I've debating whether or not to post this thread on here for the past week, but I'm gonna do it!! My apologies if this topic has beaten to death somewhere else!

I have a few questions for you gurus, I'm losing weight much better this time around than before (healthier foods and more regular workouts) but I am really confused about the lifting weights part of the workout.

I have a shape right now that I like but when I was bigger I was very top heavy, but right now I can see more of an hourglass (yay!) so my friend suggested I do squats with a kettle bell since it helps to tone the lower half of your body. Now my question is, in time (assuming I'm doing this regularly for awhile) will my bottom half shrink and my top half be the same size? I really don't want to be top heavy if I can avoid it.

This sounds like such a dumb question as I type it but I really didn't know where else to ask!

I keep doing cardio because it's fun for me, but I know I should incorporate some lifting, but I'm on a low budget and only have two 5lb dumbbells to work with, any suggestions with what else I could do with these two to tone my entire body opposed to just the bottom half?

anyone?!

In general, your body shape is your body shape and you cannot change it. Doing exercises that target certain muscles will tone the muscles, but not affect the fat on top. Concentrating on your lower body may make it look bulkier due to more muscle, but it won't make it smaller. If you get down to a really low body fat percentage, you can change your body shape somewhat by building muscle in areas you want to be larger, but that takes a lot of time and dedication.

Unfortunately you are not going to see much change in your body with 5 pounds weights. That is way too light to really sculpt your muscles (and I don't mean getting ripped). A lot of women stay away from heavier weights because they are afraid of getting bulky. But as it's been said about a hundred million times, getting bulky from lifting heavy weights is very difficult for a women to do (without doing a bunch of other stuff like eating a higher protein and calorie diet and serious training etc).

Doing squats will help tone your lower body, but you shouldn't neglect your upper body either. Do strength training that will help define your arms back, chest and abs so that when you get to your goal weight you'll look great all over.

I understand being on a budget, but there are a lot of DVD's and/or Youtube video's that have exercises that help define your muscles using your body weight and bands as resistance. Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred or Total Body Workout are two that I've tried that have really upped my strength. There is also a strength training sub-forum right underneath this exercise one that you should check out, it will give you some ideas on how to get started. Also check out burnthefatblog.com, he has a lot of great advice on weight loss and strength training.

Good luck!

Also do searches online for bodyweight exercise routines--meant to add this to my first post There are lots of things you can do without any weights!

Thanks for the replies!

So are the 5lbs completely pointless? I am just starting out so I didn't know where to start from. I guess I'll just keep at the squats for now!