Everything toning nicely except legs. Help!

nicolemontagna22
nicolemontagna22 Posts: 229 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I lost 17 lbs so far. From about 152.5 to 135. My arms and stomach are toning so nicely. However my thighs still look the same size and not tight at all. They don't look any different in my progress pics. I lost my first 11 doing cardio and free weights and squats and lunges. I lost the rest this past month doing jillian michaels 30 day shred which is circuit training. Will my legs ever catch up to my upper body progress?

Replies

  • CitizenXVIII
    CitizenXVIII Posts: 117 Member
    You aren't doing anything wrong, the legs must just be where your body prefers to keep extra energy. It'll come off there after it's come off elsewhere.

    Though, I hope you're a pretty petite gal. 135 is target zone for a lot of ladies.
  • nicolemontagna22
    nicolemontagna22 Posts: 229 Member
    Yeah I'm 5'2. Don't have a specific goal weight in mind. Just trying to look toned and athletic. :). I was aiming for 120 originally but I'm almost 100% satisfied with my arms and stomach. One the thighs look sleeker and harder I guess that's my goal weight
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    Stop saying "toned". It is a word generally scorned and looked down upon in the fitness community, simply because it means exactly...nothing.

    Muscle doesn't get toned; it's either there, or it's not. It's either covered by fat, or it's not. That is what gives the lean "defined" look: a lowered amount of body fat covering the muscles.

    Fat will reduce from whatever body parts you are genetically predisposed to lose from first. Keep at it and your legs will catch up with the rest of you, just don't give up! Good luck. :flowerforyou:
  • healthygreek
    healthygreek Posts: 2,137 Member
    My thighs and butt have really improved appearance wise with elliptical.
  • nicolemontagna22
    nicolemontagna22 Posts: 229 Member
    So basically I have to eliminate fat off of them before they get firmer? It's weird the top section of me looks like a person who works out and the bottom looks flabby and soft. I know you can't spot train to reduce fat but will working the legs more build the muscle under the fat until I burn it or will I just build them too much that way. I don't want to just be skinny I want to look strong. If that makes sense. Like your shape alloutofbubb.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    What gets you "toned" is losing the bodyfat covering your muscle. You cannot spot reduce fat, it just comes off of you where it decides to and different people will lose fat differently across their body. If you want your legs to "tone" you just have to keep losing fat until it comes off your legs.
  • CitizenXVIII
    CitizenXVIII Posts: 117 Member
    It makes logical sense that thigh muscles would pull energy from the fat stores closest to them, but that's not the way the body works. It stores and burns energy as a whole unit, wherever it wants to. So yes, just keeping a calorie deficit will eventually burn the fat over your thighs, exposing the muscle that's already there, and you'll look fit. (AllOut is right, toned is a terrible buzzword created by companies trying to sell things, don't use it.)
  • nicolemontagna22
    nicolemontagna22 Posts: 229 Member
    I just came from weight watches to here in November so I probably use a lot of those words. Lol it had me doing so much wrong and falling into all the hype in their emails. But since I came here I'm learning so
    Much. I only wish I had sooner. I could possible already be where I want to.
  • nicolemontagna22
    nicolemontagna22 Posts: 229 Member
    I appreciate the posts. I guess I will just have to be patient and accept that I may need to lose more on top than I want
    To in order to lose some in the thighs. :/. But atleast I know now its nothing I'm doing wrong.
  • shrcpr
    shrcpr Posts: 885 Member
    Yep, I'm the same way. My top half has to be practically emaciated before I lose any on the bottom. Nothing you're doing wrong. Some of us are just pears. :)
  • giggitygoo
    giggitygoo Posts: 1,978 Member
    What gets you "toned" is losing the bodyfat covering your muscle. You cannot spot reduce fat, it just comes off of you where it decides to and different people will lose fat differently across their body. If you want your legs to "tone" you just have to keep losing fat until it comes off your legs.

    Agree.

    There is a really good analogy that losing bodyfat is like drying out a sponge. There is no way to dictate where the fat will come from. Just keep plugging, and it will happen
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
    My thighs are still big - the inner part of them is the only part of me with any noticeable fat left. I accept I will never have a thigh gap. I'm just not made that way.

    But they look strong and fabulous from squatting, so now I LOVE them. This may help you like the look of yours better, too.
  • emmanap91
    emmanap91 Posts: 300 Member
    I'm 5'3" and I started at 135. (last fall I dropped down to 115 but gained it all back so now I'm here again at 130)

    I'm pear-shaped (36-25-40) so I'm sure our bodies are similar, OP. Even when I got down to 115, my thighs/@ss had mostly maintained their girth. I'm sure the composition changed, and I think they looked nicer, but they were just as thick as ever.

    I remember reading online that based on my body composition, frame, and fat storage, my thighs probably wouldn't begin to diminish until I got down to like 15% BF. Which I never plan on doing, so I'm resigning myself to thunderthighs.
  • nicolemontagna22
    nicolemontagna22 Posts: 229 Member
    I'm 5'3" and I started at 135. (last fall I dropped down to 115 but gained it all back so now I'm here again at 130)

    I'm pear-shaped (36-25-40) so I'm sure our bodies are similar, OP. Even when I got down to 115, my thighs/@ss had mostly maintained their girth. I'm sure the composition changed, and I think they looked nicer, but they were just as thick as ever.

    I remember reading online that based on my body composition, frame, and fat storage, my thighs probably wouldn't begin to diminish until I got down to like 15% BF. Which I never plan on doing, so I'm resigning myself to thunderthighs.

    They look good in your picture. I am one inch shorter than you and at
    135. If mine look like yours in the pic on your profile I'd be happy.
    How much did you weight when you took profile picture?
  • emmanap91
    emmanap91 Posts: 300 Member
    I'm 5'3" and I started at 135. (last fall I dropped down to 115 but gained it all back so now I'm here again at 130)

    I'm pear-shaped (36-25-40) so I'm sure our bodies are similar, OP. Even when I got down to 115, my thighs/@ss had mostly maintained their girth. I'm sure the composition changed, and I think they looked nicer, but they were just as thick as ever.

    I remember reading online that based on my body composition, frame, and fat storage, my thighs probably wouldn't begin to diminish until I got down to like 15% BF. Which I never plan on doing, so I'm resigning myself to thunderthighs.

    They look good in your picture. I am one inch shorter than you and at
    135. If mine look like yours in the pic on your profile I'd be happy.
    How much did you weight when you took profile picture?


    trust me, they only look good because of the way I'm standing. My thighs are 23 inches in circumference, and covered in cellulite (mostly on the back).

    I probably weighed about 120-125, but I could take a picture right now, at 130 and my thighs would look the same if I stood the same way. Don't trust pictures haha
  • nicolemontagna22
    nicolemontagna22 Posts: 229 Member
    You gotta teach me how to take pictures then! Lol. Mine always seem to make me look worse than I really look!
  • emmanap91
    emmanap91 Posts: 300 Member
    This (http://www.wikihow.com/Pose-for-Pictures) and this (http://hazelong.com/blog/2008/09/16/how-to-pose-like-a-model-full-length/) have some decent tips for face and body positioning. My dad is a photographer, so he kind of taught me a few tricks of the trade. My number one rule is to have my hands on my hips/waist (or at least one hand on one hip), because it not only emphasizes the waist, it slims the arms and the natural bend in the elbow looks more natural than a straight arm. Plus, if you have your hand on your waist, it makes your legs look longer.

    Beyond that, if you want to emphasize a small waist, turn your waist at 90 degrees to the camera (profile) and then turn your upper torso (chest/shoulders) to face the camera (not completely, just as best you can). This makes the breasts look bigger and the waist/hips look smaller. Here's a mediocre example, but it's the best I could find through a quick google search - the "after" photo is the pose I'm talking about: http://hitchfit.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Elizabeth-Before-and-After-Side.jpg
  • fushigi1988
    fushigi1988 Posts: 519 Member
    Squats, deadlifts, lunges. Add more weights, and try to slowly lose bf% (eat at small deficit, enough protein)
    That's what I'm doing now, seeing a bit of progress in booty and thighs.

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