Active but No Weight Loss in Thighs.

Hi,

I know all the rights and the wrongs but I feel helpless and discouraged. I go to the gym 4-5 times a week and do pretty heavy cardio and lift and do floor exercises 2-3 of those times but I am not seeing any results. I mean sure some of my family says my top portion looks smaller but I am a pear shaped person and huge hips and thighs run in my family. It is EXTREMELY difficult for me to lose the bottom part. What can I do? I do leg presses, hip abductions, squats, lunges but I feel like all I am doing is adding more and more muscle on my thighs and butt and doesn't that counteract what I want to do? I know that I must build muscle to burn more calories but how can i lose my thighs? I hope someone can help me!!!

Also, I do cardio and I know doing TOO much cardio is harmful but I do the elliptical and that mainly uses my legs then why am i not losing weight in my legs? I know you cannot pin point the area to loose but still... I am so confused.

Hi,

I have no answer, but share your thoughts and discouragement.  I am doing pretty much the same workout schedule and it has been long and hard.

Keep up the pace,

Clubmgr

No matter what kind of exercise you do you can't spot-reduce one area of your body. The elliptical does use your legs, but that just means you might build muscles in your legs, it doesnt mean that they will get smaller. With the squats, lunges etc that might build more muscle in your legs and make them seem the same size even if you've lost fat from there. If you are genetically predisposed to being heavier in the lower part of your body your thighs might be one of the last areas to go, but they will get smaller as the rest of your body does...just keep it up!

I know how you feel the last place I lose is my thighs, but theres really no way to spot reduce. You have to lose weight in general to achieve small thighs. One thing though that improved the look of my thighs though was wieght training so keep that up. Also it is hard too achieve too much cardio. For bodybuilders over 90mins of cardio a week can be counter productive but not to the average joe. Just don't go over like 60mins a day. Also I wouldn't really consider walking to be cardio though it is great for you, and will help to achieve your goals. Overall weightloss comes down to calories in calories out.

Don't be afraid of gaining a little muscle in your legs.  Your leg muscles are one of the biggest calorie-burning parts of your body so adding a small amount of muscle there can only help your overall weight loss (which will eventually lead to losing fat on your legs and making them smaller since the fat took up more space per pound than the muscle).

It won't make you bulky in the long run.  Honest.  Try doing squats with the barbell and lunges with dumbbells (if you're not doing those already; if you are, make sure you're using enough weight that the exercises feel hard).  If you do see growth in your legs the first couple of weeks, it's just water weight as the muscles retain water to heal/grow.  That water will go away in a couple of weeks.  Women have this tendency to think we're getting bulky in that in-the-middle stage when we've put on the muscle but the fat over top of it hasn't come off yet.  What we need to understand is that it's the *fat* that's making us bulky - not the muscle.  Once we lose the fat, we'll be nice and slim.

So basically I should wait. It's hard but I have no other option. I do watch my calorie intake and burn around 600-700 calories during every cardio workout. I know I cannot pin point my area of working out. Hopefully things will get better. :)

Thank you guys!

Stop wasting time with leg presses and hip abd/add exercises as the muscle recruitment for those exercises is less than squats or lunges. You want the most bang for your buck - so you're better off doing more squats and lunges.

What's your exercise intensity like? Working to near or complete failure? How long are your sets? Getting enough protein throughout the day?

Also, some people do better with more fat in their diets while others seem to process carbs more effectively.

How old are you? How's your diet?

I first warm up for 20-25 minutes and then I plan out a routine before I go to the gym so if i'm planning on doing legs I do a few diff exercises: I take a 10 pound medicine ball and do lunge and twist, then I use a bosu ball to do backwards lunges, then I use the steps to step up with arm curls, then I do squats with the ball, I sometimes use the bosu ball to do squats as well and sometimes do sideways lunges as well, I do leg presses and use the band to do hip abductions by "walking" side to side. I do 3 sets of 15 on each. I work out my arms too by a circuit machine. Then I finish off with cardio again for about 30 min.

- These are on my lifting days

On my cardio days I just do 60 min of cardio and do multiple ab exercises.

Oh and I am 23 years old and I eat a well balanced diet. I am a vegetarian so I try to eat lots of tofu and drink milk for protein, I eat a bowl of raw vegetables a day, eat trader joes organic O's which have 9g of protein per serving and try to eat only complex carbs so I can have natural energy.

You're spending a lot of time warming up and wasting precious energy that would be better utilized during your weight lifting session.

Stick with weighted STATIONARY lunges, one legged squats and deadlifts/squats because forward/backward and walking lunges, although good exercises, allow for too much rest in between reps. When muscles are allowed to rest between reps you reduce the intensity, when intensity is reduced muscle output is also reduced. so as you take away the efforts of the muscles you then take away any reason for them to ADAPT. If your muscles don't adapt/change in terms of energy requirements and size then you won't see any changes in your body. Exercise is all about adaptation and our bodies will do anything to avoid adapting to exercise. Why? Because it requires a lot of energy/calories to maintain muscle tissue and our bodies want to maintain/conserve energy; not expend it!

Stop with the med ball, you should be holding weights of AT LEAST 10-15lbs in each hand. I train someone who gave birth to triplets and less than a year later she's lunging with 25lbs in each hand for 10-12 reps. Most people can lift more than they think but are often times not willing because it's too painful - once you remove the pain and intensity from weight training you also remove any significant results.

Cardio: assuming you have no injuries or cardiovascular issues, you should be interval training.

Brief example:sprint for 15 -30 sec followed by 1 -2 min of jogging, basically just enough to catch your breath from the sprints then repeat 4-6x. 60 min is too long. Ask yourself this question, if what I'm doing now is adequate to lose weight, then why am I not losing weight?

Being a veg. is going to make it difficult to get enough protein so I suggest you buy a protein supplement. A protein drink along with an apple or any piece of fruit would make for a good post workout meal. And good job on the raw vegetables and an even better job not saying "veggies," I hate that word

Good luck.

^Really? At least 10-15 pound weights? 

I get a good work out with my 2 pound weights....lmao.