Hey, pear-shaped women...

shakybabe

I'm not sure if I was apple shaped to start with as I didn't even have a waist! it was just straight down from under boobs to hips!

Now I have a definite curve in my waist shrunk form 38" to 31 " and tummy was 48" and now 35 " .. I'd like to get both to 30" so I cam fit int he 30 " waist Levi's I got which actually fasten just above my hips! (where my 35`' tummy is!!!) for some bizarre reason I thought a 30" waist would actually fasten around my waist!

I was surprised to find I also lost 4 " off my bust and you can see my bones at front of shoulders (just under neck.. the name escapes at the minute!) and my rib cage under my boobs! My wrists and arms were thin anyway as all my weight was around my middle, butt and thighs and they are looking even thinner and my neck.

I'd like to get my tummy down to 30" but wondering how much thinner my top half would look by time I'd finished and what weight I'd end up at! .. I don't want to look ill like a skeleton on top just to get a flat stomach.. maybe I should give up on the 30 " jeans and put them in the charity bag and go for waist sizes the size of my tummy if they are designed to fasten just above the hip these days!

would this make me a pear shape now then?

jadedone

I vote for additional upper body training to help even things out. How about pushups? Increase the muscle a bit in your arms and shoulders. And firm things up in your chest too. Then you'll look like you have slightly bigger boobs.

I have a bit of a weird shape. I am a busty pear. My hips and lower body is wider than my upper body, but since I am so busty, I look a bit more hourglass. I notice as I get smaller though, the pear-ness becomes more obvious, so I added more upper body training to compensate.

carrie_eggo

I'm a pear-shaped too but I was able to "change" it a bit by doing heavier weight lifting on upper body while lighter weights on the lower body. Honestly cardio doesn't do anything to sculpt your body so weight training is the best answer.

^This. I am/used to be pear-shaped too until I started lifting. That's when I started noticing the inches really coming off my hips.

LorinaLynn

Running plus weight lifting plus a small calorie deficit and lots of protein helped balance my body. I'm not sure which of those four helped the most, but when I lost weight on too little calories and not enough exercise, I stayed chunky on the bottom and bony up top.

leelee_1974

I'm having a similar experience - I tried on my 'slim' clothes at the weekend and could fit into my dresses and skirts but not all the trousers. One thing I do to tone hip and thigh area up is using a kickboard in the pool. Doing that regularly seems to lift everything.

sherrybaby81

I have done this whole weight loss thing before. I started here because I hot my highest weight once again. When I lost all my weight before, I lost 65 lbs, and I am most definitely a pear! I was concerned about looking weird too, since I lost the weight up top first it seemed (belly, arms and chest). However, the lower weight DID come off. I was still pear shaped, but a much smaller, cuter pear. I still couldn't wear skinny jeans, or fitted dresses (only a-lines for me!), but I didn't mind. The pear-ness wasn't even that noticeable.

Erica0718

bump :-)

cindymarguerite

i've lost 61 pounds but only went down one pants size so i feel all of the pain we pear shaped women face, lol. i've been obese all of my life so i never knew what body shape i had under all the fat. now that i'm 61 pounds lighter i've discovered i'm apart of the pears! wooo! *sarcasm* my boobs are gone (went from a 40 DD down to a 38C...and now my C bras are starting to become too big) and my collarbones stick out SO much that my family keeps telling me not to lose weight because I look "scary thin". but the thing is...i only look thin on top. my hips and thighs? MONSTEROUS. i don't even like wearing jeans anymore because they accentuate my pear shape and make me look extremely disproportional. big hips and thighs run in my family unfortunately so i know it's going to be nearly impossible to get the body i crave so desperately. =[

Beeps2011

Same boat, different day....

I decided to move to HEAVY lifting. I've done the cardio-thing for 25+ years and I'm as pear-as-pear-can-be. So, in a last-ditch effort to "CHANGE MY SHAPE", I've moved, carte blanche, into heavy lifting.

Easy? Not really - I miss my (steady-state) cardio and the results are much. slower. in. showing. up.

Good? I think so. The muscle definition in my "skinny" parts looks SO much healthier! And, I'm pretty convinced my bum, saddle bags, thunder thighs, the whole gamut, will slim right down as the time goes on (and I, very closely, am watching what I put into my mouth!).

I hope to have a "success story" to post sometime this year. We shall see!

kammy92

Yep, same here, my upper body is fine it's just below my waist, hips and thighs, just don't seem to be going anywhere!!! Grrrrrr

grapenutSF

Same boat here. What makes it more bearable is that I'm also getting more muscle in the top half of the pear.

And you should be deadlifting a LOT more. Everyone's different, I know, but I'm kinda new to heavy lifting and I deadlift 105, just to give you a ballpark.

Tammysueless

Hello! We are women and as such are SUPOSED to have hips & booty!! So dont beat yourself up for not looking like a 12 year old boy!! It's about being healthy. But dont go overboard on 'working' your lower half because most of us pears carry the majority of our muscle mass in our thighs & butts and we def. dont wanna build more in that area! The goal sould be to tighten and tone that area while adding muscle to your upper half. Build those sexy shoulders and back. If you get your body fat % down to where it should be and are still unhappy with the way you look then focus on building those upper muscles.Think Marilyn Monroe & J-lo!! :happy:

krnlcsf

Don't get me wrong everyone... i LOVE my curvy hips and booty - and my bf loves it too (tells me not to lose more weight). But like some of you have mentioned, I'm looking to just decrease the hip:waist ratio so my hips/butt isn't SOO accentuated below a "tiny" waist. I'm not sure how much of an hour glass I could create because i was small chested to begin with, and after losing 20 lbs already, even smaller now.

For those who are suggesting heavy lifting and building upper body etc... does anyone have pictures to show a before/after change from "fat" pear to "toned" pear??? :happy: I'd like to get an idea of how it would look to have more muscular shoulders than i already do.

And when you suggest heavy lifting, you're talking about upper body lifting I assume... how heavy (ball park of course, as I'm sure it's personal to work up to)? And how often?

Thanks for all the great responses everyone! :flowerforyou:

coops1989

hello i have the same body shape and my hips ad bum always stay alot bigger than my upper body but usually i do alot more leg and hips excerises and just concentrate on very slow resitants trainng on top

just up your weight to about 2.5lb on you arms and to stop your ribs showing you need to do sit up to bring the muscle forward also if your doing more excerise you need to up your food in take.

i wouldnt be to bother tho i think a nice upper body and bigger hips is very beautiful on a women.

beyonce is a size 8 on top and a size 16 on the bottom, you just have to let your body shed the weight where it wants to, if it doesnt need to fatty deposits it has stored it will natural get rid once your body find a comfortable rhym and weight in its self youll be fine dont worry your upper body will not disappair xx

jadedone

Don't get me wrong everyone... i LOVE my curvy hips and booty - and my bf loves it too (tells me not to lose more weight). But like some of you have mentioned, I'm looking to just decrease the hip:waist ratio so my hips/butt isn't SOO accentuated below a "tiny" waist. I'm not sure how much of an hour glass I could create because i was small chested to begin with, and after losing 20 lbs already, even smaller now.

For those who are suggesting heavy lifting and building upper body etc... does anyone have pictures to show a before/after change from "fat" pear to "toned" pear??? :happy: I'd like to get an idea of how it would look to have more muscular shoulders than i already do.

And when you suggest heavy lifting, you're talking about upper body lifting I assume... how heavy (ball park of course, as I'm sure it's personal to work up to)? And how often?

Thanks for all the great responses everyone! :flowerforyou:

I am not far along at all. But what I can say affirmatively, I few years ago I started to drop a bit (I have since regained) and during those couple of months I did a lot more upper body. Amazingly, even though I had always looked really pear, that brief period made a difference. Now, even though I have gained what I lost + 10, I look more hourglass than I ever did before. My shoulders look to be about the same width as my waist, but I didn't gain much size in my upper body. (1 inch or so.) My shoulders are way better than they used to be, even at a higher weight.

What I did that seemed to work:
1. pushups
2. lat pull down
3. chest press
4. seated row
5. the deltoid machine

carrie_eggo

And when you suggest heavy lifting, you're talking about upper body lifting I assume...

Full body heavy lifting.

how heavy (ball park of course, as I'm sure it's personal to work up to)?

As heavy as you can.

I lift 3x a week. Right now I'm doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women. It's a book....I highly recommend it if you want to get serious about strength training.

susantrenticosta

Hi, and yes I have been doing P90X and it is fantastic! Really burns the fat and gets those extra inches to come off!
You really should give it a try! You won't be disappointed! Good Luck : )

ingeh

same here. Im size 8/10 on top and 12 on bottom Uk sizes. 30 inch waist and 36inch hips. But my hips have lost a lot of padding and its just bone there now so not much I can do about my shape now. Apart form chiseling some off...:drinker: :laugh:

Victoriav99

I would have to say that the upper part of my body is definitely smaller, but as for my lower body I have done a LOT of strength training and lower body exercises and that has definitely helped to tone. If you focus on exercises that tone your lower body such as squats, lunges etc that would definitely solve the problem. It did for me. Then again everybody is different so it may or may not work...but i bet it will

Beeps2011

kml - when I refer to "heavy lifting", I echo what carrie said - it's WHOLE body HEAVY lifting.

And, by heavy, I mean you are ONLY doing between 5-8 reps, because the weight is THAT HEAVY. And, maybe only 2 - 3 sets.

It is going to be SUPER important that you REALLY work your butt and thighs because ONLY muscle growth (and fat loss) will result in a smaller use of that space. (Because, when comparing volume, muscle weighs more than fat - meaning: 1 lb. of muscle takes up LESS ROOM on your body than 1 lb. of fat.)

So, do NOT be afraid to make sure you are lifting really, REALLY heavy. If you are new to HEAVY weights, get the book, "The New Rules of Lifting for Women", by Lou Schuler. It costs <$20 and you can progress through that book, and over 6 months, I think you'd be SHOCKED at how your body morphs.

I don't have any of my own photos to offer (yet!).

The other thing about lifting HEAVY is that it will broaden your back, which will help to create the ILLUSION that your pear is smaller on the bottom, because your shoulders are a bit wider on the top.

It really is a WIN-WIN for pear-shaped women. You change your shape. You build your muscles. You watch your (good) nutrition intake. And, then you'll be back here posting on "Success Stories" about how a PEAR turned into an HOURGLASS...