Help me maximize fat loss without bulking up more

July 12, 2015 8:55 AM

Is yoga and pilates (plus diet) enough to slim down my lower half without bulking up more?

My goal is to take off somewhere between 5-15 lbs. I am not currently overweight (but I am in the upper end of the healthy bmi range) so this is weight on my body that really doesn't want to budge. For the last 2 ish years, I've mostly been doing Jillian Michaels videos about 3 times a week plus pilates reformer once a week. While I love Jillian Michaels and really credit her workouts for getting me on the exercise bandwagon, after 2 years it has gotten a little repetitive and I've lost a ton of flexibility. I also think the lack of variety in my exercise regime has caused me to overdevelop certain muscles and been pretty hard on my joints.

Now I've gotten class pass and have gone all in trying to take off the last bit of weight and really upped my exercise. My issue now is that my top half is much smaller than my bottom half. This has always been the case, but I feel like it's getting more pronounced. I also feel like my arms and shoulders are starting to bulk up in a way I really don't love. My arms have reversed course from getting smaller to getting bigger and I'm pretty sure it's all muscle. I also feel like my quads in particular are getting overdeveloped, but since I haven't lost much fat on my legs, my legs just sort of look larger and bulkier. From the sides my legs don't look bad, but the front my legs and knees look pretty big and bulky and from the back I still have a lot of fat and cellulite I'd like to minimize to the extent possible. Overall I'd just like my thighs to be smaller.

In the last 2-3 weeks, I've really upped my exercise routine, but without putting any thought into whether what I'm doing will really accomplish my goals of having a smaller bottom half that matches my top half.

This is what my last week has looked like:

Sunday - regular yoga (not particularly intense)
Monday - power yoga
Thursday - Jillian Michaels killer buns and thighs video
Friday - mat pilates
Saturday - reformer pilates

I'm eating an average of 1,400 calories a day. I'm 5'6. According to my fitbit, I walk on average 4-5 miles a day.

Is this a good pattern to continue for fat loss? Or is this a recipe for more bulking up? Do I need to be adding more cardio? I really don't like intense cardio (like at all), but I'm open to trying if that's what is necessary. I realize you can't target fat loss and that I will likely always be somewhat bottom heavy, but I want to do everything I can (within reason) to reach my goal.

posted by whoaali to Health & Fitness (20 answers total)

You will absolutely not bulk up with this regimen, particularly if you're eating a measly 1400 calories per day...

Pilates in particular is great for "toning" legs.
posted by schroedingersgirl at 9:05 AM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Also surprised that you're bulking up, but confused... don't bigger arms/ shoulders help balance out your top half so you're less bottom-heavy?

Assuming you're a woman, is one of the issues that weight loss has reduced the size of your breasts? (That's always where I lose weight first.) If that's one of the things that's making you feel bottom-heavy, a different type of bra might help.

I wouldn't recommend dramatically reducing your leg exercises if that's what you're thinking of. Quads are big muscles and while higher muscle mass only has a small effect on metabolism, it makes a difference for me.
posted by metasarah at 9:40 AM on July 12, 2015

Best answer: There are generally two ways to achieve what you're trying to do:

1. Let the muscles in your lower body atrophy. Drop your caloric intake significantly so that you lose fat in addition to muscle. As you lose fat and muscle, your lower body will get smaller. Unfortunately, losing fat and muscle will also slow your metabolism dramatically and you will need to lower your caloric intake in turn. Your risk of injury will increase as the protective muscle around your knees and hips disappears. There is no predicting if you will lose faster from your upper or lower body, so while you will get smaller in an absolute sense, you may still look out of proportion.

2. Train intelligently and with a purpose. I suspect that this article would be a good jumping off point for you in terms of determining what the right training methodology is for your goals. Building strength in your upper body will make your lower body look more proportional. It will also increase your metabolic rate, leading to a slow recomposition as your body gains muscle and loses fat.
posted by telegraph at 9:51 AM on July 12, 2015 [7 favorites]

Getting "bulky" is pretty hard. Like, REALLY hard -- most female weightlifters can't bulk unless they are eating upwards of 2000 calories a day and lifting heavy 3+ times a week. I'm guessing what you are seeing is fat -- it may be on top of slightly more muscle, but it's not like you are all of the sudden making HUGE GAINZ from doing Pilates and yoga. I've been lifting heavy weights for five years and I am just now seeing more muscle definition. I squat twice my body weight, just for reference.

Low-impact steady-state cardio and High-intensity interval training (LISS and HIIT) are going to help you lose weight and tone up your legs. Hill walking, power walking, rowing, running. Check your calorie macros -- 1400 calories of carbs and fat aren't going to help you lose weight. Up the protein intake and cut down carbs to a reasonable amount based on your regimen. If you are doing yoga and Pilates, you should consider that active rest, not hard workouts.

Sorry, but losing weight all over is going to happen, you can't spot reduce. You also aren't going to lose weight and bulk up from Pilates and yoga. Look into your diet. Track it very carefully and see what you are actually eating. Start lifting weights if you really want to lose weight. You'll burn more calories once you up your metabolism from lifting. And no, you definitely won't bulk up.
posted by mrfuga0 at 10:04 AM on July 12, 2015 [14 favorites]

It really doesn't matter what exercises you are doing as long as you are getting a good work out. The burn from your exercise is largely determined by your target heart rate. There are different "zones" that burn different kinds of calories at different levels. It's popular to go into the moderate heart-rate zone where you burn the most fat, but many will argue if you do HIIT (high intensity interval training), you will burn more of all kind of calories, which will include fat.

The notion that a woman will bulk up just from exercising is a ridiculous myth -- unless you have crazy genetics, you're not going to turn into a muscle man because you did some strength training. That said, you cannot spot reduce fat, so if you really don't want muscular legs or muscular arms, stop doing exercises that involve strength training for those body parts. Use an elliptical or something that is pure cardio. What I think will probably end up happening though, is you will just look less toned -- you cannot control your body composition, so I think you should accept however your body looks when you are working out. Women generally have larger hips and thighs than their upper body -- we all just have to accept it.
posted by AppleTurnover at 10:06 AM on July 12, 2015 [3 favorites]

As the above person said, look at your goals first. It sounds like you're aiming without actually meaning to for the "skinny-fat" look wherein you are technically skinny, but when the clothes come off there is no healthy definition or vitality going on.

Weightlifting won't bulk you up. It will make you look a lot healthier. Women have to go to such ridiculous extreme lengths to get "bulky" in the traditional muscly sense that I'm not sure how it ever permeated culture as what happens when you lift weights.

Do a lot of leg lifting including squats. Do some regular core and arm lifting. Your top half will not expand, if anything it will condense once the fat starts going away... and your bottom half will as well.

Caloric intake is the correct method for removing fat, but you can't spot check this. Your body will hold onto the fat in what it has decided is the best place until the very end! For you, it's probably going to be your thighs if that's already where your body has put a lot of it.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:07 AM on July 12, 2015 [2 favorites]

Overall I'd just like my thighs to be smaller.

I think at some point you have to just accept that you have a certain body type. It sounds like you are in great shape. When I was 21, I hated my big thighs and now at 32 I look back at pictures of myself then and want to slap myself as hard as possible, because I looked fantastic, and my thighs were not anywhere near as big in reality as they were in my head. They are still big, but I've learned to accept that larger-than-average thighs are my lot in life. You can't lose weight in certain spots, and if you don't work out your leg muscles then the cellulite will be even worse if you lose the muscle tone that you have. If anything, your best bet is to have killer arms to balance your hourglass out. If you only have 5-15lb to lose, then I have little doubt that your arms look more like this even though you seem to think they look like this.
posted by gatorae at 10:07 AM on July 12, 2015 [12 favorites]

Your upper body probably seems bulky to you because you are probably doing high repetitions, frequently; this can lead to temporary swelling of the muscles (with water). Since you are at the high end of a normal BMI range, I would guess that you still have a bit of fat over that swollen muscle, and the whole effect appears "bulky" to you.

The thing with fat in the thighs is that it's usually the last to go in women, for hormonal reasons. And you have to get to quite a low body fat percentage to get it to go, which isn't really sustainable over the long haul. If you're a pear, that also means your upper half is going to get quite thin-looking first. All you can do is try to build muscle in ways that lead to the proportions you prefer. But you're probably going to run into some kind of limit (namely your natural frame, but also your interest in training and willingness to tolerate protein shakes and/or chicken).

I would definitely not miss out on resistance training, though, because that a) helps with function and b) gives your legs more shape and firmness under whatever fat is there.

I 100% agree with working to accept your basic shape. There's only so much you can do to reconfigure your proportions. I think pear shapes are lovely (but I might, since I'm a pear).

(1400 is really low for an active 5'6 person, imo. I would shoot for somewhere between 1700-1800, if you're not going to be doing much exercise at all, and 1800-2100 higher, if you're going to be doing more cardio and lifting.)
posted by cotton dress sock at 11:18 AM on July 12, 2015 [4 favorites]

How old are you? That will affect how your body chooses to distribute fat, and your metabolic rate, among other things.

Consider lowering the carbs and reading up on low-carb diets: a calorie is not necessarily a calorie. Try getting more protein and fat in your diet, while maintaining a healthy caloric deficit roughly 10-20% below your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) -- google to find TDEE calculators out there on the net. See how that makes you feel, and up your calories if you can't maintain the level of exercise intensity you want or if you're feeling more fatigued than you were before the switch. You also might want to consider intermittent fasting. At this stage, cardio (except maybe HIIT) won't have much of an effect on your body composition or fat loss as getting your diet in order will.

I also wouldn't worry about bulking up: even men have a tough time bulking up without really careful attention to their diet and pushing themselves 100% every time they're in the gym, multiple days a week. Some have to take steroids to get there. As other commenters have pointed out, lifting and resistance training in general will help to fill you out once you've lost fat, and you won't look bulky -- you'll look "toned", for the lack of a better term. And that extra muscle will help you lose fat all over your body even more quickly.
posted by un petit cadeau at 11:22 AM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

I just want to say that as an AFAB person not on hormones, I started lifting weights and "bulked up" enough that I'm having trouble with my clothes fitting. I am visibly bigger and different looking than I was six months ago. I haven't "bulked up" like a competitive lifter and - being kind of pudgy - I don't have a lot of muscle definition, but I do look different. This is perfectly possible for women, depending on your body type and how easily you put on muscle. Everyone likes to say that women don't get big from exercise - and up to a point that's true - but you can certainly get bigger enough to notice.
posted by Frowner at 11:47 AM on July 12, 2015 [17 favorites]

Oh yeah, agree with ifdssqn9, you have to weigh or measure your food (weighing is more accurate) to be sure you're actually getting what you think you're getting. (But if you are weighing accurately, I still think grossing 1400 calories is low for a 5'6 person who is moderately or even "lightly" active (that's if you are not using the NEAT method and "eating back" your "exercise" calories, i.e. 1400 is all that's going into you). Anecdotally, as a person 3/4 of an inch taller than you, the ranges I mentioned worked to help me lose over 50 lbs, with moderate activity. The assumption with this is indeed that you are constantly challenging yourself in your workouts; that as your fitness improves, you're increasing the demand in terms of intensity or time or volume.)

You can go with an aggressive deficit or a more modest one, just depends on your activity level and personal comfort. For myself, I found that a smaller deficit was more sustainable from a psychological point of view - it meant I could eat more varied foods, didn't feel deprived - and it helped fuel my activity. I also think it's nice to eat as much as you can get away with while losing, makes transitioning to maintenance easier. If that appeals, would 2nd un petit cadeau - you could use the TDEE method for a few weeks, see what happens on the scale, and adjust your intake downward if you are not losing.
posted by cotton dress sock at 11:50 AM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Getting "bulky" is pretty hard. Like, REALLY hard -- most female weightlifters can't bulk unless they are eating upwards of 2000 calories a day and lifting heavy 3+ times a week. I'm guessing what you are seeing is fat -- it may be on top of slightly more muscle, but it's not like you are all of the sudden making HUGE GAINZ from doing Pilates and yoga.

This times a billion. It is SO HARD to make significant muscle gains as a woman of any age. What you're seeing is basically just increased muscle definition beneath tenacious fat. To lose that fat you need more cardio plus fewer calories per day. If you're doing the kind of yoga where everyone is drenched with sweat and exhaustion (not bikram, just regular strenuous yoga) 3-4x a week that may be enough - it works really well for me but of course as always ymmv. You may need to add extra cardio like elliptical or treadmill or bike or whatever, at least 30min per day, even on rest days.

Definitely look into getting most of your calories from protein and fat, and cut back on carbs as much as you can without it making you have terrible carbless despair. Stop drinking soda, even diet soda, and no alcohol of any kind. No fruit juices either, really, it's just garbage sugar calories without the benefit of the fibre from the actual fruit.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:58 AM on July 12, 2015 [3 favorites]

Try the Tracy Anderson Mat video. I don't like her much as a celeb fitness figure, but her video workouts are pretty good for what they are. I wouldn't listen to much of the fitness/weight loss nonsense she and Gwyneth Paltrow have sworn by. But her workouts are good, and help with toning, etc.
posted by discopolo at 12:36 PM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Also, Mandy ingber's Yogalosophy workout might offer a great switch up to Jillian Michael. It's got quite a bit of cardio yoga and strengthening/stretching components.
posted by discopolo at 12:38 PM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: This is all really good information. I guess I have to disagree about the not bulking up thing. I realize I'm not going to look like a professional bodybuilder, but my jackets have gotten tighter and people have commented on my "guns." I also measure myself periodically and my arms have gotten bigger despite the fact I haven't gained any weight. My arms are already big for a woman my size and I worry about them getting even bigger. I come from a really muscular family so I think I put on muscle a lot easier than most women. I'm definitely not looking to be skinny fat and I do want some definition, but I honestly already have plenty except really on my thighs and a little bit of a muffin top, but I'm pretty sure that's just fat and there is plenty of muscle hiding under there. I'm relatively ok with the current amount of muscle I have, I just worry that with my increase in exercise I could get even bigger, which is really not what I'm aiming for.

I'm pretty good at watching my calories. I do weigh my food at home and record everything I eat, but obviously if the guy at Chipotle isn't so I'm sure there are days I'm eating more than that. 1,800 is generally maintenance for me, maybe 2,000 if I'm really active. There is no way I would lose weight eating that much. As far as eating back my calories, some days I do and some days I don't. My goal is to only eat 1,200-1,400, but some days I do end up eating back a good deal of my calories and I don't really lose a lot of sleep over it.

The article telegraph linked to had some really good advice. I think I'm going to try and get down to my goal weight and then reassess whether I'm still too bulky as my body may change in ways I'm not expecting after I've lost that weight. I might be fine with being a little more muscular if that wasn't combined with the fat I'm currently carrying.
posted by whoaali at 1:30 PM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

IANAPT but the conventional wisdom is that lighter weightlifting with more reps leads to more "size" than lifting heavier loads for fewer repetitions (like, 5 reps a set). On the cardio end, Krista from Stumptuous recommends more of a Fartlek/interval approach to cardio for cutting fat while sparing muscle, so that might be something you could experiment with also.
posted by en forme de poire at 3:52 PM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

You don't sound like you are having much fun! Drop everything but the regular yoga, including the diet. Eat what looks good, in small amounts, whenever you are hungry. Stick to the rule that if it can't be grown, raised, or caught, it shouldn't be eaten. I bulk up pretty easy as well (had Madonna arm's in the '90s from a job that required heavy lifting). Part of that body type is that with every bit of exercise I do, my thighs do get larger. Only two things can give me thin thighs- photoshop or anorexia. I just got rid of my full length mirror and decided to be happy. Stopping all of your muscle building exercises should help you. If you wish to continue with your routine, you really do need to book a few sessions with a personal trainer.
posted by myselfasme at 4:02 PM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Between this question, your hair question, your chubby upper arms question, and your guys never call question, I think we are twins. Here's my experience with this particular problem, which I am working on right now.

Over the winter, I did a lot of strength training, straight up heavy lifting with free weights. I get where you are coming from about the bulking up thing, because it happened to me too. The muscles got bigger under the fat, and I also started to get that cut in my biceps and front shoulders, which, coupled with a still doughy and shapeless midsection, made my arms the focus of my physique in a way I didn't want.

In the spring I switched to hard-core running, which included sprints and long runs, so intense cardio. At first I kept up some strength training but the last couple months were all running. I also tried to keep my calories low, but I was training for an event with a speed goal in mind, so the last month or so I had to eat to fuel my running. Overall, I did lose weight, but I wasn't particularly happy with my physique at the end. Above the waist I looked like a concentration camp victim. Below the waist certain muscles were clearly very well developed, actually over developed, but I still had large deposits of fat and cellulite on my thighs.

So for the summer I dropped the running so I could lower my calories to drop weight and decided to do yoga (and occasionally pilates or a barre class) to develop my upper body again and develop some of the other muscles in my legs.

The difference between yoga and the weight training I was doing is that a lot of the moves in yoga (I'm not as familiar with pilates, so I'm not sure) work the CHEST as opposed to the biceps. A chaturanga is just a push-up. It's still early yet, but I think this is helping to offset some of the loss of breast mass, which is contributing to the figure imbalance.

Calorie-wise, we're about equivalent, and though it's still early, I have dropped a few pounds from it. I'm an inch and a half shorter than you, and my calorie goal is 1200. My routine strives to be more strenuous than yours but it doesn't always get there. I do yoga 7 days a week and aim for 10 miles a day of walking instead of 5. But some of the classes end up being pretty gentle, I don't always hit 10 miles, and I have cheat days, so I think it all evens out.

BMI-wise, I'm also in the normal but high range, and I'm coming to terms with the fact that maybe for my body that's still just too much, and my frame is smaller than I think. My body is definitely smaller, but I still have deposits of fat that are distributed in such a way that I think it's extra for my body (it's not just that I'm bigger but that I have a gut, a flabby upper arm, etc.). So I'm aiming for another 20 pounds of loss. There's a lot of room in the BMI range. I'm not saying you shouldn't love and accept your body, but I think there's room for improvement yet if that's what you really want. Again, though, it's still early, and I'm far from goal weight, so we'll see when I get there.

Good luck.
posted by unannihilated at 5:12 PM on July 12, 2015

Per your follow-up: "I guess I have to disagree about the not bulking up thing. I realize I'm not going to look like a professional bodybuilder, but my jackets have gotten tighter and people have commented on my "guns." ... I come from a really muscular family so I think I put on muscle a lot easier than most women." YES!!!!!

Amen, sister! I 100% completely and totally validate your lived experience of being a woman who can put on bulky, well-defined, comment-generating muscles like you wouldn't believe-- because that's me, too! I used to do Jillian Michaels' 30 minute workout series (who I dearly love as a personality but have learned through experience that her workouts are NOT ideal for my specific body type at all) and thanks to her workouts my calf muscles got crazy big and pronounced, to the point I would be picking up my husband at the gym and super pumped up bodybuilder-looking guys would come up and compliment me on me ginormous calves and ask if I'm a professional athlete! And so I HATE it when people who haven't even seen pictures of your body or my body before make these blanket (and frankly, offensive) statements about the "myth" of women bulking up as if they speak for ALL women, and/or that ALL women are the same. They may be right about some women out there, but they are dead wrong about folks like you and me. /end rant.

Here's what worked for me. I found a plan that actually works to achieve your stated goals of: Gaining back some flexibility. Adding variety in your exercise regime. Halting the overdevelopment of your large muscle groups. Helping you take off a bit of weight. Bringing the top and lower halves of your body back into proportion. And it does not involve going to the gym. It's Tracy Anderson's Metamorphosis - and there are 4 different workouts depending on your body type. I'm Abcentric. You sound like you may be Omnicentric, but the test online can tell you. There have been a lot of Tracy haters, but the fact is, her plan works to make you smaller, and fairly quickly. I did the whole program (which is hard and awkward at first, much harder than Jillian's hardest levels IF done correctly), and generally followed her diet plan (which is HARD to do) but cheated and added salt to most of her recipes, and I got amazing results. As in a pretty perfect looking body, and some measurements I am loving. And I say that as someone around the age of 40 who has had 2 babies, and had a huge gut before. I know I sound like a total crazy fangirl here, but I really never expected these kind of results from a set of at-home exercise DVDs. It's been a total game-changer for me, but of course, YMMV. Good luck!
posted by hush at 3:06 PM on July 13, 2015 [1 favorite]

In my experience it's definitely possible to "bulk up" in areas if you are doing progressive overload lifting. I was regularly doing squats in this way and built up some serious quad muscles. After I replaced squats with different types of lunges, my quads calmed down a lot and I started seeing better results in my butt.

I've personally had great results with Kayla Itsines' program. She has an insanely popular Instagram, with many of her followers posting their own results as they go through the 12 weeks of it. When I see progress pics of followers who have similar body types as me, I follow them as well and it helps with motivation. Her advice largely follows that in the article telegraph posted above.
posted by koakuma at 6:43 PM on July 13, 2015