Have a hot, sexy body this summer
No body is perfect — even the most good-looking actresses, actors, and supermodels have secrets to hide. But there are ways to make the most of what you’ve got. Here are some tips on how to have a physique that’s camera-ready or beach-ready this summer.
When it comes to getting a better body, we’re always told that it’s all about diet and exercise. While we’re not discounting the importance of both, there are other elements that go into the equation that most of us may not know about.
• Spice up your diet. Spices do not only add flavor, they are also the best ways to satiate your appetite and boost your metabolism, too. Spices, such as chili pepper or habanero, contain capsaicin which gives food heat and temporarily increases metabolism up to 25 percent. Spices like cinnamon lower blood sugar and triglyceride levels. Cayenne pepper helps in digestion and dandelion reduces sugar cravings and boosts metabolism.
• Roll call. Like a sports massage, rolling on foam rollers gives superior results in the gym and minimizes your chances of injury. It creates myofascial release to loosen up your muscles so that you feel less tight and have a better range of motion for more effective workouts. Roll calves, butt, legs, and back.
• Lean and mean body. There is more emphasis on cardio exercise mainly because most people believe it’s the most effective way to burn fat fast. Actually strength training (plus clean eating) should take prominence as this allows you to build lean muscle mass, which in turn leads you to burn more calories even at rest. Your body also continues to burn calories during the recovery phase (the body becomes a fat-burning furnace). While cardio shouldn’t be neglected, you’ll probably want to dedicate most of your workouts to strength training. It is the key to getting a body that’s firm and lean and not “skinny fat” (not enough muscle and too much fat, especially belly fat).
• Where to store the fat. Hormones like insulin, glucagon, and cortisol are released into the body, but there are also lesser-known ones like leptin, ghrelin and adinopectin that are released, too, which can influence metabolism. Hormones not only tell the body how to use the calories it consumes, but also where in the body to store the fat. Too much of one, or too little of another, can certainly influence, to some degree, how your body looks.
• Treat spider veins. Spider veins and the blue or green larger veins may be unsightly. These can be corrected through injections or techniques, such as radiofrequency and pulse dye laser, after an appropriate evaluation. A solution is injected into the veins, making them instantly collapse. It usually takes one to two treatments to fully eradicate them, but once they’re gone, they’re gone forever.
• Tighten up lax skin. Skin tightening helps fix loose skin. It works best if skin laxity is mild to moderate. When the issues are more severe, or expectations are more extreme, only surgery will give that result.
• Customize your perfect breast. Two of the most common things that prevent women from proceeding with breast augmentation are the anxiety of anesthesia and picking the wrong size. Most women want breasts that are not too big or too small, but rather just right. “Today, the trend is all about looking natural, but many woman still think that if they opt for an augmentation, they are bound to end up with fake-looking breasts. The reality is, with so many different sizes, shapes, projections, and implant materials, one can literally custom-design exactly what she wants her breast to look like, more or less.
• Erase visible stretch marks. With the advent of the Halo hybrid fractional laser, white stretch marks are now a thing of the past. Some of us have stretch marks from childhood obesity, or some may have acquired it through a sudden growth spurt. This laser is now available, so do not hesitate to ask about it. As for the vascular type of stretch marks, pulse dye is still be the option to beat. Both lasers are just a phone call away.
• Use fat to your advantage. Fat does a lot of wonders when it’s used properly. Unwanted fats that are removed after liposuction can be used to contour the buttocks or smooth out the scars. We suction the fat out from where it is abundant, like the hips or stomach, treat it, and then transfer it to an area where it is needed. It can also improve the appearance of cellulites. That is, by adding fat to flatter areas like the butt, the skin is stretched, improving cellulites in these areas.
• Slow down to relieve stress. When you’re stressed out, the hormone cortisol is secreted. Although cortisol plays a role in how the body normally functions and is essential for keeping it balanced and in harmony, too much of it inhibits insulin production. Thus, the body ends up storing glucose, or sugar, as fat. And when cortisol is repeatedly elevated, the body is likely to stockpile more than normal amounts of visceral fat (the type of fat that accumulates under the abdominal muscles). Cortisol will cause triglycerides to be mobilized and stored as mature fat cells, which actually release cortisol themselves, contributing to the body’s overall production of the hormone. There is also an association between stress and eating (called stress eating) that leads to weight gain that can be hard to drop. When we are stressed out, our hormones take control of our bodies and brains, telling our brains that we are hungry even when we really aren’t.
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For questions or inquiries, call 09174976261, 09998834802 or 263-4094, or email gc_beltran@yahoo.com.
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