“If I had to choose a major cause of cellulite and skin laxity that I have seen the last 25 years of practice in this field - in both men and women - that would be yo-yo dieting, i.e. severe weight gain followed by weight loss, either once off or on a continuing basis over years / decades. Yo-yo dieting and severe weight fluctuations change the composition of your skin and also create excess skin, leading to skin laxity and cellulite. Read more below.”
Yo-yo dieting, crash dieting, skin laxity and cellulite
Crash dieting / yo-yo dieting means less muscle and skin firmness and more fat and cellulite
Yo-yo dieting / crash dieting: the royal road to cellulite
Men, yo-yo dieting and cellulite
What can I do to prevent or reverse the effects of yo-yo dieting?
LipoTherapeia® Plus: Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment with London’s cellulite experts
The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening
Crash dieting / yo-yo dieting means less muscle and skin firmness and more fat and cellulite
Crash dieting is defined as very fast weight loss, usually with a daily intake below 500 calories a day
Yo-yo dieting is defined as the cyclical weight gain and loss
Cyclical weight gain and loss unavoidably leads to increasingly higher body fat content, loose skin and cellulite. This is because:
When we put on weight, we mainly put on fat
When we lose weight, we do lose fat but we also lose quite a lot of protein: muscle protein, skin protein and even bone (especially with ozempic and similar GLP-1RA medication)
This is especially true when we crash diet and severely deprive the body of protein
When we put on weight again we mainly put on fat and almost never regain the full amount of previous muscle, skin and bone. This is because:
For muscle building, resistance exercise is needed for myocyte (muscle cell) stimulation. Unless you do weights AND take lots of protein after your diet effort, you will be left with less muscles.
For skin building, a lot of movement/vibration is needed for fibroblast (collagen cell) stimulation. Unless you run, walk, swim, dance etc AND take lots of protein after the weight loss effort, you will be left with less firm skin.
For bone building, both resistance exercise and movement/vibration is needed for osteoblast (bone cell) stimulation. Unless you do weights, run, walk, swim, dance etc AND take lots of protein after the weight loss effort, you will be left with less bone density.
If the above are not present after the weight loss phase, and if protein intake is lacking during that phase, the previous level of muscle, skin and bone will not be regained (if you don’t lose it you lose it)
After a few cycles of yo-yo dieting, fat largely replaces the previous skin firmness, muscle and bone density (yes, fat also replaces bone).
In addition to the above, every time we put on excessive weight, the skin stretches and expands to accommodate the extra fat volume. When we lose the weight, we are left with the excess skin, which ends up looking loose.
Yo-yo dieting / crash dieting: the royal road to cellulite
All in all, yo-yo dieting and crash dieting are the best ways to accumulate what peis commonly referred to as “flab” (the combination of fat and skin looseness).
As hypodermal fat accumulation and skin looseness are the hallmarks of cellulite, it is obvious to see that crash dieting / yo-yo dieting are great ways to develop cellulite.
Men, yo-yo dieting and cellulite
In fact, yo-yo dieting is so effective in creating cellulite, it is the most common cause of cellulite in men.
Some men may develop cellulite due to hormonal imbalances or due to excess estrogen in older age.
However, the main reason for seeing cellulite in men at our clinic is yo-yo dieting, usually at the ±20-30kg weight loss/gain level.
What can I do to prevent or reverse the effects of yo-yo dieting?
Firstly, never do such dieting.
Of course, sometimes this is harder than it sounds, but as the causes of yo-yo dieting are mainly psychological, the first thing to do is find a good life coach / nutritional coach to help you get out of the cycle.
However, if you do find yourself in the yo-yo cycle again, or if you stopped yo-yo dieting for good but need to gain some skin firmness and lose some cellulite, there are a few things you can do to beat skin laxity and cellulite:
Walk, swim and run a lot, if you can: this type of exercise stimulates collagen synthesis and burns fat - including some cellulite fat
Do resistance, training, which also has an overall anabolic effect on the body and helps with muscle, bone and - to a lesser extent - skin strengthening
Do vibration platform training, which is the best way to stimulate collagen synthesis on bone, skin and muscle
Have enough protein - 50+ grams of pure protein per day
Have a lot of polyphenols and carotenoids (what people call antioxidants) as they also assist with collagen production. Think coloured vegetables and berry fruits.
Apply a good (i.e. multi-active ingredient, highly concentrated) cellulite cream (the usual single ingredient, diluted creams do not work). Anything between 3-6 months of application are recommended for good results.
Have a course of deep-acting, high-power radiofrequency and/or deep acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation treatments. These are the best possible technologies for cellulite prevention and reduction (the usual low power, superficial, bipolar/tripolar treatments do not work). Anything between 6-24 sessions may be needed for good results, depending on severity (and no, there are no miracle treatments that will eliminate cellulite in 1-4 sessions, don’t fall for the hype). Ideally combine the deep, strong RF and ultrasound treatments, right after the main treatment, with high-power LED red/infrared light therapy for maximum results.
LipoTherapeia® Plus: Have a skin tightening/cellulite treatment with London’s cellulite experts
At LipoTherapeia we have specialised 100% in skin tightening and cellulite reduction for more than two decades and 20,000+ sessions.
This is all we study and practise every day and have researched and tried hands-on all the important skin tightening equipment and their manufacturers.
As strong, deep acting radiofrequency and deep-acting, high-power ultrasound cavitation are the technologies of choice for skin tightening and cellulite reduction, we have invested in the best RF/ultrasound technologies in the world.
(Of course, we keep looking for new technologies every day and if/when a better technology materialises we will be the first to provide it. However, we will never follow the latest ineffective gimmick, just because it’s good marketing to offer the latest hyped up - yet ineffective and/or unsafe treatment.)
Furthermore, over the last two decades we have developed advanced RF and cavitation treatment protocols in order to make the most of our technologies, for maximum results, naturally and safely.
And for even better, faster results, we now combine our RF/ultrasound treatments with high-power red/infrared light LED treatment.
Our radiofrequency/ultrasound/LED treatments are comfortable, pain-free, downtime-free, injection-free, 99.5%+ safe and always non-invasive.
(No unsafe and ineffective RF microneedling or HIFU and no safe but ineffective acoustic wave therapy, superficial RF (bipolar/tripolar/multipolar etc), low power RF/cavitation, electrical muscle stimulation, lymphatic massage, cupping, dry brushing and no ridiculous bum bum creams.)
Our focus is on honest, realistic, science-based treatment, combined with caring, professional service, with a smile.
We will be pleased to see you, assess your cellulite, skin laxity or fibrosis, listen to your story, discuss your case and offer you the best possible treatment.
Check prices and book an expert cellulite / skin tightening treatment at our London clinic.
Look Inside Your Skin™ with a Cellulite Ultrasonography™ scan, exclusive to LipoTherapeia in London, and assess your cellulite, skin laxity, post-liposuction fibrosis and more
We are proud to be the first and only cellulite clinic in the world to offer Cellulite Ultrasonography™ to our clients, for accurate assessment, better treatment and enhanced results. Since 2022 we have assessed and provided valuable insights to hundreds of clients to better understand their specific case, see how their skin looks from inside and make informed decisions.
You can now book your Cellulite Ultrasonography™ session and assess your:
Cellulite
Skin laxity
Lipedema
Subcutaneous fat levels
You can also assess the presence and severity of fibrosis and adhesions after:
Liposuction in all its forms, including vaser, smart lipo, bodytite, abdominoplasty/tummy tuck, thigh lift, arm lift, lipedema surgery etc
Cellulite surgery, such as cellulaze, cellutite, cellfina, subcision etc
Face-lift surgery
Non-surgical procedures, such as RF microneedling, extreme intensity HIFU, extreme intensity RF, extreme intensity ultrasound etc
Everything will be shown and explained to you clearly and you can see and understand how the different structures inside your skin affect your appearance.
If there is scar tissue / fibrosis, those will be clearly seen and you can differentiate between fibrosis, water retention or unremoved fat after all types of cosmetic surgery or harsh non-surgical procedures such as RF microneedling, extreme intensity HIFU etc.
(DISCLAIMER: Please note that this service is for your informational purposes only and does not constitute medical diagnosis or advice.)
The 45’ appointment includes full assessment and consultation and optional treatment plan for cellulite reduction and/or skin tightening.
If you do wish to have treatment with us, the ultrasound scan, assessment and consultation will be used to optimise your course of treatments and maximise your results.
The Cellulite School™: Get advanced training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening
Why train with The Cellulite School™?
We all know that training in cellulite reduction and skin tightening is as basic as it gets. It is typically a 4-6 hour training, involving only basic instruction from the manufacturer on how operators can use the machine; lots of myths, erroneous information and misconceptions; and some basic health and safety on how to use the machine.
There is no proper, real training in the science or cellulite, skin tightening, radiofrequency, ultrasound and all related technologies is non-existent - worldwide.
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Service available via Zoom or at our central London practice.
Learn more or check prices and book training at our London clinic or via Zoom.