I know you can't spot reduce, but this is RIDICULOUS! Big bo

electricmeow
electricmeow Posts: 68 Member
edited October 7 in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, I'm getting really fed up with this.

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5'8" 170ish
(I'm now down to 130)

This is the body shape I've been blessed with most of my life. Ever since Kindergarten I have been chubbier than others. Back then it was the "pot belly" then it flattened and when straight into my hips and thighs. Couldn't get more than 10 pounds off until college!

It seemed the 10 less pounds would only be off if I was eating very little and going to the gym.

Year and a half ago, finally decoded how my body works...

I've lost 35-40 pounds but its mostly my upper body!

I live in the city, bad part of town, so its hard to get formal exercise like gym and home workouts. But I walk a LOT! Yesterday I walked 4 miles. Day before yesterday I walked 7 miles. Day before that 4-5 miles....Those are just examples, but I walk 4-5 days a week. Walking is the poor man's entertainment when you can't afford to do anything INSIDE haha!

But aren't you guys shocked too, that my body would still choose to kill my upper body fat more than my lower body?

I noticed my shoulders and upper arms got really skinny about a year ago when I got my signature go-to jacket that looks great on me, but I suppose is a little too narrow in the shoulders? I noticed myself flexing my shoulder blade muscles and upper arm muscles a lot when taking notes in class, grading papers...anything with working on a desk. I don't know if my jacket stretched or I got smaller, but I don't have to do it anymore. The jacket is a little baggy now, but the shoulder width is perfect.

Brings me to question three... Could this mean I am large boned? I was told I was large boned my whole life, but come to find out its just a nice way of saying naturally overweight or something like that. When I do the index and thumb over my wrist, it touches, and overlaps a little, but again! My wrists have these prominent BONES sticking straight out. I'm known for my prominent bones. What does this mean? Big boned? If so, does this mean I would be considered "underweight" ten pounds heavier than others my height?

I know these are STRANGE questions. Questionable even, but my bony top half and flabby bottom half have me confused to the max.

Recap:
1. Not losing weight bottom half despite eating healthy and walking??
2. Can an ill fitting jacket cause you to lose fat more rapidly around shoulders and arms?
3. Big boned a possibility?

I took a picture of my back and was shocked how anorexic it looked! It really scared me at first, but it's just that it didn't match to my mental image. I'm not doing anything unhealthy.

Replies

  • suegoo
    suegoo Posts: 1
    Have a look at this,
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-488236/Trinny-Susannah-reveal-12-womens-body-types--you.html
    Sue
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
    You may have a large frame. but I don't think you are "big boned".

    Walking is great and all.. it's my primary form of cardio.. but you need to do more! Look up body weight exercises.. Squats, lunges, push ups, tri-cep dips, planks, etc. All of those are going to help shape the lower half... You need to be adding in some type of resistance workout on top of the walking.. other wise you are going to end up "skinny fat"(IE flabby and no muscle tone!).

    Also, ill fitting clothing does not cause you to lose weight... but not doing weight training will because you are losing muscle, along with the fat.
  • yogavegan
    yogavegan Posts: 116 Member
    You may have a large frame. but I don't think you are "big boned".

    Walking is great and all.. it's my primary form of cardio.. but you need to do more! Look up body weight exercises.. Squats, lunges, push ups, tri-cep dips, planks, etc. All of those are going to help shape the lower half... You need to be adding in some type of resistance workout on top of the walking.. other wise you are going to end up "skinny fat"(IE flabby and no muscle tone!).

    Also, ill fitting clothing does not cause you to lose weight... but not doing weight training will because you are losing muscle, along with the fat.


    ^ this for certain. you need some weight training and or resistance training!
  • MzBug
    MzBug Posts: 2,173 Member
    You are no where near as bad as I was. I don't know your age, but you seem to be still in your childbearing years. That will also have an impact, I was the same way. While you are in your childbearing years the female body is pre disposed to storing fat below the waist in preparation for having kids. No matter what I weighed I was always pear shaped...big booty, thighs and lower belly pooch. In high school it was a difference of 2 sizes between upper and lower halves (s/m on top, l/xl on bottom). This time around I have noticed that I am actually losing inches on my lower half along with my upper. Maybe soon for the first time in my life I will be the same size on top and bottom!

    Something that I think may have helped me is pilates and walking (for the lower half) and using resistance bands on the upper half. Good Luck!
  • proverbs31chick
    proverbs31chick Posts: 485 Member
    I agree, most def incorporate some weight training. Don't be afraid of weights if you are.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    You may have a large frame. but I don't think you are "big boned".
    What does "big boned" mean, then?
  • stronglikebull
    stronglikebull Posts: 402
    girl you're a pear shape. you are a classic pear. embrace. love. then do squats and deadlifts with a barbell.
  • Hyperspace
    Hyperspace Posts: 78
    I think weight training would help quite a bit.

    Firming the muscles in your lower body would help hold in the fat that naturally wants to be there.

    Building the muscles in your upper body will give your body balance so the weight in the lower part will not be so obvious.
    You'll have more of an hourglass figure instead of a pear figure. Va-va-voom!
  • dmpizza
    dmpizza Posts: 3,321 Member
    Anything is possible, but it is more likely your genetic programming. You might also see what happens when you keep working out.
  • LauraRose03
    LauraRose03 Posts: 140
    girl you're a pear shape. you are a classic pear. embrace. love. then do squats and deadlifts with a barbell.

    I agree. I think your body is hot! (I say that in a completely heterosexual way). I've always been envious of pear shapes. It's curvy, sexy and the way a woman's body should be, imo.
  • SinCity2003
    SinCity2003 Posts: 163 Member
    I have your body type and the only thing that worked for me was spinning. I was a size 9 on the bottom and an x-tra small on the top. I did spinning for 8 weeks and dropped to a size 4. It's the only thing I found to reduce my hips/thighs. Now, having said that, I was very appreciative of my hips when I gave birth to my son. My grandma always told me "those are child-bearing hips" and oh, how right she was!
  • siabevis
    siabevis Posts: 811
    What kind of cardio do u do
  • Beeps2011
    Beeps2011 Posts: 12,169 Member
    I'm a pear, too. 5'9" - 161 lbs. After 25+ years of being a gym (cardio) rat, and FINALLY saying, "I want to change my SHAPE" (regardless of the scale), I am NOW lifting HEAVY.

    I 100% think you need to ditch the walking, and take that same amount of time to complete strength-training. Say "no" to lots of reps (with lower weight) and say "yes" to fewer reps (with high weight). Seek out a trainer to get the proper form down, and then you can do the program on your own. Check out "New Rules of Lifting for Women", by Lou Schuler. And join us on the "strength training for women" group and the "NROL4W" group.

    By summer, you'll have lost all that junk in your trunk (believe me, I got plenty there, too!) because your STRONG muscles will occupy WAY LESS SPACE then any FAT.

    You've lost weight - but that also means losing muscle. Now, go build it back up so that you are ACTUALLY losing body fat %.

    You can DO THIS! Don't EVER give up!
  • Cr357
    Cr357 Posts: 238
    girl you're a pear shape. you are a classic pear. embrace. love. then do squats and deadlifts with a barbell.
    I agree with her^^^^^ yes embrace, love.....then do squats and deadlifts with a barbell.
  • AZackery
    AZackery Posts: 2,035 Member
    Hi Electricmeow, you've said that you have looked at your back, it looked anorexic. What do you mean by that? You are what I call bottom heavy. I'm the same way. I have wide hips too bka birth hips. My top can be a different size from my bottom. All this is normal for woman that's shaped like us. Scale weight loss and fat loss aren't the same time. It takes time to lose fat. For our bodies, it seems as if our top portion gets smaller faster than our lower portion. I know that you are use to walking, but do you think you can do other cardio workouts, such as Tae Bo and even incorporating Pilates. Indoor walking is good to do as well. Leslie Sansone has some good workouts. Do you own any weights? They can be 3 pound weights. Your local library should have workouts that you can check out. Be patient with your body. Your lower section will come along.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    It's all genetics where you lose and gain your weight.

    Honestly, I think you need to come to terms with your body shape. This is a mental thing, not a physical one.

    You can start doing some lower body work (squats, lunges, etc.) to help with the muscle definition in your lower body and continue at a calorie deficit to reduce body fat as well.
  • pear875
    pear875 Posts: 1 Member
    Hi electricmeow. I happened across your message doing a google search for the exact same problem ur having. I am the same as you. I was talking to my partner last night about this very problem. I have always tended towards a pear shape. I am very skinny from the waist up - just like you said I almost look anorexic with bones visible on my chest, ribs and back BUT I eat lots and am certainly not anorexic and yet despite my skinny upper half I have a flabby lower half that totally lacks muscle tone. My exercise habits are quite sporadic as they depend on my work load - I am self-employed. I LOVE going to classes at the gym and running on the treadmill and I go whenever work allows me the time - sometimes up to 6 times a week but more often stabilising at 2/3 times (though not every week I should add!!). Every time I exercise a lot my arms get stronger and firmer, my stomach gets flatter and stronger and yet nothing seems to budge on my lower half and it makes me despair. Feels almost like the more exercise I do the more exaggerated my pear shape gets. My partner is very into fitness and has suggested what the other posters here have suggested....stairclimber for butt, squats, lunges, etc. I'm trying not to feel too disheartened and see if this does anything. I get v impatient to see results though and so I don't always manage to stick with it for too long. I don't know if dieting will help - feels like my upper body would probably lose the weight and my lower body would stay the same. Would be great to hear of any success stories wouldn't it??
  • kittyneutron
    kittyneutron Posts: 160 Member
    You may have a large frame. but I don't think you are "big boned".
    What does "big boned" mean, then?

    Now I can't remember where I heard this-I believe it was via Dr. Oz on Oprah. He was talking about a simple method of determining whether you were small, normal or big boned. You take your index finger and encircle the left wrist (like you are making a bracelet with your fingers). If your index finger can touch your thumb easily, you are small boned. If it just barely touches, you are normal and if there is space between your index finger and thumb, you are big boned.
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