Gone Pear-shaped!

noieralc

To all you experienced fit people,
Is there anyway to target my big child bearing hips when working out? I'm not overweight but any weight I do have is all on my hips...with a resultant muffin top!
Currently each week I do 1hr spinning class, 2hrs pilates, 3 1hr gym sessions(entail 1k on rowing machine, between 2.5 and 5k running, 10mins stepper machine and 2 sets of weights for arms and legs on various machines)
I have started using a weights machine called the hip adductor/abductor...is this any good?
I know I'll always be pear shaped, no matter how fat or skinny, but I'd love to reduce my hips a bit more propotionately to the rest of me!
Any advice will be welcome
Spanx

g'em

Hiya, it all comes down to diet to be honest. Eating well is the first and foremost tool for losing unwanted fat. There's oodles of info in the stickies but if you want more specific info (and it may be brutal!!) give us an idea of what you eat on a daily basis (as much detail as possible) and we can go from there.

noieralc

Aaaagh, I was hoping I wouldn't be asked that!! But I guess I'll have to shame myslef to get good answers!!

Breakfast: bowl bitesize shreddies w/sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds
pint water w/vit c tablet
(I know I should have porridge but it makes me fart!)
T-break: cup tea w/slimline milk
5/6 almonds or brazil nuts
Lunch: Bowl soup - from a tin at work or homemade at home
piece fruit - apple/orange
activia yoghurt
T-break: cup tea
banana or another yoghurt
Dinner: Can include - chicken & veg stir fry w/rice
chicken stew w/spuds
chili w/baker or corn tortilla wraps
Spag bol
Baker w/baked beans
Obviously not all on one day, just an example of the kind of dinners I would generally have. All freshly made, no jars/packets of sauce.

Snack: cup tea w/pod of mini Jaffas
or bowl dry special K(instead of crisps - odd I know but I love em!)

And throughout the day I would drink at least two litres of water

That's an average good day - an an average bad day you could throw in a bar of chocolate/bowl of ice cream. I know I shouldn't be eating sh*te but I have a mouthful of sweet tooths so I need some treats...I do try to stick to the 80:20 rule on a weekly basis though.

opinions please...

g'em

your diet isn't the worst to have been posted!!! As a general rule try to eat little or no processed foods, eat as many wholefoods as possible, get lots of fruit and veg in and plenty of lean protien sources and good fats (most of which you have covered). But there's a pretty delicate balance between eating too much (which will obviously make you put on weight) and undereating (which will encourage your body not to lose weight strangely, as it will hang on to as much as it can). When are you eating the jaffa cakes/ bowl of cereal? If it's later in the evening it won't be doing you any favours as a) they're pretty much muck!! (sorry!!) and b) your body won't have anywhere to use the energy from them and it will get deposited as flubber. If you really really really have to indulge your sweet tooth do it as close to post-workout as possible. And needless to say the ice cream and chocolate aren't helping either!! It's a bit of a b*tch, I know, but some people can get away with eating rubbish and not put on a lb, and others (myself definitely included) only have to look at sugar laden foods and we feel our waistbands tightening. It comes down to a choice- eat it and possibly put on weight? Or not eat it, have an apple instead and get to enjoy that "ooh, don't I look great today!!" feeling.

What you probably need to do is figure out what your daily dietary requirements are calorie wise (here) and then figure out what a day's typical calorie intake (from inputting your foods into a webiste like www.caloriecount.com or www.fitday.com) and you can see from there how your diet measures up.

I know it all seems complicated, and tbh, it sort of is, but with a bit of practice and trial and error you can learn about how your body responds to eating different ways (high or medium fat? low or medium carbs? and so on). Hope that's of some help!!

noieralc

Thanks, G'em, for your replies.
I'm pretty clued in on the 'eat right' philosophy, but still grappling with my will power. Tbh, I tend to crave snacky food after nine at night - regardless of what I eat or don't eat during the day. Maybe it's just a habit thing at this stage - one that needs breaking!
What I'm looking for is any advice on toning the whole hip/midrift area when I am exercising. Everything else is toned up nicely(in my modest opinion!) But I can't seem to shift the handles on my hips...so I'm wondering if there is any specific exercise to target that area? Or will I have to resort to wrapping myself in clingfilm:rolleyes: !!!

t-ha

noieralc wrote:

Or will I have to resort to wrapping myself in clingfilm:rolleyes: !!!

:eek: :eek: :eek:

You really just have to work on bringing your bodyfat down as a whole. If your fat deposition is wildly disproportionate then the answer is generally a hormonal issue. For hips and thighs, estrogen is usually the culprit and the answer can be to cut down alcohol intake. I don't know too much about birth-control pills but it stands to reason (to me) that they could have an effect, so maybe speak to your GP about switching brand if you're taking them?

Also, if you wear tight fitting trousers, or frequently dress so you have your midrift exposed I personally would stop doing this for a while. This is just my own crackpot theory, but to me it stands to reason that your body cannot burn fat for fuel from a particular area if there is no/little blood-flow to that area.

Lastly, if you're actually pretty toned and worrying over the tiniest ripple in your stomach, then I'd say you need to manage your own expectations. Different fat deposits have different amounts of receptors for receiving signals to store/release fat, and this means that some areas will always be more 'stubborn' than others. Everyone has this & unless you plan on being ripped, sometimes it's better to just learn to love the little extras where they lay.

noieralc

Nope, t-ha, I'm not one of those girls who has inches of a gap between her belt and her jumper!!! And I don't wear too tight jeans either...in fact it's the opposite, I wear jeans to fit my hips, so they are a size to big on my thighs and bum:o
And at a size 12 with 14 hips I'm a while away from securing that top modelling contract, but I'm not out of favour with my body either - in fact I'm quite proud of it.;)
I was just hoping for some advice about focusing on the one area that seems to be downsizing slower than the rest of me! but as you say it could be just that I'll have to accept that I'll always be pear shaped and learn to love it!

t-ha

Hey noieralc,

Just wanted to post this because your last sentence ^^^ made me think you might have taken me up wrong. I posted so many options because I only know you through this forum & I can't be sure exactly what you look like or want to look like.

It is possible for people to make quite dramatic changes to their shape, my point about learning to love the extras is really restricted to someone who is lean, but keeps dieting & getting leaner in an effort to get rid of that last stubborn little wobble on their <insert body part here>. I've heard of people making themselves sickly gaunt over most of their bodies trying to get rid of that one last bit of wobble - so if that describes you, then I would suggest that you learn to love it.

However, if it isn't then follow the diet advise to trim down a bit. Also, if this is a general body-shape issue (wide hips & narrow shoulders, in terms of bone structure) then that can be tackled. Obviously you can't change the width of your skeleton too easily, but some weight training to bring up your shoulders, particularly the lateral (outside) portion, and building up your back a little can give the illusion of a smaller waist and narrower hips.

Now get working on it!