to keep fat cells. In the absence of insulin, fat is either used for energy or goes right through you. Eat up.

A great way to really tone up is resistance training. Any program that involves weights or resistance will start to build muscle which will help tone your bod and raise metabolism.

Just keep at it. Liposuction certainly does NOT seem fun. ;)

Wishing you the best!

Patience
 

I have the same ugly stuff and I think patience is the key. We just need to give our bodies the time to burn it all up... :) . It will get better as we approach our goal.


We can do this together !!!

Support = Success

Traci

You don't lose fat cells, you only reduce the size of them, and it can take weeks or months after burning fat for the cell to shrink to it's new size. Evidently, water frequently moves in to replace the volume of fat lost and you have to outwait it. BUT - keep exercising, and when the cells do resize, you will see the definition you've worked so hard to achieve. Resistance training is great for this, as is a five minute ab routine three times a week. Keep at it, you're worth it. ;)

I had a lot of that 'cottage cheese' texture to my thighs 5 months ago. I have a lot less of that now. Just stick with it.

Weight resistance exercises are the key, as well as lots of walking. It's working for me - I was very nervous about summer a few months back - now I'll wear my shorts with pride.

Vikki

I have been wondering the same thing.
I am ready for the jiggly thighs to go away.

absolutely.... keep it up...but
 

you need to lift weights! i'm finding the older i get the slower it is to firm up... gravity is hell! i have to increase my aerobic activity... u r an inspiration.
thanx
catherine

Also, I found (when I first did Atkins and lost 35 pounds) that the fat changes texture on your body and becomes, well, squishier. I felt like I was melting!

I just figured it was the water taking the place of the fat I was burning, and eventually it all went away.

An realize fat will never firm up, but you will! Fat will just slowly go the way of the Dodo bird as you continue to eat right and exercise.

~Shelly

I had it when I was thirty-five lbs. heavier, and I have it now....

I think it will always be part of the landscape of my body - I had it even when I was too thin, and I am a 3-4 x week exerciser, have been for over 8 years. I am trying to make peace with it, but self-tanner helps in the summer!!!!!

Great support
 

Thanks to everyone for their support - one reoccuring theme - resistant weight training. I've heard a lot about Curves , but haven't found the time to join yet. I will be off this summer, so I think I'll give it a try. I kind of feel like I'm getting squishier too, but maybe since I'm finally working on my body, I'm actually seeing it for the first time in a long time. I think I was ignoring it for too long. Thanks again to all who have offered advice. I'll let you know about eight weeks from now if there's any change. Maybe I will do some before and after pictures. ( Right now, I'd make a great celluite ad for some phony pill or cream)

If you don't have time to join a club, do lunges and squats at home and arm exercises with soup cans. Seriously. You can also find low weight dumbells at any sporting goods store.

2 berners... that's what i did. over time i collected iron dunbbells. as i needed to go up in weights. i'd invest in another pair! i have weights ranging from 5-30 lb dumbbells it has worked out great to give me just that a great workout. my schedule is so busy that the gym just became impractical.

You can get really cheap dumbells from Wal Mart. Do some squats and lunges, and you'll build muscle underneath the fat and kind of flatten the cellulite.

The best exercise I've found for leg shaping is a squat: stand with your legs shoulder-width apart, hold a pretty heavy dumbell, and squeeze your butt as hard as you can and squat down straight. (Go slow, both up and down.) After I'm tired of doing those, I spread my legs a little farther apart and do more - it shapes the insides of my thighs, the most jiggle-prone part.

This shapes up my entire upper leg area, as well as my behind. Building muscle is the only way I've ever seen anyone reduce cellulite.