These are the two main areas I have a problem with. Is there any way of isolating these areas and exercising to get rid of them?

Nope, you can't spot reduce. The only way to spot reduce is to visit a surgeon and have lipo.

All you can do is keep plugging away, and as Meg mentioned in a post to you yesterday, start weight training, as you build muscle you will burn more fat, and your problem areas will start to appear tighter and toned.

I disagree... I think it IS possible to work on certain areas of our body with specific exercises. Of course no guarantee of perfection. Since love handles and upper legs are not my problem areas, I don't know what the specific ones are for this; but I'm sure you can find some if you do research, and hopefully there will be people here who know some.

Obviously not everyone agrees with me.

You're both right .

Certain exercises do strenghten certain muscle groups - ab exercises target ab muscles, arm exercises target biceps and triceps muscles, etc. So Misti's right when she says that it's possible to work on certain areas of our body with specific exercises. Yes, you absolutely can build and strengthen targeted muscles with specific exercises.

But Kylie's right that you can't spot reduce fat. You gotta keep in mind that there's a difference between fat and muscle. Exercise will strengthen the muscle that lies underneath the fat - but it can't make the fat layer on top go away. That happens with cardio and diet. You can do a thousand crunches a day and have a six-pack -- but if you've got a couple inches of fat on top, no one will ever be able to see it.

Everyone's got one or two problem spots that hold the fat and they're usually the LAST to go - but they will go eventually! Your body is going to use up its stored fat in whatever order it wants to (usually the last on is the first off) and the key is patience and sticking to your eating and exercise plans.

Good points, Meg. I don't think I really SAID that you can spot reduce fat but I can see it could be taken that way. Just that I do think you can work on certain areas of your body. LOL I sure know you can't spot reduce fat... this stomach of mine feels hopeless! It's good to know there is some hope that some of the fat will go away eventually.

Thanks so much for the clarification.

Misti - don't ever give up hope!! My problem areas were my butt and thighs and I thought I was doomed to be two sizes bigger on the bottom than the top. But -- the last 20 pounds that I lost came 100% off my problem areas and I actually ended up being in a smaller size on the bottom than the top!

It's an amazing journey!

Thanks Meg! I am glad there is hope! But years ago when I lost weight and got really thin I still had a "gut" on me. But can only do the best I can do and I figure I just need to keep going and get in the best shape I can. It will certainly look better than it does NOW. The fact that my butt is flat and not much to it makes my stomach sticking out look even bigger LOL. Thanks for the encouragement!!!

yup, the love handles and upper thighs are just really hard. I must say though, overall aerobic exercising reduced my love handles, but the thighs? Theyre just really stubborn.

And I never said you can't work specific areas of your body If you can't then what's the point of weight training? Just that you can't exercise bits to make fat fall off the desired bit.

I'm two sizes different on top than bottom!!!!! yay, there is hope!!! My thighs are horrid, I really dislike them, but I'm trying to just be zen about it all and hopefully it'll all come out in the wash!

My problem area is my belly. I am a size 12-14 in shirts and a size 4 in jeans or capris. I wish I could just get rid of the belly fat, the more cardio I do, the thinner my hips and legs get. It seems that when I first started, I was pretty equally fat all over. I guess this is much better. Wish I had a JLo butt and a flat tummy. LOL, for now, I'll stick to almost no butt and a rounder belly. We all have areas that we don't like, but when I look at the general population, I see that few people are very perfect. Me included.

I have round legs. and big love handles, if they werent there i would be happy with my body. My top half is a size 12/14 and my bottom half is a 14/16. What kind of weight training would I need to introduce to tone my figure up?

Hi Ioopy,
I have been fairly happy with the results Im getting from just resistance training at home... you know, leg lifts and sit ups... I used to take workout classes and do tapes when I was younger, so I know the proper form to use and to do them slow and such, if you arent sure about form, you should get a video or take a class or meet with a trainer because it affects the quality of your results!
I try to get most of my body. Inner thighs, outer, & front and back, calves, sit ups, side crunches, and then I have some small cheap weights I use to do 3 or 4 different arm exercises. I just pick from the exercises I know of that have the most comfortable positions for each part, so that I wont be deterred from doing them.
I think doing these things sped up my loss of inches quickly, especially in my tummy.
And I try to do what I can at work too. The machine once gave me a regular coke instead of diet, but instead of tossing it I use it to do arm training at my desk! Its really too light but with a bunch of reps you get a great toning exercise and burn some calories instead of just sitting still. I also do inner thigh presses sometimes while sitting at my desk. It helps to put my fist b/t my thighs and squeeze against it.
Anyway I am sure the other ladies can give you better workout advice but I at least want to try to help!

Hmm, very interesting thread. I have a question please, although I know that we can’t spot reduce a problem area, and when we are working an area out we are working the muscles not melting the fat. But I thought that working out the muscles (breaking then rebuilding them bigger) in addition to doing aerobic exercise and reducing calorie intake will cause our body to melt fat from that area first (also depending on our genes, age and hormones) well OK not cause but help with the odds!! Of it does nothing concerning fat distribution then why do we concentrate on exercising our problem areas??

I’m not sure if I’m doing it right by writing this here, or should I create a new thread. God I love this website, big big help. Thanks everyone.

Liya

Hi and welcome, Liya! I love it here too.

I don't think the part about burning fat from one area is right. That's why exercise should work your whole body, not just the problem areas. When you're lifting weights, you want your program to include exercises for all your muscle groups - your back, chest, bi's, tri's, shoulders, abs, quads, hamstrings, and calves. That way, you get all your muscles involved with fat-burning and you'll end up looking tight and toned all over.

Also once the fat does go away, muscle training will leave that area looking much better, smoother. Also, in areas like your stomach there is fat around your organs in addition to the stuff on the outside, and sit ups can help hold that fat in, structure it.
While some benefits like that cant be seen until Im slimmer I still do the muscle work because its helping burn calories along the way, and I want that visual benefit the MINUTE the outer fat gets thin enough for the underlying muscle to make a difference!!