cant shake my pear shape

hi ive been recovering from bulimia/anorexia sorta eating disorder not too sure ...my lowest weight was 97 pounds (im 5'3") and i have regained to about 104 pounds now. when i was ED i ran on the treadmill like 30 minutes everday and ate somewhere between 700-900 calories daily.  now im running everyday but also doing either yoga or weights and eating around 1000-1200 calories a day. i added my calories slowly but it seems like my weight ballooned to 104 in like a week. now im feeling majorly depressed because all of it has gone to my thighs lower butt and i still look like a war victim on top. i can feel myself slipping back into that ED state of mind and i DONT wanna go there. how can i slim my lower body/balance out my body so i can finally feel confident?

this seems like a common problem for ED recovers

anyone whose overcome this little problem help please!!

Well hello my 104 lb buddy! Good for you... I know how hard it is to get to 104 and stay there (I just got to 104 this week!)

The reason you have a pear shape now is because that is what shape you are supposed to be as a woman. Also, if you are excercisinf and gaining back muscle, the weigh is going to be added to parts of you body that have more muscle and are supposed to have more weight distribution. The biggest muscles in you body are you leg muscles and your butt, so muscle will be more easily gained there snce those muscles are supposed to be bigger. Since you are recovering, your body shape probably wasn't "normal", meaning that it wasn't the shape YOUR body was supposed to be, since you were probably lacking in body fat and muscle. When I lost 20 lbs (not from an eating disorder) basically all of the weight was lost in my legs and butt since they were the only places I could afford to lose weight. As soon as I started gaining back the weight (which I was kind of worried might just give me a pudgy belly), the weight actually came back on my hips and chest where I had lost it.

Personally, when I was 93 lbs, I HATED the way my body looked (I looked like a log). I lost all my curves, my butt looked droopy in all my pants, and I felt like a flat skinny 12 year old -- I couldn't wait to gain back my butt so I would look like a woman again. so don't feel bad about your pear shape -- embrace it because it makes you look like the beautiful woman that you are.

If you're worried about your upper body not being in balance with your lower body (I too have a natural pear shape, and I'm still finding my ribs and sternum are really pronounced...ewww....) make sure that instead of just doing cardio you focus more time on weights and cardio, and try doing things like pushups, pec flys, reverse pec flys and arm excercises so that your upper body muscles can develop at the same time as your lower body muscles. Pec excercises will help to make your chest larger and arm excercises (especially deltoids) will make you shoulders more muscular and can help to give you more of an hourglass figure.

Lastly, try your best to eat more food if you're excercising and burning that many calories. I realize that you are recovering, but if you are ending up with a deficit at the end of the day, you'll certainly be doing more damage than good. If your body doesn't have sufficient calories to burn during cardio or to build back muscle, then it will have to find the calories other places (like from vital organs...). Just remember that food is medicine and your body needs it to rebuild itself (if I were you I would aim for closer to 2000 calories especially if you're excercising that much.... and even that could be too little).

Good luck, and try to keep gaining!

thanks i think im happy with the weight im at right now.. i just needed some advice on how to work on my lower body without slipping back into that ED state of mind. but i will try and work out my upper body more.. can you change fat distribution by exercising (cardio + weights) some areas more than other? like will the calories i add on begin to flow more evenly if theres a calorie deficit in my upper body muscles too?

I pretty much 2nd everything amila030 said.. and to ease some of your worries [so to speak], I can tell you that as you gain and begin to fuel your body properly, the weight WILL redistribute to other areas of your body. At one point during the summer, I was eating about 1000-1300 calories and exercising for 30-45 minutes, 5 days a week, and had HUGE thighs. Like, seriously! My wrists were tiny and you could serve dip on the space from my shoulders to where my collarbones stuck out [weird visual? lol], but my thighs were huge. Then when I started recovery in around October-November, all the extra calories seemed to be going to my tummy. But as I began to strength-train a bit more [I didn't do much cardio around that time as it would have been a bit detrimental to my gaining] and keep fueling my body, the weight redistributed as muscle in my thighs and bony arms and hands. So I'm pretty much the same weight I was then--around 102-105--and I like the way my body looks a LOT more than I did then, lemme tell ya. I promise it'll get better provided you're good to your body.. and try to focus on strength training [I did quite a bit of body-weight-bearing exercises like lunges, squats, and pushups]. And don't worry about gaining so much in one week--your metabolism will eventually speed up and get rid of some of that weight, a lot of which I'm sure is just water and extra food weight. Good luck with the gaining darling! Hope I helped :D

You can't "spot reduce" if that's what you mean, but you can tone. Focus on excercises that tone your legs and butt (like lunges, squats, if you use machines..adductor and abductors...) and avoid excercises that will pump up your legs, like dancing, biking, etc...

Working out all your muscle groups (upper and lower) will help to lower your overall body fat %, and you'll have more muscle in your body composition than fat... and also remember that your upper body and chest can get smaller if you get too skinny.. after all, breast tissue is made partially of fat (so if you lose too much fat, your boobs could shrink...).

Anyways, I'm just curious, but have you actually taken your chest-waist-hip measurements? You may not be as "pear-shaped" as you think you are.

yeah im

30 inches chest

25 in waist

34 in hips

21 in single upper thigh

19 in single mid thigh

I think i measured in the right places

You're very similar to me. If I were you I would actually try to increase my fat %(actually, I am trying to do that, since I'm way below normal right now) by increasing the amount of fats you are eating, while still keeping them in a healthy range (ie, between 30 and 40%). By increasing your fat intake, I mean eat more mono- and polyunsaturated fats ("good fats"), also called omega fats, that are found in fish, nuts, avocados, etc (pretty much any high fat food that isn't an animal product will have more mono- and polyunsaturated fats. This will do a few things for you:

-your body will have more fat, which will distibute to places where fat is found on women (chest and hips). Personally, I notice an increase in my bust even if I gain only an extra few pounds (like 3-5lbs).

-your body will also have more fat to work with to produce hormones (since estrogen, progesterone and other hormones are derived from cholesterol and other fats). Changes in hormone levels can have an effect in your body's distribution, so if you've been lacking in fats to produce hormones, your upper body may be smaller than normal because of it.

Not to mention all of the awesome benefits that omega fatty acids can have on the rest of your body -- I started increasing my omega fat intake (through more fish, flaxseed, nuts, and also a supplement) and I've noticed an improvement in my skin, etc (these fats are found in the membranes of your cells).

Lastly, I don't know how old you are, but if you're a teen (or even in your 20's) your body isn't completely done growing, so you may notice changes in you body shape as you get a bit older...or if you gain more weight. If your hips are 34'', that makes you about a size 0 or 1... the smallest size in women's clothing. If you were to decrease the size of your hips any more, you would have to shop for pants in the kids section, and trust me, they do not fit women properly (the waist is usually way too high and big and the butt is flat, there isn't any hip room, they're too short, and they always have cutesy embellishments on them... not so sexy...).

thank you so much for all your help everything you say is really helpful..just today i was searching on calorie count to see what my daily fat requirement is. i will definitely start doing this. but the largest part on my body is actually my lower butt and upper thighs. so i actually where like a size 2/4 pants i know you cant spot train. buti was hoping to somehow decrease/tone this area while  gaining weight everywhere else. is that even possible?

Hey,

I also have been suffering from Bulimia for about 12 years now (im 23) and I know what its like to keep slipping into that ED frame of mind.

After being in and out of hospitals since the age of 14 I finally reached a good place about 3 years ago. Since then I have had a baby, and while pregnant managed to gain almost 50lbs. Now I am sooo not where I wanted to be. Its so hard to lose weight. I feel like throwing up is the easiest, fastest way to get results. BUT I KNOW I CANT FOR THE BABIES SAKE!

I too am struggling with that "pear shaped" bottom i went to get a dress for easter yesterday- and was so horrified by my butt and legs- i cried. I finally started back @ the gym today and feel great---

if you need to talk feel free

thank you for your support! i know how you feel i hate those moments when you feel like you have someone elses body on the bottom and someone smaller's on the top..and you just cry..oh ive been there...do you have a lot of esophagus inflammation problems now? waht do you do to take care of that?