hello everyone. I signed-up for these forums not to long so this is my first post in this particular section.
I have a major dilema over the past few months with my upper thighs and legs. Instead of elongating and toning them, I just build muscle over my fat. I am not overwieght, but I do have a lot of body fat here. I have had 2 trainers who don't seem to be able to help in spite of my diet, which is Atkins. I haven't lost much weight on Atkins ever because I was not very heavy, but I went on it to aide in losing fat. I didn't know it would build so much muscle. At this point, I would like to lose the muslce I built, but there is no diet that can do that. The only thing I can do is cardio that keeps my heartrate in a fat burning state. However, my legs come into the picture again. I can't seem to make them smaller or lose that lose muscle on the inside of my thighs. It is not tone, and it is not fat, and most of all, it doesn't ever decrease.
So, can anyone help me with a suggestion on what I can do? I thought about doing Atkins with less protien, but keeping the fat in things like oil and nuts. I also thought about not walking on the treadmill with an incline. (right now, I have a incline of 4 going at 3.6 miles for 30 minutes.)
And nutritionally I have been on my own with my low-carb books, because allm y trainers and people at the gym tell me to eat lean-meat and fruit...to eat less calories and more grains instead of high fat. some of them are lean, and some are not, so even though I want to be on atkins, should I follow this advice of not eating high fat for a while?
Thanks in advance for comments.

If your body fat is 16%, you are extremely lean already. Maybe it is a body image problem and your legs are not as fat as you think?

I have been doing Winsor Pilates for a few months now, and, even though I still have a lot of weight to lose, my abs, hips, and legs are definitely becoming thinner, including the inner thigh. The exercises are designed to elongate and tone the muscles instead of building muscle. Of course, when I get closer to my goal I will start doing weights again because I like muscle, too.

As to eating less fat, that is definitely not the answer; the whole point of low carb eating is that if you deprive your body of one source of fuel, glucose, it will use the other, which is fat - your fat, to be precise. So don't fall for the low fat high carb nonsense because that way leads in the opposite direction, the one where your body stores more and more fat and even if you lose weight it's probably muscle and not fat because the body will not release fat in the presence of high levels of carbohydrates.

HTH
Karla

thanks karla, I know you have to be right about the diet part, and if I could find a pilates instructor, I would want to talk to him/her about joining a class.
After I read my first post, I think I could have worded things a bit better. I never meant to come off as saying I wanted to lose a bunch of wieght JV. Even though I am lean, I still have a suprising amount of body fat that won't go away. Around my stomach I have less than firm abdominal muscles. The top of my legs are really developed in the quad and glut area from previously training too much with weights and I don't want that. I know one can't take wieght/mass off in 1 specific spot, but a person can healthily diet and tone with over-all cardio and strategic meal-planning. And I also believe through those 2 things you can shape your body how you like. That is why I was hoping for a suggestion about some type of cardio that somebody has found that did not cause the upper legs to bulk.
Thanks again for replies everyone.

I think that increasing your aerobic time would help you. Runners and cyclists tend to have legs that look more toned than bulked. Try for an hour a day of aerobic exercise with one or two days off each week for recovery.

Mike

everybody who responded, thanks very much. I was anxious about what I should do because I have two trainers talling me 2 different things, plus the people I work for saying I should be eating...fruit and low-fat to lose weight. (I am losing my weight for a career) so imagine the atmosphere.
I know LCing is the best thing for my body type, and just today I talked to a girl who is with my company. she has been doing pilates and it is working for her well. so I am going to be taught it next friday after my last group class at the gym. she said she runs, but she is very lean, like her body fat is at 10%(she's healthy)...so I will stay with fast walking for around 45 minutes before doing an hour of aerobics and stretches. My goal is walking 3 miles per day, pretty flat in the treadmill, but at some point I like to increase the incline and down the speed to 4m/p/h, for around 10 minutes.
Dodger, what you said helped me remember what my fav trainer told me. He said not to analyze my exercise so much and just keep my heart rate up. That is what aerobics does generally, altogether. It elevates the heartrate, so I care more now for trying to raise it for about the time you suggested aside from doing the treadmill.

Tsve,

I don't have a Pilates instructor, I use the Winsor Pilates videotapes developed by Mari Winsor, who is a Pilates instructor and has several studios where she trains people. You might want to check out her web site at www.winsorpilates.com just in case. If I understand the problem, it sounds like they might work to make your legs leaner rather than more muscled; give you, as she says, "a dancer's body."

HTH,

Karla