Is weight loss bad for a pear shape?

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Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    BombshellPhoenix wrote: »
    0somuchbetter0 wrote: »
    vismal wrote: »
    Welcome to the world of body recomposition. It takes years to reshape your body. You cannot change your genetic structure, but through years of weight loss and muscle building you can make your body look vastly different then from your starting point. Too many people assume that all they need to do is lose excess body fat and they will look how they have always wanted too. This is almost never the case. Losing weight is generally the first step, but then alternating periods of fat loss and muscle gain (yes even for women who don't want to look "muscular") is usually what is required. Eventually your body will drop fat from all over but sometimes you need to get to a fairly low body fat percentage before fat starts leaving areas you are genetically prone to store it in. For myself, my lower back and lower abs don't shed fat until I get very lean. Many women find the lower stomach and thighs to be the "trouble" areas. Sometimes these areas don't get lean the first go around and require a few cycles of fat loss and muscle gain before they achieve the desired shape. Try and get to your goal weight and reevaluate. You say your upper half is pretty small now so I would imagine if you keep losing fat, it will eventually have to start coming from your lower have.

    As I am also a pear shape and have also noticed that my *kitten* and thighs look proportionately bigger as my top half gets smaller, plus the fact that I'm 48 years old and years of cutting and bulking and recomposition are not in my future, now I'm just depressed.

    :p

    You should check out some of the lifting ladies on here if you honestly are insinuating you're too old to do so.. plenty of women your age or older who've achieved this.

    The only limits are the ones you put on yourself.

    True! Someone started a thread to ask questions about women lifting at 50+ last night and some of the responses were amazing.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    0somuchbetter0 wrote: »
    As I am also a pear shape and have also noticed that my *kitten* and thighs look proportionately bigger as my top half gets smaller, plus the fact that I'm 48 years old and years of cutting and bulking and recomposition are not in my future, now I'm just depressed.

    :p

    Wow I'm 46 and lift at least 3 days a week, I didn't realize I was too old for this OMG!!!
  • CarlydogsMom
    CarlydogsMom Posts: 645 Member
    0somuchbetter0 wrote: »
    vismal wrote: »
    Welcome to the world of body recomposition. It takes years to reshape your body. You cannot change your genetic structure, but through years of weight loss and muscle building you can make your body look vastly different then from your starting point. Too many people assume that all they need to do is lose excess body fat and they will look how they have always wanted too. This is almost never the case. Losing weight is generally the first step, but then alternating periods of fat loss and muscle gain (yes even for women who don't want to look "muscular") is usually what is required. Eventually your body will drop fat from all over but sometimes you need to get to a fairly low body fat percentage before fat starts leaving areas you are genetically prone to store it in. For myself, my lower back and lower abs don't shed fat until I get very lean. Many women find the lower stomach and thighs to be the "trouble" areas. Sometimes these areas don't get lean the first go around and require a few cycles of fat loss and muscle gain before they achieve the desired shape. Try and get to your goal weight and reevaluate. You say your upper half is pretty small now so I would imagine if you keep losing fat, it will eventually have to start coming from your lower have.

    As I am also a pear shape and have also noticed that my *kitten* and thighs look proportionately bigger as my top half gets smaller, plus the fact that I'm 48 years old and years of cutting and bulking and recomposition are not in my future, now I'm just depressed.

    :p

    Hey I'm 52 and just started a weightlifting program! After three years on maintenance, lost 75 pounds a few years ago, and while I'm way more active now, it's mostly in the spring/summer, and it's not weight-lifting type exercises. I wanted to do something different this winter and just started weightlifting with a trainer (highly recommended--don't do the machines, you gotta do free weights and learn how to do them right). Had my first assessment, and thank heavens I have a few days before my next session, my muscles need the rest!!!!
  • MrsPrior
    MrsPrior Posts: 14 Member
    I am also a pear, and coming to the end of my weight loss journey having lost nearly 50lb. As a pear your body naturally stores fat around your hips and butt, and therefore will be reluctant to let go of those stores. Your body only started storing fat elsewhere when your natural fat store locations around your hips etc. started to fill up, and so will naturally get rid of fat elsewhere first.

    I noticed this most in my measurements. For the first 6 months I was losing inches pretty evenly from all over - I measure neck, bust, underbust, waist, hips, thigh and bicep. After I lost the worst of my weight I found my neck, bust, underbust and bicep measurements have actually stayed the same, but I continue to lose inches around my waist and hips, and more gradually my thighs. I have come to accept that my thighs will be the last place to slim down.

    Yes, I looked bottom heavy for a while (always will to some degree) but that comes with being a pear, and being a pear is actually the best body shape for health - some body shapes such as apples might be a healthy weight but carrry all their fat deposits around their waist, which despite them being 'healthy', and slim elsewhere, means they are at a higher risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

    Don't forget, this is a process; you're not at the final stage yet, and even once the weight is gone you will still have the opportunity to continue toning up, and building muscle, which will dramatically affect your shape. I started doing more body weight exercises like push ups etc. to complement my other workouts, and have actually found my bust got bigger because the muscles underneath grew. I gained 1 inch on my bust in 2 months, whilst losing 1.5 inches from my waist in the same time.

    Don't give up, being a pear is brilliant, and losing weight is totally worthwhile and rewarding.
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
    0somuchbetter0 wrote: »
    vismal wrote: »
    Welcome to the world of body recomposition. It takes years to reshape your body. You cannot change your genetic structure, but through years of weight loss and muscle building you can make your body look vastly different then from your starting point. Too many people assume that all they need to do is lose excess body fat and they will look how they have always wanted too. This is almost never the case. Losing weight is generally the first step, but then alternating periods of fat loss and muscle gain (yes even for women who don't want to look "muscular") is usually what is required. Eventually your body will drop fat from all over but sometimes you need to get to a fairly low body fat percentage before fat starts leaving areas you are genetically prone to store it in. For myself, my lower back and lower abs don't shed fat until I get very lean. Many women find the lower stomach and thighs to be the "trouble" areas. Sometimes these areas don't get lean the first go around and require a few cycles of fat loss and muscle gain before they achieve the desired shape. Try and get to your goal weight and reevaluate. You say your upper half is pretty small now so I would imagine if you keep losing fat, it will eventually have to start coming from your lower have.

    As I am also a pear shape and have also noticed that my *kitten* and thighs look proportionately bigger as my top half gets smaller, plus the fact that I'm 48 years old and years of cutting and bulking and recomposition are not in my future, now I'm just depressed.

    :p

    I'm 43 lift 3 days per week, run & bike. Why can't you at 48? Hell my mother lifts 3x a week and she's 65
  • scrittrice
    scrittrice Posts: 345 Member
    GiveMeCoffee wrote: »
    0somuchbetter0 wrote: »
    vismal wrote: »
    Welcome to the world of body recomposition. It takes years to reshape your body. You cannot change your genetic structure, but through years of weight loss and muscle building you can make your body look vastly different then from your starting point. Too many people assume that all they need to do is lose excess body fat and they will look how they have always wanted too. This is almost never the case. Losing weight is generally the first step, but then alternating periods of fat loss and muscle gain (yes even for women who don't want to look "muscular") is usually what is required. Eventually your body will drop fat from all over but sometimes you need to get to a fairly low body fat percentage before fat starts leaving areas you are genetically prone to store it in. For myself, my lower back and lower abs don't shed fat until I get very lean. Many women find the lower stomach and thighs to be the "trouble" areas. Sometimes these areas don't get lean the first go around and require a few cycles of fat loss and muscle gain before they achieve the desired shape. Try and get to your goal weight and reevaluate. You say your upper half is pretty small now so I would imagine if you keep losing fat, it will eventually have to start coming from your lower have.

    As I am also a pear shape and have also noticed that my *kitten* and thighs look proportionately bigger as my top half gets smaller, plus the fact that I'm 48 years old and years of cutting and bulking and recomposition are not in my future, now I'm just depressed.

    :p

    I'm 43 lift 3 days per week, run & bike. Why can't you at 48? Hell my mother lifts 3x a week and she's 65

    Not only is there lots of evidence on this site that women of all ages can lift, but studies have shown that women who begin lifting in their 90s benefit. 48 isn't old at all. (And I'm not just saying that because I'm 48.)
  • Maryam2014mfp
    Maryam2014mfp Posts: 174
    My mum was still doing lifting exercises in her mid 70's. She hasn't been doing as much since breaking her hand falling down the basement stairs; but had that not happened she would still be doing it. She just did things at home (not at an official gym.

    I'm starting to do some very light lifting and I'm 47 and 3.5 months. I am going to gradually build it up, with my physiotherapists blessing. She's going to give me ideas of what to do at home, which she already did with household items for starting light lifting. And she's the one who brought it up ... So it's fine for us middle to older aged women to start at this time in life :)

    I hope you give it a try. It doesn't mean that you will be a champion body builder or anything but I'm certain you will look and feel better in the long run and probably improve your longevity in the meantime. Take care :)
  • Mariachicat
    Mariachicat Posts: 311 Member
    edited October 2014
    That's just your shape. You can only get into the ring with mother nature so much, it's like anything else. Weight loss and toning up is good, but there are limitations as with everything. I plan on lifting when I get older and want to do less cardio-plyometric stuff.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    I lose in a sort of 'top down' pattern, you probably do, too. 18 lbs. is a LOT of hip/butt/thigh left to lose so don't feel like it's not going to happen. It'll even out. Good luck!
  • jennifurballs
    jennifurballs Posts: 247 Member
    Agree with Bombshell. I'm 47 and just started lifting weights in June. I've built nice muscles while losing a lot of weight. I'm a pear too, so my upper body looks a lot better than my lower body, but then I still have 100 lbs. to lose. I'm just happy to be losing weight and getting fit. My shape is my shape and I'm going to love myself no matter what.

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