How do I lose muscle and fat in my thighs?

Question

I am struggling with how thick and large my thighs are and I really want to slim them down. How do I do this? I power walk on the treadmill for an hour a day and sometimes I do endurance running but I have yet to see results. Also how should I eat? I am doing intermittent fasting and trying to eat less protein and carbs and more fiber as well as a little more healthy fat. Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

Despite what you may hear or read there is no way (except for surgery) to reduce fat in a specific area of the body.

No amount of crunches will remove belly fat.

On the other hand lowering your total body fat percentage will inadvertently remove fat from the desired area.

Another thing to note is that when trying to lose fat it is suggested to increase protein intake not lessen.

Try changing your workouts to include HIIT (High intensity interval training) and Strength training to further increase your metabolism -RMR (resting metabolic rate).

Answer 2

I am struggling with how thick and large my thighs are and I really want to slim them down. How do I do this?

You can't. Spot reduction of fat from any area of your body is not possible. You can, however, lose your overall body fat and that will surely slim down your thighs.

I have yet to see results

This is because you are not eating in a sustained calorie deficit. It's the only thing you need to lose weight. Calorie in vs Calorie out. This means you can eat fried chicken at your local KFC every day and still lose weight. That is of course if you are in a calorie deficit.

Of course, this is not a healthy approach to losing weight since you'll not fill the nutritional needs your body has in regards to the macro and micro-nutrients.

I do endurance running

You haven't mentioned how long have you been doing your endurance running, though. Weight loss is a long-term process. Depending on how extra body fat you have, it might take a long long time for you to reach your goal weight. Any sort of physical exercise is not necessary for the weight loss.

Again, it's calorie in vs calorie out. However, if you lie in your bed or simply sit on a chair for the whole day, your BMR will be very low. You don't want that. This is because, with low BMR, your calorie needs per day will also be low. Eating less food will make keep you hungry for a longer time.

Also how should I eat?

As I mentioned above, the best approach for you is to sustain a calorie deficit in your diet for a prolonged period to see any substantial results. Track your calories for a few weeks. Use a calorie tracking app called MyFitnessPal which is available in the Play Store and iTunes.

Also, you don't need to track calories all your life. Do it for a few weeks and then you can just eyeball the quantities of food you need.

In terms of visuals, you won't see much change in your body in just a few weeks.

Also, if you want to prolong your healthy lifestyle, don't obsess over the food. Once in a while, you should eat something that is considered traditionally 'unhealthy'.

Take pictures, and track your body weight. If you are extremely serious, you should ideally also track the inches in your waist and whatever body part you are most conscious about.

I am doing intermittent fasting

It's not really necessary to do intermittent fasting to lose weight. If you are comfortable with it, it's fine. Just keep in mind that in the initial days, you'll feel hungry, a lot. Your body will adjust with time.

trying to eat less protein and carbs and more fiber as well as a little more healthy fat

Carbohydrates are the most common macronutrient that is present in our food. For the best case scenario, decrease it and not the fats and proteins. Again, how much fat, carbs or protein doesn't matter as long as you have a calorie deficit.

If you wanna' lose weight and keep it off, the thing you need to keep in mind is moderation. No single food can be categorized as healthy or unhealthy. Just feed your body as you find convenient and comfortable. Eating 'healthy' 9 out of 10 times is enough for living a healthy lifestyle.