dear calf muscles - plz shrink!
 

I keep wishing and hoping and training, and oi those darn calves are so annoying!

Im down over 100lbs, and at least in the last ~50 the calves just will not shrink. They stay at about 15-16in.

I actually saw a freaking plastic surgeon about a calf reduction, lol. She said I could get a bit of lipo, but it wouldnt help much. That I just have gigantic calves. I presumed from carrying around 100+ extra lbs for 20+ years, she said heck no. It is just my genetics.

I guess I am just venting.

But sheesh cmon calves - work with me here a little bit. At least hoping to get them more defined.

Anyone else have this issue?

I do, I do!! I HATE them. I have posted on here a few times about my "calf to ankle ratio" and how my ankles look too tiny to hold up that huge glob of muscle. And I've read how your muscles are attached to your bones and there is no way to lengthen them or stretch them into something long and lean as opposed to a bunched up, wide in circumference, knotty wad of muscle.

Le sigh. . .:dizzy:

If anyone has ANY success reducing their calf muscles I am ALL EARS!

Xty, :hug: we'll be sisters on this one. . .

This is something I worry a bit about...I want them to shrink because of all the muscle I have built up from 10 years of softball and 5 of basketball. But with genetics/running and jogging being my main source of exercise at the moment my big calves are probably here for good.


Can I go off subject (but right forum! lol) and ask about your weight loss for a minute? We started at about the exact same spot and we're the same height so I just really wanted to know a couple of things if that's cool!
How long did it take you to get to where you are and did it slow down significantly when you got closer to the healthy weight range? And lastly (if you don't mind me asking!) do you have any loose skin? I think I have about a 50/50 chance with my stomach right now.

Ugh, sorry if too nosy, just like to pick the brains of others with similar stats.

goodforme - I used to yell at my calves all the time and tell them I hate them. Then I felt bad and crazy for having a dysfunctional relationship with a body part, lol. Soooo. I tell my dear calves that I love them, and they can let go of all that fat they held on to for years when they are ready. Then I tell them sooner would be good. And remind them of all the nice massages they get! Lol.

Luddy - I dont mind the questions at all. My weight loss has been dragged out over almost 10 years. I spent a long, long time bouncing between about 155 and 185. As far as slowing, it has slowed at "set points" throughout. You can always push past, just emotional and physical work. And my skin has been stretched out in so many crazy ways so many diff times (ex: I was 220lbs in 7th grade, 170lb in 10th grade, 240lbs at age 20), so my stretch marks are basically your worst case scenario. But from a loose skin perspective I am doing pretty well. Standing up, looking front or back in a mirror I basically look like I have zero loose skin. If I bend and contort in certain ways, you can see my skin could be tighter. I actually got a plastic surgery consult this year and she said she wouldnt actually suggest any leg/arm/breast/leg lifting - at most lipo and I said screw that and have lost 10lbs more :) The best way to descibe it, is that a 120lb girl that gains 30lbs for the firs time will look firmly curvy. A 220lbs girl finally getting to 150lbs will look different. Probably the same clothed. But naked I feel like my fat can just sorta move around more than other girls my size/build. Make sense?

I have the same calf problem. However, I did notice that I began losing inches on my calf from hot yoga! Honestly, it's the only thing that has allowed by calf size to budge. I have lost 3/4 inch so far since May 2010 which is, as you can imagine, a cause for celebration!!

~BreathingSpace~

May I join the sisterhood of large calves? I've had this problem as long as I can remember. Even as a child, with absolutely no weight issues, it was nearly impossible to find knee-high boots because my calves wouldn't fit in them. Plus, I'm only 5'4", and many boots are made for a longer leg. :mad:

That makes all the sense in the world, thanks xty. Wow, what a journey...congrats. It's probably such a person by person basis and I forget that till I hear others' stories.

hi Goodforme! long time no see!

I too have big calves. My husband gets peeved when I wear his socks! for the most part I am trying to not be so picky about myself so daily I try not to let it bother me.

But they do get in the way. for some of the fashion, I really only wear boot cut jeans because otherwise the jeans hug my cal and I don't like that and I would love to find a pair of boots that 1) I can get on and 2) don't make my calves look that much bigger! I order every yer from Zappos and every year they all go back!

I also have large, muscular calves and I don't see them getting any smaller yet. I'm hoping that I'll lose some inches as my weight loss keeps going (so far most of my loss has been in my shoulders, chest, and stomach areas) but I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I used to HATE my muscular calves but now I try to embrace them. I don't do too well, though, when I see a really cute pair of knee high boots, LOL

Dr. Oz says fat calves are healthy. :D Just saying. I think I remember 13 inches at the largest part was the smallest he wanted our calves to be. That's good news for me! I've always blamed mine on marching band. Marching band is certainly quite the calves workout!

Traumatic memory from Saef's girlhood: On the morning of a very important horse show, held at the state fairgrounds, then-fairly-slender 14-year-old Saef awakens after having had lots of barbeque potato chips the night before with body swollen with salt ... AND CANNOT GET HER TALL BLACK RIDING BOOTS UP OVER HER CALVES. [This was before she or her family knew anything about retaining fluid. No one retained fluid at that time, apparently, or at least, was conscious of doing so.] She sticks them in the tub & runs cold water on them to reduce the swelling. No go. She stomps around the house & runs up & down the basement stairs. She holds a washcloth filled with ice cubes on them. She is crying. Her parents are talking about how they paid good money for those all-leather boots & now they don't even fit. How she'd better go on a diet because she's growing out of her riding clothes. Her mother attempts to stretch the boots. Eventually, the boots go up. And she gets to the horse show on time. And is miserable because they still aren't fitting right, being over-wrinkled at the heel & not quite high up enough on the calf.

How I hated. hated. hated. hated. hated. my fat calves.

They're pretty much genetic. They have gotten smaller with exercise & my legs look quite good. But they're always going to be more muscular & bigger around than those of the slender leggy fillies at the gym.

saef - I swear I think you are more and more awesome with every reply or post I read from you. Horrible, traumatizing story but I can totally empathize!

http://www.livestrong.com/article/10...e-calf-muscle/


I found this over at Livestrong. I'm not sure I'm buying it! What do ya'll think?


:wave: Oh, and hey L144S! Nice to see you.

Thank you, xty. The riding boot story is something I never told anyone before till I got to 3FC. (I've told it at least once before on one of these forums, when someone else was bemoaning her calves, so this makes twice in my lifetime.) I'm sharing it because when other people have opened up & shared their humiliating moments here before, I have really related to those stories, even if it's concerning a different body part or the details are really different. Anyone who's been fat has at least one story like that. It helps us when we know we're not alone or singularly strange.

I don't mind them three quarters of the year, but I find it hard to embrace them when there's two feet of snow outside and I can't find a pair of boots that goes higher than my ankles. I wore mukluks to my wedding, for pete's sake! And they've always been really big - even when I weighed 115 lbs, my calves were, let's say, problematic. Ugh.

By the way, Saef, I love your story and can soooo relate!