Any Successes for Women With An Inverted Triangle Shape?

Hi. I am not sure if it's a little late to post a response but I am an inverted triangle as well. I am 5'0" tall & currently weight 108lbs. My legs are super slim, tight but small rear, broad shoulders, broad back, toned arms & a bit of a tummy. I've noticed over the years (I am 26) I am never going to change my body type. I have to work with it. Despite the craze with needing to obtain a huge butt, small waist, thick thighs & huge breasts, not to mention: the SQUATTING obsession-I want to embrace the opposite. I am finally learning to truly work with my body instead of against it & being miserable. I think the main thing we must do is stay very slim-lean everything out. I used to lift a lot of weights hardcore-every body part. Yes I am sorry ladies who are pro lifting heavy: I bulked up. I was 115-120lbs mostly muscle but I wasn't ripped just super toned. Everything felt tight: I didn't like it. I also had a huge appetite-it was very hard to control. I wasn't happy. Keep in mind I am tiny-I didn't like the way my shoulders & arms looked. It didn't look elegant. Personally, I think doing at least 45 minutes of cardio everyday, stretching & watching your calorie intake does miracles to the body. Keep active! We want to create a smooth finish-NO BULK especially for us shrimps. The hardest part for me to lose weight is my belly. I still have a little excess fat. But I am working hard & watching everything I eat. I walk a lot-low impact exercise. Nothing too intense. My goal is to create a slim, elegant & graceful look. I'd like to go down to 100-105lbs. I think it's my ideal body weight. There is the stigma against cardio-hence "cardio bunnies"-but cardio is overall great for your entire body. If your going to lift-lift light to create a sleek look. Might incorporate lifting light into my workout starting one day a week. Hope this helps. Embrace it. It's truly a beautiful body type. The idea is to look elegant & graceful-NO BULK. Another helpful tip: get a Fitbit. This little accessory really helps you stay active. Totally obsessed. Keep yourself moving!

Yes. I am Latina. In my family it is critical to have a large butt, small waist & large breasts-an hour glass figure. Broad shoulders/backs, thin legs, small breasts & small butts are frowned upon. Growing up was super difficult for me! I had very poor body image. The women in my family would always make fun of ladies with slim inverted triangle figures-"that's not a woman. she looks like a boy." AWFUL. I thought there was something wrong with me. But with time & after developing much self awareness-now at my age, I finally feel more confident about my body. I want my body to be the best version of itself: healthy & happy. Men appreciate it too. There are so many beautiful woman with inverted triangles body types: Naomi Cambell, Catherine Zeta Jones, Rene Zellwegger, Charleze Theron, to name a few. All super elegant women who rock the V. Again remaining slim I believe is the trick. It's nice to hear AthelticGirl2K15 agrees with me on weightlifting. They say women don't bulk but unfortunately for us-we did generate some muscle mass in our upper body. I definitely think all women should give heavy lifting a try. Everyone is different. Hope to meet new inverted triangle friends here on MFP. Feel free to add me. I think it would be fabulous to motivate each other. Thank you!

athleticgirl2K15 wrote: »

I am also a slight IT and for the longest while I truly hated it. Family members would laugh uncontrollably at my broad shoulders while I was growing up as a teenager and today, I try everything in my power to wear outfits that will add bulk to my hips and detract attention from my huge shoulders/arms. Mercy7889, thanks so much for posting about your results lifting heavy weights. I started lifting heavy weights about a year ago and stopped lifting after about a month because I was also bulking up pretty badly. I don't have anything against ladies who wish to bulk, but for me personally, I prefer an elegant more dainty physique. Currently, I am doing HIIT cardio 5-6x per week, 1 leg day, and 1 SUPER LIGHT upper body day.. we'll see how this goes!

mercy7889 wrote: »

Hi. I am not sure if it's a little late to post a response but I am an inverted triangle as well. I am 5'0" tall & currently weight 108lbs. My legs are super slim, tight but small rear, broad shoulders, broad back, toned arms & a bit of a tummy. I've noticed over the years (I am 26) I am never going to change my body type. I have to work with it. Despite the craze with needing to obtain a huge butt, small waist, thick thighs & huge breasts, not to mention: the SQUATTING obsession-I want to embrace the opposite. I am finally learning to truly work with my body instead of against it & being miserable. I think the main thing we must do is stay very slim-lean everything out. I used to lift a lot of weights hardcore-every body part. Yes I am sorry ladies who are pro lifting heavy: I bulked up. I was 115-120lbs mostly muscle but I wasn't ripped just super toned. Everything felt tight: I didn't like it. I also had a huge appetite-it was very hard to control. I wasn't happy. Keep in mind I am tiny-I didn't like the way my shoulders & arms looked. It didn't look elegant. Personally, I think doing at least 45 minutes of cardio everyday, stretching & watching your calorie intake does miracles to the body. Keep active! We want to create a smooth finish-NO BULK especially for us shrimps. The hardest part for me to lose weight is my belly. I still have a little excess fat. But I am working hard & watching everything I eat. I walk a lot-low impact exercise. Nothing too intense. My goal is to create a slim, elegant & graceful look. I'd like to go down to 100-105lbs. I think it's my ideal body weight. There is the stigma against cardio-hence "cardio bunnies"-but cardio is overall great for your entire body. If your going to lift-lift light to create a sleek look. Might incorporate lifting light into my workout starting one day a week. Hope this helps. Embrace it. It's truly a beautiful body type. The idea is to look elegant & graceful-NO BULK. Another helpful tip: get a Fitbit. This little accessory really helps you stay active. Totally obsessed. Keep yourself moving!

I consider myself somewhere between inverted triangle and apple I guess. My back is wide, large breasts, thick shoulders, no waist definition and my legs from the knee down are tiiiiny (I was teased for "chicken legs" that are too small for my body and told by people that "I should do something about it" ! I feel your struggle . I agree that this body type typically looks best on the smaller side, because we tend to carry weight in the upper body. Since we're already wide and awkwardly proportioned, extra weight just brings more attention to the mismatch. I don't have a lot of recent full body pics, but will say that there his "hope" in getting to a good place (Before having kids I got down to 135 and felt my body looked way more proportioned). It's a combo of getting to a good weight, finding good fitting clothes (more important than for other body types IMO), and most importantly stopping the negative SELF talk! Yes, we may have been called "manly", but using that language towards ourself is counterproductive IMO. I didn't get this until age 29, and noticed that since I stopped referring to my legs as "chicken legs" and breasts as "ugly/saggy", shoulders as "football", etc I've been able to focus on accepting the body type and putting more effort into making changes. I'm rooting for you!

ChiffonLaRue14 wrote: »

It doesn't get any worse than my IT measurements. I have lost 35 lbs so far. 60 more to go. My measurements started at 50"-44"-43" I am 5 foot 8 and used to weigh 235 lbs. I am Asian so I hardly had big boobs and a butt to begin with plus my face stores a lot of fat Now I am 200 lbs, measuring 47"-39"-40". It makes me sad how some women who weigh 70 lbs heavier than me have smaller faces and waistlines lol. Oh well, I do have a large frame, makes me look more imposing. I am hoping that once I get to my ideal weight I can wear better clothing. Pretty hard to dress IT's properly.

Oh but our shoulders really are beautiful

Wow.... this is me! Our measurements almost match. I am an inverted triangle as well. It is very hard to buy clothes when you look at the measurement charts. If I went by these measurements, I would be an XL on top, 3X at the waist, a medium at the hips and my legs are short and muscle toned, but small. LOL!!

I'm an inverted triangle too. I lift weights and I'm seeing some results. However because I'm eating at a deficit I'm definitely not bulking up. I am learning to love my strong arms and shoulders.
I finally acknowledged that I am the shape that I am.

Total wedge here. I've yoyo'd from 125 to my max of 205 a couple of times. Currently 185 and still very wedgy. I'm getting married in July and unfortunately I'll still be looking like an upside down triangle at my wedding. When I was thin, I still had broad shoulders, but I kinda dug it. Made me feel statuesque. I'll never ever have a booty no matter how many lunges or whatever I do. But I have really shapely legs. So thin I'm very pleased with my shape. Heavy, it really makes it hard to look good in anything!