toning thighs w/o weightloss

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NicoleGray

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Hey all. I checked through the older posts and couldn't find an answer to my specific question, so my apologies if you've all been over this before.

I'm looking for some ways to tone my thighs (particularly saddlebags) and butt. I've got a serious hourglass figure going on, and basically every bit of fat I've got ends up in my lower body. This is common with women, I realize, but still irritating. It's damn near impossible for me to find pants that fit (I get the gaping waistband in the rear), and I often end up looking bottom-heavy. Part of the problem is that my waist is tiny compared to my thighs and butt, which makes them look larger, but the problem is more just where the fat in my body collects.

Now, I know that spot training doesn't work (aside from building the muscles beneath the fat, which I'm willing to try). If I want to get rid of this excess fat, it will require decreasing my overall quantity of fat.

My dilemma is that I don't want to lose weight. I'm 5' 6 1/2" and 125 lbs. I consider myself to be a healthy weight for my body, and I'm already near the bottom range of what is considered a healthy BMI.

So do you guys have any suggestions on how to improve my lower body tone without attempting weight loss? Would this involve embarking on a full fitness regimen of cardio and regular lifting?

Thanks in advance!
 
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A full program with a reduced calorie diet and cardio to burn any fat then some light resistance training will tone up the muscles. That should get you the results you are after.
 
If you lose fat and gain muscle, you can still weigh the same but will be smaller. One pound of mucle takes up less space than one pound of fat. Also BMI indexes can be misleading because they don't take into account different bone-structure sizes. I don't know how helpful that is, but anyway, good luck!
 
So basically reducing my body fat percentage by decreasing fat and increasing muscle simultaneously? Makes sense.

BTW, any ideas on where to get a reasonable body fat percentage estimate that's not going to cost a lot? I'm guessing the online calculators aren't particularly reliable.

Thanks for your help!
 
Hi,
try not to focus on the numbers on the scale. Regular, hard weight training, particularly for your lower body will give you some muscle. I would recommend first focusing on an exercise and nutrition routine for that. Then after a few weeks switch to fat loss mode and shed the fat that is covering the new muscle you built. It's hard, but not impossible to build muscle an dlose fat at the same time, so sometimes separating them works better.

Let me know if I can help more.

Sarah
 
NicoleGray said:
So basically reducing my body fat percentage by decreasing fat and increasing muscle simultaneously? Makes sense.

BTW, any ideas on where to get a reasonable body fat percentage estimate that's not going to cost a lot? I'm guessing the online calculators aren't particularly reliable.

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

Accu-measure/Accu-fitness makes a 3-pt digital caliper w/ myo-tape for about $30, maybe less.
 
Toning: toe-ning - the process of losing bodyfat to show off muscularity underneath the subcutaneous fat.

So, you can't really tone unless you are cutting total bodyweight, in the form of losing body fat.
 
In my opinion.. all instances of the word "tone-toned-toning" should be removed from the site and the word should should be blocked.. [/end_rant] :)
 
Sarah, thanks for the suggestion of focussing on lifting first. That makes a lot of sense, and I think it would also be comforting for me to gain before losing, so to speak. Are there any specific books or other resources that you find particularly useful?

Cynic, I'll check into those calipers you mentioned.

LiveFromNY, you are definitely right to caution that different bodies behave differently in response to exercise, diet, etc. Not everyone can achieve the results they're hoping for. I figure I'll give it my best shot. At the very least, I'll feel good about being in healthier shape.

Thanks again, everyone.
 
My advice would be to focus on getting a higher protein (NOT no carb) menu and a great strength training routine built around gaining lean muscle. Gaining the lean msucle will help your body burn calories more efficiently. It will also help you keep a lean, toned look while decreasing the body fat overall.



Personally I think if you go on a caloric deficit diet, you'll lost body fat but you'll also lose muscle and your overall weight will decrease. I'd rather you go on a caloric surplus menu (maybe 250 calories above your daily maintenance levels) and focus on eating more protein than usual and heavy lifting.
 
Malkore and niceone, you must have posted just as I was doing the same.

I did some looking around before my initial post, enough to know that "toning" doesn't mean what most people think it means. I'm sure it's frustrating for you to have to explain that to people over and over, so I did make an effort to use it correctly the first time. As I said, I realize that the process of toning does, by definition, require losing fat.

If that's all that mattered in my case, it wouldn't be so difficult. I've always been good at eating healthily and doing some basic cardio to increase or decrease my fat levels as seems necessary.

My question was whether or not there's a way to tone, thereby losing overall body fat, without simply decreasing my weight. If so, what approaches are best?

As others have advised, it is possible to do without losing total bodyweight; I just need to work on increasing muscle mass. Easier said than done, certainly, but not impossible.

If you have any ideas beyond what has been suggested so far, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!
 
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