[stratusassets]

Hi everyone, I read often, but never post. I think I am ready to begin transitioning to maintenance, but I have a question. I am close to the top of my BMI range. I don't know if I want to lose the remaining 5 pounds to hit that limit. I am very happy with my upper body. I am very typical pear and I don't want my top half to get any smaller than it currently is. (Reason I am unsure about last 5 pounds.) However, my lower body could use some major work. As reference, I wear a size small shirts, but size 12 pants. I currently do Bodypump 2 days a week and heavy lifting one. My question is. . . is it possible to reshape by lower body through weightlifting and running without having to lose more weight? I am not unrealistic, I don't expect to ever be a size 2 or anything, but I would love to hit a size 8. Any thoughts??? Thanks for any help in advance.

[Bright Angel]

Everyone's body is different, and we all lose fat differently.

In my own case, my bottom was always a size or two larger than my top.
However, I am maintaining my weight
in the middle of my "normal" BMI range,
and it was only the loss of the last 10 or 15 lbs
that changed my shape from pear to more of an hourglass.
(an hourglass that is a bit bottomheavy)
I lost almost all of that last weight from my bottom half.

Although I maintain a low weight, I am very short,
and I wear the same size now...on both top and bottom
which is...is 6 or 8... except at serious vanity sizing places
....like Chico's where I am a zero.

I don't run, and I don't lift heavy weights.
All of my weight-loss/maintenance involves only low-impact exercise,
along with a small amount of strength-training,
using only my body-weight, and 5 lb dumb bells.

[Meg]

Hi Stratus and welcome!

Yes, it is most definitely possible to reshape your body without any change on the scales, through the process of building muscle and losing fat. Since muscle is about 1/3 the size of fat pound-for-pound, any muscle you add will be much smaller and tighter than fat. So when you lose fat and add muscle on your bottom half, you'll be a smaller size.

For example, Mel, one of our mods here, reached her goal *weight* and realized she hadn't achieved her goal *body*. She followed the Body For Life program and dropped two pants sizes, even though the scale went up by three pounds. I started out with my bottom half being two sizes bigger than my top half and by strength training during my year of weight loss, ended up with both being the same size (or sometimes being smaller on the bottom). Yay muscle!

There isn't anything magic about BFL -- any program that emphasizes cardio for fat burning and (heavy) strength training for muscle building will work. Squats and lunges will be your new best friends! The New Rules of Lifting for Women is a great program or you could put together one of your own.

A lot of time when people reach the point you're at in the weight loss process, their goals shift from a scale number to clothes sizes or fitness related goals. The number just isn't all that important any more (and it isn't tattoed on our foreheads!) It sounds like that's where you are and I think you'll find a lot of company here.

Keep posting and let us know how you're doing!

[ncuneo]

We're all different. I haven't lost any more weight, maybe 2 lbs but have been running a ton and gone down a cup size up top, not exactly what I was going for. Now I'm starting to lose some more inches in my lower half, and that is coinciding with the last 2 lbs I've lost. So in my case not really possible to lose inches below without weight loss. But I'm not doing anything to specifically target that area or doing and kind of program to focus on losing inches instead of lbs, which there are many. Try researching body composition, I think you may find some answers.