If slimming not enough, get firm

If slimming not enough, get firm

Emmy Fitri, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The dark side to living a modern lifestyle is the growing demand
for women to get slimmer.

Fitness centers, body shaping parlors and "fat doctors" are
mushrooming in the city, whose denizens are becoming increasingly
image conscious.

However, doctors say the best and safest way of getting a
healthy and ideal body shape is still the oldest way, by
regularly exercising and controlling one's diet.

Physician Inca R. Oetomo said modern consumer culture was
pushing women into expensive slimming clinics in the hope of
becoming lean, quickly. This could involve "instant" treatments
like liposuction, slimming drugs or dietary supplements, she
said.

"And if one can afford it then that's okay as long as the side
effects of any treatments are clearly explained beforehand."

However thin they are, many women with normal body shapes
often still think that they are too fat.

Fat tissues are needed by women to sustain certain areas like
their chests, thighs, hips and buttocks. The need for extra body-
fat will increase during the 20s and 30s, significantly so
pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.

"The facts show that fat mass generally increases between
eight and 10 kilograms for woman from 20 to 60 years old," Inca
said. Hormone changes meant that women approaching 50 would often
start to accumulate fat around their stomach and hips.

Measured exercise can help shape, slim and firm the body but
it must be done regularly for best results. Inca suggested
exercise should focus on fat accumulation spots like stomach,
thighs, hips, waists and the arms.

"Diet with food containing essential linoleat acids is also
necessary," she said.

However, for those who have an already ideal body shape,
staying trim was also important. Consuming food supplements could
help, she said.

"Being slim is often not enough because there is still often
flabbiness in certain areas."

One food supplement with no side-effects was one called Firm,
introduced recently by PT Mega Products, which could be consumed
by pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, she said.

Brand manager Elsa Handayani said Firm was made from the
extract of safflower and contained CLA (conjugated linoleat
acid). The acid blocked fat-producing activity in the body and
expedited the lypolisis process (or fat cell destruction) which
was good for muscle shaping.

"This product is particularly aimed at people with normal body
weights who still want a more 'proportional' body shape.

Many misinterpret this as being slimming, but its not. The
supplement works to firm and to tone one's body, not to reduce
body weight," she said. There were no diuretic or diarrheic
effects because Firm worked at muscle tissue to tighten it.

"Linoleat acid also increases the activity of the carnitine
palmitoyltransferase (CPT) enzyme inside the muscle fiber."

Combined with regular exercise, the results could be noticed
in about eight weeks, she said.

I-box

Sources of linoleat acid:

Oil from plants

Chicken

Dairy products like:

Cheddar cheese

Low fat yogurt

Butter

Condensed milk
Fresh ground beef
Lamb

Source: PT Mega Products Indonesia