I know... my legs are REALLY pathetic. I'm very self-conscious and embarrassed by them. I almost never wear skirts or shorts. But this is what I was born with. I know a lot of this is skeletal structure, and I can't change it, but can you at least tell me I'm not deformed and that I can improve the way I look? I look better when I'm wearing high heels because it forces me to flex whatever little calf muscles I do have, but when barefoot or wearing flat shoes, I look weird.

I've posted in other sections about my hyperextended knees and anterior pelvic tilt. I'm working on my posture. I thought a few pics might help.

This is the way my legs look if I allow myself to stand on hyperextended knees. This is the way I've always looked, since childhood... but worsened over the years with scoliosis.



(I can actually hyperextended them a few degrees more, but those photographs might seem "graphic" or disturbing to some people.)

From behind:



This is the way my legs look when I try to stand up straight and not lock my knees. (I've been doing well with that, I can feel the ligaments tightening up.)







A few stats for those who don't know me: I'm 31, about 5' 6" and today I weighed 112 pounds. My doctor thinks I have a connective tissue disease that causes the lax ligaments, but no true diagnosis yet. My leg muscles feel very weak, and get tired very quickly. I do tons of walking, occasional swimming, and they still look ugly.

I hate to say it, but my legs looked better when I weighed 17 pounds less. I know at my height, that is grossly underweight, but it's the truth... These 3 pictures are from when I weighed 95 pounds. (I told you guys I had a small frame...) And excuse any cellulite or stretch marks.. I am 31 with a child -- it happens. I deal with it.







I'm not doing anything differently than I did back then. In fact, I'm much more active now. I've gained and lost [give or take] 20 pounds several times since then, because my thyroid is underactive. (Gained the weight with thyroid problems, and lost the weight with dieting and excerise. I have never had an eating disorder.)

What can I do to look better? I need to slim my thighs, but build my calves. Oh, and I'm not knock-kneed, despite the appearance. That's fatty tissue, not bone. What do you think?

I can think of a few things, and all of them make kitty go purrrrrrr.

... No but seriously, I don't think you need to "slim" your thighs, even if that was possible. If you want to build up your calves (for cosmetic reasons, or whatever - I think you look great!), do some isolation. Ever watched the meatheads at the gym? They love calves, because you can rep out huge weight forever, and they respond very well to pretty much anything. Half of them do nothing at all for their lower body BUT calves (because squats and deads hurt ). Just hit 'em hard at the end of your leg workouts. Your gym is guaranteed to have 10 or 15 different devices you can use, for reasons outlined above.

3-5 sets of 20-25 reps, is what I'd aim for. Don't be afraid to really load up the weight. You'll find that they're strong like your heart. ^_^

Don't worry you're not deformed and you're legs aren't ugly at all.

Because you're so light, I would agree that losing weight at this point would not do you any good. If you want more calf and thigh definition you need to look into gaining muscle (which means gaining weight).

You appear to have a high body fat content paired with a low weight. Some call this skinny-fat. It just means that if you want to look more "toned" you need to add some mass in the form of muscle and then burn off some of the fat.

Listen to Focus' weight training advice. Load up the weight. To gain mass you want heavy weights with lower reps.

Diet is also key. You will need to increase your caloric intake and make sure you get enough protein after your workout.

Someone else once told me that calves are next to impossible to build. He said I was pretty much stuck with what I've got... but you're saying it's easy? I have noticed that when I do the nautilus weights that work the calves, I can put 2-3 times the weight that I do with other exercises, so I know what you mean. I just didn't see much difference in a span of 6 weeks, so I gave up. Maybe I was doing too much cardio and dieting too much at the time. I was swimming, walking, and eating about 1400 cal/day.

I just started working a new shift (went from nights to days) which requires me to be up and moving a lot more, so I recently increased my caloric intake to 1800-2000 cal/day, using the zig zag method. Some days I might eat 1300 cal, but the next I might eat 2400. You think I need to eat more than THAT to gain muscle? My metabolism varies with my thyroid medication. It was increased this past week, so I'm still trying to adjust.

I understand about the number of sets/reps -- but how many days per week? I want to REALLY notice a difference, but also don't want to strain myself.

Side note, I don't know if I have a virus, or what, but I just feel extremely WEAK lately. Like I have the flu, only I'm not sick. I walked out to my car a few minutes ago, and that totally wiped me out. I'm such a wimp. My body does not respond well to exercise. I am so tired of being unhappy with my body, but I just don't have the energy to do anything about it! Oh to be 18 again... believe it or not, I used to have really nice muscle tone and pretty legs. Sigh.

PS: Thank you, spicy... "skinny fat" is a good way to describe me, but I don't want to lose ALL my fat. It keeps me warmer and makes me feel more womanly and less stick-figurish! haha

That person was right. Calves take a lot of extra work to get them to do anything. Thats why alot of people may have big thighs but no calves. How often do you workout?

Do you take medication for the thyroid? Anything like that that could make you feel tired?

your legs look fine, they look good. Thyroid is a major player! I guess you know that beter than me.

anyhow-- other than the "way you think they look" is there a problem with your leg performance? what have you tried to do that you can not do? When you run do they wobble or something? when you walk and stop, do you feel like you are going to throw out a knee?

if you are just having an issue because of what you are looking at, I think you are having an image issue.

I disagree on the calves can;'t be built. I do toe raises, and weighted raises and fight against my calves all the time, and mine are fairly developed. The calve muscle can be built. Try running for a few years and see how your calves develop.

That is all.


oh--- and I'm glad to see somebody else takes lots of pics of themselves, besides me. hehehehe

Sweat Daily
FF

I think your legs look just fine. If it's for personal likes, you can do light calf excercises. I would recommend you just ride a bike, cycling, or get on a stationary. I find that cycling helps me with my calves and quads.

duh

I would just eat maintenance (which I would think to be more than 2400 kcals for you, even with your special circumstances? - this may be the source of your energy problem, as below) and hope it takes care of itself, at least for the time being.

Depends what you're doing. Generally speaking, every day you do lower body weight training - just tack it on the end. You do do lower body weight training, right?

You still do. But you should get that energy thing figured out. Could be you're not eating anywhere near enough.



Fixed your post. :P

This sounds like alot of people on this board but I would start squatting and heavy! SDL's and calf work as well, to me your legs look like the lack muscle which gives you the appearance you dont want.

Muscular legs = hot
Squats = Muscular legs

Lower body weight training...errr... ummm... I don't do ANY weight training at present. I haven't done any weights in about 2 months or so. Right now I'm working on stretching so I can work my way up to Yoga, and after I see my doctor about the back/hips/knee problems, I WILL be adding weights again. I'm actually really, really excited about this. I can't ever stick with something unless I want it bad enough. And I really want it.

I've been told a million times to do squats and lunges to firm up my legs and glutes, but I could never do it because my muscles just aren't used to it. I injured myself trying. This may sound too easy for some, but I'm stretching and trying these moves in the pool and hot tub. It allows me to get the stretch without really hurting myself. Once I stretch out those atrophied muscles, I'll try it on dry land to actually tone the muscle. Baby steps.

I don't know WHY my muscles are so weak. Yes, some of it's my thyroid. My medication should help that, but sometimes it takes a few months. Maybe that's all it is, but lately I feel completely wiped out. My doctor thinks that maybe I have recurrent Mono syndrome, but I'm skeptical that there is such a thing. I had my tonsils out to help this problem, but the damn things grew right back, and I'm having them removed again this fall. (I have the strangest medical problems, that's why I've said I'm a genetic nightmare.)

Flyinfree, my legs don't wobble... but my right hip slips in and out of joint randomly, and my calves just feel very heavy and tired. After being on my feet for 12 hours, my knees hurt. I think it's my MCLs. I touched on this in another post (correcting posture)... it's all the result of scoliosis. I am starting to wonder if I have a progressive neuromuscular disorder because I seem to be getting worse over the years, but then again, that might be something we call "AGE." I used to have really nice muscles, but I spent about 10 months on bedrest when I was 19, and I swear, I've never felt the same. My muscles just don't respond well to anything anymore. This is my last ditch attempt to look normal!

Focus, I forgot to add... about my calories. I've already learned through trial and error that with a low to moderate activity level, I maintain my weight at 1600 cal/day. (Which is what most calorie calculators tell me I'd burn, so I think it's very accurate.) I recently became more active, so I up'd it to 1800, but continued to lose weight. This past week, I up'd it again to 2000, so we'll see what sort of results I get. Some days, I'm just not that hungry. That's a lot of food for someone like me. Unless I start eating some fast food along with my clean food, there's no way I can consume that much in a day, every day. If I did, I think I'd get very fat very fast.

The whole weight training while counting calories/carbs/protein thing frustrates the hell out of me. There's such a fine line between gaining fat and gaining muscle, and if you don't do it just right, you can end up looking worse. I'm newb enough to screw it all up.

You didnt fix my post. I said that the person was right, calves are tough to build. You said it was easy, they are not. Calves need direct work, so N hit those calf raises.

FF, noone is saying that calves cant be built. They are just resistant little buggers. Having to run for a "few years" to get big calves just further proves that.

I'm not sure what you're seeing, NeuroRN76. I know as women, we are our own worst enemies, and you stated that you're a genetic nightmare, but to an innocent observer, you look just fine

Only you know the issues you have to deal with on a daily basis (as is the same with everyone else -- nobody's perfect, but some seem to have more things going on than others). That being said, I don't think there is anything wrong with your legs unless you really want to change the shape of them. (And you've got really nice skin!)

There are subtle anomalies to your structure, but again, I honestly don't think anybody would notice it unless you pointed it out to them. And then they'd go "oh well ... whatever". You're still the same person inside.

Don't be so hard on yourself. I've got a bazillion things wrong with me, too. That's why I never had kids.

I was just kidding around, but "tough" and "next to impossible" are not at all the same thing. A lot of things are "tough". Most of them, I call easy. If you're allowed to have nonstandard definitions, so am I. :P

Such a fine line? You are so hard on yourself. Everything is great now. Later, it will be more great. Be easy, mami. <3

Disagree strongly!

Say it with me now: "Goosfraba."