Legs look like they belong on a different person :(

yirara

Cellulite? Where? I think you're very lucky: pretty much every woman has cellulite, also elite sporters. We tend to see it more on ourselves than on other people as we're looking down into or against those little lumps and bumps. Other people notice them less as their viewing angle is different. Gosh, I wish I had your legs (I actually might have! Who knows)

kshama2001

nettiklive wrote: »

Okay I know you can't spot reduce. But I just need to vent because I'm feeling really frustrated with my body. I am a pear shape. I maintained a constant weight I was happy with for over twelve years (intuitive eating, no logging, only loose mental tracking), I've always had thick legs and it's only at the very low end of the bmi range that they looked decent. Not super shapely but at least not fat. Well over this winter, probably due to my glass of wine habit going from twice a week to daily, I got distracted and gained 4-5 lbs. Doesn't sound like a big deal, except on my fairly lean small frame it is super noticeable particularly because it seems to literally all settle in my thighs! My hips and legs from the knee up look awful, chunky and cellulite-y. Two years ago I tried to start a very gradual recomp, with lifting - squats, deadlifts, loosely based on Stronglifts/ Strongcurves but not following the program to a T, and was very happy with my body a year ago. I've been trying to lose the extra weight and cut down on food and added in cardio, I'm pretty happy with the way the rest of my body looks but there is zero change in the legs and it's killing me especially since it's summer and I can no longer ignore them in shorts and dresses They look like they belong on a sedentary woman twice my weight and age. I read that this fat is particularly resistant and am terrified that even if I lose the five lbs back, they're gonna come off from everywhere else instead and I'll end up even more disproportional than when I've started. Pictures attached of my upper and lower body so you can see the difference.
I know probably not much can be done besides what I'm already doing but just wanted to see if maybe anyone can offer advice or just commiserate. Big ask: please no patronizing comments like 'you look fine' or 'it's all in your head, you should talk to someone' etc, my looks are important to me and I want to be in amazing shape, not just 'look fine'. Thanks for reading!

I'm going to be blunter. It's one thing to have a preference for a different aesthetic, but thinking perfectly normal legs look "awful" is concerning.

What you see is so different from what everyone else sees that I think you should indeed talk to someone about body dysmorphia. And since you asked us not to say this, I imagine this isn't the first time you heard it.

AnnPT77

Everyone's body is different. I think that if you had a look you liked better before, when you were a bit lighter, you'll most likely return to that look when you lose a bit of weight.

Personally, I get literally bony up top (ribs show on upper chest) when I still have fat below my ribcage and down my legs. If I keep losing, the fat comes off places where I still have excess fat, not the places where I don't. I'd expect you to find the same thing.

It isn't clear to me from your OP whether you're continuing or have resumed the strength program. Presumably you have, because that would be the best route in your scenario, I suspect.

Recomp is slow, by nature. Very slow. Each of us has different genetics, which means it could be even slower for some than others. All any of us can do individually is run a well-designed suitable strength program, eat nutritiously (including adequate protein), not layer on an aggressive calorie deficit, work hard, and see what happens. Speculation is stressful (and pointless), body comparison with others is pointless (and stressful).

Frankly, the cases where I've seen women's body comp get worse are those who lose weight fast, maybe do a bunch of cardio alongside that, maybe eat a suboptimal amount of protein (because salad is more "ladylike" or something? dunno) so lose more muscle than minimally necessary; give up both diet and exercise, still eat insufficient protein (add a lot of carbs, often), so gain mostly fat . . . then yo-yo through this cycle many times over many years, with body comp getting just a tiny bit worse with every cycle. You aren't doing that (presumably).

I don't see the relevance of what some unidentified women told Lyle McDonald, or of the info you linked, unless you put in the work over the next couple of years and find that that exact thing happens to you. Since you've lost weight before and had thinner legs as a result, I still think that's the most likely outcome.

I have some of the same fat distribution as you do, I think . . . maybe the main difference is that while I might like to be in amazing shape (fitness wise . . . leaving aside the question of whether I'm really willing to work hard enough to achieve that ), I don't particularly care how I look. That's not a diss on people who do care; caring about appearance is more normal, I think. It's intended as a potential explanation of why I might not seem all that empathetic with the venting part, because it's not very familiar to me . . . nonetheless, I like to see anyone and everyone achieve their healthy goals, so I'd wish the same for you.

Best wishes, truly!