Not quite sure how to label this - body proportions and weight loss?

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Gifikima
Gifikima Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all -

I've been using MFP for some time, but have never posted on the forums before now, so, greetings :) Just looking for some advice, as I'm having a growing (shrinking?) "issue", lol.

I've lost 93 pounds in the past 10 months, give or take, and, frankly, my tatas look absolutely ridiculous right now! I've always been large-busted (like, after 93 pounds lost, I'm juuuuust now getting to the point where DDDs will be my next "downsize"), and have also always had one breast slightly bigger than the other (normal, right?). However, it seems that one just keeps shrinking during this weight loss, while the other... doesn't. I mean, it has, some, but the difference is quite noticeable at this point.

I was just wondering if there's something I can do as far as exercises to help even things out? Most of what I do for exercise involves walking and hiking with my dogs, but I do have some dumbbells I don't use nearly enough. A gym isn't an option right now. I still have about 65 lbs to go to hit my goal weight; might they even out more on their own as I continue to lose? Thanks for any insight/advice/tips :)

-Gina

Replies

  • kimothyschma
    kimothyschma Posts: 209 Member
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    SAME! No advice, just commiseration!
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited February 2018
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    I think you’re SOL, unfortunately. Exercise can’t cause fat loss in a specific place if you were thinking to try and “shrink” one side, and building muscle (which is extremely hard to do in a deficit) won’t make a difference even if you wanted to try and build up just one side because the breast itself isn’t muscle, it’s fat and tissue. It might even out and it might not - you’re just going to have to be patient, stuff half of your bra if it makes you more comfortable, and see what happens. Good luck!

    ETA: And congratulations on your progress - that’s some great work!
  • Gifikima
    Gifikima Posts: 2 Member
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    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    I think you’re SOL, unfortunately. Exercise can’t cause fat loss in a specific place if you were thinking to try and “shrink” one side, and building muscle (which is extremely hard to do in a deficit) won’t make a difference even if you wanted to try and build up just one side because the breast itself isn’t muscle, it’s fat and tissue. It might even out and it might not - you’re just going to have to be patient, stuff half of your bra if it makes you more comfortable, and see what happens. Good luck!

    I'm not sure what you mean by the building muscle is hard to do in a "deficit" thing... ? I guess I'm not familiar with that terminology. I'm pretty sure exercise *has* affected it though, mostly because the side that is significantly smaller is the side that I usually hold the retractable lead I walk my dogs with, and two are huskies, so there's usually a good deal of "resistance" (aka pulling) throughout our hikes... my arm on that side has also shrunk at least an inch more than the other. I've been doing some googling and did find some stuff that some claim can help, but wondered if anyone had any actual experience with trying to "firm up" just one side. I can't really stuff one side of my bras either, as the bras I currently have to use "fit" the small side, and the big side just pooches out and looks stupid... the larger bras I have that would still fit the big one, the band size is too large and stretched out to do me any good, and good bras are expensive, so more new ones aren't in the budget just yet, lol.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    Varying degree of size difference is definitely normal. I know you said new bras are not in the budget right now, but when they are, buy to fit your larger side and fill in the smaller (they make little chicken filet looking things just for this! :lol: )

    You may even out more as you continue losing, but nothing you can do will specifically target one side. If you truly think it would help, switch the side you walk your dogs on.
  • DomesticKat
    DomesticKat Posts: 565 Member
    edited February 2018
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    Most women have breasts that are two different sizes. Some more obvious than others. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it. Breasts themselves are fat tissue, mammary glands, etc. and when we lose fat, sometimes the breast skin snaps back and sometimes it doesn't. It all depends on how much collagen is in our skin. There can also be asymmetry of the pectoral muscle and where the breasts themselves are located on the chest wall and I don't think that's something that can be corrected with exercise. As far as I know the only thing that will correct severe asymmetry is a breast lift.
  • charlieandcarol
    charlieandcarol Posts: 302 Member
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    I wouldn't panic yet, you may lose more from the other breast and arm as your weight loss continues. The muscle/deficit comment means you are unlikely to build muscle whilst eating less than your body burns in a day (ie in a calorie deficet) and then it is hard to build muscle as a woman anyway. Whilst dieting your muscles might feel stronger if you are exercising and might look more obvious because you have lost some of the fat covering them.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,874 Member
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    Also, in reference to one 'side' being larger than the other (your comment about your arm), one whole half of me is slightly bigger than the other. All on the same side, I have a little extra bump right below my butt cheek (annoying because it doesn't go away until I get REALLY slim), that thigh always measures slightly larger, my waist curves in a bit less, my fingers are even very slightly bigger based on how rings fit. (This makes me sound like a bit of a freak, upon reading it, lol, but as I said before, it's actually very common!)
  • anyWendy
    anyWendy Posts: 97 Member
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    Since no one has asked this yet: have you had a recent clinical breast exam or mammogram?

    Probably nothing, and will either even out over time, or it won't, but I'd feel better after a clean bill of health.

    Good luck and congrats on the loss!
  • sytchequeen
    sytchequeen Posts: 526 Member
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    is the larger one the same side as your dominant hand / arm? I was just wondering.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,728 Member
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    anyWendy wrote: »
    Since no one has asked this yet: have you had a recent clinical breast exam or mammogram?

    Probably nothing, and will either even out over time, or it won't, but I'd feel better after a clean bill of health.

    Good luck and congrats on the loss!

    That was my first thought as well.

    It's a long/unlikely contingency, but certainly worth checking
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
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    I agree that you should get a breast exam just to be on the safe side. I lost over 100 pounds from my all time high weight and I can tell you that my breasts shrank as well. I have found now that I'm in maintenance that my body seems to be evening out a bit. I always lose in my face and breasts first but either I've gotten used to it or some of the weight has shifted back because my breasts don't seem to be as flat and my face doesn't seem to look as gaunt. My weight remains stable. Hang in there (no pun intended, lol). It might even out over time.
  • HDBKLM
    HDBKLM Posts: 466 Member
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    Unfortunately even if it were easy to build up muscle while in a deficit, your pectoral muscles are not actually 'in' your boob (as someone else pointed out, boobs themselves are just glands and fat). There was a woman somewhere on the boards a while back who had also become a body builder. She said that after she lost her weight her boobs deflated to empty skin sacks. Then she built up her chest muscles, but the result was that she had like a man's chest with empty skin sacks hanging under it.
  • MegaMooseEsq
    MegaMooseEsq Posts: 3,118 Member
    edited February 2018
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    Gifikima wrote: »
    MegaMooseEsq wrote: »
    I think you’re SOL, unfortunately. Exercise can’t cause fat loss in a specific place if you were thinking to try and “shrink” one side, and building muscle (which is extremely hard to do in a deficit) won’t make a difference even if you wanted to try and build up just one side because the breast itself isn’t muscle, it’s fat and tissue. It might even out and it might not - you’re just going to have to be patient, stuff half of your bra if it makes you more comfortable, and see what happens. Good luck!

    I'm not sure what you mean by the building muscle is hard to do in a "deficit" thing... ? I guess I'm not familiar with that terminology. I'm pretty sure exercise *has* affected it though, mostly because the side that is significantly smaller is the side that I usually hold the retractable lead I walk my dogs with, and two are huskies, so there's usually a good deal of "resistance" (aka pulling) throughout our hikes... my arm on that side has also shrunk at least an inch more than the other. I've been doing some googling and did find some stuff that some claim can help, but wondered if anyone had any actual experience with trying to "firm up" just one side. I can't really stuff one side of my bras either, as the bras I currently have to use "fit" the small side, and the big side just pooches out and looks stupid... the larger bras I have that would still fit the big one, the band size is too large and stretched out to do me any good, and good bras are expensive, so more new ones aren't in the budget just yet, lol.

    I totally believe you that you've seen asymmetrical changes, but that's going to be due to genetics and coincidence, not exercise. In terms of "firming up" or "toning", those are kind of meaningless terms - the only way to change the way your body looks is to lose fat or build muscle. As mentioned in another comment, being in a deficit means you're consuming fewer calories than you burn - this is necessary in order to lose weight. Building muscle usually requires extra calories and serious weight-lifting (and/or drugs), but even in idea circumstances it's really difficult to do, and even more so for women.

    On the losing fat side, it sounds like you might have the common but incorrect assumption that exercising will burn fat in the specific area being exercised. This is a persistent myth that has been disproven for decades now, and anyone who tries to tell you that you can do exercises to lose weight from an specific area is most likely trying to sell you something or take advantage of you for pageclicks. A lot of people have dominant sides of their body, but this isn't something that can be changed overnight (if at all). Sorry to be a negative Nancy, I totally get this is a drag. I just hate to see someone waste their time on something that is scientifically proven to be impossible.

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