I know you can't spot reduce and we should all learn to live with our shapes...'
but..
is there anyone out there who has managed to make a difference in their shape from weight loss and exercise????

Are you a pear? So was I ... two sizes bigger on the bottom than the top.

I honestly thought I'd end up as a smaller pear, but the last 20 pounds came 100% off my hips and butt. I ended up being smaller on the bottom than the top!

You'll never know till you get there!

Yeah, I was always a hip and thigh girl, but now, I have to wait for things to get looser in the waist before I can wear them! I can always fit into a smaller size now in my bottom before I can do up the waist - and I was the girl who always had the 26-38 measurements on the bottom with a waist gaping 2" but fitting in the hips. That was B4 weight lifting!! (free weights)

If you are a pear shape, the best thing you can do is strength training. You cannot get rid of your natural shape, but if your upper body is stronger and more defined, it creates the illusion of a more hourglass shape.

I've always been pear shaped and, like Meg, was at one time two sizes bigger on the bottom than on top. This has definitely improved; I'm now only one size bigger on the bottom than on the top. The good news is that I can actually find dresses that fit and look good on me--this is so exciting that I've bought five new dresses since I got down to my current weight. I try them on just for kicks and get so excited about how they fit, I buy them even though I honestly don't know where I'm going to wear them all. For years, dresses were just out of the question (they just don't make dresses that are two sizes bigger on the bottom than on the top).

Unfortunately, the weight has come of my hips a lot faster than off my waist. I've lost about 10 inches in my hips but only about 7 inches in my waist. My boobs, however, remain tiny compared to my hips (and continue to get smaller although my waist seems to have stagnated ). So, I've changed my shape, but not in a good way. I'm now small on top, kind of lumpy through the middle, and with smaller hips. On a size chart for one catalog company, my hips were a size 4 and my waist a size 10!