My thighs.... Argh!

Katie5961
Katie5961 Posts: 48 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
Okay so I'm on the verge of tearing my hair out in frustration over here. A bit of a back story...

A few years ago I started on my weight loss journey. To keep a long story short I've become a long distance runner, and 2 years ago broke my ankle. After having lost 40 pounds and reaching my ideal size and shape, I gained most of it back in my recovery. I'm back into a good routine, working out 5-6 days a week with either running or Insanity Max 30. I eat well, I would say 80/20, and much better than I did the first time I was losing weight.

Here's the part that has me scratching my head.

In 6 weeks I've lost 5 pounds, my waist is improving nicely, hips, chest etc all going down.

My thighs? Nothing!

It's my thighs keeping me from fitting into 90% of my favorite clothes that are currently in the retired bin. I'm completely mystified! I know I can't spot reduce fat but I've never had a problem before with one area being SO STUBBORN that it won't give up even a quarter of an inch, in a month and a half of consistent work. Typically when I lose, I lose a little at a time all over.

Why won't my thighs go away? My jeans will thank whoever can crack the code.

Replies

  • futuremanda
    futuremanda Posts: 816 Member
    Pretty sure you just have to be patient. It'll come off if you keep at this. (Not a fun answer, I know.)
  • hbortel
    hbortel Posts: 5
    futuremanda wrote: »
    Pretty sure you just have to be patient. It'll come off if you keep at this. (Not a fun answer, I know.)

    I personally lose my weight on top first and then FINALLY lose weight on my legs in the very end! Be patient!
  • berlynnwall
    berlynnwall Posts: 669 Member
    I have the opposite problem. My legs are shaping up nice, but my stomach is blech. Unfortunately, the fat just comes off where it wants to, and we have to keep at it until most of it is off from everywhere.
  • SingRunTing
    SingRunTing Posts: 2,604 Member
    You already said it, you can't spot reduce.

    You just need to be patient and keep losing fat.
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    edited February 2015
    My thighs are the area my body likes to hold fat, too. It takes about 10 pounds before I see a quarter inch drop and I don't have that much to lose. If you're exercising hard, your thigh muscles could be retaining a bit of water which is masking the fat loss, too. I know mine get bigger after a long run or a half marathon.
  • cleback
    cleback Posts: 261 Member
    Perhaps the running is adding thigh muscles? I was in half marathon shape last fall. In the winter (my break from running), I was expecting my pants to get tighter after having gained a few pounds. To my surprise, they were looser... :-| My only explanation is that I lost muscle in my legs from not running.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Um...I started with 26 inch thighs and have had to lose 27 pounds to get down to 23.25 (still large). 5 pounds is not going to come straight from your thighs.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    you answered your own question OP ..you can't spot reduce...

    the thighs will slim out when they want to, and not when you want them to ..

    just keep eating in a deficit and lifting.
  • gabrielleelliott90
    gabrielleelliott90 Posts: 854 Member
    To get a specific area to slim down, we have to keep losing weight and it will all come evenly, you would have to keep losing weight in order to get your perfect thighs, but if you get too thin and an unhealthy weight, you may have to result to lipo for your thighs if they are that big of a problem to you....
  • Ni_kki
    Ni_kki Posts: 50 Member
    Not going to repeat what everyone already said.. As someone who has had very muscular/large/thick/thunder/trunks thighs no matter what weight I'm at, I just try to look at how amazingly powerful they are! When I'm feeling week at the gym, all it takes is a trip to the leg press and BOOM! I'm feeling strong again! Good luck with all your goals though, just don't beat yourself up.
  • wyattj99
    wyattj99 Posts: 454 Member
    OMG! I hear ya pain...I seriously do...let's all cracked the code..lol
  • Vcorz
    Vcorz Posts: 75 Member
    I notice youre in youre early 30's now, no offense...maybe youre body shape is just changing with time? Your 30's body will be different from your 20's body....
  • sofaking6
    sofaking6 Posts: 4,589 Member
    Did you put the weight on in your thighs first? Weight will tend to come off first in the places it went on last ie reverse order from how you gained it. Your body just has its favorite storage spots :)
  • rungirl1973
    rungirl1973 Posts: 2,559 Member
    SueInAz wrote: »
    My thighs are the area my body likes to hold fat, too. It takes about 10 pounds before I see a quarter inch drop and I don't have that much to lose. If you're exercising hard, your thigh muscles could be retaining a bit of water which is masking the fat loss, too. I know mine get bigger after a long run or a half marathon.

    Same here. I've never kept track of my measurements before, but starting in January I've been measuring weekly. It took about 10 lbs before I lost 0.5" in my thighs.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    My thighs are a problem too. I have a runners build already thanks to DNA. I was a track star in my youth and I run now but just less of it. All my life butt and legs are the first to gain and last to loose..

    However I do still have a fat layer(s) still hanging around over these nice muscles I have built. I am "skinny fat"... URG! I had to step away from the cycling I was doing and cutting the running some. It will be several months before I get this right.

  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Vcorz wrote: »
    I notice youre in youre early 30's now, no offense...maybe youre body shape is just changing with time? Your 30's body will be different from your 20's body....

    LOL ...

    so fat loss is determined by age bracket too???
  • squirrlt
    squirrlt Posts: 106 Member
    edited February 2015
    I had a similar problem, but I always had big thighs. Not saddlebags, just big quads, not sure if that's your issue is too. Anyway, I stopped running, or doing much cardio at all (because: Lazy). Now I mostly just do moderate weight/moderate rep squats/deadlifts/glute bridges for lower body and guess what? Thighs went from 25 to 23" (ok still kinda big but I'm getting there) in about two months, even though I did not drop a ton of weight. It was shockingly fast. If it helps for comparison, I'm a skinny-in-the-middle hourglass, even-weight loser too, I do put on muscle easily though. But I guess I lose it fast too! I kind of wonder if my legs were always swollen or something before, like inflamed from overworking them. I'm not abusing them anymore, and they SHRANK.

    Some people might say it's muscle, and just rock the thick thighs! But aesthetically, if it's not what you are going for: if it's fat, you might need to lose more weight. If it's muscle, might need to ease up on the running.

    It's funny, I guess if it's muscle, in a way, you CAN spot reduce, by letting it atrophy! (ok that sounds awful, lol). But maybe just knowing it could be muscle might make you feel better about keeping it :-)
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,744 Member
    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Vcorz wrote: »
    I notice youre in youre early 30's now, no offense...maybe youre body shape is just changing with time? Your 30's body will be different from your 20's body....

    LOL ...

    so fat loss is determined by age bracket too???

    No, but it is quite commonly used as an excuse! I hear it all the time, but I'm 43 and with heavy lifting and HIIT cardio I am able to keep my thighs in proportion to the rest of my body. When I was younger (and uneducated about fitness and the importance of nutrition) I thought I was destined to be "pear shaped". Thankfully, I learned better.
  • saires_au
    saires_au Posts: 175 Member
    As I've gotten older where I lose weight from first has changed. Younger days legs would lose first and belly last, now days it's reversed. No idea why? Maybe hormonelal changes and having three pregnancies have changed my body
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