Stubborn fat on inner and outer thighs
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Sun Jun 30, 2013 7:55 am

I lost a lot a weight over the last year and for the first time in my life saw a thigh gap. Then I thought I was looking too skinny, so I decided to put on some weight, but it's like every last pound I've put on has gone straight into my thighs.

I still have my flat abs and toned upper body, but the fat on my inner and outer thighs is very unsightly. I want to go back to my thigh gap but for the past few months (I never stopped exercising all this time) it seems like the thighs are actually getting bigger? Like it seems the inches are increasing instead of increasing.

I read online that squats and lunges weren't all that great for slimming down the thighs so I've stopped doing this as much and followed some people's advice of callanetics and tracey anderson. Except, I feel like those exercises aren't working me out sufficiently like I'm used to and will lead to more fat since I'm not burning as many calories.

I'm a little exhausted with this and I'm really tempted to buy this book (The Thigh Gap Hack) that claims to have a routine for losing fat and a different routine for losing muscles, plus a bunch of 'hacks' that helps to speed up the stubborn lower body fat problems.

I wanted to check here first though to check if anyone else has heard of or could give feedback on the book or if they've successfully done something to reduce the inches of the inner and outer thigh

phew.. just realizing how long this is, but if you've gotten this far thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any replies

free skin care · Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:16 am

I dont know anything about this. I'm posting to suggest that you also ask this question over at MAkeUpAlley fitness board. The women there are super helpful and knowledgeable.

free skin care · Sun Jun 30, 2013 10:41 am

Oh my catski - I did not know there was a fitness board at MUA. I guess I'd better look around a little more. I'm on there usually with a single-minded mission to research a product. Thanks. I hope this helps whitneym.

free skin care · Mon Jul 01, 2013 8:05 pm

whitneymariah I am the queen of thunder thighs. When I was overweight and size 14/16 (which doesn't sound like much but for a 5' 2" squirt like me, I looked like Humpty Dumpty), my thighs used to rub so much from walking I'd bruise so badly I'd have liquid seeping out of raw wounds. I have been size 4/6 since 1991 but even after losing weight, my thighs continued to rub and the inner thighs got really dark. And I have proof: only a handful of all the pants I own don't have holes on the inside of the thighs from friction. I still wear the religious pants (holy pants, get it? Laughing

) because you can't see the holes since my thighs make certain of that. Besides, what's the point of buying new pants only to have them get holy after a few wears. You get the picture.

Anyway, I hate working out. I did work out to lose weight and changed my lifestyle to maintain the weight loss but since my new lifestyle makes it easy to maintain my weight, I get complacent and go for months without really working out. Embarassed

That means I'm pretty flabby and yes, I am 10-15 lbs heavier than my ideal weight but still the same size in clothes and you wouldn't really call me fat if you saw me.

Anyway, all my life, having a gap seemed a dream that was out of reach until I discovered the leg workout in Callanetics. I have done so many other inner thigh workouts in my life and while they did firm inner thighs, they didn't tighten them. Callanetics was the first program to actually prove to me that a gap was possible even for me. I just have allowed my laziness to get the better of me which is why I have more holy than not. But every time I get on a Callanetics regimen, I always end up with a hint of a gap.

I'm sure if I stuck with it, I'd get a permanent gap. I am hoping this is the year I don't drop the ball....

Here are more examples of the results Callanetics gives that can be found online:

These results IIRC are from a month of Callanetics:

I no longer own the full body Callanetic programs because there are parts of my body I don't want made smaller--and Callanetics tightens everything. But I do own Quick Callanetics Legs and Quick Callanetics Stomach. You can learn more about Callanetics here: http://www.callanetics.com/

Sadly, Callan Pinckney, to whom we owe our gratitude for creating this wonderful program, died in March last year at the age of 72. Here's a glimpse into some of the movements of this wonderful program: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNqe6o1nzPY

free skin care · Tue Jul 02, 2013 7:29 am

Great tip Nonie!
There are also some really good links on pintrest as well.
That is always the hardest area to work.
I do the Bodysculpting program every day which is a great program and it does have a lot of lunges, squats and light weights. It does a pretty all-over shape up.

free skin care · Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:57 am

There are also some really good links on pintrest as well.
That is always the hardest area to work.
I do the Bodysculpting program every day which is a great program and it does have a lot of lunges, squats and light weights. It does a pretty all-over shape up.[/quote]

AnnieR, I don't know if you've seen me mention about shape training, ie how for years I was told I could never change my body shape. I took that as a challenge it and embarked on doing my own research of how different workouts affect the body. I did eventually prove every expert wrong by discovering what I didn't know anyone else had done and given it the name "shape training": I changed my natural cone shape into an hourglass shape. And what I can tell you is squats and lunges will not give the tightening effect Callanetics does and may actually make thighs larger.

My thighs are huge and overlap usually when my feet are together. Doing squats, lunges, etc with light weights or even no weights would make my thighs firm but leave them still large and rubbing even harder since they had no give soft thighs have. Callanetics is the only program that I have found to take thighs from overlapping to having a gap.

Did I mention that I did no cardio and was eating as late as midnight Embarassed

in the last two months I did Callanetics to get the gap? Granted I have known of the workout for years so muscle memory did help me snap back quicker. But just think, I went from overlap to gap without cardio, losing any weight or eating right; just tightening up!

Of course people who don't have huge thighs may find squats etc to firm them up so thighs look lean, but I can bet my bottom dollar the results would be even tighter with Callanetics. Another thing I love about Callanetics is you get beautiful shapely feminine legs like those of a dancer not bulky muscular ones. In other words, instead of these legs which I do not find attractive (especially that ugly bulge by the knee):

...Callanetics gives you these sort of legs:

Consider this: In the last two months when I tried to do Quick Callanetics Legs every other day, my thighs went from what you see below to the gap you saw of me in shorts (The pic in white shorts is from 2011 but I look exactly like that now which is why I didn't bother taking another pic). Another bonus from QCL is my waist tightens too when my inner thighs tighten--go figure! So I went from a 27" waist to a 25.5" one even with my lousy eating!). Yes, this is how my thighs normally look like and how they looked at the start of May 2013:

In case you can't read the captions, the first image shows that with my feet wide apart, my thighs still almost met. Second image shows that with feet together, my thighs overlapped which is why one looks bigger than the other. Third image shows that because of past years of Callanetics, doing the workout on and off since I learned of it early 90's, I usually only see a gap if my legs are bent slightly. I never used to have that happen until Callanetics came into my life.

At the end of May and after only 11 sessions of QCL, this is where I was:

Then a month later (a little under 30 sessions), I am at the point seen in the white shorts.

free skin care · Tue Jul 02, 2013 12:18 pm

Nonie,
Thanks for sharing your tips.
I just have to say... you have such a beautiful figure!
WOW, something to aspire to! Smile

free skin care · Tue Jul 02, 2013 1:10 pm

erg wrote:

Nonie,
Thanks for sharing your tips.
I just have to say... you have such a beautiful figure!
WOW, something to aspire to! Smile

Thank you erg. I didn't always look like that. My shoulders are naturally way broader than my hips so that when I was overweight, I looked round or like a wide cone and when I lost weight I looked like a narrow cone. Think Ms Jay Alexander:

I wanted so badly to have curves which is why I set out to find a way to do that. I knew that I could not change my skeletal frame and create wide hip bones, but when I thought about the shape of the skeleton, there are no bones that stick out around the waist. So it seemed to me that nothing could stop me from gettiing my waist small. And if I got my waist as tight as possible, my hips would appear wider. I had discovered that one can work out to bulk up or work out to tighten. So by selective exercising, I didn't see why one couldn't transform one's shape. I often joke that Barbie is simply a cone who's done shape training. Laughing

You can see below how different her shape would be if she didn't have a small waist:

What a difference a small waist makes eh? This is the original image:

But the waist wasn't all I worked on. I avoided hip minimizing exercises, kept my butt from shrinking by doing butt workouts and then worked on slimming my inner thighs, because a gap gives the illusion of wide hips. And I have never lost sight of shape training which is why I do not do cookie cutter class workouts because I am always careful to pick and choose how I work my body to keep my curves and so I would be pretty disruptive to the class doing my own thing if they switched to an exercises that I didn't want to do. Laughing

It took trial and error to find out how my body responds to different exercises and thank God for muscle memory because if I got it wrong, I simply stopped and allowed my body to return to how it was. So yeah, unless one is so muscular that his/her body is like a unit of steel, I believe anyone can transform their body shape. So be encouraged and go for your dream body!

I believe Tracy Anderson may have a program on shape training. There is also a book by that name that I discovered right when I had accomplished my own goal of shape training that may give you ideas (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005ZOHTUA/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1372795653&sr=8-1&pi=SL75) but don't stop there. IMO the best method is figuring out your own system by trying out different things and becoming attentive to how your body responds to exercise, then continually increasing your exercising ideas database. I loved to browse through magazines and books for new ideas and over time memorized the tried and true exercises. Even today, I am always excited to try out a new exercise to see what I think of it. I usually just file it away coz I am lazy Laughing

but hey, I can always retrieve it when I need it--like if I start to see my old body creeping back. Shape training research can be a fun experiment/journey and the results are well worth the effort.

free skin care · Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:28 pm

You sounds like a pear shape, which is why your body is programmed to deposit fat on your thighs instead of your abs, like an apple shape would get.

Lipo is the only thing to get rid of it. There is no such thing as spot reducing. You can reshape the muscles underneath or diet away the fat.

You could try Tracy Anderson's DVDs. People on the videofitness.com forum swear by them. Maybe first look at youtube to see if you can spot a couple of her workouts for free.

free skin care · Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:29 pm

Nonie - thank you so much for your generous posting. I am usually a size 2-4 (5'3")but these days it's Work... big work to stay trim. Menopause is kicking my butt. The worst of it is- it's not a lot of weight gain but a change in positioning! Laughing

My inner thighs are starting to flab where there was none. I'm so sick about it and of course started piling on the lunges but really!!! time to get back to Callanetics. I had the original VHStape in the 80's and got me back in shape after two pregnancies. I am built like a gymnast or body builder which I don't love but at least my body responds- good muscle memory like you mentioned. Heavy weight is my enemy.
You posted about this before and now I swear I"m going to get the legs, the stomach and the one for the behind and hips to shape.

free skin care · Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:35 pm

Really inspirational stuff, Nonie, thankyou very much for taking the time to share this. You have done amazing transformational stuff.

Makes me feel I can do some waist whittling, which is my area for improvement.

I'll dig out my old callanetics stuff too and give it another go.. I gave up too easily last time round, and need it more, this time round, with menopause, or my age, or whatever it is when you get to 50 - something, slowing my metabolism down.

free skin care · Tue Jul 02, 2013 3:58 pm

SoftSkin wrote:

You sounds like a pear shape, which is why your body is programmed to deposit fat on your thighs instead of your abs, like an apple shape would get.

Lipo is the only thing to get rid of it. There is no such thing as spot reducing. You can reshape the muscles underneath or diet away the fat.

You could try Tracy Anderson's DVDs. People on the videofitness.com forum swear by them. Maybe first look at youtube to see if you can spot a couple of her workouts for free.

Softskin I beg to disagree. Lipo isn't the only thing that can turn a pear into an hourglass. And contrary to popular belief, there has to be such a thing as "spot reducing" not in the sense of burning fat in just one spot (although I do think targeted weigh training can do that where you feel the burn--just not cardio). But rather making areas you want small, smaller relative to other areas in order to give one the shape one wants. Which in some sense is reducing the spots you want to reduce and not those you don't want to reduce. It doesn't mean neglecting any part of your body but just working the areas differently. That is the idea behind shape training.

For someone with a pear shape which isn't just about thighs but also means fat on hips, the Callanetics program for hips and butt along with that of legs if legs are a problem too, can transform a pear to an hourglass. Here's a pear who managed to tighten the lower body with Callanetics:

And allow me again to use myself as an example of spot reduction evidence. The way fat collects in the lower body of a pear, on me fat collects on my upper body as I am a cone by nature--sometimes I look like a wide ruler or apple (as in the pic below). All I did to get my body from the shape on the left to that on the right was Callanetics work on my legs--which seems to affect my waist--and my waist and thighs got smaller while the rest of me stayed the same (notice my weight loss was only one pound):

So yeah, I have learned not to put too much stock into things experts say when reality has shown me their theories can be debunked.

sister sweets, I can't even crack the whip on you because considering that I have known about the effectiveness of Callanetics for over 20 years, I really have no excuse to only be getting serious about the workout now. It seems I get all gung-ho about proving something and once I feel certain I have accomplished that mission, I lose steam and just file it away. Rolling Eyes

The only plus I see in my laziness is I can hopefully encourage anyone who loses weight and then finds that they still have thunder thighs that there is still hope because I have been there. I have proof of overlapping thighs while fitting into size 4 jeans and then I will soon have proof of finally tightening my thighs up so they are lean and sport an unmistakable gap (Positive thinking here that I will stick with it this time).

So yeah...I'll cut you some slack THIS TIME. Just don't make a habit of just talking about it and not doing anything about it; I won't be so lenient next time. Laughing

Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:13 pm

I heard of callanetics a few years ago but never tried it and forgot about it...thanks for bringing this up and sharing so much detailed information and pictures. I have been wanting to put on weight, but it's hard to do when it just goes straight to one area, like my thighs. That's really interesting that you have been able to shape the body you want. I usually stick to generic exercise videos, and I easily end up with overly bulky arms so I hate doing weights too often, yet I'm afraid of doing too much cardio and losing what curves I have. This has really inspried me to take a more selective exercising approach as you put it. I think one of the reasons I've had such a hard time getting myself to exercise lately is because I've become bored with what I've been doing and not appealing when I'm getting results I don't like.

free skin care · Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:58 pm

I'm bored with the heavy weights and power type stuff. Even 15 pound weights are too much.
If you use weights use very light and many reps.
NONIE- I'm going to get all three of the quick tapes. My old VHS Callanetics is long gone. And as catski says we gotta fight the menopause monster. It has many different heads.

free skin care · Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:38 pm

I tried Callanetics years ago and found it terribly boring. I prefer Margaret Richard's DVDs. She's been exercising on PBS TV for over twenty-five years. Her workouts gave me better results than using heavier weights.

The two workouts on the home page are a DVD version of two very old tape workouts that she just discovered and is re-issuing. Go to her Store -- there are lots of DVDs from the past up until the present and you can watch clips.
http://www.bodyelectrictv.com//

Everyone has to find what works for them.

free skin care · Wed Jul 03, 2013 8:34 am

Nonie, that thigh gap is what I am aiming for! I work my triceps and butt and they are pretty good (or so the hubby says, haha)but I really want to work that inner thigh.
No matter how hard I worked it seems it won't go away, so have to try it!
Menopause just added another chain, ugh!
Thanks everyone for the tips.

free skin care · Wed Jul 03, 2013 10:37 am

As I get older I notice that the skin on my body is looser so doesn't hold everything in as tightly even though the muscles are the same. Perhaps you have to build up the muscles more?

free skin care · Thu Jul 04, 2013 12:51 pm

ha!

I'm posting here while I take a little breather, almost at the end of my first attempt - this time round - at the callanetics workout. I'm doing 10 in 10.

phew!

I love it! And its hard.

Deep stretching going on, feels intensely relaxing to me, I feel more lengthened already, and I havent even quite finished the first hour.

I have taken regular breathers though, its too fast/hard for me on this the first attempt to do it straight through at the dvd speed.I'm a wimp. I do pilates and cycling and some weights, but... yeah, this is challenging me.

I would LOVE to be proficient at doing this workout, it is brilliant.

Thanks, Nonie, for the inspiration.

free skin care · Thu Jul 04, 2013 9:28 pm

catski wrote:

Really inspirational stuff, Nonie, thankyou very much for taking the time to share this. You have done amazing transformational stuff.

Makes me feel I can do some waist whittling, which is my area for improvement.

I'll dig out my old callanetics stuff too and give it another go.. I gave up too easily last time round, and need it more, this time round, with menopause, or my age, or whatever it is when you get to 50 - something, slowing my metabolism down.

Catski I don't know how I missed your post before. You are very welcome. I don't know if you know of Tracey who has a Callanetics Waist Whittler Youtube exercise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vofcj9GWca8

Her waist is tiny but what I didn't know is that she once looked like this:

And now her waist is so tiny!

She tells about her success with Callanetics on her website: http://callanetics-dvds.com/about.htm

catski wrote:

ha!

I'm posting here while I take a little breather, almost at the end of my first attempt - this time round - at the callanetics workout. I'm doing 10 in 10.

phew!

I love it! And its hard.

Deep stretching going on, feels intensely relaxing to me, I feel more lengthened already, and I havent even quite finished the first hour.

I have taken regular breathers though, its too fast/hard for me on this the first attempt to do it straight through at the dvd speed.I'm a wimp. I do pilates and cycling and some weights, but... yeah, this is challenging me.

I would LOVE to be proficient at doing this workout, it is brilliant.

Thanks, Nonie, for the inspiration.

You're welcome again. The fact that you found it hard means you did it properly. Callan warns often that just coz the exercises look easy, it doesn't mean they are. She keeps reminding that you are working very hard.

I can usually tell when I am not maintaining proper form: it is when my legs don't shake while I do the Pliés with the pelvic tilt and without. I also sweat as if I'm lifting weights whenever I do the pelvic scoop and pelvic circles while on my knees. And often I find myself crying out in tongues that are probably illegal on most planets coz of how hard the workout is. It just never gets easy for me.

I found the book for the leg workout on Amazon for peanuts (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/009175285X/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?qid=1372998067&sr=8-7&pi=SL75)
so got it. It has a 30-day "Build Your Strength" program. I don't know why I have never done that first to see if the workout will get easier. The book also has tips on how to tweak the workout to make it harder. Neutral

Who knew there were people who require more advanced moves! Shock

free skin care · Fri Jul 05, 2013 4:21 pm

Big up Nonie! thanks so much for sharing your awesomeeee pictures. What a great body you have.

*digs out Callenetics videos*

free skin care · Sun Jul 07, 2013 3:12 am

Wow, Nonie, that is quite some transformation tracey performed on her mid section, I love it!
Callanetics is mesmerising, the way it can change the body so fast just is like magic. Yesterday I did my second session..get this...my trousers fell down half way through the session! Ha ha! My mid section changed, that suddenly!

The old recording I have of 10 in 10 is pixelating like crazy so I've ordered a fresh disc, while I'm waiting for it to arrive I'm going to download some callanetics from sylvia lampe..I found she has very cheap downloads available on her site..not familiar with her callanetics before, but intrigued to try and will report back.

Yee haw ! Razz

free skin care · Sun Jul 07, 2013 3:15 am

Ps I forgot to mention.. your photo's are great and your body is gorgeously shaped! Congrats!

free skin care · Thu Jul 11, 2013 11:32 am

Just guessing, but wouldn't personal anatomy/bone structure be a factor in "thigh gap"?

I have kind of wide hips/bones and skinny legs. Back in my school days received many less than complimentary comments about my "thigh gap" ... and that's putting it politely. Suffice to say the high school boys pointed out loudly and often that my "thigh gap" indicated a large "girly part".

free skin care · Fri Jul 12, 2013 12:41 am

appletini wrote:

Just guessing, but wouldn't personal anatomy/bone structure be a factor in "thigh gap"?

I have kind of wide hips/bones and skinny legs. Back in my school days received many less than complimentary comments about my "thigh gap" ... and that's putting it politely. Suffice to say the high school boys pointed out loudly and often that my "thigh gap" indicated a large "girly part".

That's what you would think. Indeed there are people whose wide hips set their legs wide apart so they naturally have the gap. But even those of us without those features (ie wide hips, skinny legs) can get the gap if we do the correct exercises, as I have shown in previous posts.

I don't think there can be a more daunting situation for a gap to exist than in someone having narrow hips and large thighs. That has been the story of my life; and in fact, even when I was at my ideal weight, my thighs still met.

Yet look what I've been able to accomplish in under 30 sessions of Quick Callanetics Legs and I'm actually 10-15 heavier than my ideal weight. Heck, I'm even jiggly and flabby yet I'm sporting a gap!

I say where there's a will, there'll always be a way.

free skin care · Fri Jul 12, 2013 8:11 am

I bought Super Callanetics since it has Abs, Legs and butt/hips .. I'll do it in sections. I remember all of the exercises you mention Nonie and agree they do make you sweat and I remember once you get the positioning right ---all bets are off. The exercises Work. I recall the pelvic ones on the knees are killer when don'e right.

I'm off to look at the waist whittler and other recs.
Wow - thanks everyone.

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