Hourglassed shaped women report!
garnet116
Posts: 144 Member
I'm 5'8 with a small frame, but when I gain weight, it goes right to my hips & thighs. Strangely enough the weight seems to come off my abs easily.. but the weight on my thighs/hips is very stubborn and hard to bring down.
What is the best way to whittle down my thighs? Running? Any type of cardio? I'm not crazy about running as about 30 minutes in one of my knees starts to hurt a little, but I enjoy other types of cardio.
Right now I take a Tae Bo class 2-3x per week and do 30DS once or twice a week.
Any advice? What do you guys do? Feel free to send me a friend request fellow hourglass ladies!
What is the best way to whittle down my thighs? Running? Any type of cardio? I'm not crazy about running as about 30 minutes in one of my knees starts to hurt a little, but I enjoy other types of cardio.
Right now I take a Tae Bo class 2-3x per week and do 30DS once or twice a week.
Any advice? What do you guys do? Feel free to send me a friend request fellow hourglass ladies!
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Replies
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"What do you guys do"
we get fat on the gut and handles and the rest of the body stays fat free so i dont think we ll be much help !!!
Not sure how many " hour glass" glass ladies will turn up on a diet forum !!!0 -
Not sure how many " hour glass" glass ladies will turn up on a diet forum !!!
gee, thanks for the incredibly helpful post0 -
Have you tried strength training lower body? (or whole body for that matter?) Running indeed is good, but any type of cardio that burns fat is good. Unfortunately, we're designed this way...Or, fortunately, as some men would have it.
I also like the stairmill, AMT, and swimming.
Good luck!0 -
I'm 5'8 with a small frame, but when I gain weight, it goes right to my hips & thighs. Strangely enough the weight seems to come off my abs easily.. but the weight on my thighs/hips is very stubborn and hard to bring down.
What is the best way to whittle down my thighs? Running? Any type of cardio? I'm not crazy about running as about 30 minutes in one of my knees starts to hurt a little, but I enjoy other types of cardio.
Right now I take a Tae Bo class 2-3x per week and do 30DS once or twice a week.
Any advice? What do you guys do? Feel free to send me a friend request fellow hourglass ladies!
i run and i'm pear shaped. my hips/thighs have slimmed down from it. i also have bad knees but doing lunges/squats helps strengthen them so they don't hurt when i run.0 -
Have you tried strength training lower body?
No, I haven't. Is this where I would squat with weights? Or use the machines at the gym? I don't strength train other than using hand weights.
Can you or someone else point me in the direction of what strength training exercises I can do?
Thanks!0 -
I'm 5'8 with a small frame, but when I gain weight, it goes right to my hips & thighs. Strangely enough the weight seems to come off my abs easily.. but the weight on my thighs/hips is very stubborn and hard to bring down.
What is the best way to whittle down my thighs? Running? Any type of cardio? I'm not crazy about running as about 30 minutes in one of my knees starts to hurt a little, but I enjoy other types of cardio.
Right now I take a Tae Bo class 2-3x per week and do 30DS once or twice a week.
Any advice? What do you guys do? Feel free to send me a friend request fellow hourglass ladies!
. i also have bad knees but doing lunges/squats helps strengthen them so they don't hurt when i run.
Oh, that is good to know. I was worried that squats/lunges would actually make my knees worse. I will keep doing them, thanks!0 -
I so can relate since this is what I am trying to work on as well! Feel free to add me! I was told to try squats and lunges.0
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Not sure how many " hour glass" glass ladies will turn up on a diet forum !!!
Hour glass doesn't mean someone is in shape...it means they carry their weight in their boobs and hips and not so much in their waist. I consider myself to be an hourglass figure and I'm 35lbs overweight.
OP:You can't spot reduce, the weight will come off of where it wants to, when it wants to. Lunges and squats are probably the best to tone up those area. Good luck!
ETA: Walking can be just as beneficial as running and it'll be easier on your knees. Most of my working out is walking, and my thighs feel much stronger.0 -
A little strength training and a whole lot of running/walking! My thighs are still my problem areas but I noticed a much bigger difference when I run even just a few days out of a week. I'm hourglass too and the fat melts off my upper body pretty quick, but I think my thighs will still be the last to go because that is where my body genetically wants to store the most fat.0
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No exercise is going to change your body shape. If you get your bodyfat percentage low enough, you will eventually lose the stubborn fat too. I am an hourglass and tend to hold fat in my chest, love handles, and backs of my thighs. I only lose enough fat there to make me happy when I'm sub-20% bodyfat. I achieve this by lifting heavy, eating a lot of protein, and eating a moderate deficit to lose fat.
Here is me at about 30%BF and about 18%BF, with only a few pounds difference in weight. I'm an hourglass in both but much happier with my body in the second picture
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Jillian has a Killer Buns and Thighs DVD, but you could look that up in YouTube and see some of her moves for those areas instead of another DVD purchase. Maybe swimming and water exercise would be good to really work your thighs without strain on your knees or joints.0
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No exercise is going to change your body shape. If you get your bodyfat percentage low enough, you will eventually lose the stubborn fat too. I am an hourglass and tend to hold fat in my chest, love handles, and backs of my thighs. I only lose enough fat there to make me happy when I'm sub-20% bodyfat. I achieve this by lifting heavy, eating a lot of protein, and eating a moderate deficit to lose fat.
Here is me at about 30%BF and about 18%BF, with only a few pounds difference in weight. I'm an hourglass in both but much happier with my body in the second picture
You look amazing! My BF as 30% when I joined the gym a few months ago, I think it has come down because my pants are fitting better, thankfully. I have never lifted heavy, and I actually own a copy of New Rules of Weightlifting but haven't had the courage to start reading it... I feel a little intimidated by heavy weights.. I know I should at least give it a read. Thanks for the post!0 -
Jillian has a Killer Buns and Thighs DVD, but you could look that up in YouTube and see some of her moves for those areas instead of another DVD purchase. Maybe swimming and water exercise would be good to really work your thighs without strain on your knees or joints.
Oh yeah, I love JM! I haven't tried this workout yet, will check it out, thanks Zeppyb!0 -
This is where I carry my weight as well. I can gain 10 pounds and not an ounce will go to my waist. It will all just go straight to my butt and thighs....where it will hang on for dear life when I try and get rid of it.
I have found that weights (squats and lunges) have helped tightened me up in that area. But the best results in terms of making them smaller has been good old fashioned weight loss from diet and cardio. I find that I'm happiest with the they way my butt/thighs look when I'm about 7-9 pounds lighter than I am right now...0 -
Don't worry friend I am the exact same way! 5'8" and my butt and PARTICULARLY my thighs will gain all the weight first! and hold on to it for dear life!!
What I've been doing is running. Long, slow distances. Run run run. Two half marathons! Slow, but I run. Its helping things slim down. I also avoid the classic thigh-muscle-building weight exercises and instead focus more on my glutes and upper body when I strength train. Helps balance things out a bit.
I'm finding that as I lose weight my shape doesn't change much, it just gets smaller. However, just looking smaller makes a huge difference even though my thighs are still "big" relative to my waist, in my opinion. So I bet you'll like the look better as you slim out in general.
Don't listen to the naysayers- hourglass or pear-shaped women OBVIOUSLY can be overweight too! What a ridiculous thing to say....you can be overweight at any shape! But we ARE lucky to not have problem tummies so remember to be grateful for that!!0 -
My butt and thigs have ALWAYS been a constant issue. Just today I went window shopping over my lunch break and tried on a pencil skirt and navy sun-dress. Where did my eyes go? Right to my double-wide hips! Everytime I look in the mirror, I catch my eyes drifting down to see how montrous my hips look. I asked a personal trainer who is a friend of mine and she said it is from a variety of factors. 1)Bone structure- believe it or not, people really are big boned. 2) Fat distribution-can't really change where the fat collects on your body. 3) Lifestyle- Are you sedentary or do you walk around for your job? The little daily activity over years and years can affect how your body shapes.
She also gave me a few exercises and most of them have been listed. One I found particularly surprising involves getting down on all fours and raise your bent leg sideways until it's paralell to the ground; that works the outter thigh. As for inner, lunges work best for me.
Also, don't discount the power of yoga. constantly stretching your muscles makes them long and lean...smoothing out fatty tissue on top.0 -
For cardio definitely try something with high intensity and intervals like spinning, i swear by it and have lost a lot of weight in the past from it. Circuits and Kickboxing also are ace for focusing on the lower part of the body.
Strength training and weights will help tone and slim bums and thighs...even when I was at my skinniest (many many moons ago) I was always so self conscious of my stocky legs and sticky-out bum, but we should all also feel proud of our womanly parts!
xxx0 -
I have an hourglass figure and what worked best for my difficult areas was Banish Fat Boost Metabolism (Jillian Michaels) and also I have found yoga has done me a lot of good as my torso looks longer now, meaning my silhouette looks much better.
My advice is a bunch of cardio, I have also been running.
Also, I try not to pay too much attention to BMI as I hold quite a lot of weight in my chest and hips/bum which I want to keep the shape of. Go for a size/look you want instead, especially when you get close to a goal weight if you have one.
Here's my progress so far, now I'm moving on to pilates & body weight training for toning;
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squats and pushups! I've done them nearly every other day for 9 years.. and just randomly too, whenever I remember throughout the day. being hourglass is a blessing cause you have a lot of grace when it comes to gaining weight... as long as it doesn't giggle!
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I gain weight in my hips, butt, thighs, and bosoms (lol). Running did the most for me in slimming my thighs, but it also made my butt go away. No bueno... Squats and lunges firm up my hips, bum and thighs. DIet does the most for me in terms of keeping the belly flat.
If I could figure out a way to slim my thighs without losing my butt... that would be great. But oh well. If I can't make them smaller, at least I can make them look better.0 -
"What do you guys do"
we get fat on the gut and handles and the rest of the body stays fat free so i dont think we ll be much help !!!
Not sure how many " hour glass" glass ladies will turn up on a diet forum !!!
<<<< Um.... hourglass!
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I have an hour-glass figure as well, though I gain weight pretty much evenly all over. My suggestions are:
1. Just keep trying to lose weight! Like the other replier stated, getting your body fat down WILL eventually take the fat off your trouble zones. So keep at it
2. Walking/Jogging/Running. People say walking is the perfect exercise and I've lost a ton of weight walking while dieting. Now I've taken up running and my thighs are noticeably thinner though I've upped my calories. Start with some walking and work your way up 0 -
I'm definitely an hourglass and I've got the same problem with my hips/thighs/*kitten*. I'm SHOCKED how much the bar method has already changed those areas- ESPECIALLY my thighs! They make DVDs too
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I'm the same way - when I lose weight it all comes off my middle - which is good health-wise, right? So we're lucky with that, but yeah, trying to get weight off my thighs and butt is tough because it's the last thing that changes. Which is frustrating when I'm perfectly happy with my waistline but it keeps getting smaller before anything else will budge. There's really nothing you're going to do exercise-wise to fight genetics and make your body lose weight in a certain area. If it was the reverse and we had skinny butts you could lift heavier and build up the muscle, and building muscle will make you look better overall, but that by itself won't make you lose the fat your body stores there. You can lose weight overall and eventually it does change in the stubborn places too, but you can't spot-reduce.
Lunges and squats are good for the knees if you're doing them with good alignment. I have bad knees as well (5 surgeries from sports injuries), and I find that yoga helps my knees more than anything. And that keeps me feeling good so I can do other exercise - I mostly road and mountain bike for cardio.0 -
Unfortunately there is no way to spot reduce. There is no exercise or food in the world that will allow you to choose where the fat comes off from. It'll eventually come off with a calorie deficit and patience. Strength training will help.0
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You can't spot reduce fat.0
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HI! hourlgass here! i too am heavier in thighs legs... but i lift WEIGHS which lets you loose inches... that helsp me in my legs/butt are and all around.. NOT just cardio.. big big diff in inches.. ( i do gym classes like body pump and boot camp)0
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I have no suggestions - just wanted to post as an hourglass who completely understands your situation. When I first started gaining weight, I had to go up pant sizes just to get them over my thighs, and then they'd be crazy loose at my stomach. You know how they say the first place you gain is the last place you lose? That's been pretty much my experience in a nutshell.0
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According to the Internet, my measurements make me an hourglass. I gain weight equally all over my body and it seems to come off equally as well. I just swell and shrink, rather than packing fat in one section.
I both lift heavy and run cross-country long-distance to stay in shape. The lifting keeps me strong, makes me resistant to injury and preserves my lean mass. The running is my heavenly stress relief and cardiovascular conditioning. Both have helped me develop nice muscle contours in all the right places. (I had lovely abs and legs even before I started lifting. The look of my shoulders, back, and arms have especially benefitted from lifting.)
For me, exercise is not for weight loss. It's for fun, health and fitness. My eating habits and calorie tracking is what I use to maintain my goal weight and to make sure I get all my protein, veg and fiber in.0 -
I agree. There is not a way to spot reduce, and the first-on, last-ff rule means you'll lose weight in your thighs last of all. I am 5'8.5" and about 140, large frame. I am hourglass, I have those v lines on my abdomen and no boobs left to speak of...but my thighs and *kitten* STILL have excess fat on them. My plan is to just keep losing.
And to lift.0
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