I'm shaped mostly like a pear, very very bottom-heavy. I'm mainly insecure about my calves though. I know that there's no such thing as spot reduction, but do you think that doing cardio, while using leg machines [such as leg press, leg curls, etc] might make them bigger? I want to reduce their size, but I'm kind of afraid that by doing the leg machines [I do cardio & weights 3x a week], which I'm doing mainly because as I lose weight, I want to be toned, my calves just might get larger because of built muscle or something. Is it possible?

I inherited my bottom heavy body from my mother, especially the thighs & calves. Does anyone know, or even think, if it's POSSIBLE to lose fat in areas that are simply inherited? I know my legs aren't going to shrink, I think I'll always be heavier at the bottom, but I definitely wouldn't mind my calves shrinking just a tad.

Yeah, I do!! It's also possible to be the only fattie in a family of twigs, so it goes both ways.

When you weight lift, you may initially feel tightness in your clothing (legs) for a few days afterward, but that's bc your muscles are working to get stronger, which means swelling a bit and holding some water. Guaranteed if you stick with it, you will ultimately see smaller legs and bottom as your cardio and increased muscle mass (and resulting higher metabolism) burn off the fat there that's causing your bulges and allow your muscle to show. Hop over to the weight lifting forum to read alot more about how you won't bulk up, but actually slim down by lifting weights, regardless of the body part. I"m a personal story, so I promise it works!

Yep, as you lose weight, you'll get smaller everywhere. But I know from experience that my "problem" areas (which are my upper arms and to a lesser degree my legs) will probably always be "problem" areas. It'll be a miracle if after losing my weight this time I don't need brachioplasty. (Unfortunately, I lost over 100 pounds 9 years ago...) But, hey I'd a whole lot rather be fit and healthy with "problem" arms than fat and unfit. I refuse to buy into the whole "I'll always be fat because I've inherited 'fat genes'... It's my genetics... I have big bones... I have a slow metabolism..." I believe that we have the power to change, regardless of what we've inherited. Some people just have to work harder at it than others.

P.S. I started weight training 2 weeks ago and I swear today as I was lifting and looking in the mirror, I WAS smaller across my shoulders!!

It's definitely possible to lose weight in areas where you've "inherited" fat. I have the same body type as my Dad, which means I carry a lot of fat in my stomach. And while my stomach isn't complete flat and may never be, I've lost about 7-8 inches there and it looks a lot smaller than it did when I started. As you slim down, you will lose weight all over, including the areas where your body naturally carries fat.

I also do a lot of cardio (running, ellipitical, swimming, stairmill, and a lot of jumping--I have a personal trainer and he is big into jumping) and a lift fairly heavy with my legs (leg machines plus weighted squats, lunges, step-ups, etc.) and my calves and thighs have definitely gotten quite a bit smaller. Muscles takes up a lot less space than fat, so if you build muscle and lose fat in your legs at the same time, they're going to get smaller.