Are there certain workouts you can do to obtain an hourglass figure, or is just something your blessed with at birth? Currently i'm considered a "Banana" figured woman, or just straight. No curves, just a box. Ha. I want to get those curves though. Any ideas or resources I could look at to obtain this? I figured i'd have to trim my waist, but I don't really know what else. (I'm an exercise virgin) Totally clueless! Thanks friends!

*~Love and Light~*

Obtaining an"hourglass" figure, or any figure other than what youre genetically gifted with, is not *really* possible, though there are things you can do to give the apearance youre looking for...
this involves serious training, and putting mass back ON to your body, not taking off..... working and bulking your back/shoulders area, and exercises to make your hips/butt larger will give the illusion of an hourglass figure. I doubt youre interested in adding weight/muscle on, but if you are id be happy to go into more detail
(btw, plenty of women use this technique of adding dimension to their back/shoulders to balance out with their lower bodies and give the illusion of a tinier waist

I dont believe in spot training, but I have met many women at the gym and/or friends who have had success with heavy lunges, squats and lower body weight exercises to help give them more curve, shape and a rounder butt.

Google "Venus Index". It's a training routine for women to do just this. It's hard work!

I know this isn't helpful to you, Kopuiylopiu, but I thought I'd throw it out there that going from a pear shape to a more hourglassy shape can be possible. It's not possible to grow more boobs, obviously, but the combo of fat loss (slimming the lower body) and adding some width to the upper back/shoulders through heavy weight training can help to balance things out. (I have pics in the 2nd link in my sig of my own progress on this front.)

I definitely want to get into weight lifting. Any specific things you did to tone your back and arms? Because your results are amazing! And I already have a fairly large chest, at 40" bust measurement. But I know I need to trim my waist (35.5") and tone my lower body (38.5" hips).

1) Lift heavy*; 2) do compound movements (things like overhead presses, pushups, dumbbell bench press, lat pulls or chin-ups, etc-- rather than isolation movements like bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, etc); 3) eat enough protein while you're dieting (at about 120 pounds, I eat a minimum of 90g protein a day, though I prefer somewhere around 120g); 4) beyond that, fat loss is all about calories! They say fat loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise (or 90/10, or whatever... but it's definitely mostly about the food!).

*Which is to say, heavy for you. And as contrasted with doing 100 bicep curls with a 1-pound dumbbell.

There are lots of good posts around here on weight lifting for beginners (it's important to ease into heavy lifting and use proper form), but I never can seem to find them when I want them. So I'll just say that a focused, pre-made program from a book might work for you. I've done the program from The New Rules of Lifting for Women book, with good results. (There's a thread in the Weight Lifting forum here with other people who have done / are doing it.) Other folks around here have done other books from the "New Rules of Lifting Series," the Starting Strength program, the Female Body Breakthrough program, etc.

I'll definitley check that book out. Thanks