Here at Legology HQ every year is leg year, and 2022 could be the year you turn your legs into your finest asset! Of course it’s all down to personal perception and our approach to achieving this hinges on contour, comfort and care. We can maximise the way your pins look and feel with a few new habits that will slip easily into your daily routine. Begin with one or two of those below and habit stack until you’re doing all every day. We’ll show you how to change it all up and make every foundation step varied and fun so they become part of your new lite-style. Ready to go?
BODY BRUSHING
A fundamental step and one that should be so easy and quick that you barely notice you’re doing it every morning. Body brushing has been very overcomplicated over the years. It’s vital to body shape but not in the way that you might think. If you’ve been using a body brush for longer than a minute and with vigour up till now it’s time to stop and ask yourself why. I’m amazed at the number of people who do it because they think the brushing breaks up fat. I hear this time and time again. It frustrates me. Body brushing is an ancient practice which was adopted to improve the circulation – both blood and lymph flow. The bristles can’t break up fat cells, no matter how hard or how long you scrub! Now that’s not to say that body brushing won’t help with your shape. It definitely will because in promoting your circulation and – more importantly – your lymph it helps your body to remove the trapped fluid and toxins that compromise your shape and contribute to cellulite.
We talk about lymph a lot at Legology because we believe it’s the crux to good leg (and body) care. Your lymph is a network of vessels which run just beneath your skin. It’s fragile, it doesn’t like being bashed with a brush or anything else for that matter (including a fascia stick). It needs quick, light treatment – flicks of the bristles rather than a massaging or rubbing action, in an upwards direction towards your heart. That means you start at your feet or ankles and flick the brush up over your legs to your knees, then over your thighs to your hips. Then, because lymph travels around your entire body, not just your legs, brush from your hands or wrists to your shoulders. The entire process should take no more than a minute. Sometimes less. And you can do it before a shower, in the shower or after it. It really isn’t a big deal. And what’s more, if you add a couple of drops of Cellu-Lite Salon Secret For Legs to the bristles and brush after your shower you’ll be dual-purposing and saving even more time.
DRINKING WATER
Some of us are very good at this, others not so. But the fact of the matter is that drinking enough water is hugely helpful to managing weight and wellbeing. Scientists are still not sure exactly why it helps, but as anyone who has adopted water-drinking for a long enough period of time will tell you, there’s no doubt that it does. It’s thought that the following contribute to this happy state of affairs:
- Appetite suppression – when your stomach senses that it’s full it sends a signal to the brain to stop eating. In fact it’s true to say that sometimes when we think we’re hungry we’re actually thirsty because both solid and liquid matter fills a space in our stomachs. One study, conducted in 2014 on 50 overweight women who drank 500ml of water 30 minutes before every meal for 8 weeks, proved that they lost weight.
- Calorie burn – some studies have shown that water speeds this up. Water may temporarily increase the body’s resting energy expenditure or number of calories burned while resting. It’s thought this is because the body expends energy, or calories, by heating up the water for digestion. Water also helps to burn fat: when it’s dehydrated the body can’t properly metabolise stored fat or carbohydrates. The process of metabolising fat is called lipolysis. The first step of this process is hydrolysis, which occurs when water molecules interact with triglycerides (fats) to create glycerol and fatty acids. So drinking enough water is essential for burning off fat from food and drink, as well as stored fat.
- Waste removal – water helps remove waste from the body faster. It helps your kidneys to filter toxins and waste while the organ retains essential nutrients and electrolytes. And when the body is dehydrated, the kidneys retain fluid.
BEING ACTIVE
Your lymph, which is your body’s natural waste disposal, is an unsung hero, ticking along in the background removing unwanted matter from the system to be metabolised and eliminate. It rarely gets a mention, but it’s as essential as our circulation. Unlike our blood circulation, however, it doesn’t have a heart to pump it around the body, so when you stop moving it stops moving. To keep it going smoothly, removing waste that will otherwise build up and contribute to a feeling of puffiness, tightness and cellulite, being active is key. That’s why it’s so important to keep moving through the day. Especially if you have a job that involves you sitting on your backside or standing still through the day. How to do it? Try the 8000 steps a day challenge. This can be quite an eye-opener, showing you how little you walk during the day. And it can be challenging. If you find it too hard to do 8000 steps a day, start with 6000 and work up to 8000, or do 6000 during the week and 10000 at weekends. Either way, just get more steps into your day – your lymph, and your shape, will love you for it.
EATING WELL
Seems obvious, but when it comes to legs there are some nutrition guidelines that help more than others. Protein is your legs best friend here because it encourages the body to let go of fluid, where carbohydrates do the opposite, causing the body to cling onto fluid. So if you’re eating to improve your legs shape and comfort – by which I mean less retained fluid in this part of the body causing legs to feel heavy – try to eat a diet high in protein with your carbohydrate intake from vegetables and very limited starch (white carbohydrates like pasta and potatoes) and sugar.
LEGCARE
Well, I’m going to say this aren’t I? But then, I did go to the trouble of developing not one but four products because I know how helpful the extra support from a really good cream, oil or scrub is to your legs. It’s like your complexion. You need to nurture it to get the best from it, but with your legs – and Legology – you are providing additional help to your lymph, helping it to shift excess fluid and toxins that get trapped and cause heaviness, fatigue and cellulite. Above and beyond the benefits of the deep drainage formulas is the actual physical process of application: massaging a product into your legs helps to promote the circulation and lymph, brings fresh, nutrient-rich oxygen to the surface of the skin which gives it a healthy flush and tone. Add Air-Lite Daily Lift For Legs or Cellu-Lite to your routine – ideally straight after body brushing – and you will see visible contouring results within a week. As they say, every little bit helps.
