My breast is causing a serious problem for my back

Hello everyone!I have a problem...

I weight 140 lb; 5"2 and the size of my breast is 32 DDD.It is really heavy and it causes a lot of pain to my back.I decided to loose weight to lighten my back and I lost 10 lb but my breast didn't get any smaller. At some point I was thinking of breast reduction ,but  I really don't wanna do it, so I was wondering are there any solutions for my problem?

Thanks, Inga

loosing weight would def make them smaller. your breast are alway the first things to go unfortunally. overtime with the right diet and exercise the will go down.

i wouldn't get a reduction unless i absoutly had to. so keep that in mind.

hmmm,

You mentioned that you lost 10 lbs. But 10 lbs of what? Depending on what you did, it may be fat, but it can also be muscle/bone mass. It seems that muscle is more easily lost than fat. You have to really do specific things in order to lose fat, and not too much muscle (not just skeletal muscles but includes internal organs).

Actually being 5'2" at 140 does put you a bit above the normal weight category into the over weight category using the Body Mass Index. Just by a bit. But of course calculations are not 100% accurate. Like a muscle bound person at 210 lbs, would not be over weight even though the calculations would put them into the obese category.

Begin by eating mindfully. Find out your current daily calorie requirements and add any major calories that were burned off, now try to keep your daily consumption to 500 calories less then the total of those two. (but never go below 1200 calories for a woman)

Height: 5'2"
Weight: 140 lbs
Age: (around) 25
Activity level: 1 (calculating by level 1 gives much more control)

Would make your daily requirement about 1724 calories. That's if you did not do any major exercising for the day.

Now you can pretty much just eat about 1224 (don't go below 1200 calories, ever) calories a day for some time without doing anything else. That will reduce your fat.

But the best way is to add some exercise to burn off the fat, and improve your overall fitness.

So, instead of paying someone a thousand dollars to cut you. (And it's not really reversible, with possible long term complications. And again, you are paying someone thousands of your hard earn dollars, to cut you)

Spend about $45 - $150 on a heart rate monitor (the ones that use a strap across the chest).

Then spend $100 - $500 on a cardio machine of some sort (if you want to exercise at home). If you have a bicycle, and know how to ride, use that instead. I personally don't recommend running, as it is not as gentle on the joints as one of the other many available exercises (hula hooping for a long time would work too). I guess running it's ok for athletes.

Now find out your max heart rate.

Age: (around) 25

Would be about 190 beats per minute. Now get on that cardio machine/bike/hula hoop and try to keep you heart rate at 60% - 70% of your max because (according to what I've read) this is the zone where you are burning more fat than anything else (carbs/protein). So between 114 - 133 beats per minute. The longer you do it, the more fat you will have burned.

Hopefully your heart rate monitor shows you how many calories you have burned (if not you'll to find out from charts which are easily found on the web, or exchange for a better monitor). Once you know about how many calories you have burned, you then add that to daily requirement. Let's say you burned 600 calories.

1724 required + 600 burned = 2324 calories - 500 calories = 1824 calories

So with the above example, 1824 calories will be needed for that day.

To be honest, I really think that you don't need to eat 500 calories less, if you exercise. My guess is that if you don't eat less than what you need, you will simply become leaner but just not lighter. But from my personal experience there really is no need to purposely restrict your calories if you tend to burn a lot of calories from exercising. Simply because you can't comfortably eat it all back. Sometimes my cycling trips burn off more than 3000 calories adding my requirement of about 1850 makes the total 4850 calories. Believe me, trying to eat that much in one day is not easy. It's especially hard if you try to do it by eating healthy foods.

So, just start doing more cardio exercises, keeping within the right heart rate zone. And don't forget to rest. I would say start by 3 times a week, then 6 times once you are comfortable. Then go for longer sessions. And then if you haven't done so yet by then, start building some strength/muscles.

Please remember, I talking about months and months, the above will not happen over night. And it does not need to.

It sounds like you have a fairly common problem. A survey last year found that 47% of women who had suffered from back pain thought that their breast size had an influence on this. Have you been properly measured for a bra?

Original Post by theholla:

Fitness girl, yes, that was less insensitive. However, everything you said seems to be in direct opposition to your previous assertion that it is a myth that large breasts cause back pain.

I didn't find either of Fitness girl's post insensitive. She was saying that the assumption that large breasts being the cause of back pain is incorrect, and then stated what does cause the pain, basically the way your body reacts to the weight (bad posture) which is something that you can correct.

Don't be so quick to get offended and judge, she's just trying to help out and give some advice. She's a smart girl and knows what she's talking about. Just cuz she doesn't have huge titties doesn't mean she won't have valuble input to the conversation.

Inga, I 100% feel your pain.  I wear a really supportive bra and have found that upper body/chest excerises build mucsle mass and can actually reduce size slightly.  (I have seriously considered duct tape:) )  GL!

Really, really, go get fitted at a good bra shop (not a department store).  Major dept. stor brands carry a way too limited range of cup size-band size combinations. Chances are you're wearing a too small cup size and a too big band size.  This can cause upper back soreness because the weight of your breasts is just on the front.  A very snug band helps to distribute the weight all around your body.  I am 5'3" and I wear a 30F or 30FF.  Before I got fitted and started wearing good bras, I was wearing 34D or 34DD because that's all the department stores had.  I had major back pain.  Now it is much better, and I look better too. The only downside is the exorbitant price.  Usually about $80 CAD.

For running, I wear two bras on top of each other.

Original Post by floggingsully:

Even if you can't afford a good trainer, there are some great one's with lots of free info out there.  I'd start by googling Eric Cressey's 'Neanderthal No More' series.

 I relaize this is an old thread and more directed towards women, BUT that series has helped immensely with my chronic lower back pain and my posture. Definitely recommend it to anyone with back pain or bad posture.

To be honest, I only dropped into this thread because it was about boobs...lol.  But I actually have something to contribute and I thought Fitnessgirls posts were absolutely awesome.  Not having boobs but having a big gut a few years ago, I thought my chronic back issues were because of that.   I finally discovered the gym and lost some weight but there was a machine there for specifically exercising your back and I started including it in my machine.  The more I used it, the less problems I had with my back.  I finally maxed the machine out at 300 lbs and switched to free weights and body weight exercises and I haven't had a back problem in years. 

I think exercise, specifically for your back muscles, should be your first line of defense for all back issues, and once you have a strong back, if you still have pain from your boobs or big belly then it's time to explore other avenues, but not until you strengthen your back.