When intel analysts need specific info for a case, they put out an official “Request For Information,” otherwise known as an RFI. For the file on cellulite, your trusty blogger wants to know: In your experience, do skinny women have more or less cellulite than heavier women?
I’ve read conflicting information on this issue. Countless experts claim cellulite is fat, plain and simple, and if you lose fat, you will lose cellulite. This argument never resonated with me because I’ve always been thin, and yet I had cellulite even in my skinnie-minnie teenage years. This is when those same experts point to the “genetics” argument, which is pretty much a discussion-ender. It’s hard to argue with the destiny of genetic code.
Other experts claim that cellulite isn’t plain old fat, but a specific kind of fat. Dr. Lionel Bissoon is one of the most frequently-quoted cellulite experts in the U.S., and he claims that thin women have the worst cellulite.
So what do you think? Does more fat equal more cellulite? Or do skinny women have it the worst?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I had cellulite when I was a size five, I do now at a size 10. I just didn't have a muffin top back in the day.
Interesting… if the cellulite-is-fat theory is true, then shouldn't cellulite consistently increase as one gains weight? I know of women who complain of more cellulite after losing weight, but haven't heard from a single woman who noticed more cellulite after gaining weight.
Has anyone noticed a direct correlation between weight gain and cellulite??
I have to say no as well. In the past few years, my weight has flucuated within a 20-lb range, and my cellulite has stuck with me the whole way, even at my thinnest. My sister-in-law has had a similar experience. She is very thin right now, and still frustrated that the cellulite hasn't gone away.
Hi, Elizabeth. Thanks for sharing your experience! It echos what I've been hearing from other women and makes me wonder why the connection between weight gain and cellulite is so persistent.
Well, I do know that as a younger woman (okay in jr high and high school) I didn't really have cellulite. I have been overweight pretty much my whole life (I can even still remember being taunted about it in elementary school). So, in High School when I had a severe eating disorder and became skin and bones (and still a size 10, which is skeletal on MY 5'9" frame), I think after that damage I did to my body is when I started to notice cellulite. Now I'm a size 14 (have been up to a 16), and I can't say it's TOO much worse than at size 12, but I FEEL like it gets worse or at least more noticeable when I'm larger.
I have to say, I grew up in Idaho, around a lot of farms. I always noticed the "farm kids" seemed to have NO cellulite, but had this beautiful thick, creamy looking skin. I've always wondered how they could eat all those animal-products.. FULL FAT everything, and still stay thin and have beautiful skin, while I was always kiilling myself (literally) eating/drinking fat free EVERYTHING, and even starving myself. OBVIOUSLY I think I've missed the mark on trying to stay thin and healthy. If "farm kids" can consume anything they want and appear so healthy, what are the FDA and our American doctors getting SO WRONG when they tell us to limit fat? I have to think that's not the answer.
Hi, Mandie! Since you commented on a "RFI" post, you are also entered into this week's giveaway for a free jar of fermented raw honey. Thanks for sharing your cellulite story! I'm with you on the FAT connection. [see The Big Fat Secret Surrounding Cellulite.]
I've had cellulite since I was very young, around 8 years old. My weight has never risen above 95 pounds, and I still struggle with cellulite. All of my female relatives on one side of the family tree have large amounts of cellulite. I think it has to do with very poor lymphatic function.
Eight years old is the youngest I've ever heard of someone having cellulite. Thanks for sharing this info!