Ladies... How do you lose the thighs?!? page 20

[Ketonkoerper]

I learned that weight doesn't matter much. The measurements are much more important. What does it help when I get down to nearly 115 pounds, but the fat on my thighs won't move an inch? I think if I lost more weight I would look like a clown, I noticed a few days ago that I lost a lot of muscle on my stupid diet. Now I'm eating more and try to build it up again.

I don't really buy the pear shaped women storing fat for giving birth theory. All women are supposed to give birth. Why on earth would some store their fat only on their thighs? That's impractical. I also think that my body has restricted access to this fat supply as I would lose muscle and all the fat on my upper body before I would even lose one mm off my thighs. I think it's some kind of disorder, I read that it could be estrogen dominance.

I think my O3 to O6 ratio isn't so bad, but I'll pay more attention to that. Does anyone know a site where I can track my calories and where this ratio is calculated or something similar?

[Leida]

Why on earth would some store their fat only on their thighs? That's impractical. I also think that my body has restricted access to this fat supply as I would lose muscle and all the fat on my upper body before I would even lose one mm off my thighs. I think it's some kind of disorder, I read that it could be estrogen dominance.

In general all women aged 30 and less who haven't been pregnant and given birth would tend to store fat on their lower body preferentially. The difference in how much is determined by a few factors:

-the ability of your body to convert calories into muscule or fat (if you convert most of your calories into muscule you will have less fat overall, including on your thighs)
-the individual variations of the fat deposition pattern
-the continuous dietary availability of the nutrients the body is hunting for

I wish I could tell you that there is a miraculous solution to lose fat on thighs, but there is not. All you can do is eat nutritionally beneficial food and enough of it, not overdo cardio to avoid shredding upper body muscle, and lift heavy to build the upper body. You can spot-increase, but not spot-reduce.

I know it sucks, but yeah....

[Annlee]

I think my O3 to O6 ratio isn't so bad, but I'll pay more attention to that. Does anyone know a site where I can track my calories and where this ratio is calculated or something similar?

I prefer CRON-O-Meter - which can track all that, including O3 and O6 (you may need to input desired levels). Other folks like Sparkpeople or FitDay - though some folks have cast doubt on that one lately. Find one you like and run with it (so to speak).

[spuggygirl]

In general all women aged 30 and less who haven't been pregnant and given birth would tend to store fat on their lower body preferentially.

Hmmm....definitely not me. I'm definitely upper body and stomach. I would have thought it was mostly down to genetics (although interestingly my mother is very pear shaped).

I suppose I'm lucky in some ways - I started lifting heavy a few months ago and all those squats and deadlifts seem to have really started to pay dividends....starting with my legs. My thighs are in better shape than they've ever been - muscular and lean with very little fat. My upper body has started to lean out a too...even the hated back-fat. I'm just expecting that my stomach will be the last to go, because that's where there's the most accumulation of fat. But perhaps that's just too simplistic.

[Leida]

Yes, there are lucky few women who do not have hip and thigh deposition. Yes, your stomach, like with men, will be your troubled area, however, the lucky part is that the stomach stubborn fat is less stubborn than the thigh fat due to the higher proportion of the receptors of some kind. It can be reduced pretty nicely with the overall reduction in the body fat to a relatively high % (like 20%).

I am going to try Tim Ferris stomach flattening solutions starting today with his crunch and cat vomiting thinggie. I already do planks and transverse abs targeting exercise, so I will see if that crunch of his is more effective than the straight body rise I am normally doing to eliminate the bulging stomach (never had that one before pg, grr).

[Iron Fireling]

Hmmm....definitely not me. I'm definitely upper body and stomach. I would have thought it was mostly down to genetics (although interestingly my mother is very pear shaped).

I suppose I'm lucky in some ways - I started lifting heavy a few months ago and all those squats and deadlifts seem to have really started to pay dividends....starting with my legs. My thighs are in better shape than they've ever been - muscular and lean with very little fat. My upper body has started to lean out a too...even the hated back-fat. I'm just expecting that my stomach will be the last to go, because that's where there's the most accumulation of fat. But perhaps that's just too simplistic.

My sister and my mum are both very apple shaped... very large in the torso, and much skinnier in the legs. I'm quite different and tend to put on weight in a more balanced way. (And by that I mean I could have fatter legs than my mum and sister while being a LOT smaller on top!). But I'm not a pear shape either... (I have slightly broader shoulders than hips and my bust and hip measurement are pretty much identical... ).

I do think it's genetic. Some women are extremely pear shaped, others are the opposite. Doesn't matter the age (although the apple shape seems to become more pronounced with age... but I guess that's just generally putting more weight on over time).

[Leida]

I am a classic case from the books - pear shaped before pregnancy and starting to develop apple shape after childbirt. It could be diet and exercise as well, but my hips grew less pronounced and smaller while my waist increased. I am trying to introduce more transverse abdominal now in my routines to compensate for the 'square' waist.

Ladies, I am going to ask that separately, but here as well - has anyone heard about middle-aged women having success with the minimalism to failure type lifting programs with long recovery times and over maintenance feeding?

[meeshar]

I just ran across this thread, and wanted to chime in. I'm starting to think I have lipedema, particularly because I had bariatric surgery 7 years ago, and when I was at my lowest weight (ideal for my frame) I STILL had huge thighs while the top of my body was skin and bones.

Lipedema - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There was a short thread on here about it, and one poster seems to be having success with Primal eating. I do know that I seem to be losing weight more evenly since going Primal. Here, found it: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/forum/thread39971.html

[Ketonkoerper]

I'm not sure if I have lipedema. I mean I didn't have those saddle bags during my puberty and when I started to lose weight my thighs became a bit thinner I guess. This disease should be well known. In my country loads of women have saddle bags when they get older.

[sbhikes]

Do you guys really think you look like this?

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...i=g10&aql=&oq=