If you hate the appearance of your lower legs, finding ways to achieve thinner ankles may be your top priority. The first thing many women try to change is their diets. Surely, shedding a few pounds will help to improve chubby ankles?
In fact, it might not be quite as easy as you imagined getting the ankles of your dreams. Losing weight will only help if you’re overweight or obese in the first place. For many women, the problem lies elsewhere. Genetics can dictate the size of your ankles. Even very slim women can suffer from the dreaded cankles problem. If your family members have cankles, there’s a good chance you will, too. No diet can change or improve them. While dropping a dress size or two may reduce their bulk, they’ll still stay stubbornly undefined.
Can Dieting Help My Chubby Ankles?
If you have chubby ankles and have a larger stomach and generous thighs, losing weight might help. Shedding a few pounds may slim your lower legs and improve their appearance. It’s impossible to target any area of the body, including ankles, when it comes to losing weight. Yet, you may be able to lose excess accumulated fat there when you lose weight overall. Having a healthy body weight reduces pressure on your calves and ankles, too, when you’re walking and standing. This means fluid will be less likely to cause swelling in this area, too.
Some foods burn fat, reducing your body fat overall, including your ankles. Try to eat salmon twice per week. It contains a lot of omega 3 fatty acids, which makes the metabolism more effective. Also, consume more foods high in monounsaturated fat, such as nuts, olive oil, and avocados. These foods boost your metabolic rate, and this boosts fat loss.
Can A Low-Sodium Diet Help?
Sodium encourages the body to retain fluid, and a lot of it may pool in the ankles. For this reason, switching to a low-sodium diet may help to reduce their size. Even if you’ve never added salt yourself to your food, you could still be consuming too much. This is because it is already in processed foods in large amounts. Try eating fewer packaged snacks and meals. Instead, cook your meals so you can control which ingredients you’re including. Eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. Cut out packets of salty seasoning, canned soups, and bottled salad dressings. This may help to make your ankles a little less swollen.
Surgery May Be the Only Option
Unfortunately, for many women, cankles are the result of their genes and not their diets. If you’ve tried diet and exercise and your ankles are still large, surgery is your only option. Liposuction of the cankles is an excellent and permanent solution to the problem. By removing the fat cells permanently, you can achieve the slimmer lower legs you desire.
Contact the Artlipo team to find out how we can help you get the thinner ankles of your dreams.
Dr. Thomas Su, is the owner and cosmetic surgeon of Artistic Lipo. He has led our full-time clinic specializing in awake-only liposuction since 2007. Dr. Su began his medical career in internal medicine, practicing that until 2005, when he began to provide a full spectrum of non-invasive cosmetic procedures.
