slimming thighs

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  • SexyLovinmeCook
    SexyLovinmeCook Posts: 1,393 Member
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    I been doing the eleptical and the fat on my legs it's just melting! Now their is space between them and getting toned I love my legs now!!

    3A04A0CF-00B9-4F7C-97DC-B383A691A877-2285-000001A79EEF96AC.jpg

    Wow your entire body looks great...Congrats on the transformation...I am inspired to hit up the Elliptical a little bit more....
  • murphy612
    murphy612 Posts: 734 Member
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    losing body fat does nothing when you're legs are mostly muscle. therefore any working out will only add More muscle and increase the bulk.

    That's just not true. It's extremely hard for women to "increase the bulk" especially when not lifting weights and eating at a calorie surplus. If you lower your body fat %, you will see a reduction in your size all around, including on your thighs. I thought my thighs were mostly muscle, too. But then I started losing body fat and they have gone down 3".

    Well said and the same thing happened for me. You are not going to build bulky leg muscles on a calorie deficit. My legs are still a little larger than some women would like, but I like them :) They are strong and shapely now.
  • LovelyLifter
    LovelyLifter Posts: 560 Member
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    losing body fat does nothing when you're legs are mostly muscle. therefore any working out will only add More muscle and increase the bulk.

    well I am the opposite. I have embraced the fact I have muscular strong legs. My legs show that I lift and I lift heavy and I am proud of them

    Maybe embrace what you have and work with that :flowerforyou:
  • bpotts44
    bpotts44 Posts: 1,066 Member
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    The size of your legs are genetics. You are not going to add bulk by running or elliptical. You best bet is to exercise both cardio and strength and eat in slight caloric deficit if you are not happy with how you look.
  • RunMyOregonBunsOff
    RunMyOregonBunsOff Posts: 862 Member
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    Your body is amazingly adaptable. to slim legs do long distance running/elliptical. anyone seen a single female distance runner with heavily muscled legs?? strong /cut legs yes but big legs?

    Which is part of why I started running distance in the last year and a half when I was a sprinter in HS. It uses your muscles sooo differently.

    As to the "women don't bulk" thing; some women have a natural heavy muscle build instead of long lean muscle. I naturally get thicker bunchy muscle. My mom calls it quarter horse muscle instead of Arabian (horse) muscles. I wouldn't look like China from WWE without "supplements" but that doesn't mean that I can't naturally get bulkier than many other women.
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
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    There might also be some better jeans options that would fit you, as well. When clothes don't fit right, sometimes it's the clothes that are to blame and not our bodies.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
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    Hey everyone, So here's my issue. I want to slim down my thighs. I have been active my entire life and all it does is add bulk. I'm 5'2 and I've got a couple of tree trunks for legs (or as my husband calls them "soccer legs") I'm tired of putting jeans on and having them so tight on my legs you can't even pinch the fabric. Any Suggestions of exercises that will slim my thighs?

    I used to have this problem. I am only 5'1" and I've always been active and everyone thought it was muscle and big bones. Nope, not so. Fat. And even now in maintenance with my new jeans my weight fluctuates and sometimes I have to adjust my diet slightly to bring it back down slightly. It really is all about calories and losing the fat. Honestly it is. All the tricks and lessons you learn while in the weight loss phase comes into play in maintenance. These are life long skills.

    All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. Don't make it complicated.

    Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

    Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

    The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

    To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    You're photo is awesome! I was thinking of running or the elliptical, but I am so afraid of adding muscle. I'll have to give it a go and take what I get, any change is a good change. (but if my legs get any bigger I wont be able to even wear jeans lol

    Cardio exercises do NOT build significant muscle.
  • osualex
    osualex Posts: 409 Member
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    When you find out tell me...my thighs are the only thing keeping from a size 8. I do 30 day shred, butt bible, and I run but it's barely made a dent. I'm starting to think I might just have to live with them.
  • wellbert
    wellbert Posts: 3,924 Member
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    losing body fat does nothing when you're legs are mostly muscle. therefore any working out will only add More muscle and increase the bulk.

    so your body fat percentage is between 12-14% and you have big veiny highly defined quads and hams? In that case, your only solution is atrophy.
  • getfitdiva
    getfitdiva Posts: 1,148 Member
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    I know you can't spot reduce blah blah blah. I use to have huge thighs and huge calves! My legs aren't skinny BUT they are a lot more toned. I would get onto a workout routine that includes plyometrics, incorporate weights and cardio (running/machine).

    If you focus on toning the legs you have it will all come together reducing your body fat. Don't be afraid to bulk, you only do that if you are seriously eating at a surplus.
  • 1plumpmom
    1plumpmom Posts: 15 Member
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    I have the same problem. The more I exercise the better my legs are looking, but they are still big. I am losing inches everywhere but in my thighs. Instead of fatty lookin legs, they look muscular. I am sick of my clothes fitting tight in the bottom area and very loose in the waist. Unfortunately I am meant to have an "athletic" body style. I am mostly doing cardio now to lose fat, but its dropping everywhere but the problem area. My upper body so doesn't match me right now.
  • Lonewolf1507
    Lonewolf1507 Posts: 507 Member
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    As it has been mainly ladies answering this thread I am about to get a lot of hate mail, but the first place my weight started to show reduction was in my thighs and butt.

    My workouts consisted of walking on a treadmill, elliptical and bike in the gym, also using abductor and adductor machines for resistance work. My legs were fairly strong having to carry almost 300lbs around everyday so there is possibilities for the OP.

    Andy
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    Also, I read on your profile that one of your goals is to not have your thighs touch any more. That might not be possible at a healthy weight, depending on the structure of your skeleton.

    Yes, keep in mind that a gap between your thighs doesn't equate being thin. It's mostly related to your hip and thigh bone structure. Ain't no gap in my thighs!

    This makes me feel better, thank you! I always hoped that if I lost more weight, I'd finally have that "gap"... but I have literally NO hips so this probably would explain it, and helps me make my goals more realistic
    I can't beleive I never thought of that! Thanks to both of you. :flowerforyou:

    And as an added bonus for you, very few men care about a thigh gap. A lot of them don't even understand what one is.
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
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    Your body is amazingly adaptable. to slim legs do long distance running/elliptical. anyone seen a single female distance runner with heavily muscled legs?? strong /cut legs yes but big legs?

    Because they have lost all the fat on their legs. And sometimes they lose some muscle mass due to their sport. But it's not because running makes their muscles have a different shape.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    Sorry but even if your legs are mostly muscle, if you have body fat to lose, that's the solution.

    Or stop doing martial arts.

    I'm not sure what you want us to tell you.
  • Cyndi1
    Cyndi1 Posts: 484 Member
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    I been doing the eleptical and the fat on my legs it's just melting! Now their is space between them and getting toned I love my legs now!!

    3A04A0CF-00B9-4F7C-97DC-B383A691A877-2285-000001A79EEF96AC.jpg
    thanks for sharing pics... great results.
  • lluulluu
    lluulluu Posts: 115 Member
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    Hello - I have huge thighs too - I watch what I ate ,plus i used the elliptical machine and I lost 1 1/2" of my thigh and 2" off my mid thigh. I did not run on the elliptical.
  • FabMrFox
    FabMrFox Posts: 259 Member
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    Your body is amazingly adaptable. to slim legs do long distance running/elliptical. anyone seen a single female distance runner with heavily muscled legs?? strong /cut legs yes but big legs?

    Because they have lost all the fat on their legs. And sometimes they lose some muscle mass due to their sport. But it's not because running makes their muscles have a different shape.

    Well yes sort of your body will adapt the muscle to more efficiently do whatever you do...run long distance your leg muscles do lean out in appearance just body fat% and yes this change is not rapid but it does happen. ask any sprinter that has switched to distance running both have low body fat% but they will get measurably smaller legs with the distance running- may take a year or more.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    Your body is amazingly adaptable. to slim legs do long distance running/elliptical. anyone seen a single female distance runner with heavily muscled legs?? strong /cut legs yes but big legs?

    Because they have lost all the fat on their legs. And sometimes they lose some muscle mass due to their sport. But it's not because running makes their muscles have a different shape.

    Well yes sort of your body will adapt the muscle to more effitiently do what ever you do...run long distance your leg muscles do lean out in appearance just just body fat% and yes this change is not rapid but it does happen. ask any sprinter that has switched to distance running both have low body fat% but they will get measurably smaller legs with the distance running- may take a year or more

    The skinny legs are from muscular atrophy after years of distance running causing the body to eat away at glycogen stores in muscle tissue, I'm not sure that's what the OP is going for.

    Edit: I know many distance runners who are chubby to say the very least. Running half marathons doesn't automatically give you smaller legs, and the OP isn't even running right now. It's just not going to make a realistic difference.