Best way to thin down my legs and arms???

Bekarington
Bekarington Posts: 85 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I've lost 75lbs so far and 130lbs to go, but I am frustrated by my arms and legs, they have always been big, but they don't seem to be shrinking at the same rate as my body.

I've dropped from a UK size 28 to a 20 but, I have to wear size 22 jeans with a belt to keep them up as the 20's are too tight round my calves and fitted jackets I still have to wear a 24 to fit in the sleeves!! :(

I'm scared of building up muscle and making them bigger, would that happen? or would weights, squats, etc... slim them down?

Replies

  • madhatter2013
    madhatter2013 Posts: 1,547 Member
    You can't spot reduce. Do some compound heavy lifting and change your body all around but don't try to spot reduce. Genetics will determine where you lose from first.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    The best way to thin down your legs and arms is a caloric deficit.
  • MindainVA83
    MindainVA83 Posts: 17 Member
    I work with a trainer and I do squats and lunges every single time, and it def makes a difference. We focus on everything, but these are always incorporated. I've been complimented on my legs, and I know it's b/c of these. Congrats on your weight loss by the way!
  • Wiltord1982
    Wiltord1982 Posts: 312 Member
    There is only one way to do so. Hard work and dedication.

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  • sfbaumgarten
    sfbaumgarten Posts: 912 Member
    The best way to thin down your legs and arms is a caloric deficit.

    This.
  • Belleartist
    Belleartist Posts: 40
    You cannot spot reduce but a few squats and lunges are good for toning things up
  • phoebejeeby
    phoebejeeby Posts: 62 Member
    Start a lifting routine for your upper body and squats for lower. I lost 60 lbs and still had flabby fat arms and thighs. 3 months of weights and they arnt actually all that thinner, but muscle is now replacing fat, so they look thinner and much better. I do Chalean Extreme.
  • MagnumBurrito
    MagnumBurrito Posts: 1,070 Member
    Lift. Muscle burns tons more calories than fat at rest. I've heard 7/1 and 5/2 as many calories. Either way, start now to see the results tomorrow. It's like compound interest. The more you have, you more you get to eat/burn, and the faster your body transforms.
  • pstmd
    pstmd Posts: 2
    You cannot reduce one area of your body at a time. You can only reduce the whole body. Be patient. Stay focussed on your goal. Celebrate the achievements you have made rather than on the those you have YET to acheived!

    By all means, start working on strengthening and toning your chest, arms and legs through weight training. If you perform your exercises with lower weights and high repetitions (12-15 per set) you will build strength and tone without building bulk.

    You will achieve 2 outcomes from weight training: 1. You will increase the number of calories you burn each day which will speed you toward your goal, 2. Your toned muscles will carry you weight more tightly and firmly so you will look trimmer and more toned.

    If you don't know the proper forms for doing exercises, you can hurt yourself so I recommend spending a few visits with a trainer or at least a friend who has some training and experience in the gym.

    Good luck and congrats on the weight loss
  • monasspam
    monasspam Posts: 5
    These are my challenged areas too. Weights, squats, lunges etc will build your muscle without bulking them up. The bottom line is that you need muscle to burn fat, the more you have the faster you will lose weight overall. The whole bulking up thing is a myth unless you live and breathe weight training.

    The best thing to do is incorporate weight/stength training to your usual exercise (cardio). If you don't want to use weights you can find great strength training exercises that will utilize your body's weight. I'm sure there are youtube videos/ lists out there. If you can get the list of exercises for Insanity or the Wii Fit (yes, I said Wii Fit), there are a lot of great strength training exercises there.

    I personally have found that Insanity is great with these exercises. Everyone gets scared when they hear insanity and I'm not going to lie, it is Insane if you follow the video to the T. However, you don't have to follow it exactly to get results. I started out slow doing just the warm-ups and then a few of the strength training exercises (at my own pace) then started adding the rest of the exercises little by little, then finally kicked it up to the Insanity pace. In just 3 weeks I lost about 7 pounds and saw a change in my arms and legs. Unfortunately because of vacations and things, I fell off the wagon, but it was great when I did it.
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member

    I'm scared of building up muscle and making them bigger, would that happen? or would weights, squats, etc... slim them down?

    You can't build muscle while eating at a deficit. Lifting only slows down the loss of muscle and is the best thing you can do if you want to have a body that is firm and still the majority of muscle you do presently. Once you go on maintenance its possible to gain a bit of muscle though its better you bulk if you in fact want more muscle.

    *Deficit is the only thing that will lose fat and regardless what anyone says here you can't "tone" anything. Its a look when you lose fat and reveal what muscle you have.

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