Facial Exercise: Share the Process and Results
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free skin care · Sat May 16, 2009 7:53 pm

If you're like me you read things on EDS and then months later they fade away and you wonder what happened? Was it worth it, did people just get tired of it and move on? I am opening this thread up so we can specifically share our experiences of what facial exercise did or did not do for us. And how we got there.

I think those who have been dedicated have a lot to say and share. Facial exercise does take time and persistance and it will be helpful to most of us here to know what the experiences are of those who stuck it out.

This thread if for those of us who have used facial exercies progressively and faithfully and want to share comments regarding our results. I hope this will help those who wonder "is it really worth it?"

My story is this:

I began Flex Effect back in late June 2008. Initially I used the dvd for about a month (14 exercises) and then progressed to about 38 of the exercises by end July. I avoid the TMJ-oriented exercise and the one that makes you clench your teeth. I stuck with these exercises 5-6X a week through December. It became as faithful to me as brushing my teeth.

I began facial massage sometime toward the early Fall and now do it 5X a week before I get out of bed. (first thing when I wake up). Or I massage during the day if I get a chance.

Somewhere at the start of the year I began Ageless if You Dare exercises. At this point I started to alternate and kept it at approximately 4 days Ageless, 2 days FE. I also dropped the number of FE exercises down to a range of 20-25... with a day off before any important event so I wouldn't get a tired look.

In the last few months I upped FE to about 3X a week and Ageless to 3X and added a few Carole Maggio (scoop and nose and face) and a neck exercise that I don't know who to credit. The one where you lay on the ground and lift your head and turn neck 35 times. (a killer and effective). These exercises I add in hit or miss a few days a week. This program overall has shown to be most effective.

I've said in the past that FE is very comprehensive and I feel it provides a very strong base and for me necessary. I think LouLou's program is brilliant in it's simplicity and effectiveness in targeting the cheeks and providing the lift. I love it!

Results for me:
It is now a good 10 months of time and I know I am getting more looks, more attention, more smiles, positive feedback than ever. I can't quite put my finger on it, but with a lifted, more vibrant face, I have a youthful, approachable, alive look. My cheek bones are high and proud and the lower face is very manageable. I cannot complain. I get smiles and stares and my dance card is as full as I want it to be.
I know many do not promote the lip exercises and I do. I just don't do them all the time but at least once or twice a week. It gives a sensuality to the lip area and increases the pouty look.

It probably took about 5 months to really know what it was all about for me - to determine what I really wanted to do as far as exercises and I have finally got the deal down.

I know this may seem like a big Ra Ra but facial exercise has been an obvious positve change and I want to share with everyone, believing that we can all have positive results that make us feel good about ourselves without spending a boatload of money. I read through Eva Frasiers site recently and that in itself was quite a testimony.

The other thing is that it has been especially in the last few months that the benefits and rewards of the exercise are showing up. Thus time and patience and consistency have proven valuable in this quest. As I read once - the results seem to show in three month increments and if that's the case I can't wait for my one year anniversary.

Another thing this has taught me is that I don't need to spend a fortune on the other stuff -If I have a good C serum which I now make myself, retin A from All Day Chemist, alpha hydrox souffle... I'm almost good to go. Plus I exercise (lift weights, etc) three times a week and take some supplements but even those are being backed off.

I hope someone else will jump in here and share their story. I'm so grateful to all of the women (and men) on EDS who inspired me to start out and gave me advice along the way.

[u]

Wed May 27, 2009 7:45 am

I am 60 do you think it is to late to start the facial exercises, I did go ahead and order the book Ageless" I figure it could'nt hurt. My TMJ does hurt and click if I open my mouth to wide or work my jaw from side to side so I will just follow the exercises that do not require that type of movement.

free skin care · Sun May 31, 2009 4:14 pm

Welcome Chitchat - It sounds like you have an established routine and have your process down. Isn't that a nice place to get to? Three years is a long time and it's nice to hear from someone with that history.

What was it that inspired you to add Ageless to an already long working and positive FE program? (I know for me I always think there's something out there that's going to give an added dimension. ) I've heard from several facial builders - some who say their cheeks weren't there until they did Ageless even though they had used another program for a long time before. Others tell me FE did it for them and nothing else worked!

From what I gather (in listening to many facial builders) the cheek exercises from Ageless operate differently than the ones from FE. Ageless came on quicker with cheek results for me, but there is something about FE that I would not give up. I love the in- the mouth holds - they are the ones that I find worthwhile - I can really feel the pull with these and I know they are doing something awesome!

I can't help but believe both programs have been beneficial. And I HOPE I can get to the point where I say my cheeks are overbuilt! Woah!!!! I will be thrilled Very Happy

The philosophy of FE and Ageless are certainly different. I think FE looks toward building the face in a more equal way and Ageless looks toward a stronger cheek focus while incorporating other areas in a lesser way ....with the general ideal to keep things moving "up". I also believe the Cheeks have the most important role in overall lift and appearance. You know - dealing with the sag we get as we age. And we all know that great cheekbones (cheeks) are a coveted thing.

I personally like to incorporate more things than what Ageless does (and so I do!) but I think the overall philosophy of Ageless is a terrific one.

Anyone out there love FE's "scalp flex" as much as I do? I feel it has enabled me to "pull" the face back and up - an overall small movement which has given me a better look. Love it!

free skin care · Sun Jul 12, 2009 11:52 am

I haven't found discussion of my favorite facial exercise program at EDS yet - Carolyn's Facial Fitness - and someone asked me to post about it so I'm adding it to this thread.

My history with facial exercises - I can't remember how, but I came across Carole Maggio's program about 7 years ago. I was interested and tried it off and on, but never saw any real results, was unsure that I was doing the exercises properly, and remained squeamish about the whole idea - afraid to really commit - because I'd been a Paula Begoun proponent for years and believed her spiel that facial exercise could only be harmful.

Some years later I bought Flex Effect and promptly misplaced the booklet, in which I'd put my ID# in order to join the facialbuilders forum. Rolling Eyes

I still haven't dug out that book from wherever it went, so I still haven't gotten past the public FE forum. Due to those frustrations I haven't done very much Flex Effect, but soon thereafter I discovered that some previous FE users had switched to a program called Carolyn's Facial Fitness and were absolutely thrilled with it. That was intriguing of course.

I was and still am incredibly impressed by Carolyn's program and her website. She has far and away the most believable, impressive, and inspiring array of before-during-and-after photos I have ever seen on any facial exercise site, with equally inspiring and believable testimonials. Her website also provides a great deal of information, with a very helpful FAQ, free sample exercises, and a thorough bio of how Carolyn developed her program. The exercises and techniques are not unique to her - the elements can be found in a variety of other programs - but she picked and chose and arranged in a way that is very thorough, balanced, and well-thought-out.

The materials are absolutely excellent IMO. There's a set of flash cards for each exercise - with a photograph depicting the move, not a drawing - a "cheat sheet" which I use every time I do the routine (actually, I typed up my own copy with additions, so I wouldn't beat up the flash card) and a booklet with a variety of additional exercises to include once the basic program is mastered. The DVD shows Carolyn herself demonstrating each exercise - including all recommended reps - and is extremely helpful. There are also CDs to use when one does the routine lying down, as Carolyn recommends (I can't remark on these as I am deaf so don't use them).

Carolyn also includes a technique I haven't seen used in any other program, called "rubbing out the wrinkles," which I've found seems to work surprisingly well on my forehead lines and have now started to experiment with on my neck rings.

My one problem with Carolyn's program (or two actually) - it takes about 25 minutes to half an hour (with the additional exercises) and she insists one lies down on their back to do it ... I had so much trouble finding time to lie down for half an hour and NOT fall asleep!! - I tried to stick to her program for four months and was never able to do more than two or three workouts a week (she recommends five a week).

Then I read about Loulou's Ageless if You Dare program, and decided to try it for the convenience & time factor - no problem staying upright and awake for Ageless! In fact I'm able to do Ageless exercises while sitting at the computer - not a possibility with Carolyn's program. I haven't been doing Ageless long enough yet to see any noticeable effects.

However ... I've discovered my forehead wrinkles gradually becoming more pronounced since I stopped doing CFF.

I recently became re-energized and re-motivated about doing CFF (esp. as my forehead wrinkles immediately showed an improvement after just two sessions) so now I'm experimenting with "my own thing" ... doing CFF on Saturday and Sunday, when I can actually lie down that long without falling asleep - and Ageless twice during the busy work week.

I know some people strongly recommend sticking to one program at a time, but I'm going to try this combination at least for a few months - I think Loulou's program isn't enough for me currently, but I can't stick to CFF as regularly as I'd need to for it to be my sole program.

It's always an experiment ... Smile

free skin care · Sun Jul 12, 2009 10:06 pm

First, Sister Sweets, it is so thoughtful and constructive of you to start this thread. Hugs and hats off to you Smile

This has been quite a journey for me. I am very passionate about facial exercises. I'd like to share my story and be honest but fair (I hope!) about the different programs I've tried and my experiences with them. I only do this because I know it's helpful to hear both positives and negatives about particular programs. So here it goes...

I discovered Carole Maggio's program when I was 20 years old. It was playing on an infomerical on T.V. Having been into bodybuilding in the past, it made so much sense to me at the time--more so than the electro-current type devices--that I purchased it. I immediately fell in love with her nose exercise (and still do it today! and yes, it really does work over the long haul), but after a while, I stopped doing the exercises. When I was 22-23, however, I noticed my nose was slowly growing on my face in a way that was not attractive Shock

. So I started doing Facercise again, especially, the nose exercise. I at least did the nose exercise religiously for several weeks, and in photographs on my train ID card (no longer have, sadly, to share the photos), I totally could see that my nose appeared smaller, both shorter and more tappered in a way that made it look slimmer just above the "bulb" of my nose. For the next couple of years, I did Facercise on and off, but mostly off.

Then when I hit 24-25, I started on a raw food diet and lost about 15 lbs, but I lost it extremely rapidly--in the course of 10 days--no exaggeration, including 1.5-2 inches off my thighs. (When my roommate came back from his 9-day holiday, he was shocked at how much weight and cellulite I had cut off my thighs in such a short time.) The big downside is the weight loss, though not a lot and still leaving me with a reasonable and healthy bodyfat percentage, killed my face. My face was gaunt, deflated, and drawn and looked sickly. Even my mother, who has nothing but nice things to say about everyone, told me that my face looked gaunt. Honestly, a huge part of this was because genetically, my mom's side of the family has very severe cheekbones, and so the face has this severe gaunt-like look even at normal weight; but with extra weight, this structure looks like high cheekbones with a modelesque curve in the buccinators. But I'm not willing to be overweight just to have a non-severe looking face. So I plowed myself back into Facercise. It worked for a while, but then stopped. I couldn't quite figure out what was happening, but after a while of the Facercise exercises, my face would look even more severe. This happened on and off for 3-4 years, again mostly off because I was not willing to keep going each time. Every time, when I first picked up the facial exercises, people would say I looked better, but then after a while, the effect would fade and I'd look worse. What I didn't understand at the time was the Facercise tones the muscles, but does not build them very much. Plus, the little bit of build that I was getting was in the mouth area, giving that chimpy look. What I know now is that exercising the cheek muscles as in Facercise was not going to bring me the build I needed to restore my face; however, it did make my face more toned. So What made my face look both good and bad at the same time was the tone without the volume. So my face had this strange young-old look to it, if you can imagine that. FWIW, I think part of the slightly strange tight look on Carol Maggio's face is from having fantastic tone, but not a lot of volume.

This continued until I was 28. I became very desperate again to find a solution. I ended up buying a couple more facial exercise programs at this point, including one specifically for the cheeks. It did not work; the exercises were still of the toning-variety, and the importance of resistance-training in facial exercise still hadn't dawned on me.

Then in Spring 2008, when I was 28, I decided once more to try to look at the different facial exercise programs out there. I looked at Carolyn's, FlexEffect's, Reinhold Benz's, Judith Olivia's, etc., etc. I looked at the before and afters, read all the information on all the webpages, etc., etc. For CFF, I loved the youthful look that Carolyn had in her cheeks and loved the fact that she developed her program based on studying a lot of different programs and I liked that she had befores and afters after a long time, but I did come across a few negative reviews of it. For Judith Olivia and Reinhold Benz, I thought their faces just looked oh-so-beautiful, but I had the impression that they were still rather young, unlike Deb and Carolyn, plus they didn't have much information available to read through. And for FlexEffect, I loved the "FlexEffect eyes" (I thought FlexEffect had the most beautiful results in the eye area, absolutely stunning) and that some of the Befores and Afters were after many months, not just days or weeks. I was also floored by Loulou's transformation and in awe of Denise's and Kay's transformations. As a bodybuilder, I also liked Deb's philosophy on facial exercise: that to replace the lost volume of youth, we need to not only tone muscle, but to build it, and that in the building of muscle, we also will restore some of the lost fat. I had a mini-aha moment then, because I figured that I was unlike most people who come to facial exercise: I had no slack on my face and no wrinkles, but I also had no volume, so I wasn't going to see much improvement from toning, I would need to do muscle-building...so no wonder why the toning exercises, which were so great for other people whose main issues were wrinkles and sagging, did not do so much for me. But I did see a couple negative reviews of FlexEffect, including one from a woman who switched to CFF. I was about to purchase CFF or Judith Olivia's program, especially because of the price ($75 seemed like a lot), but at the last minute, something made me change my mind...

So I purchased FlexEffect instead. I dove right into the forum, and like Vangirl, started reading a lot. One of the things I first read about was the 3-minute massage test: pick the weakest area on your face, and massage it for 3 minutes a day, 1-2x a day. I was not afraid to massage my face aggressively because I had learned a couple years earlier of a woman who had been doing aggressive body massage all over her and clients' bodies. She had such phenomenal results, and her clients looked much so younger that she was filmed for the Discovery channel--so not only did I KNOW that aggressive massage worked, I already knew that I wanted to do it for the rest of my life before even coming across FlexEffect. Carol Maggio's No Lipo Lipo is also based on the principle of aggressive massage, but using it to target cellulite (I have that too and love it!). FWIW, the theory a doctor came up for why massage works at beautifying the skin not only stimulates circulation, but that moderate skin stretching induces the production of new collagen and skin cells. When my FlexEffect program finally came, I did the recommended touch test--this is where you feel the thickness of all your tissues. I did this, and was shocked at how thin my eye tissue and cheek tissue was. In fact, I felt a huge drop in tissue thickness in palpitating from my cheek to eye area. So I started by doing the 3-minute massage test. Within one week, my under-eye tissue doubled in thickness! It was really great. I never needed any convincing about the effectiveness of the massage, but wow, did this help with my under-eye circles.

I put in a lot of time (A LOT!) in the early stages on the FlexEffect forum, and I don't think I would have gotten where I am today without that large upfront invest of time. The reason why is that it allowed me to be aware of pitfalls, manage my expectations better (i.e., delays expectations to more realistic levels), and optimize my routine. Here are some examples:
(1) The mouth muscle tends to build fast on many people, so be careful not to let it overbuild else you'll get a chimpy look;
(2) The jaw muscle tends to build fast on people, so be careful else you'll get a masculine looking jaw. I personally think that a stronger jaw look very elegant on a woman, but I find that it *only* works if you have big cheeks. Otherwise, a strong jaw looks masculine. On the contrary, on the opposite end of the spectrum, a weak or thin jawline looks aging to me, which is something that I don't think a lot of people realize when they purposefully neglect exercising the jaw. So I think the key is not let your jawline build too fast relative to your cheeks.
(3) That the eye area is sensitive and shows signs of stress very easily, so not to go at it aggressively.
(4) That there can be awkward stages since muscles build at different rates, especially the buccinator (side of cheek), which gives a gaunt or sucked in look before it starts building out. Fortunately, I didn't have that problem, as I started off in an awkward phase and spent most of the last 5 years in an awkward phase Sad

(5) That while following the full FlexEffect program was frequently recommended IF a person was willing to devote the time, that you can tailor the program...which I did starting in small ways in the beginning. For example, I knew my biggest challenge was going to be my cheeks, so from virtually the start, I exercised all 6 cheeks muscles every day, except on my one day a week rest day.
(6) That much more time is needed to get through the repair stage, than once you are in maintenance stage. This is no different from body exercise/weightlighting. Repair/building is hard, maintenance is easy.
(7) That sometimes results take a long, long time. For example, I recall that Loli said it took her three years to finally get her jawline to build out (in a nice feminine way, of course).
(8.) That spot-training can get you into trouble. See Claudia's previous link in this thread.

For the first 6 months, I exercised about 5-6 days a week for only 15-20 minutes, as that was all I felt I could afford time-wise. I did most of the exercises from the FlexEffect sample routine on the DVD plus added exercises for the cheek muscles not targeted on the DVD, so that I was hitting all 6 cheek muscles. I put more emphasis on my cheek exercises, but I made sure not to spot train, so I ensured I hit each area of my face a couple times each week. After initially learning about 15-20 exercises, I very slowly built up my repertoire of FlexEffect exercises, otherwise it would have been overwhelming and unmanageable for me.

In the first 4 months, aside from a modest increase in skin thickness and a small improvement in my undereye area, mostly from the massage I think, I saw no significant changes/build in my facial muscles. NONE. I do believe that we are all different, but I am always surprised when people get results so fast and saddened when people give up so early. Of course, I do understand that people see results on very different time scales based on their issues/problems (wrinkles, lack of tone, lack of volume, muscle imbalance, etc.) and on their background (age, overall health, previous facial exercise experience, etc.) Smile

Anyways, at 4.5 months, my skin made a huge leap forward; I had much less acne on my face (I did not have much to begin with, but I could still see the difference), and my face seemed just less sensitive to external and internal influences in a positive way. My skin also had much better circulation and vitality.

Around the 5 month mark, I started to see the first signs of build in my upper cheeks. Over each succeeding month for the next several months, I noticed more and more build in my upper cheeks. Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble with my lower face during this time. While I have pretty good mind-muscle connection or was able to establish this quickly with almost all the muscles in my face, my buccinators and risorius (lower cheek) where incredibly resistant (and my zymogaticus muscles to some degree also). As a result, I was making not much progress in my lower face, and it was still looking awful. I want to be very honest about my experiences, so that I can help others. It was HARD for me to keep up my morale--though it's much harder when you are consumed constantly in looking and hoping for changes--and often it felt like I was on a rollercoaster ride. It's really hard to feel bad about the condition of one's face and that invest all that into a hope that you are not sure will work. But it was about a month after my darkest hours of doubt that I really started to make progress. I think I hit the darkest point before I really started to make progress because I knew I was working the muscles well so that progress should be coming, but it didn't...or at least, not as quickly as I had hoped.

After 6 months, I started to see the tiniest little bit of my lower gaunt cheek (the buccinators area) slowly start to fill in. Over months 6-9, I could see small progress month to month. Around month 8-9, I had made enough progress in my upper cheeks that I started to look much, much better, even with the sunken in lower cheeks, as the fullness in my upper cheeks distracted the eye from my cheek hollows. That was when I felt "the turning point", so to speak.

In month 11-12, my platsyma has really started to fill out in a beautiful and soft way especially around my jawline in a way similar to Loli. The narrow, thin jawline was aging me and not helping with the hollows. I can see know that my buccinators (the hollow part) seems to have been reduced from the edges inwards, if this makes sense. So the hollows are smaller but also shallower.

Very recently, I have just past the 1 year mark. I'm very, very happy with my progress on FlexEffect, but mind you, I have not reached my goals. To be honest, I naively thought that I would be able to reach my goals within 6 months, but now I understand what it takes. So I get it now, if that makes sense. I get why it is not easy, why awkward stages happen (it's not easy to build muscles in perfect balance, though it gets easier with accumulated experience). I still have more volume to build in my cheeks, and to be honest, some days, I love my cheeks, and other days, the end goal still feels far away. But ultimately, I feel so much better about myself--it's just a relief that I don't look gaunt anywhere. I feel so much more empowered. And I do notice that people look at me now as if I'm more attractive...in fact, I'd almost forgot what that's like, enough so that it surprises me when it happens.

About some of the other programs I've purchased...Of course, around the 5-6 month point, in my darkest hours, I purchased two more facial exercise programs: LL's Ageless and another program. The other program, not CFF, but similar to CFF in that the developer claimed to have purchased every program out there and had developed her own program focused way too much on toning exercises for my liking, most of which I'd seen elsewhere. However, now that I was wiser, I understood why this program worked so well for the developer: she had a very full face and had even claimed that her face was too full for her liking, and her main problem was sag, so of course, a well-thought out toning program could bring her most of the results she wanted, but such a program would be completely useless for me and my volume-loss issues. Regarding the second program, LL's Ageless, I would rate it my second favorite program, but to be honest, it's a distant second to FlexEffect for me. What I love about it is the emphasis on the cheeks, the ease of the program, the emphasis on training hard and resting a bit longer, and its design to try to minimize awkward stages. But honestly, I had learned and started doing some of this just from reading all the posts on the FlexEffect Forum. What I don't like about it is I feel the grips are not nearly as effective as the FlexEffect grips. First, LL is cavalier about the position and other details of the grip, but as a former weightlifter, I find that grip and technique are everything in bodybuilding, so I didn't like that aspect of Ageless. For example, a slight inward rotation in the wrist while doing a bicep curl will get you that desirable upper cut on the bicep, but a slight outward rotation wouldn't. But an even stronger inward rotation will help also build the upper forearm, so exact grip and technique affect not only which fibers in the muscles are used, but also which muscles. The second thing about the grips were that you pinch a chunk of flesh around the muscle being worked and that serves as a weight. For me personally, I tended to find these to be less effective than the FlexEffect exercises for the same muscles (with the exception of the zygomaticus major and minor muscles, for which I find Loulou's exercises to be somewhat more effective than the FE basic version, but must less effective than the FE advanced versions of these same exercises); in general, I find that for me I cannot apply nearly as much resistance or as much control with the Ageless technique, and those are things I value greatly. Finally, I want to mention two things that I have somewhat mixed but more negative than positive feelings on: (1) I both appreciate Ageless's over-emphasis on the cheeks, since that area tends to have the most effect on the face, and be off-put by it, since it purposely neglects and/or downplays other muscle groups (for example, LL recommends that certain muscles, like the forehead, atrophy since they don't contribute as much to the look of the face), which is not a wholistic approach; and (2) while the one-size fits all provides guidance and provides a great starting point, obviously one training program does not fit all, as Sister Sweets has pointed out.

So overall, FlexEffect is my favorite program by far--but that said, I am totally for picking and choosing the best exercises from all programs out there. But it just so happens that of all the other programs I've tried, the only exercises I use from other programs are Carol Maggio's nose shortener exercise (love it!!!!!) and Loulou's lip exercise (#10; also love it!), so I do really find most the FE exercises to be the best at tackling each particular muscle. That qualifier "most" is also in there because for a handful of exercises I've had to make some slight variations to the FlexEffect grips due the physical limitations of my finger strength. But even though I think FlexEffect is the best program out there by far, I still can completely see why some people don't like it or have issues with it. For example, because FlexEffect does not say one size fits all and there are not trainers in every city, the newbie feels so much more on his/her own and it requires more of an investment of time to understand one's own facial exercise needs; this is not a problem for some, but it can be devastating for others, especially if you need help through the awkward stages or are not executing the exercises probably and don't know it. And while the forum is great, it can be a challenge for a newbie working with a person over the forum to try to diagnose the problem without in-person contact or over Skype contact...But if you have serious problems with volume loss, like I do, I don't think any of the other programs deliver on that count as much as FlexEffect does. So for me, the additional initial time investment and uncertainty was sooooooo worth it.

But returning to the spirit of this thread, the bottomline is: with any facial program out there, you should get results! Seriously. All of them should deliver at least some tone and circulation improvements. However, most of them do not deliver significant restoration of age-associated or other induced volume loss; or they are mostly toning exercises with a few building exercises thrown in the mix. And of course, the programs also differ in techniques, rest schedules, philosophy, time commitment, etc. If it were me, I would at least try a few programs, since many of them come highly recommended and it's not obvious at first what is the best...at least, that has been my approach. And the final ingredients you need for success are (1) correctly calibrated expectations (that you should expect to see results in months, not days), and (2) lots and lots of patience and a healthy mental attitude Smile

I sincerely hopes this helps people! Smile

free skin care · Wed Jul 29, 2009 6:23 pm

If you think you are spending way too much time into your facial exercise routine there is a good way to keep it up focusing totally in every second of your training and nothing else, I mean, NOTHING else.

What you do is:
a) get familiar with the exercises you want to use in your routine.
b) take a moment to record a simple cd or an mp3 with your own voice, talking or counting reps, reminders, notes, tweakings, whatever is adapted to your needs. Remember it is only for you
c) add some background music if you like it (I personally like it a lot, BPM's can help keep the rythm, I like energizing music in the mornings and feel that I am dancing with my face, LOL! and relaxing music is good for night sessions or massage)
d) if you want to, add any extra as massage with directions on other tracks, or the use of beauty tools to control time.

To make the record can be a little time consuming when you are trying to decide what to include and how to do it. But is fun! AND, you might spend an hour of your weekend doing it, but the time you will save during the week while exercisiing is worth it.
It keeps you totally focused on your training and go for it intensely, knowing you are going to spend as much time as you want to. Besides you got a commitment with yourself.

If you decide 15 mins, then go for your 15 min, if you want to split it in 2 sessions, great, or alternating days, of doing some ex. for 2 weeks and some others the next 2 weeks.. Or make an special record for your car containig certain ex.
It is a good way to train, AND you know EXACTLY how much TIME you are going to spend at the day. Not more not less. It is amazing how many exercises can you squeze in 15 min this way.

It helped me a lot in the past.

When I did my own record I was totally surprised on how could I go for a session of exercisisng using practically half the time I did before.

free skin care · Wed Jul 29, 2009 7:44 pm

Zenity, thanks that's a great idea.

I remember seeing your cropped pics on FE and I was so blown away with how you managed to fill in your lower cheek hollows. I'm struggling with that. Any suggestions?

EDITED: Zenity, I found the thread on FE with the little balls... I am going to get the balls and try it out. Loli had mentioned something similar as well.

Are you still doing the cupping? That seems to have helped your hollows out as well.

Thanks

Vangirl

free skin care · Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:24 pm

I am amazed at the barage of great suggestions in these recent posts.

I think the important thing is dont' feel overwhelmed with it. Even when I don't have a lot of free time (three kids, single parent, full-time job, boyfriend, gym, etc, etc).... I will do 'some' exercises. I don't stress about it but I know if I get some in I'm okay in my own mind. And that's important.

Maybe I'll just get to do a set of the eye excercises or some of the cheek exercises. Even if I do the full set of Fe (which for me is closer to 30, not 40) I feel accomplished and I try to do this at least three times a week. It all adds up. Burn out happens when you expect too much of both yourself and the exercises.

Other days I do LL's and some of Carole Maggio's - she has some that are so easy to fit in - love them. Make it work for you and it will be a labor of love.

free skin care · Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:35 am

Thought I might pipe up with something positive on this topic (for a change Laughing

) and give an update of my progress.

I just went and checked the date of my download of Ageless to see how long I've been at it, and realized that I'll soon have been doing facial exercises for six months! Time flies! I had imagined it was more like 3 or 4. Anyway, as the program is short and easy, I've found no problem doing it at least 4-5 times a week on average (sometimes more, and I think I fell down to only a couple of times during one or two busy periods). It's remarkable how much stronger my face muscles are compared to where I started. I remember having trouble trying to do all the reps, and problems with strength in my hands etc.

Lately I've been so surprised by the changes in my face. The same things to report as others - more open and awake/bright looking eyes, much more firm cheeks with muscles that have appeared to have thickened, and a fuller mouth!!

I recently went on a camping/canoe trip with my husband, (where of course he was taking his usual endless photos of me sans make-up and feeling grubby). Looking back at them I was expecting to see my usual baggy tired eyes, puffy and slightly sick looking face, instead I was shocked (and I mean SHOCKED) that a healthy face was in all the photos. I'm still kind of reeling, because I'm so used to there just being the occasional photo in great lighting that looks ok (which is NOT bright outdoor light!).

My husband has been commenting quite a lot on how much better I look these days compared to a few years ago. There are a couple of other things I've done that I feel has greatly affected my looks, one is stopping gluten (I know I keep mentioning this - I'm just trying to be fair to attribute credit to everything) which had aside from other things affected my looks by making me look puffy and doughy in the face with enormous eye bags. Every photographer I've worked with since my early twenties found my eye bags incredibly bothersome, and my pictures ALL needed fixing in this area. Stopping gluten brought down quite a bit of the swelling but left me feeling still a bit fluidy in the lower cheeks where it would mostly collect, so another thing I really got into was fairly vigorous facial massage. I started with the Vaculifter (which I love and use almost every morning), and now I use my hands/knuckles to drain my face out towards my lymph and to give my muscles a thorough rub down.

The massage and stopping gluten in my diet definitely helped my skin bounce back incredibly well, but I can only credit the tone of my underlying muscles, and new fresh look to my face to the facial exercises. It's taken quite a while to really notice it (it's really only been the last couple of weeks that I've been completely certain - seeing the pics confirmed it). My face really feels firm!

Well, there's been a few difficulties, such as some mouth pouches that I developed along the way which seem to be blending better now. I can actually feel what seems to be a thick band of muscle that starts just above the sides of my mouth and goes down what people refer to as the marrionette line. It feels like a thick chord that starts above the mouth and goes down to the chin!! No idea what the muscle is, but it's not the obicularis thingy as it's straight and not round - any ideas anyone?

My thoughts these days are that I really enjoy facial exercises and love the results. I'm not a fan of some things surrounding the programs...but I've discussed those elsewhere, and this is about progress. Soon I'll invest in FE so that I can learn some more exercises and hopefully tailor a nice workout to build on what I've achieved so far and keep improving.

There you have it, I hope it's encouraging to someone who's at the 2-4 month mark and feeling discouraged.

BTW I did all the ex's every day (except the occasional extras) with the odd day off. That's just cos I'm gungho and wanted fast results. I'm not recommending that others do that, too as I do believe the down-time is just as important as the exercise time. For me there were always days when I 'couldn't' exercise, which I felt always gave me enough recovery time.

free skin care · Thu Jul 30, 2009 6:47 pm

OK. First pic is my eyes three years ago still eating gluten, not facial exercising or massaging, and second is last week, doing all of those things, plus better skin care. A lot of the pigmentation has gone too.

Unfortunately after the puff went down, my tear troughs suddenly became evident that they had hollowed Sad

(still working on that!)

Also, the first pic I'm wearing make-up and concealer (to minimise bags Laughing

)and is outside on a cloudy day and the second one is on a camping trip without make-up but is inside a tent with slightly diffused afternoon sun.

Wow! It's so hard trying to find photographs that are even slightly on a similar angle/lighting!! Whew! That was hard work!

free skin care · Sat Aug 01, 2009 4:26 am

It is there along with some great recipes from others!!!

free skin care · Wed Aug 05, 2009 9:48 pm

Hey Sis... I think it can happen through all phases of ANY development... You can continue to "find" new muscle fibers that you haven't hit yet. (just like body building... there is always a way to hit the muscle from a different angle... and therefore get added benefit)

The tired look being that you do just that.

Now, It's really important not to just brush off that tired look to simply your exercises.. I think if your face is showing a noticeable negative appearance, you need to check in with all the other variables. Hormones, (cover your ears...) Diet, sleep, stress. We live in an economy where I think you will start noticing the impact of how bad things are on the faces of people around you... it all adds up.

Yes, there would be added benefit to holding for 10 seconds. You should feel a fatigue with this. So, It's not something I would recommend to just start doing daily. But a great way to change things up a bit.

free skin care · Thu Aug 06, 2009 7:33 am

Hey Sister Sweets,

I'm 14 months in and I get a tired look occasionally. I think it's from overwork... so when I get that look I usually take a two-day break.

Also, wanted to say I just finished my second round of cheek bootcamp. I was really hoping that at the end of the 3 wks huge apple cheeks would jump out at me. Instead, I looked super fatigued so I took 4 days off and just massaged. I really uppped the massage to my lower cheek area (an area that I had neglected for about 4 months). Now, I feel that I've hit another level in my flexing. My whole lower face is a lot smoother and my nl's are really diminished, as are my marionnettes. The hollows are almost all filled in now and the pouchy on the left side of my face is smooth. I think the improvement is cumulative but I'm sure bootcamp helps kick it up a notch.

I've really ticked off a lot of my goals now with flexing (still want more volume in my cheeks, but I just think that it will come with time). Hoping that the diminished nls and pouchies are here to stay. I think the FE lower cheek massage is probably more key than I had realized.

Trigger, Loli told me that she can feel her cheeks against her teeth. I think she was telling me that mastering cheek press/adv, corner mouth pull and massage would get me to that point. I do notice that my cheeks are much thicker to the touch.

Vangirl

free skin care · Thu Dec 10, 2009 5:08 am

Hi Critic

I didn’t explain myself properly, so thanks for pointing this out. The percentages are roughly ideas I have of the amount of time I personally have spent on my own face. I didn’t include diet in that equation, as I believe for me its impossible to separate it, as diet is priority for me personally and the other stuff comes after that.

Its not that I think facial exercises produce 30% results. I had intended to say that the reason for my face being as healthy as it is, has been because I have focused a great deal of my training time on the massage and probably have spent more time massaging my face than exercising it. I do the 40 exercises in the current book (and have done for years and still get results from them) and they are so second nature to me now. With the massage however, having trained in so many different forms, I have always experimented with my own face as well as working on clients, and so in the greater course of things I would imagine that I have spent 60-70% of the total time so far on my face. I suspect that in the same context out of the entire time I have spent on my face 40-30% is the time I would have spent on the exercises in comparison.

I think everyone can benefit from facial exercise, and didn’t see your post as an attack at all. But of course they don’t produce overnight success which is where I think the problem lies as many people want results yesterday. I don’t think there is a risk as such for any facial exercise apart from learning about your own facial structure, say which muscles are stronger (and bulk up quickly) and which ones are weaker (and won’t want to play for a while). Also the muscles (just like the body) don’t all switch on at once, and that’s also partly the problem.

I think facial exercises can produce results, and my face would by now be sagging without them, but I think they play a small role compared with Diet and Massage but nevertheless just as an important role.

I have always though DIET is crucial to general health (and interestingly enough that’s how I got involved in this stuff in the first place) because of my own situations and case, and then being involved in a car accident at a young age and having the lower right hand side of my jaw damaged, it spiraled me into this exciting world. I haven’t always done FlexEffect, but did another system prior to that, which did produce some great results, but then I hit a plateau (as many people do). The reason for that plateau looking back now is so obvious, its because the system was only for toning, not building muscle and helping the muscle to remain at its prime. That’s why I truly believe FlexEffect is one of the best programs, because it goes after all the muscles aggressively, it doesn’t leave an out, but of course it is aggressive and so if people are too scared to touch their own faces this isn’t for them right now, but sooner or later I think more and more people will turn to facial exercises and experience great results.

Thanks for the opportunity to clarify this Critic!

Sean

critic wrote:

SeanySeanUK wrote:

Deb has always said half her successful results was due to massage, and I personally think part of the reason my facial tissue has remained so healthy is at least 60-70% because of the massage, but I also recognize the exercises have played an important role in that too. I think also DIET is fundamental no matter what program your doing (I know call me a parrot but its so true, look at the threads starting to appear on green smoothies etc).
Sean

Sean, I am not attacking or against facial exercise, I believe some people will benefit from facial exercise. However, if 60-70% are based on massage, + ?% exercise + ?% diet, how many left for facial exercise, 10% or less? In that case, do you think it is worth to risk trying facial exercise?

I totally agree with you on diet and exercise, as they are so important and many people overlook.

I work with a group of age 55+ American men. The one who exercise look so much younger and better than the one who don't.

free skin care · Fri Dec 11, 2009 6:08 pm

Here's my update on facial exercises...

I've been doing FE since July 2008. Great progress overall for the first 7-8 mos. Developed gauntness in my lower face (hollow scooped cheek) and it seems overall a general loss of volume. My face had always had plenty of fat and had had a soft as opposed to an angular look all my life.

I now look quite angular. My face is overly defined -- instead of a soft wide cheek, I now have a defined ridge along my cheekbone and gauntness below. My cheeks are smaller. I have a modelly silhouette that is not flattering on a woman of 43. More than one person has commented on it. I posted extensively with pics on FE's workshop forum, got a lot of input and followed most of the recommendations. Now it's three months later and vis a vis gauntness, my face hasn't changed. I upped my protein (for 2 months 75-90 g a day -- sorry, but I think this is too much and have cut back), I've gained 6 lbs, I've tested my hormones (fine). Still gaunt.
So. I've taken a rest from all the exercises (hard to do when I start seeing NL's developing and mouth pouches --- I had pretty much conquered those previously) for the last two weeks and am going to continue for another two in the hopes that I can get some softness and volume back. I'm going to get a series of microcurrrent facials. I am hoping that the microcurrent will kickstart my buccinator muscle (the one responsible for the hollow cheek) and fill this area out. I think I need my upper cheeks to atrophy a bit as the built up upper cheek coupled with the gaunt hollow exacerbates the problem. My stats for FE:

Excellent progress and very happy with:
forehead/eyes (one is a bit lazy, but I am working on it)/jaw/neckline/upper cheek/brow. Not happy with mid and lower cheeks. Pretty happy with NL's.

I don't want to post my pics publically. However, if any of you access the Ageless forum, my gauntness is similar to ocdinaway and Nere's (but much worse).

That's my progress in a nutshell!

free skin care · Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:58 pm

trigger wrote:

Oh my goodness. _____ has the exact same thing happen to her that happened to me! See how she suddenly developed a parenthesis line around her mouth, and then another line further out? That's what I've got! I've got a big more pouchiness inside the first parenthesis though. It really confirms for me that I really didn't suddenly just age out of the blue (of course you question that something that's meant to be helpful could suddenly age you so much, and consider you may have just suddenly aged yourself).

I got parentheses and a pouch for awhile. Slight rejigging of exercises and time settled that. I think they're common in the facial 'rebuilding process.' Unfortch at that point, it seems like a lot of people drop out.

trigger wrote:

Very glad you got some good results Vangirl. So long as they don't overshadow any of the negative effects, I guess you still feel it was worth it?

I should say that my intent with starting FE's was that there was a general sort of sliding down look to my face...features sliding towards my mouth. That look is gone. Prior to fe's I was doing botox for a number of years and resty to the eye hollows. I no longer have to do either. I hope that I can find a way to plump my lower face without having the sag come back...and then keep doing the ex's. If I can't then right now I think what I would probably do is go back to full exercise and just get a lil something for my hollows (sculptura/perlane). I was very happy with the way I had eliminated all that sag and incipient sag -- just hoping that the ramification wasn't cheek hollows.

As far as the Tananka, I have followed that thread and am going to wait until some of the middle-aged Caucasians post later (ie a few months down the road) results. I think young people and older Asians have generally more subcutaneous fat and don't have quite the same sagging issues. I just don't want to jump from life raft to life raft. Having said that, I am thinking about the AALS...

VG

free skin care · Mon Dec 14, 2009 7:02 pm

Just want to chime in to explain my theory about how the buccinator can be expanded and filled.

As some of you know from the FE forums I have been at the side of the "gaunty" people, and I can easily return to that sucked in lower cheek look. Does not help being thin by nature as for me gaining few pound is an odissey.

Age is another factor, I am getting closer to my 40's not to my 20's, but, after experimenting for a while I have found what does the trick for me, at least.

I do not follow any specific program at all, but my "training" regime -if I can dare to call it that way- includes just few intense exercises addressed to the buccinators at the week. As my position about facial exercising is very relaxed at this point of my life, after following intense and stric training schedules, do not ask me for an specific regime. I know what I do, but I do not focus on reps or time. I just take my moment of the day, when I feel like, and start doing my exercises enjoying them, not as a sacrifice for the sake of my beauty or my youthful look. The more relaxed I am the best results I am achieving.

While I exercise I see a beautiful woman in the mirror. The more beautiful I see myself the more beautiful I look.

I have recently gone through a bad decease (5 months of liver decease caused by an hepathitis) related to my liver and besides the physical effects on my health and body I could not recognize myself. I didn't look only gaunt but sick. Imagine someone addicted to heroine. I was 45 kg wich for me was about 8 kg underweight. All what my body and face was previos my sickness was gone. I looked like a ghost of myself. I have been having my period every 4 to 5 days (BTW ladies, liver is directly related to menstruation) I couldn't take care of my little one to the point of not having the strenght to get the spoon to feed her, not to mention to give her a bath. One of my sisters had to come over to stay day and night taking care of us.

That has been my life for the past months. Going throuhg all of that I have been seriously thinking that I had a lypodistrophy ( a dicease that is characterized by the absence of fat at you face) and getting informed in fat transfer procedures, just in case....

The worse I felt the more obssesed I became to get back to be and feel like me again.

Nothing that had worked in the past did work now, so I took adventage of my sickness, and start watching myself, my body and my reactions taking mental notes of everything.

First of all, being so thin I could see almost every single muscle of my body, and naturally face. As my face was previously trained I could practically see and identify visually many of the muscles that I could only feel before. That was a good time for me to learn a lot.

Going back to the buccinator or what I prefer to call the lower face area.
For the gaunt look, I just want to add my reflexions here.
I am not a trainer and all my experience is personal. I know probably some profesional on this field will chime in with a more educated vision to correct or explain what they think, but again under MY personal experience this is what I know.

Each muscle has its own function and shape. Buccinators push your lower area towards the teeth. That means that it's natural tendendy is to go in, not out.
Think about abs on a fat person. Abs are suppose to be the girdle of your mid-low body, holding the visceras in place, stomach, intestines etc. On a fat person the lack of exercise and the expansion of the viscera makes them stretch out and sag. If they get back in shape they will push in all the tissue back in place. If they keep being exercised, then, and only then, they will build up to the point of being the wash table noticeable at the touch. And finally if the fat gets burned then they will be visually noticed, as the weight lifting professionals.

At our face, specially for people who does not have fat, training the buccinator, if its out of its natural shape, means recovering its location: It will go back to place. That's not the bad at all. It will help with jaw pouches if any are present. Then it will go back to its natural function wich is exactly to push against your teeth. And THAT is the real problem. Does mean a good thing: whatever you are doing is working. But you are not getting the look you want: sucked in cheeks. So at this point you have two options, stop training or keep training harder with the hope that one day, sooner or later you will build up enough muscle to actually fill in that area.

Well, there is another option. At least for me.

If you are familiar with the use of tissue expansion through the use of suction (it is medically used to expand tissue after a mastectomy to create room for the new implants, also it is used as an alternative for natural breat and penis enlargement and, to fill up hypotrophic scars) then you know what I am talking about. I have posted about it on the FE threads and at the vaculift thread here in the past when I discovered the adventages of performing a massage through the use of vacuuming systems as the vaculifter or cupping sets.

When I started to feel better I began to use the suction on my face trying to fill back my hollows as I did in the past. But this time I was under-weigh, so I started to insist a bit more than usual in my lower face conciously knowing (better said, hopping, and visualizing) I would create an space to be filled with my muscles and my fat if I would ever get able to get it back. It has been a very intuitive process. I just trusted my body as I did when none knew what decease I had and they insist to me on eating tons of calories as i kept loosing weight but my body only was cravign for fresh and non processed food.

I started training focusing on intensity of resistance but avoiding many reps or the temptation of overworking the area. Did the tissue expansion pre exercising and I did not exercise every day but I did the expansion thing daily on my lower cheeks and just a vaccum massage at the rest fo my face.
Putting some weight back has been difficult but I have been on an strict diet after my liver detox program to get my weight back. I know I have built a solid muscle there and, I can tell I have more fat than before getting ill, even though I am still under my normal weight. Could it be psicosomathyc? Honestly I don't know. But the feeling on my lower cheeks is fullness not only visually or because the inflamation. But a very very thick tissue staying there now.

I am "almost" totally recovered now and the one thing that it has surprised me the most is that my lower cheek area is more solid than ever. Including pre getting sick when I had a pretty good system of my own exercises that worked wonders for me.
I have almost returned to my normal weight (still struggling to get 2 more kilos) but my face looks full and homogeneus, not fat, not round as when I was a teenager but not sharp or hard on my features as it has been at some points of my experiencing while training.
As my priority has been getting recovered from my illness I have not been really focused on my beauty side... But! Somehow being so relaxed about it has made me achieve better results than ever before.
Filling up those hollows and getting rid of my super-dark circles has been my priority on my face, but I have been focused on them as a physical contidion not as a beauty target.

My body feels much better now. And I have started to do other wonderful things for my body that are working great.
I really don't know if this is somehow self-suggestion or self-conviction (as I can be very stubborn when I have a goal) but if I die tomorrow I will leave a beautiful and healthy body to bury behind me. LOL!

I have done many things to help my contidion as traditional medicine would not have a way to help me. But I am glad I have persisted as I feel and look better. I am now on a maintenance state. Just doing the tanaka massage with caution as I do not want to move my little fat or muscle out of place, which it can be done with persistance. I mean you can make your fat migrate or move from some parts of your body to some others.
I know 'cause now that I have some I am making a massage to fill up my upper chest. (there are lots of chinese, korean and japanese videos about how to perform this properly)

Sorry for my long speech! Gosh! my fingers just like to type!

Anyway, I do not want to encourage anyone to do what I do. But if this makes any sense to you and you have nothing to loose you might want to investigate and get your OWN conclussions wich, at the end, is what we all are doing here, right?

Best to all!

free skin care · Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:20 pm

I know many of us facial exercisers are also doing massage. I am and I love it. For months and months I was doing something more or less non-specific. I was pinching my skin starting at forehead at least three times in each area. And then rubbing, tapping, etc while moving down my face and I could feel it, see the blood flow. The goal was collagen growth, increase of thickness in the epithelium and I could feel this happening. So, no complaints.

Now, like others I am enjoying the Tanaka massage courtesy of critic. It is wonderful mentally and physically from a standpoint of the movements are planned and specific. You know you are working with your body in terms of lymph movement and circulation in your face. It feels good and it makes sense and the results are seen in Tanaka herself. (I love anecdotal evidence when the evidence is obvious outcome-based!).
You won't see scientific studies telling you that it works if that is your thing. For those of us who are faithfully following a facial exercise program this is a wonderful adjunct. And for anyone really. It feels like baseline health.

For the last few weeks I have cut back somewhat on facial exercise. I still do daily facial exercise and maintain a rigorous approach with the exercises I do but the sessions are not as long as I had been doing. The difference is I rotate exercises around. Cheeks I do almost everyday still but eyes, lips, neck I rotate. When I go to the gym I do at least one neck exercise there. Plus I have some "fill-in" ones I do here and there (lip exercise from Ageless or FE - the pout one!). Or the nose shortener from CM. These I do in the car going to or fro.

Tanaka massage is the daily ticket. Once daily I focus on this massage. It is meditative - relaxing and rejuvenating at the same time. I'm going to see what comes of it.

I won't stop facial exercise. I've worked too hard to get my face in it's "upward" position. I don't use any other gadgets designed for this and no fillers so my lifting results are strictly massage and facial exercise. (though wish I had a few of the gadgets). Facial exercise is a lifelong thing for me as the results are clear. I truly believe in it and I can see massage being a part of that as well.

For any of you who are trying to figure out a massage to compliment your facial exercise I recommend the Tanaka massage. It's good for you Smile

and can be done in five minutes. That and 10 minutes or so of facial exercise and you've given yourself a wonderful boost. Your face will thank you.

free skin care · Thu May 20, 2010 9:58 am

Jackie284 wrote:

thanks pleiades!

is this still ok to take if I am not someone who does weight training etc? I'm worried about gaining weight with something like this, which is whjy I have out off trying it in the past. However, the lack of build I am experiencing is causing me great frustration,

thanks for your help

Jackie xx

You most certainly can take whey protein whether or not you are weight training.
Well, one (supplied cup in product)scoop (on average) of Whey Protein will add about 140 calories. So in order to maintain your weight, you'd cut out other foodstuffs which equal 140 cal...but if you're cutting out extra carbs as well as adding the protein, then you should see muscle build as well as some nominal fat loss. As far as isolated muscle gain, I'm assuming, just like fat, that one's body is pre-disposed as to where it would see *bigger* gains. I'm not a scientist so, hopefully, members here, who are, will comment. Smile

I honestly think it would be worth a trial for you, Jackie.

free skin care · Thu May 20, 2010 6:49 pm

pleiades wrote:

Jackie284 wrote:

Hi girls,

with regard to feeding and maintaining muscle, does anyone use anything like a protein powder (like what body builders use) to help build muscle? I am finding it really hard to build muscle lately, and even if I do see a build, it is normally gone during the days I am taking a break from facial exercise.

I had a great build from FE a couple of years back, than I stopped to try ageless (which really didn't suit me) and the position and muscle tone of my cheek area has never recovered. I ensure I do get plenty of protein in my diet, but this doesn't seem to be enough. I am therefore thinking of trying a protein supplement, but needless to say do not want to add any bulk anywhere else - lol,

Jackie xx

Hi Jackie! I use whey protein in my smoothie in the morning, and then after wts/aerobic body ex. I believe it does help with muscle gain. I've noticed it has, along with the cheek exercises, helped me gain some fullness:

Hi Pleides - so kind of you to share pictures. Always love that here on EDS. I do see a change in the ones you have shared. You are so lovely!

I agree if you add a certain amount of protein (or any nutrient) you need to decrease in another area to not have added calories and increase weight!

I see this as a problem (particulary with men) who think they are going to build muscle by adding "protein" drinks and really they only end up adding calories and the extra calories aren't necessary for the muscle build. There's only so much extra protein we can all use. A real body builder does have the need but most of us do not. Quality protein is important though.

free skin care · Sun Apr 24, 2011 4:43 am

Tonia wrote:

Dotty, please keep us posted on that. I have problems with sleep and generalized aching too. I went to the doctor about it. They ran a few tests and said, "it must be stress." Maybe they're right but it seems like more to me. Since those problems started, I've started to have sagging in my cheeks that I didn't have before. I have wondered if it is all connected. Please post any findings.

Hi Tonia ~ Absolutely connected!! I find that when I am overly stressed, all of my muscles become fatigued. I don't have any findings to post, just anecdotal evidence....it shows right away in my face!! LOL! Whenever that happens, I just do additional cheek pumps (Carole Maggio's) to counteract the stress and deep breathing. A little whiff of lavender essential oil doesn't hurt either...known to be a stress reducer in the herbal community. Best, Aprile Smile

free skin care · Fri Apr 29, 2011 6:09 am

Vor wrote:

The less we move our faces, the fewer wrinkles we get.

Not so - been doing facial exercises for YEARS now. Don't know where I'd be w/out them.

This is from Deb's site (FlexEffect)

Mark E. McGovern, M.D., FACC, FACP
Miami, FL

"...I have been doing FlexEffect for over a year. My results, to say the least, have been fantastic. I practice them about 20 -25 minutes almost every day.

From a scientific standpoint, facial exercises unquestionably work. Much as an applied program of bodybuilding strengthens and enlarges the skeletal muscles, as well as tone and tighten the overlying skin, facial exercises do the same. The skin and muscles in the face sag with time. A regular applied program of facial exercise will strengthen and lift them, and tome and tighten the overlying skin as well.

Unfortunately, there are still many surgeons that refute claims of the efficacy of facial exercises. It may simply be that they are not familiar with the programs or techniques. It's unimaginable to think, from a physiological point of view, that the effects of weight training stop at the neck."

**************
(Gidget) I exercise my entire body - I can't imagine not exercising my face. If you haven't tried it I would suggest looking into one of the many programs out there and finding one for you.

Good luck
Gidget wave

free skin care · Wed May 18, 2011 4:27 am

I have both programs and use both according to my needs but also add to it which is what most people do. If you like CFF’s program then stick with it, but to me it did give me some results but it wasn’t sufficient for my purposes and I needed something more. I really do like the new FE. Carolyn does a lot of work to her website, and I used to get quite annoyed because I’d read a really good article on there, and then go back and the article was different or would vanish. When the new FE came out I jumped on it simply as it had the dvd demoing everything and I’m a visual learner so that was crucial to me, but I really like how she’s done stuff for both bone and skin. I remember reading Carolyn’s site and she had an article on there about bone basically saying bone couldn’t be changed through exercise, and she’s since changed it to say her exercises do work bone. So its kind of frustrating. Also I have to say that whilst Carolyn’s cs is good, its also at times a bit annoying in that you have to just “keep the faith” and do the exercises as recommended and there’s nothing really else she’s open to. Also I didn’t get the usual newsletter from her this year, so she’s probably whacked me off the list which is a bit wrong (but then I did voice my opinions openly on another forum that I felt some of her stuff she says she’s designed is just borrowed from other people (aka Maggio, Bennett etc).

I love the Ageless70 exercise Sister is talking about though and its definitely worth giving ago alongside the program your doing, but in essence I definitely think CFF and FE are worlds apart but that both are good!

Also FE has the forum which in my mind is worth money in itself and the support there is fantastic. The trainers are all personable and give advice freely which I like!

Tony1 wrote:

I followed a link from google saying Caroln's facial fitness and flexffect. I Hope some of you will voice your opinion. I read on the flexeffect forum you can trade in your program you are using now and get half off the newest flexeffect. I have Carolyns program and I like it. I've read over the website and read alot of the forum it looks really good but don't want to let go of the program or all the bother if they are really about the same.

Thanks in advance.

free skin care · Fri Jun 03, 2011 10:06 am

fitnessbunny wrote:

Deborah Crawley seems to have the most problems exactly where I need the most work... the cheeks and around the mouth. That area looks kind of unnatural on her. ....and he finally said, 'I know what it is, her cheeks look like Schwarzenegger's bicep'. I know what he means, that part of her face looks too bulky. On the other hand, her lips are a bit thin, there are horizontal lines on her forehead when she speaks, and she does have NL lines. Coming from a fitness background, I think that maybe she trained the muscles in an imbalanced way.

LOL. Deb is going to get such a kick out of this post. Do you mean Arney's Arms back in the day at 22.5" all roided out? I mean in all reality, back when Deb was competing in Body Building (at the same time as Mr. S), her waist was smaller than his biceps. The image created here has put a huge smile on my face. If I were drinking coffee I would have spit it on my computer. Thank God for small favors.

NL lines, and forhead lines are natural lines on all faces during expression. You will notice that even an infant when smiling will have these lines. The difference is younger skin, when relaxed, does not hold a road map in it.

Deb's thin lips are genetic. In all reality, a person's DNA should be considered when looking to make corrections. Noses don't shrink. Eyes don't get bigger or smaller, and Hairlines don't change.

I would also imagine anyone with a fitness background is keenly aware of our ability to sculpt our muscles by way of technique to desired shapes and sizes... Again, our DNA our only fixed component to the formula.

IN all fairness to Deb. People should check for themselves her photo pages and her youtube clips. She really doesn't belong on an episode of the Simpsons... Laughing

Mon Jun 06, 2011 9:48 am

Deb is a beauty, inside and out. There is a build to her face - my lord the woman has been at this for years. I think it is important as Marie said that Deb has been training others and demonstrating over and over and perhaps that is why some see it as overbuild. Also, her new longer 'do' is something we are not used to seeing with Deb - I'm so used to the short haired Deb in her first video and her new 'do' might be drawing focus to different areas of her face. It is SO refreshing though to see a woman at Deb's age who can MOVE her face and show expression. Love you Deb!!

If you want to see a drop dead gorgeous woman who has done FE for years, then take a look at the skin and structure of Deb's daughter in the new video. Blew me away. Her skin bounces back like a rubber ball - no lines and evidence that facial exercises DO work.

I can't post the link - account is too new, but maybe someone has the link showing Audrey.

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