So you’ve decided to slim down your legs, tighten the skin, and get rid of that aggravating cellulite. Perhaps you’ve assumed diet and exercise are the obvious methods for achieving such a desirable goal. Well, that assumption is correct. However, don’t go into this endeavor blind. How you diet and exercise makes all the difference.
Ultimately, targeted leg exercises by themselves are not going to give you the immediate results you’re striving for. The answer for how to get thin legs comes from a combination of fat loss,increased muscular strength, and flexibility.
In other words, it’s not one or the other, but everything together. Now before getting started it’s important to note that for women, skinnier legs only begin to show once body fat percentage has been reduced to a certain point – typically 18%.
Reaching this point will take determination and focus. But with the right attitude, direction, and unwavering perseverance, you can get slimmer legs much faster than when shooting in the dark.
Diet for Slimmer Legs
Ideally, reducing body fat percentage through diet is achieved by increasing consumption of protein while decreasing consumption of carbohydrates, eating more frequent smaller meals during the day (approximately 5), controlling blood sugar, and slightly reducing caloric intake.
Lean proteins such as meat, fish, chicken, eggs, dairy, beans, soy foods, nuts and seeds will encourage muscle development for tone legs. Protein is what builds muscle after all.
Carbs aren’t necessarily bad, but it’s difficult to eat the right kind of carbs (the more complex the carb, the better) and for the purpose of slimmer legs, keeping a higher protein diet will better influence this goal. Expert Dietician Elle Penner, M.P.H., R.D. suggests for a high protein-low carb dietkeep a ratio of 30% protein to 45% carbs (25% should come from healthy fats). Adjust your diet accordingly, which usually means cutting back on carbs.
Eating smaller more frequent meals throughout the day and controlling blood sugar go hand in hand. Large meals cause our blood sugar to rise. Once the food is digested, blood sugar falls dramatically, sapping your energy along with it. Helen Foster from the Daily Mail, taking a cue from Nutritionist Antony Haynes says, “The problem is, the bigger the meal, the bigger the crash – and the higher your need for sugary snacks to refuel your body.” However, the more sugar we consume the greater the increase in our body fat percentage.
Sugary foods in the form of fructose are a definite no-no. According to nutrition researcher, Kris Gunnars, “When we eat a lot of sugar, most of the fructose gets metabolized by the liver. There it gets turned into fat, which is then secreted into the blood.” This causes a whole slew of problems in the body such as insulin resistance, leptin increase, and more. Long story short – stay away from processed sugars.
Lastly, you may need to make an adjustment to your daily calorie consumption. It’s best to use an online calorie calculator to estimate how many calories you need to intake to maintain weight. From there, try reducing this amount by 20%.
The best way to diet for skinny legs fast is by keeping a diet journal. Chronicle what and when you eat each day for every meal, attempting to stick to the rules mentioned above. Record your daily intake and reassess whether or not you’re eating more lean proteins, how frequent your meals are, how much sugar you’re consuming, and how many total calories. Once your journal reflects the proper guidelines you’re well on your way to thinner legs!
Exercise for Slimmer Legs
A healthy combination of cardiovascular exercise, flexibility, and strength work is going to give the fastest results for skinnier legs.
Cardiovascular workouts are great because they burn fat and develop muscle tone with little risk of adding bulk muscle. Jogging, power walking, cycling, and any other cardiovascular routine that directly uses the legs will expedite muscle development. Aim for four to five cardio workouts a week lasting between 20-45 min or longer.
More importantly, include high intensity interval training (also known as HIIT) as a part of these workouts. If all you ever commit to is moderate cardiovascular exercise, you stagnant your ability to target stubborn fat and convert it into muscle. Therefore, it’s best to alternate between moderate intensity and high intensity intervals each day.
A HIIT workout will be shorter in duration, but significantly elevated in intensity and effort. A great way for the beginner to start out with a HIIT workout is by alternating between a 2 minute walk and a 2 minute hard run for a total of 20 minutes. Over time you’ll incorporate interval training like this into other exercises with longer durations of high intensity and shorter durations of rest.
For those with a mesomorphic body type who tends to gain bulk muscle easily and quickly, you may want to avoid HIIT workouts and stick to longer duration cardio. After all, there’s a reason long endurance runners have skinny legs.
Yoga is great because it encourages flexibility while simultaneously toning your legs. This will give your legs a longer, leaner look and is a perfect way to avoid higher impact exercise to stay injury free.
Additionally, strength work is a prime supplemental activity for achieving slim legs. Remember that we must reduce body fat percentage first in order to see skinnier legs.
But before results show, it doesn’t hurt to target specific areas of your legs with resistance training. One to three sets of lunges, squats, and step-ups with repetitions up to 15 are ideal resistance exercises that target the glutes, inner thighs, and hamstrings. Beginners should start at one set and gradually work up to the ability to do three of each exercise after short intervals of rest. You can also add weight and other variations of these targeted strength routines as you become stronger. Be sure to incorporate at least one to two strength routines a week.
Similar to the diet plan for slimmer legs, the best way to stick to an exercise routine is to have a planned log of workouts and to record your accomplished work accordingly. Stay consistent with journaling your diet and exercise and you’ll see thinner legs in a matter of weeks, not months!
Do you want to know how to get skinny legs fast? The answers are all here. Now it’s up to you to want it … and get it. So the real question is, how bad do you want it?
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