Hey, pear-shaped women...
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btw, OP, if you aren't doing deadlifts, please start. they are awesome. also, let me introduce you to staci: http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
i will check it out! i have done deadlifts in the past but don't really feel much when doing them... am i not using enough weight? i currently only have 3 and 5 lb hand weights at home.0 -
I incorporated running into my workout and once I added Pilates/Yoga into the workout as well, I saw more changes in my hip/thigh area. I highly recommend Pilates. Seriously, nothing changed my body more or made it look more lean.
Do you have a Pilates/Yoga video that you recommend? I prefer to do workouts at home as I don't have a gym membership. I have an old pilates video from years ago when the trend became more popular, and I hated it! So maybe there's something newer and more fun! I'm definitely open to suggestions.
Has anyone tried the P90X yoga? My bf has the videos that I could borrow if it would be worth it.
If you have a netflix (or other streaming account) check there. I have found a couple good yoga programs on netflix, and it doesn't cost any extra.0 -
Winsor Pilates changed my life!0
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Me Too ME too... I am very Boney and do not want any more weight loss off my top.. So I am target training now.. I just ordered the butt bible (after seeing someone's results from the backside in just the first 3 weeks) and I also do Jillian the 30 day shred and biggest loser workouts.. I think you just have to take your focus off the scale now and specifically do workouts that target the lower body! And just an F.Y.I I have been running 5-6 miles several days a week for almost 3 years, and it slimmed down my lower legs immensly and the front of my thighs look very muscular, BUT it has done nothing for the jiggle on the back of my thighs or my inner thighs and rear end.. So Running will not fix it all, I am not trying to discourage you its great cardio, But Your Jillian workouts will give you more of the results you are looking for.. I have now backed off my long runs and I do a 30 minute jillian workout and then a 20 or 30 minute run.. I am starting to see Positive changes .. Hope this helps you! I am going to add you as a friend so I you can follow my resuts with the 6 week Butt bible program.. It was only 18 on amazon and if it changes my lower body the way it did for the other person on here I saw, IT may be worth the investment : )0
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I lost almost 30 pounds total. I saw the most dramatic drop in my hips/thighs during the last 10 pounds. For a while I was getting quite small up top and thought my pear shape would be even more exaggerated, but it evened out a bit. Also, strength training really helped out in the thighs (I do pilates 2x week).
Wow! I envy you. For some of us the "thunder thighs" look never goes away. I've been 156 lbs & 106 lbs - fat legs at both extremes (I'm 5'5"). Yes, I do pilates - does great things for my core, not so much for my lower half.0 -
I had this problem. My doctor told me when you carry your weight on your bottom half you need to watch your fat. since doing so a lot has changed.0
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I have Netflix, but in Canada... I don't actually think there are any workout videos on there, but I'll take a look.
I think I have a Winsor pilates video... maybe i'll dust it off and try again. Its from about 10 years ago, but I'm sure they idea is still the same!
And JLove2Zumba - thanks for the honesty and advice! I'll keep up the Jillian workouts, mostly because I love a good butt-whooping! And this afternoon i'll try my first walk/jog in a long time. 0 -
Yes, I have this same problem. I even hired a personal trainer to help me with this because I thought it was cheaper, healthier and less painful than liposuction.
I did hundreds of squats, lunges and those (*&^ kettle bell swings. Although I did see a difference in the way my bottom was shaped, the "saddle bags" are still there. This fat is not going to come off unless I go into the dangerous zone of body weight of around 89 lbs. I am not willing to do that.
I will state that I am 43 years old and it is much harder to take that fat off as a person grows older.
^^This! Some women will ALWAYS be pear shaped, just like some women will always be busty. All we can do is give it our best shot. Some people will never have a perfect body. It's really hard maintaining a weight loss when your goal is ...."not as fat as I used to be." I just keep telling myself, it's all about my HEALTH.0 -
btw, OP, if you aren't doing deadlifts, please start. they are awesome. also, let me introduce you to staci: http://nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/07/21/meet-staci-your-new-powerlifting-super-hero/
i will check it out! i have done deadlifts in the past but don't really feel much when doing them... am i not using enough weight? i currently only have 3 and 5 lb hand weights at home.
Get a set of kettle bells. Very versatile weights. Get a set of one if each of 10-15-20-30 Lbs.0 -
I have the same problem -- you can't really target weight loss, unfortunately. You can start doing exercises to help tone fat and excess weight on your legs, and you'll see some inch loss. But that's really all you can do
. I feel your pain! I'm the exact same way: 26'' waist and 39'' hips. Sigh. 0 -
I'm not sure if I was apple shaped to start with as I didn't even have a waist! it was just straight down from under boobs to hips!
Now I have a definite curve in my waist shrunk form 38" to 31 " and tummy was 48" and now 35 " .. I'd like to get both to 30" so I cam fit int he 30 " waist Levi's I got which actually fasten just above my hips! (where my 35`' tummy is!!!) for some bizarre reason I thought a 30" waist would actually fasten around my waist!
I was surprised to find I also lost 4 " off my bust and you can see my bones at front of shoulders (just under neck.. the name escapes at the minute!) and my rib cage under my boobs! My wrists and arms were thin anyway as all my weight was around my middle, butt and thighs and they are looking even thinner and my neck.
I'd like to get my tummy down to 30" but wondering how much thinner my top half would look by time I'd finished and what weight I'd end up at! .. I don't want to look ill like a skeleton on top just to get a flat stomach.. maybe I should give up on the 30 " jeans and put them in the charity bag and go for waist sizes the size of my tummy if they are designed to fasten just above the hip these days!
would this make me a pear shape now then?0 -
I vote for additional upper body training to help even things out. How about pushups? Increase the muscle a bit in your arms and shoulders. And firm things up in your chest too. Then you'll look like you have slightly bigger boobs.
I have a bit of a weird shape. I am a busty pear. My hips and lower body is wider than my upper body, but since I am so busty, I look a bit more hourglass. I notice as I get smaller though, the pear-ness becomes more obvious, so I added more upper body training to compensate.0 -
I'm a pear-shaped too but I was able to "change" it a bit by doing heavier weight lifting on upper body while lighter weights on the lower body. Honestly cardio doesn't do anything to sculpt your body so weight training is the best answer.
^This. I am/used to be pear-shaped too until I started lifting. That's when I started noticing the inches really coming off my hips.0 -
Running plus weight lifting plus a small calorie deficit and lots of protein helped balance my body. I'm not sure which of those four helped the most, but when I lost weight on too little calories and not enough exercise, I stayed chunky on the bottom and bony up top.0
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I'm having a similar experience - I tried on my 'slim' clothes at the weekend and could fit into my dresses and skirts but not all the trousers. One thing I do to tone hip and thigh area up is using a kickboard in the pool. Doing that regularly seems to lift everything.0
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I have done this whole weight loss thing before. I started here because I hot my highest weight once again. When I lost all my weight before, I lost 65 lbs, and I am most definitely a pear! I was concerned about looking weird too, since I lost the weight up top first it seemed (belly, arms and chest). However, the lower weight DID come off. I was still pear shaped, but a much smaller, cuter pear. I still couldn't wear skinny jeans, or fitted dresses (only a-lines for me!), but I didn't mind. The pear-ness wasn't even that noticeable.0
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bump :-)0
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i've lost 61 pounds but only went down one pants size so i feel all of the pain we pear shaped women face, lol. i've been obese all of my life so i never knew what body shape i had under all the fat. now that i'm 61 pounds lighter i've discovered i'm apart of the pears! wooo! *sarcasm* my boobs are gone (went from a 40 DD down to a 38C...and now my C bras are starting to become too big) and my collarbones stick out SO much that my family keeps telling me not to lose weight because I look "scary thin". but the thing is...i only look thin on top. my hips and thighs? MONSTEROUS. i don't even like wearing jeans anymore because they accentuate my pear shape and make me look extremely disproportional. big hips and thighs run in my family unfortunately so i know it's going to be nearly impossible to get the body i crave so desperately. =[0
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Same boat, different day....
I decided to move to HEAVY lifting. I've done the cardio-thing for 25+ years and I'm as pear-as-pear-can-be. So, in a last-ditch effort to "CHANGE MY SHAPE", I've moved, carte blanche, into heavy lifting.
Easy? Not really - I miss my (steady-state) cardio and the results are much. slower. in. showing. up.
Good? I think so. The muscle definition in my "skinny" parts looks SO much healthier! And, I'm pretty convinced my bum, saddle bags, thunder thighs, the whole gamut, will slim right down as the time goes on (and I, very closely, am watching what I put into my mouth!).
I hope to have a "success story" to post sometime this year. We shall see!0 -
Yep, same here, my upper body is fine it's just below my waist, hips and thighs, just don't seem to be going anywhere!!! Grrrrrr0
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Same boat here. What makes it more bearable is that I'm also getting more muscle in the top half of the pear.
And you should be deadlifting a LOT more. Everyone's different, I know, but I'm kinda new to heavy lifting and I deadlift 105, just to give you a ballpark.0 -
Hello! We are women and as such are SUPOSED to have hips & booty!! So dont beat yourself up for not looking like a 12 year old boy!! It's about being healthy. But dont go overboard on 'working' your lower half because most of us pears carry the majority of our muscle mass in our thighs & butts and we def. dont wanna build more in that area! The goal sould be to tighten and tone that area while adding muscle to your upper half. Build those sexy shoulders and back. If you get your body fat % down to where it should be and are still unhappy with the way you look then focus on building those upper muscles.Think Marilyn Monroe & J-lo!! :happy:0
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Don't get me wrong everyone... i LOVE my curvy hips and booty - and my bf loves it too (tells me not to lose more weight). But like some of you have mentioned, I'm looking to just decrease the hip:waist ratio so my hips/butt isn't SOO accentuated below a "tiny" waist. I'm not sure how much of an hour glass I could create because i was small chested to begin with, and after losing 20 lbs already, even smaller now.
For those who are suggesting heavy lifting and building upper body etc... does anyone have pictures to show a before/after change from "fat" pear to "toned" pear??? :happy: I'd like to get an idea of how it would look to have more muscular shoulders than i already do.
And when you suggest heavy lifting, you're talking about upper body lifting I assume... how heavy (ball park of course, as I'm sure it's personal to work up to)? And how often?
Thanks for all the great responses everyone! :flowerforyou:0 -
hello i have the same body shape and my hips ad bum always stay alot bigger than my upper body but usually i do alot more leg and hips excerises and just concentrate on very slow resitants trainng on top
just up your weight to about 2.5lb on you arms and to stop your ribs showing you need to do sit up to bring the muscle forward also if your doing more excerise you need to up your food in take.
i wouldnt be to bother tho i think a nice upper body and bigger hips is very beautiful on a women.
beyonce is a size 8 on top and a size 16 on the bottom, you just have to let your body shed the weight where it wants to, if it doesnt need to fatty deposits it has stored it will natural get rid once your body find a comfortable rhym and weight in its self youll be fine dont worry your upper body will not disappair xx 0 -
Don't get me wrong everyone... i LOVE my curvy hips and booty - and my bf loves it too (tells me not to lose more weight). But like some of you have mentioned, I'm looking to just decrease the hip:waist ratio so my hips/butt isn't SOO accentuated below a "tiny" waist. I'm not sure how much of an hour glass I could create because i was small chested to begin with, and after losing 20 lbs already, even smaller now.
For those who are suggesting heavy lifting and building upper body etc... does anyone have pictures to show a before/after change from "fat" pear to "toned" pear??? :happy: I'd like to get an idea of how it would look to have more muscular shoulders than i already do.
And when you suggest heavy lifting, you're talking about upper body lifting I assume... how heavy (ball park of course, as I'm sure it's personal to work up to)? And how often?
Thanks for all the great responses everyone! :flowerforyou:
I am not far along at all. But what I can say affirmatively, I few years ago I started to drop a bit (I have since regained) and during those couple of months I did a lot more upper body. Amazingly, even though I had always looked really pear, that brief period made a difference. Now, even though I have gained what I lost + 10, I look more hourglass than I ever did before. My shoulders look to be about the same width as my waist, but I didn't gain much size in my upper body. (1 inch or so.) My shoulders are way better than they used to be, even at a higher weight.
What I did that seemed to work:
1. pushups
2. lat pull down
3. chest press
4. seated row
5. the deltoid machine0 -
And when you suggest heavy lifting, you're talking about upper body lifting I assume...
Full body heavy lifting.
how heavy (ball park of course, as I'm sure it's personal to work up to)?
As heavy as you can.
I lift 3x a week. Right now I'm doing the New Rules of Lifting for Women. It's a book....I highly recommend it if you want to get serious about strength training.0 -
Hi, and yes I have been doing P90X and it is fantastic! Really burns the fat and gets those extra inches to come off!
You really should give it a try! You won't be disappointed! Good Luck : )0 -
same here. Im size 8/10 on top and 12 on bottom Uk sizes. 30 inch waist and 36inch hips. But my hips have lost a lot of padding and its just bone there now so not much I can do about my shape now. Apart form chiseling some off...:drinker: :laugh:0
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I would have to say that the upper part of my body is definitely smaller, but as for my lower body I have done a LOT of strength training and lower body exercises and that has definitely helped to tone. If you focus on exercises that tone your lower body such as squats, lunges etc that would definitely solve the problem. It did for me. Then again everybody is different so it may or may not work...but i bet it will 0
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kml - when I refer to "heavy lifting", I echo what carrie said - it's WHOLE body HEAVY lifting.
And, by heavy, I mean you are ONLY doing between 5-8 reps, because the weight is THAT HEAVY. And, maybe only 2 - 3 sets.
It is going to be SUPER important that you REALLY work your butt and thighs because ONLY muscle growth (and fat loss) will result in a smaller use of that space. (Because, when comparing volume, muscle weighs more than fat - meaning: 1 lb. of muscle takes up LESS ROOM on your body than 1 lb. of fat.)
So, do NOT be afraid to make sure you are lifting really, REALLY heavy. If you are new to HEAVY weights, get the book, "The New Rules of Lifting for Women", by Lou Schuler. It costs <$20 and you can progress through that book, and over 6 months, I think you'd be SHOCKED at how your body morphs.
I don't have any of my own photos to offer (yet!).
The other thing about lifting HEAVY is that it will broaden your back, which will help to create the ILLUSION that your pear is smaller on the bottom, because your shoulders are a bit wider on the top.
It really is a WIN-WIN for pear-shaped women. You change your shape. You build your muscles. You watch your (good) nutrition intake. And, then you'll be back here posting on "Success Stories" about how a PEAR turned into an HOURGLASS...0
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