Losing weight too fast on upper body--please help!

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sjwidman11
sjwidman11 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there!

I've been using MFP for about 4 months to prep for my upcoming wedding, which is now three weeks away, and I've seen great results. I've lost about 15 lbs so far, and I'm feeling good. I am currently a 30 year old, 5'9 135 lb woman who, like many women, carry most of her weight in her bottom half. My upper body has always been lean-looking, but I've struggled a lot with my hips, thighs and butt. In conjunction with MFP, I am also using the elliptical machine about 5 days/wk for about 45 minutes. Recently, I started incorporating muscle and toning exercises, like squats, etc. As I began losing weight, I did notice that my legs, hips and butt got smaller, but now, at 135 lbs, my upper body is borderline-unhealthy looking. My family members mentioned that my upper body looks a bit too skinny (and I admit that it does), however, my legs and bottom half have not really followed suit. I'm at a loss at what to do, as I know you cannot spot-reduce a specific area of the body. For some reason, due to my build and genetics, my upper body just loses fat faster than the lower half. I'm worried that if I keep losing weight (perhaps even just 5 more lbs), my upper body will look way too thin, but I'd still like to lose more in the bottom half. What kind of exercises can I do to continue losing weight/toning my lower body without losing too much weight on my upper half? Any thoughts or suggestions? Do I focus less on cardio now and more on weights? Do I eat enough calories to "maintain" rather than to lose? Should I still do cardio, but not as much? With MFP, I'm still eating the foods I enjoy, like carbs, so now do I focus more on protein? It's so confusing! Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • phrunch
    phrunch Posts: 115 Member
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    If you feel good now and you feel like you're ready for the wedding, maintain.

    Long term, you may want to consider losing to where you're comfortable and then working to build muscle in your upper body to even things out (but that journey will take longer than three weeks)
  • ARGriffy
    ARGriffy Posts: 1,002 Member
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    To be honest, in 3 weeks you can't do anything hun, im presuming it's top half that's showed off in your dress anyway? At the stage just get used to this body for a few weeks and focus on the rest of this stressful time haha (I got married last year!) And huge congrats on your progress :) and good luck! !
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    trigden1991 wrote: »
    You can't choose where fat is lost from.

    this.

    so the choice is, stay as you are, with a bit more fat than is ideal on your bottom half, or lose more weight, but look a bit 'skinny' on your top half.
  • Trish1c
    Trish1c Posts: 549 Member
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    Congrats on the wedding. Focus on that not this. Do some arm weight lifting in the short term but really at 3 weeks you don't have time to fix this. I'm sure you will look beautiful on your big day.
  • ilex70
    ilex70 Posts: 727 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Not much to add, other than yes, it is annoying.

    I've gotten notably skinnier fingers the last few weeks. Stopped wearing my original wedding band quite awhile ago. Was wearing my grandmother's. Then that one was loose and didn't want to lose it so got a cheap one around 5 weeks ago. Now that one is loose.

    C'mon body, really? Couldn't you have pulled that tiny bit of fat from some place useful to me.
  • robininfl
    robininfl Posts: 1,137 Member
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    Hi! I'm your size and find that what worked better than losing more weight was building some mass in the upper body to balance things out.

    So I think you might be happier with slightly bigger shoulders and back, I did that mostly with yoga, it was slow but visually you can get definition fast when you are starting from skinny. You don't need to stop the cardio, you aren't going to drop too much weight, but doing some things to build up muscle will very likely get you closer to what you are looking for.

    But for the wedding, use undergarments!!! You can't do anything dramatic to change your body in 3 weeks, just go to a good foundations store and let them find you a girdle, etc, to smooth the hips and thighs so you have the profile you want for the pictures and stuff.

  • dmt4641
    dmt4641 Posts: 409 Member
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    I am the same as you, similar weight and height and carry most of it in my lower body. Lift heavy weights on your upper body and your shoulders will widen a bit and make you look more of an hour glass shape. But that takes time. Before the wedding you may want to stop with the weight loss and work on weight lifting as much as you can before the big day. After the wedding, continue with heavy lifting and your body may look less bottom heavy over time. But you can't completely escape your body shape, learn to love it! I am growing a booty with some hip thrusts and glute bridges and my shape has improved.
  • sarahlifts
    sarahlifts Posts: 610 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Most women tend to lose from the top down.

    You do not want to even know how lean I am up top now. I'm at a point where I don't care bc I need my legs to lean out before I bulk again.

    To negate this very lean upper body and overly fatty legs hips buttocks I am cutting and bulking to add more muscle mass to my legs. Over time this will balance my frame and diminish the amount of fat I carry in my legs when I do hit about 21-20% body fat on my next cut.

    If you aren't interested in recompositioning your body, you will find your self here over and over. Some women don't want to build muscle, so they will continue the cycle of aiming to spot reduce instead of spot building.


    edited to add:
    while most are saying add bulk to your upper body (which is not an issue I have), yes that will change the amount of mass there, however when you lean out again your will still get very lean up top bf legs ever lose the fat, which is why I am adding lean mass to my legs thru the winter.

    Over all you should aim to add lean mass to your whole body. It will take a lot of time. I have long limbs and a short torso, adding noticeable lean mass takes even longer.

    with only 3 weeks to go just look to your wedding day and don't stress over your weight. I'm sure you will be beautiful!

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