Legs

[katluvr]

I have no idea where to post this question...felt it fit best here. So here it goes:
First some backgroud. I am 4'10". I weight about 124, so BMI is 24-25...a bit high. I am not "petite". I have big legs and I have a real compact (maybe "stocky") build. So I have always had large legs, big muscles and of course a bit of fat (ok maybe more than a bit). I have NEVER EVER liked my legs. When I began cycling it helped. However I now have fat and "sagging" to my legs. It is like when I pull up on my thighs and make it tigher it is better. I mean when I do downward dog I see saggy elephant knees!

So YES I need to lose some weight and I am back focusing on diet (cutting back) and more rounded (and steady) exercise: running, cycling and weights/functional exercises. SO do you think IF I lose %fat and continue to "tone up" will the "sagging" go away. Or is it the fact that I am 47, lost elasticity and that darn gravity...I am destined to have this sagginess?

I really am pretty upset by how they look. I already wear a LOT of long shorts or capries...but I live in FL I cannot stay covered up...nor do I want to.

Any suggestions? I am not interested in anything like lipo...and I dont' think I would ever of thought of plastic surgery....but I am afraid that this look is here to stay.

Any thoughts? Advice? I don't mean to sound vain...but I just want my legs to look better and I am feeling discouraged.

Thanks!
K

[Veronica]

No real advice, I'm not wild about my legs either. Miy thighs also look saggy doing downward dog and I have 18.9% body fat. Guess where it all is.

My advice - learn to love 'em as they are.


Veronica

[Biciclista]

Veronica gives good advice

Accept the things you cannot change, change the things you can.
if your legs are working well, they get you to the store, they pedal well on a bike...they're keepers.
you're never going to be a model, you're too short. So... no one's perfect..!
but one thing for sure, if you live to be old, a lot more than just your legs are going to sag. And the choice?
well, for me, I'd rather get old and sag. and that's EXACTLY what I'm doing..

[indysteel]

I have the same complaints about my legs. Even when I'm otherwise in good shape and at a healthy weight, my legs just don't look all that toned. I've never had that taunt, smooth skin of that some people have, not even when I was thinner than I should have been. My knees have always been kind of chubby; I hate that the most.

Now that I'm 40, they aren't getting any better. I'm not a sun bather, but I do use a lotion during the summer that adds a tiny bit of color. My skin is whiter than white, so that helps a bit. I have also embraced knee-length skirts, as my calves are at least okay. When my legs are at their best, it's because I've been doing a lot of walking. That, more than cycling, seems to tone up my entire lower half. Of course, running helps, but I hate running.

I agree that you should just embrace them. I'd encourage you to do whatever activities make you otherwise feel strong, healthy and energetic. If they improve the look of your legs, then great, but I wouldn't let you legs be your primary (or even secondary) motivation. When I focus on body issues as a motivator to exericise, it doesn't work--at least not for long--because when I don't see the changes I really want, I get discouraged. It's better for me to focus on my overall health, strength, stress relief and energy. I see results there.

[lph]

SO do you think IF I lose %fat and continue to "tone up" will the "sagging" go away.

I think you will see a steady decrease. Cycling, especially cycling a lot, does tone your legs, and a constant high level of aerobic exercise plus weight training will cause you to lose bodyfat, though it may take a long time. But if your legs happens to be where you store fat, it's probably not worth the effort trying to get them really toned. I happen to store around my waist, and I only have an obvious waistline when I'm really too skinny or dehydrated. Not an effect I can or want to keep.

And skin does sag with age no matter what. Take a look at aging marathon runners - they're skinny and toned as all get out, but they still have saggy skin over their muscles.

It might be more rewarding to log and focus on what you are achieving in terms of distance and speed in your bike riding (and healthy eating of course), because that can improve quite fast and maybe make you appreciate your legs more for what they can do. And I'll bet you suddenly notice that they have firmed up quite a bit

[OakLeaf]

Sounds like we're built pretty similarly. I try not to mind... but there are certain things, like short skirts, that I just. won't. wear.

If you can stick to it, a good diet with most of your calories from vegetables is really healthy for your skin... and taking good care of your connective tissue with a lot of foam roller work might be helpful too. But I think there's a lot that we just can't change - some genetic, some having to do with nutrition at puberty.

Take care of yourself. Self-esteem is hard.

[moonfroggy]

i am also 4'10 and i have short stubby muscular legs with a longish torso and broad shoulders. right now i weight 120. i used to weight a lot more. when my son was 3 months old i read a book called eat to live by dr furhman and i started eating a lot less starchy foods and a lot more veggies and fruits and i lost a lot of weight then when my son was a year and a half i started riding my bike again. the combination of eating healthier and bike riding have helped how my legs look they are still short and stubby though and i think my knees look funny.

also my weight seems stuck at 120 but i keep getting thinner and more muscular and going down in clothing sizes. maybe that's because muscle weights more than fat?

[michelem]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but my bodyfat was hydrostatically tested at 10% and I too have the same "droopy" saddlebag area of which you complain. I've gained some muscle weight doing P90X and weigh about 100 pounds at 5'2". I can pick up the elephant skin area and pull it up and have even daydreamed about having it removed . . . but then I think of the horror stories surrounding cosmetic surgery gone wrong. Yikes! Learning to love my aging 40+ self and thanking God for Spanx. I am grateful that my body allows me to cycle, run, dance, hug my DH, walk and pet my doggies, etc.

Don't mean to hijack this thread, so feel free to not respond if you feel it is off-topic, but I am curious if any of you have the same trouble I do with reconciling your aging self with your inner self-concept? Not sure that makes sense . . . what I mean is that, I still feel at least 10 years younger than my chronological age and have to remind myself that I am 40+. I look in the mirror and see these changes (wrinkles, sagging, etc. -- only the stray gray once in a while though) and the reflection I see does not jive with how I feel! It really hit me this weekend when I saw some "old" friends who have gotten quite gray and I thought, how the heck did we get this old? I don't feel this old!

[KnottedYet]

I don't think of 40 as "old" or "aging."

Don't die before you're dead.