Legs.. help?

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2

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  • mama2mila
    mama2mila Posts: 92
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    how clean are you eating? do you do any cardio?

    With a combination of clean eating, 3 days/week of hour-long zumba classes, and 2-3 days/week of hour-long gym sessions, I have been losing weight. But in the 8 weeks I worked with a trainer once/week, I lost 2 inches from each thigh (and 5 inches from my waist, 1.5 inches from my arms)

    It takes time, and a combination of healthy diet, cardio, and strength training. You cannot spot reduce. Cardio burns the fat.

    Good luck!
  • McBully4
    McBully4 Posts: 1,270 Member
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    I agree with this resistance bands are awesome.
    I like using resistance bands. Easy, portable--I often use them during lunch at work! They seem to help with muscle tone rather than building. That and continuing to lose some weight will help I bet.

    just keep working your legs, eventually the fat will fall off and you will be glad there is muscle there.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
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    I felt the same way when I was losing. Everyone is different, and you can't control where the fat comes off first. But if you keep losing the fat will drop!

    Eat less to lose fat. Workout to gain muscle.

    If you are totally natural (no steriods) you will not too big or bulky. As you lose weight it shows your muscles.

    The best workout to make you look good and set your goals (take you beyond your expectations!) is The Venus Index for Women and the Adonis Index for men. And for both the Anything Goes Diet.

    Seriously, this took me beyond my expectations and into being the most fit and lean I've ever been in my life at age 50.

    Oh yeah and it did AWESOME things for my legs, my entire body actually. LOL

    my blog http://bobbiesfitness.com/
  • hottottie11
    hottottie11 Posts: 907 Member
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    Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you can't "lean and lengthen" muscles. Not amount of Pilates or yoga will do that. For longer muscles you need longer bones.
  • rocketqueen81
    rocketqueen81 Posts: 35
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    I bet if you lost another 30 lbs, you'd like your legs better.

    This person is a jerk. Would any of us be on here if we weren't aware that we need to do better? Sheesh. Make someone feel bad for asking a good, constructive question why don't you?!?

    Like a previous post (that was not a jerk) said, yoga and pilates may help. If you are a little self concious, I have found a couple videos that I use at home that work well for me. I don't like to do yoga or pilates at the gym much either :-) You can kinda of adjust for your level on both of these so you can continue to use them as your fitness level improves, etc.

    Namaste Yoga: The Complete First Season
    http://www.amazon.com/Namaste-Yoga-Complete-First-Season/dp/B005HRNDH8/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1346865163&sr=1-1&keywords=namaste+yoga

    Pick Your Level: Weight Loss Pilates (2006)
    http://www.amazon.com/Pick-Your-Level-Weight-Pilates/dp/B000GEIRBO/ref=sr_1_5?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1346865110&sr=1-5&keywords=pilates+for+weight+loss
  • JennyLisT
    JennyLisT Posts: 402 Member
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    I do think it's a good idea to keep working to your goal weight. How you look now, including your legs, is not necessarily a good indication of how you'll look at your goal.
  • RavenhairedWoman
    RavenhairedWoman Posts: 661 Member
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    I have big legs, I always use to think that it was just because that is how my muscles were. I mean my legs didn't jiggle like fat, they were solid. However as I lose weight there is less for my legs to carry around and now suddenly there is jiggle in my calves where there wasn't jiggle before. I am taking this as a good sign because if there is jiggle then it means that I am losing weight there and eventually the skin will tighten up and I will have smaller calves.

    I do a lot of walking, some jogging, and when I want to lift I do really low weight high repetition lifting. Lifting 40 pounds on a leg press machine might not feel like much at first but if you do 5 sets of 20 you will really feel it by the time you get to the end. I have been told that low weight high rep lifting encourages your muscles to build more endurance muscle fibers than strength fibers. This results in thinner, stretchier muscles than beefy thick muscles. I believe that yoga and pilates work off of this principle as well considering they are more about stretching, breathing, and light lifting. I have also been doing belly dancing and boy what a core and legs workout!

    Keep it up, losing weight over all will help because your legs will have less to carry around, that is what I keep telling myself. I can't wait until I can wear knee high boots without feeling like my calves are the size of a child's head each.
  • MzNiz
    MzNiz Posts: 20 Member
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    My legs have always been bigger as well. I know that it can be frustrating but just keep working on them. Jogging, walking hiking, squats, lunges, dead lifts is what I have found works for mine.
    Don't be afraid of having big strong legs either though. Even though I have what I think are big legs/thighs my husband and some other people I am close to have told me they look great in shorts or when I wear a swimsuit when I feel self consious. CHances are you are being a little too hard on yourself because most people are their own worse critic.
  • Dona_Donda
    Dona_Donda Posts: 6
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    Thanks everyone for the responses!! They are a great help. I'll definitely take everyone's advice here. I wanted to give my thoughts on each comment but I got a lot more responses than I expected. Maybe I'll be able to give a positive update in the next month :))
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    I bet if you lost another 30 lbs, you'd like your legs better.
    If I lost the weight everything would look better but thanks for that comment. I'm looking for advice on targeting my leg fat. You're clearly not the first person to tell me to loose weight.

    First of all, yay you for standing up for yourself! :)

    Now down to business. I have the exact same issue. Part of it is genetics, and part is that I swam a lot when I was younger, and had INCREDIBLE, though large, swimmer's legs.

    I'm finding that yoga and walking are helping to make my legs leaner and more shapely. I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll always have thick legs, but as long as I work on toning them and elongating the muscles (yoga), I can feel better about them.

    Good luck! :)
    Yoga is not elongating your muscles, sorry. Once you have stopped growing, your muscles are a fixed length.
  • Finally22
    Finally22 Posts: 305 Member
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    I bet if you lost another 30 lbs, you'd like your legs better.
    If I lost the weight everything would look better but thanks for that comment. I'm looking for advice on targeting my leg fat. You're clearly not the first person to tell me to loose weight.

    My legs got much leaner from Spinning classes - but I also do Pilates..... :ohwell:
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
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    -breathes in-

    You can't spot reduce fat ANYWHERE and you can't "change" the shape of your muscles, it is genetic.

    I have big legs and I always have, even when I was 140lbs (also 5'8", incidentally).

    EMBRACE your shape. Make your legs strong, make your body lean, work on the WHOLE PRODUCT and changes will come. But if you've always had proportionately bigger legs, you probably always will.
  • DivineRED1
    DivineRED1 Posts: 134 Member
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    Pilates is really good for creating long lean muscles. Maybe look into pilates reformer classes near you.
  • Anna800
    Anna800 Posts: 637 Member
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    This person is a jerk. Would any of us be on here if we weren't aware that we need to do better? Sheesh. Make someone feel bad for asking a good, constructive question why don't you?!?

    Actually if you read the thread a bunch of people agreed with me, you can not spot reduce or spot tone, losing weight is the only way.
  • cbrrabbit25
    cbrrabbit25 Posts: 384 Member
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    Its the last place women lose fat, so they will get better with time. but i have been noticing a difference doing heavy leg lifting twice a week. Although your muscles get bigger, muscular legs look much better than fat ones. And they are not going to get massivly big, so don't worry about that. Having more leg muscle allows you to burn more fat in them and a good leg workout is very effective for losing weight EVERYWHERE!
  • GenFo
    GenFo Posts: 124 Member
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    EMBRACE your shape. Make your legs strong, make your body lean, work on the WHOLE PRODUCT and changes will come. But if you've always had proportionately bigger legs, you probably always will.

    This is a great comment. I'm "pear shaped" but over time have started to like the legs I have loathed for about 30 years. The two things that I've found that helped the most are running and heavy lifting. That sounds daunting at first but you need to build up to both of those things.

    I notice you are new to the site so here are my recommendations:
    1) Log everything you eat with no shame. One of the best quotes I've seen is "your body keeps an accurate record regardless of what you log." We're a bunch of strangers so there is no point in trying to make your food diary look "correct". That said, no matter how ambitious your weight loss goals are don't just drop to 1200 calories. It's a big cut for most of us and could cause you to give up. Start by logging what you normally eat and then decrease a little at a time.
    2) Look into a starter running program like couch to 5K. It starts with 30 second jogs and 4 1/2 minute walks. Trust me, I couldn't run half a block when I started without claiming I tasted blood and now I'm easily (but slowly) taking 5-6 mile runs regularly because I've learned to like it so much.
    3) Lift weights - work your way up. Don't think you're going to add a lot of mass. Muscles are hungry and greedy for calories and our legs and bum have great big muscles. Work them hard. You won't regret it. I decided I would rather have big, firm, muscular legs instead of thinnish wobbly ones, but they have actually leaned out and look alright. In fact, I wore shorts for the first time OUTSIDE for a run this weekend.

    Best of luck. Don't get discouraged! This site is great, but it's really about being ready for a big change and not thinking in terms of now I'm on a diet, now I'm off a diet. Splurge sometimes, find exercises that you enjoy, eat some veggies every day.
  • booksavvybabe
    booksavvybabe Posts: 26 Member
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    wow this thread got interesting! I have large thighs too, and it takes the longest to see a difference there, so I like working on toning my leg muscles while I work out and do a whole bunch of different types of workouts....okay moving on...

    if you are looking for workouts to try, I might suggest Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown, she combines cardio and yoga so you raise your heart-rate, burn calories, use body resistance to tone, and use yoga poses. Plus the video is a half hour so it's a good workout even when you don't have a ton of time :)

    Good Luck!
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    I bet if you lost another 30 lbs, you'd like your legs better.
    If I lost the weight everything would look better but thanks for that comment. I'm looking for advice on targeting my leg fat. You're clearly not the first person to tell me to loose weight.

    ^^Unfortunately you can't stop reduce or target a specific area. Stick to the plan, stay within your calorie goal and your body will start losing fat. Genetics has a lot to do with determining where you lose as well. Of course exercise is wonderful!!! Squats, lunges ect. So when you lose the fat you'll have nice strong muscles!
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    Pilates is really good for creating long lean muscles. Maybe look into pilates reformer classes near you.

    Nooo... honestly, you can't "create" long lean muscles. Your muscles are a fixed length (assuming you have stopped growing). If pilates made your legs leaner it's because it helped create a calorie deficit which helped you to lose fat. If anything, working muscles will make them bigger, not smaller.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
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    wow this thread got interesting! I have large thighs too, and it takes the longest to see a difference there, so I like working on toning my leg muscles while I work out and do a whole bunch of different types of workouts....okay moving on...

    if you are looking for workouts to try, I might suggest Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown, she combines cardio and yoga so you raise your heart-rate, burn calories, use body resistance to tone, and use yoga poses. Plus the video is a half hour so it's a good workout even when you don't have a ton of time :)

    Good Luck!


    I love Jillian's Yoga meltdown!!!!

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