My calves are huge!! I've been overweight my entire life and my body has had to carry that around, and thus, my calves are absolutely the most muscled part of my body and it shoes.
Now, I'm doing lots of cardio (treadmill, ddr) for weight loss, and it's just working out my legs even more. I don't want muscled calves! Is this unavoidable? How do I get a good cardio without workin' them legs?
They might not seem pleasant now, but I bet in time they will become proportionate. At least they don't jiggle, or I think worse, have extra skin hanging!
Why are you upset that your legs are not jiggly? Maybe try swimming that not really any work on the calves
They're jiggly on the thighs ! But I'm not upset that they're "not jiggly" but once I get down to my desired weight I don't want huge muscle calves, I want nice lean svelt legs, ya know? A girl can dream!
One thing I've always thought to myself when i look at "before/afters" of people who have lost a significant amount of weight is how sexy/awesome their legs are because they're so muscled from carrying around extra weight.
So I bet by the time you're smaller you won't hate your legs.
I honestly think I'd rather have calves a little too big than too small. I'm not a fan of the flat underweight calves look. But the fact is women are real people, not objects that can all conform to one ideal. We can't even, as individuals, make ourselves reach our own exact ideal. There's beauty in all sizes and shapes. I'm only offering the perspective that svelte calves aren't the only ideal out there. When you see those old-fashioned pin-up style paintings, the calves are always quite curvy. I love that look.
Having muscle is awesome!! Even though you may not like the look of them now, they will get smaller with the rest of your body and be proportionate...its just getting there that is the hard part
Do the cardio, do lower body workouts, disregard the notion that your legs are too big. Don't worry, they'll even out with weight loss, I promise.
My legs have always been muscular, even 110 pounds ago. The difference between then and now is that they are lean, they're compact and they're killer if I may be modest. They look nowhere near as big as they did when I started. How could they?
And, without building them it would have been impossible to get as far as I've come, it's taken hours of cardio and incredible leg strength to get me here. Thanks legs!
When I flex my calves and see the doubles I've worked so hard for I feel proud as heck. Same with my crazy quads. I worried at first that they were too muscular and my husband reassures me that no, they're sexier than they've ever been.
Besides, your leg muscles are some of the biggest on your body. Those babies burn serious calories.
That's awesome to hear FB! And wow, 110 lbs lost. I look at everyone's trackers and they're all losing phenomenal amounts of weight, it's like, wow, I want /need/ to do that!
it's true, your calves may well become slimmer and just as strong as you lose weight. our bodies don't lose weight from every area at the same time...it takes a while for things to proportion out. at least, this has been my experience so far. i've only lost 14lbs, i know, but even with that small amount i've seen this to be true. for me it's my arms that are extremely muscular...in time, your muscles may become more proportional to your (now smaller!) frame.
some of the other ladies bring up a good point too--muscle burns more calories than fat, so i prefer to thank my biceps...even though i wouldn't mind if they suddenly shrunk a few inches
I've got big calvesitis myself. Fat, skinny, it doesn't matter, theys big. The only thing I've found that helps is heels if you're wearing a skirt or shorts. They don't have to be 4" monsters little 1" ones will do, but they make a world of difference. Knee-high boots too. Both sexy and both faithful friends to the thunder calfed girl.
In high school the guys nicknamed me "super legs" due to the length my friends would always tease and talk about my 'ballet legs'.
I knew they were really muscular and toned(I was notorious for my vertical leap on the varsity volleyball team) and my instructors always told me I had strong legs in a positive way, but I never understood what they meant until I saw a group photo and all of us were wearing mini skirts. HOLY CRAP!!!!! My legs were like 2 times the size of everyone else!
I was really embarrassed by it for a few months after that, but yanno... all of my friends had and still have skinny little stick legs, but now that they're in their mid-twenties the teenage elastic is wearing off and they've all got cellulite and floppy skin, but I sure don't!
Put on your high heels and work it girl.
They'll probably slim out as you do, but love them anyway. It could always be worse. At least you don't have cankles.
Last edited by NishKitten; 09-21-2008 at 08:51 PM.
I've got big calvesitis myself. Fat, skinny, it doesn't matter, theys big. The only thing I've found that helps is heels if you're wearing a skirt or shorts. They don't have to be 4" monsters little 1" ones will do, but they make a world of difference. Knee-high boots too. Both sexy and both faithful friends to the thunder calfed girl.
Oh god, don't I wish I could wear heels! My boyfriend is 5'7" and I'm 5'9.5" so they're out of the question unless I want him to talk to my chest, haha!
Thunder calves!
! But I'm not upset that they're "not jiggly" but once I get down to my desired weight I don't want huge muscle calves, I want nice lean svelt legs, ya know? A girl can dream!
I look at everyone's trackers and they're all losing phenomenal amounts of weight, it's like, wow, I want /need/ to do that!
