Does anyone know what the best excercise is to trim some extra weight I've been gaining on my outer thighs, kinda by the side of my lower butt.

I started using a treadmill but figured maybe people can suggest better excercise to target that area.

Hi Jillian,

For my money, nothing tightens you up like Pilates. I have a machine here at home, but you can also do it as a floor exercise. There are several DVD's/books out there that show the different exercises.

It's fairly gentle, and works fast as compared to other workout methods.

I combine it with the treadmill for cardio.

Unfortunately, you cannot spot reduce. Treadmill is good. I prefer the elliptical. You might also lift some weights to build muscle mass. Muscle will help you to look more defined, plus, muscle burns more calories than fat.

We all have our basic shape, all we can do is get our "shape" into shape! If you build muscle where you are smaller, then you will look more evened out ... but women don't usually add mass like men. For example, if you were pear shaped, you might want to focus more on your chest, back and shoulders to "even up" your appearance. Don't neglect the other parts, you want them to be toned, too.

I like the Body Sculpting Bible for Women. It's available on amazon .com or at the bookstore.

I second the pilates. I got a Gaim pilates DVD from Target that focuses on the hips and thighs. I'm down several sizes without a lot of weight loss so it is tightening me up. I also like those elastic resistance stretch bands. You can use those to target about any muscle you want.

I recommend putting "blinkers" on your glasses so that when you look in the mirror you only see the center part.

If that doesn't work for you, I have about three trees worth of wood that needs splitting.

Yup....give it to me.

As mentioned earlier, you cannot lose weight or fat in specific areas, it's an all-over thing. You can target muscle toning though. I think the best basic exercise a person can do is walk...and make it a big part of your lifestyle by walking everywhere. Then add to that some weight training, cardio and stretching.

I think swimming is great excercise for a total body workout, and if you do it regularly you will develop good tone...including your hips, butt and thighs...flutter kick, and whip kick give your legs a good workout. You can try doing eggbeater too (it's a "kick" for treading water, and for synchronized swimming)...I find doing lengths of eggbeater excercises just the right muscles for working out the thighs and butt.

Pilates is fabulous for working your core muscles and working on flexibility. Yoga is good too. I'm taking "hot" yoga (aka Bikram Yoga) classes now that are great for flexibility and for removing toxins from your system. The yoga is done in a 105 degree, 60% humidity room. Makes joints and muscles very supple, and gives you a good cardio workout too.

Michelle

I'm supposed to be doing Pilates anyway for my osteopenia (yup I'm 29 and I'm officially a senior citizen - LOL!) so this sounds like a good idea.




LOL!!!




LOL!! Ok I should mention I don't have that much to give. In fact if any of you actually saw me, I might be committed to some sort of program. I literally have maybe, 10 lbs. I could lose. And oh geez, I am so gonna get yelled at... it's because I love my clothes and don't really want to get new pants, which would mean getting a size 4 instead of a 2.

Ok everyone, feel free to yell at me.

On that note, what about those excercise balls. Y'know the ones you kinda lie on and have the smaller medicine ball?

J---

You make me laugh

Since I'm still trying to gain weight, how bout you donate your extra to me? I have some areas that could use a little help

Good luck, girl!

All joking aside, I feel you pain. I have the oddest figure. I wear a size 12 blouse and a size 6 pant. If I trip over a brick I will topple head over heals. The rest is toothpick size.

Motivation needed here. Carry me along with you journey, please.

Well I work in NYC, and walk to and from work everyday from Grand Central. It's only a few avenues - but it's something. And actually I'm a really fast walking. I think I'm a pretty nice person (ummm, despite my quote at the bottom of my signature), but I am definately that NY'er who is ready to mow anyone down infront of me who is walking at a painfully slow speed. I've definately got that bobbing and weaving thing down.






LOL!! Thanks for the support girls!! I'm waiting for someone to commit me to a mental institution.

Oh and don't be to inspired by my motivation. I just had a couple scoops of Ben & Jerry's Pistachio ice cream. I'm off to a roaring start here! LOL!!

Hey Jillian!

Obviously, i dont think you NEED to lose weight but at the same time, no one here is judging you for wanting to be able to fit in your pants! i am a very active person but your trouble spots are exactly the same as mine. In the past few months, i have gained some weight in exactly those spots, so i know how you feel. For me, it is the combination of the cold weather (i walk SO much more in the nice weather) and the fact that i have stopped ballet temporarily until i'm back in the city. So my advice is to try something like pilates as others have suggested, or some kind of dance class- they are great for building muscle and trimming down those target areas.

Maybe we should find a class in nyc and attack the "winter weight" together

Oh and one more piece of advice - DONT give up ben & jerrys - you are better off buying new pants if thats what it comes to IMO! I believe that B&J has a place in any balanced diet. But thats just me...

Oh trust me I'm not trying to lose weight anywhere else but there, and maybe the tiniest bit on my tummy. And don't worry, I don't seem to be giving up the Ben & Jerry's; there are currenly 2 pints of Chunky Monkey and 2 pints of Pistachio in my freezer. LOL!! Hey they were on sale!

Where is your office? There is a reformer pilates studio right across from my office that I was thinking of joining. I wanted to try and go during lunch, but we both know it's likely that won't happen, so I'll probably go after work a couple times a week. The studio is on 42nd b/t 6th & Broadway.

I found that Escape Your Shape was good for a few educational items. I hated the work out video as the exercises seem out of date and not great for the back. That's why it's not very popular now. BUT, He talks about the different shapes, Inverted Cone, Ruler, Spoon shapes. I am a spoon shape being heavier on the bottom and smaller on the top. Rulers are most models, (stick thin, no hips or waist) and inverted Cones are top heavy with stick legs.

Those who are spoons should not use any weight resistance on the legs when exercising. Do not use a stepper, or eliptical and if you use an excersise bike, to keep the resistance at 1 or 2 and don't increase it ever.. The more resistance you use, the bigger your thighs will get. I bulk up easily in my thighs also. Now this is if you have extra fat on your body too, because the muscle getting bigger will push the fat outward making you appear larger in that area. He said once you lose all of your excess fat, then you can use a small amount of resistance to get your thighs where you'd like them to be. I thought that was good advice.

Rulers need a lot of weight resistance to build a shape.
Inverted Cones, Top Heavy people should use a lot of resistance on the bottom and keep it very light on the top. Never lift heavy dumbells like 10 or 20 pounds.

The last time I saw his infomercial he had a chunky person who wanted get leaner and smaller who couldn't, and a very thin person who wanted to bulk up. The chunky person believe or not was into weight training thinking that the old muscles take up more space rule worked but it made her bigger all over. The thin person was a runner/jogger. He told them if they wanted each other's phsyique to switch exercise regimines. The runner should weight train and the weight trainer should stop and start jogging instead.

Ha, i was just teasing you about the B&J... My office is at 50th/3rd - i will be moving back to the city on March 13, so i'd love to start something up once i'm settled!

Ballet! NYC has an excellent DVD you can do at home. Alot of schools offer Adult classes for beginners that are great! You'll tone up and lose that handle on the top of your thing (got that too!) and have better posture. No one expects you to twirl around like you've done it your whole life...they know adults are doing it for the muscle strength, back esp., and cardiac!
The last adult class I took was me & and a man that needed to lose a few pounds and strengthen his heart. It was super tough the 1st few weeks but we settled in and really enjoyed it.

Wow, cool idea, but I'm actually one of the clumsiest people you've ever met. No really. I walk into something a minimum of twice a day and have a tendency to trip over nothing. And I have super long legs, so I'd probably end up kick someone and injuring us both. LOL!!! I took ballet when I was 4 and even my dad agrees I was the worst in the class. You know it's not good when your parent tells you, you were awful! Haha!!!

But I'm actually taking a trial class of the pilates tomorrow and then will most likely sign up.
I also started using my treadmill this weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday, and I'm aiming to use it alteast 3 times a week.

I also got one of those ginormous balls and a DVD to do some excercises with that.

I'll keep you guys updated on my progress

Oh and I should mention, I actually have pretty good posture because I developed severe scoliosis in my early teens and wore a back brace 23 hrs. a day for 4 years to correct it. Atleast I'd have the posture thing going for me in ballet! Just the mental picture alone of me doing this is cracking me up! But I do love the suggestion.

I thought being on the gluten-free diet i would at least gain some weight back...i am 5'3 and weight in at 95pds....after a month of being on this diet i still havent gained a pound......some of the foods i have eatten i really feel gulity...they taste so good and still the scale says nothing.....sinfully yummy!!!!....i know i need to gain i just want to do it right not by eatting to much "junk".....the healthy way!!!!.

Alrighty, since it is only ONE pants size it really shouldn't be that hard.

I would do two things (which have been mentioned already) some cardio paired with pilates.

Pilates is GREAT for leaning out muscles - especially the side lying kick series in the matwork.

HOWEVER, no matter what people tell you pilates is really not going to make you loose weight. You must add something to pump up your heart rate. It is said that even if you do 15-20 minutes of cardio before your pilates workout your heart rate will stay high through your pilates workout. This is a good thing.

So take a high speed walk, roller blade, swim, run, jump on the bike or elliptical and then pop in a pilates tape. You should see results pretty quickly! Check out my profile for more pilates info!