legs are too Muscular

alpha2010

I'm a female and 19. I have been losing weight for nearly a year. I lost 5 stone in 8 months and for the past 4 months I have been trying to maintain it. my main way of losing the weight was jogging 30 mins 4 or 5 times a week. and if I was in the gym I would mainly jog on the threadmill

I have kept to my weight which is 9 stone but I think my legs have gotten wider not from fat but its muscle and I dont think its flattering.. to me they look like rugby players legs. I just want skinnier legs but how can I do this if jogging is making them bigger. my legs dont feel girly and when I ask people I know their opinion they obviously lie but I know they have gotten wider from muscle

what should I do.. ??

samsemtex

It'd be very unusual if your legs have gotten that much wider just from jogging. You generally have to lift heavy weights to put on noticeable amounts of muscle.

Id say it could just be the natural shape of your legs.

alpha2010

It could be just me but I feel like they have gotten too muscular.. but is there any other exercises other than jogging that will do the same for me but less impact on my legs ??

Remmy

First off fairplay on losing 5 stone in 8 months thats some achievement.It could be a case that you have lost weight from other areas and your legs genetically store more fat than other areas so proportionally they look bigger now you have a slimmer body.I doubt very much they grew much bigger from just running.

alpha2010

yes that could be it.. Im still only size 8 or 10 in jeans compared to size 18 what I use to be but I think Im just being paranoid.. well everyone said I couldn't get muscular legs from jogging but I have noticed it, I just hope I doesn't get any bigger

itsallaboutheL

Competely unhelpful post but...

Muscular legs are great.

Jumpy

They are probably quite muscular from carrying around all that weight for years. They will tone down in time. You are only 19, everything still works fast, so just give it time.

Daniel S

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Da Za

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the drifter

No more unhelpfull or trolling posts please people

Daniel S

the drifter wrote: »

No more unhelpfull or trolling posts please people

Ruddy mods ruinin' all the fun

I suppose cutting back on meat could help. Meat => protien => muscle (Usually)

Da Za

On a serious note, it is most likely that your legs have gotten more toned and defined as you've lost the weight . You probably had big legs to begin with. So you'll want to atrophy your legs, so jogging and walking and no resistant exercises should do the job. Only a decrease in protein consumption will also work but this depends on your consumption of protein in the first place. Hope this helps.

GoldRush4821

Its pretty much been stated already; your previous weight made it necessary for your legs to be stronger than the other muscles in your body because, naturally, when you walk its your legs that do the contracting. It would be similar to walking around all the time with a back pack full of 5 stone, so your legs get stronger and strong. Then you're slowly but steadily taking weight out of the back pack and your strong legs remain.

However, I reckon its just a proportion concern, considering you've now lost the majority of weight from around your legs. They probably now just look a little out of proportion to you because you're not used to seeing them like that. I would be fully confident that they look normal to anyone else concerned and that others aren't "obviously lying", but instead, as always is the case, they don't notice the imperfections like we ourselves do. Over time, you'll notice it less and come to see that they are an advantage if anything.

As already said, jogging won't build your quads like resistance training would so I can't see that being the cause of your "muscular legs". I'd carry on and be encouraged by the progress you've made.

alpha2010

thank you everyone for the advice, my main concern was jogging so Ill continue with it.. I am a woman so I'm probably just being paranoid :P. I just see them as bigger

jasonf9ace

if your being paranoid why dont you just take measurements on your legs so you can check back every month and see if there actually the same size to put your mind at ease

dartstothesea

If it really is just muscle then I don't think it could possibly look unflattering. At all. I guess an insanely low bodyfat can be a bit much for people to look at but that's probably not the issue for you, or is it?

9 stone, you're probably pretty short, are you? I don't think it'd be uncommon for a shorter girl to have more pronounced muscle "width". On paper it sounds like it looks great to be honest and probably plenty "girly".

Sorry that's not advice on changing it but, like I said on paper it sounds ideal.

Remmy

dartstothesea wrote: »

If it really is just muscle then I don't think it could possibly look unflattering. At all. I guess an insanely low bodyfat can be a bit much for people to look at but that's probably not the issue for you, or is it?

9 stone, you're probably pretty short, are you? I don't think it'd be uncommon for a shorter girl to have more pronounced muscle "width". On paper it sounds like it looks great to be honest and probably plenty "girly".

Sorry that's not advice on changing it but, like I said on paper it sounds ideal.

+1 to all that.

JJayoo

I love girls with thick legs. I love you OP but you don't care about me

alpha2010

JJayoo wrote: »

I love girls with thick legs. I love you OP but you don't care about me

haha JJayoo Who said I don't care... :P

emm yeah in reply to one of the comments above, Im small enough Im 5 ft 2 but yeah it looks more curvy than anything but since I was big at one stage I wanted to be stick thin, but everyone said it wouldn't suit me, so I best get use to these muscular legs

JJayoo

Ouchette

I got bigger calf muscles from jogging roughly that much. Didn't measure them with a tape, but my skinny jeans started to not fit well there and now I can see a muscle I couldn't see before at the front of my leg too. So I'd say it IS possible.

(and no it wasn't weight gain )

I don't mind the way it looks though. It's only a small change and I like being fit and healthy better than not being fit and healthy so meh.

alpha2010

Ouchette wrote: »

I got bigger calf muscles from jogging roughly that much. Didn't measure them with a tape, but my skinny jeans started to not fit well there and now I can see a muscle I couldn't see before at the front of my leg too. So I'd say it IS possible.

(and no it wasn't weight gain )

I don't mind the way it looks though. It's only a small change and I like being fit and healthy better than not being fit and healthy so meh.

yeah I haven't had to change my clothes size.. but I wish I could have skinnier legs but its not meant to be xD

G86

OP, I'm 5'10' and I'd much prefer to have more muscular legs! I bet they look grand, sure we're all guilty of finding faults no-one else can see.

rubadub

Da Za wrote: »

You probably had big legs to begin with.

I remember reading something here about the extra muscle overweight people carry, I think the figure was quite high, like 30% of your additional weight might be muscle, so a man who "ideally" is 12 stone who is 22stone might have 3 stone of extra muscle on him and 7 stone of extra fat.

Da Za wrote: »

So you'll want to atrophy your legs, so jogging and walking and no resistant exercises should do the job.

Should walking/jogging not also be avoided if you want to atrophy, a cyclist mate of mine with very defined legs had one waste away when he broke his leg.

But I suppose they will not make them much bigger and could lead to overall fat loss by keeping up the jogging. But I imagine jogging might slow down the natural atrophy which could otherwise happen sooner when you lose such body weight.