Get Rid Of Cankles | 5 Steps To Losing Your Cankles For Good

The most common cause of cankles is weight gain.

It could be that you're genetically disposed to storing fat around your lower legs, or it could be that you have gained weight all over your body; making you conscious of your lower legs.

Either way, losing weight can drastically improve the appearance of cankles, and can even get rid of them all together!

The best weight loss plan that I've found is Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon. This plan is fantastic for shaping your lower legs, as it allows you to lose fat, whilst maintaining, or even gaining, muscle by kick starting your metabolism. Why not start it today?

Another common cause of cankles is water retention, which can make the ankles swell to blend in with the calf.

Water retention can be triggered by:

- Excessive consumption of alcohol

- Too much salt in your diet

- Long periods of inactivity

- Hormone fluctuations (ie during the menstrual cycle)

- Pregnancy

So if you can relate to any of these causes, it's likely that your cankles are results of water retention and are, therefore, very easy to treat! (Hallelujah!)

To prevent water retention, the best thing you can do is go swimming!

Now, before you quickly skip to the next tip with horrified thoughts of yourself in a swimsuit, think of the results! A thirty minute splash around in the deep end is enough for the water pressure to work it's magic and dissipate the fluid gathered around your ankles, as well as being a wonderful workout for the entire body - can't be bad!

If, however, you have skipped straight to this point (possibly shuddering slightly at the thought of the pool), you're in luck! There are indeed other ways to reduce water retention:

- Try other forms of mild to moderate exercise ie. cycling

- Avoid salty foods

- Drink plenty of water

Then there's my favourite cure of all: simply put your feet up! This allows the fluid to drain from the ankles and be expelled by the body.

Whilst some people have lovely, long, slim legs, a lack of muscle in the lower leg can cause the appearance of cankles, despite the lack of fat.

If you fall into this category, fear not! There are simple exercises you can do to build and shape the calf muscle, thus giving you a more shapely lower leg.

I find the simplest and most effective of these exercises to be calf raises, so I've added a helpful video below to demonstrate how to do them.

So you've started implementing one or more of the above and have seen some welcome changes in cankle appearance. Nevertheless, you're the sort of person who, like me, wants results instantly.

Cue cankle camouflage!

The 'Double Dip' fake tanning system from St. Tropez is loved by celebrities like Sienna Miller and Paris Hilton for a reason! This gives a beautiful bronzed look and adds definition to muscles - even if there aren't any there in the first place!

The basic process is that you get a light all over tan, then get 'double dipped' with a very slightly darker tan around the muscular areas of the body - giving a more contoured appearance.

This process gives instant cankle freedom! Just remember, the results are not permanent.

Eeep! I felt obliged to include this, as it IS a cure for cankles. However, I do not condone surgery in any way and see it as the very final, i've-tried-everything-else-and-the-[insert explitives]-cankles-are-STILL-THERE, method of treating your body problems.

Nevertheless, I do understand that some of you do feel that surgery is the only option you have left, so here is a bit of information for you:

- Both calf implants and ankle liposuction are procedures which are increasing in popularity and will immediately get rid of cankles.

- Statistically, these procedures are low risk, and can be performed under local anaesthetic.

- The recovery time after the surgery is minimal.

Finally, whatever your cankle problems may be, I hope you have found something to help you on this page.

Good luck in banishing your cankles for good!

I have some great news for all you cankle sufferers out there.

A friend of mine has just started a new blog about her experiences with cankles and it looks set to be really helpful (way more detailed than I have been here).

She's in fantastic shape now, so I'll be checking in each week to get her advice and, if you're serious about losing your cankles, I would recommend it to you too!

You can find the blog at howtogetridofcankles.blogspot.com