Personally, I swear by FIRM workouts for aerobic weight training. I know a bunch of them are on Netflix (but not streaming Netflix; regular old get-a-disc-in-the-mail Netflix).

That's awesome! You're doing great. You can definitely reach your goal by the end of March.

I totally agree with the suggestions about weight training. The great thing is that you're able to build up muscle tissue (don't worry, you won't bulk up like crazy or anything) that is more metabolically active than other types of body tissue (fact, etc.) and both makes you look leaner and boosts your metabolism. Win win!

Thanks for asking... I've been so worn-out and exhausted lately, but I'm not sure why. So that's made it harder for me to really exercise well this week, but I got in some good workouts last week. I'm also not feeling like eating as much, so maybe it's balancing out. I also feel like I'm getting too thin, but I'd like to have a better buffer first before I stop and try to maintain.

This is the exact reason I'm still plugging away.

I readjusted my goal weight in order to have a buffer, too. At 4'11" I really should be lower than 110, but I know it's not realistic for me. I have hormone and thyroid issues and although I am petite, I have a pretty big frame. That's probably why people think I look fine when I am way too overweight and they guess my weight at much lower than what it really is. So, new goal is 110. Weighed in at 116 yesterday but I knew it was too good to be true. Back up to 117.5 today. Not too happy.

Magrat, "It seems odd that with all the walking and stair climbing I do during the course of the day my legs would be slimmer, but it's just not happening."


Well, it isn't very odd because you have probably quite a bit of muscle on your legs from doing these things! the only time doing these things would make your legs smaller is when you are not getting enough protein to feed the muscles being worked. like, marathon runners run WAY too much to eat enough to put muscles into their legs, but other athletes like soccer players...yeesh. they still do plenty of running around but they aren't "slim." sure they are lean but...still rather big at least to me.

i probably have the same body comp. problem you do. i am quite solid but i carry the most weight in my legs. so, it kills me. now i avoid the stationary bike and stair climber and any direct weight training on the legs, and just focus on running and occasional elliptical to keep the blood flowing. but even now, if i wanted to lose more mass off my legs i'd either need to get my body fat % really low, which wouldn't look good for the rest of me, or lose a bit of muscle mass. it's actually quite hard to do either of these things. but, here is an article i think most people would find interesting..okay i can't post a link yet but go to fitnessblackbook.com and look up "how to lose muscle mass on purpose"

I'm with everyone on the buffer weight. It's why my goal is where it's at as well.

I had been doing well. Then midterms hit and calorie counting went straight out the window. I think I'm probably back where I started, but I don't want to weigh myself yet because I feel it'll just trigger more overeating. How frustrating. I'm getting back on track as of this morning though.

I'll check out those FIRM videos. Thanks for the suggestion Kat!

fivestone- sorry to hear about your lack of energy. Are you feeling better now?

Magrat - Can you pinch anything on your thighs? Maybe they are just bigger than you'd like because of muscle. How've you been feeling lately?

Good luck to everyone!

Only downside to the FIRM is if you like it, there's about 80 bajillion videos in the series; I have become quite the collector, much to the chagrin of my credit card.

I checked it out. Seems to me, though, that the author believes that anyone suffering from big leg syndrome built their legs up through over doing heavy squats and leg presses. To reduce legs he recomends reducing calories and doing lots of low intensity cardio. Well my calories are down and if walking all day isn't cardio then I don't know what it is. The website was interesting, but not very encouraging.

I can't pinch anything on my thighs so I'm pretty sure it is muscle. I've had big legs all my life, even when I was a small child. I wish it were fat because then it would be easier to get rid of.

I'm feeling rather depressed and discouraged about the whole situation. If eating next to nothing and spending my weekdays in perpetual motion isn't helping then I'm starting to wonder why I even bother.

Where is everyone? This thread seems to have died.

I don't know but I'd be sad if it did! I finally got myself below 120 and am getting close to goal! Definitely going to need maintenance help soon.

All last week I had been under 120, but today I'm right around 120. This weekend was my sister's wedding with lots of drinking and eating and I feel really bloated and gross. I'm hoping after a few days of clean eating I'll be back under. We have colds here now so exercise will be at a minimum for the next few days too.

I bought my lululemon yoga pants last week and they better still fit! Ha!

Oh, I'm sure they will! Gosh darn it, I want some lululemon stuff but it's so pricey. Maybe I'll pick out an outfit from them when I hit my target, though, as my reward to myself.

Yes please keep this thread alive, I need something to look forward to in eight or so weeks

Well, I'm 118.5 this morning (sig tracker won't do 1/2 pound increments, it seems), so I've busted through yet another mini plateau and am ever closer to my goal!

I'm starting to peruse the maintenance forum a lot to get tips for when I'm really in the mode of trying to maintain and deliberately NOT lose. I do think my upper body looks awfully scrawny now, so once I've hit goal, I hope to develop a little more upper body musculature to balance out the boniness. Ah, the perils of being an apple with a LOT of lower-body fat stores. That's always the last place to let go of fat, so of course my lean upper body is where I see more loss all the time. *eyeroll* Not ideal, nature! :P