Losing fat in your thighs means losing overall body fat. While it's tempting to focus on losing weight in just one area of your body, neither exercise nor diet can accomplish that. The only way to lose weight in one area, or spot reduce, is liposuction. However, as the American College of Sports Medicine or ACSM points out, dietary changes combined with resistance and endurance exercises can have a big impact on improving body composition.
Step 1
Consume only 1,200 calories each day if you're a woman or 1,500 calories if you're a man. These are the lowest daily limits recommended by the National Institutes of Health, unless you're on a medically supervised calorie-restricted diet.
Step 2
Eliminate all unhealthy fats such as trans and saturated fats. Opt for healthy fats rich in essential fatty acids when cooking or to drizzle lightly on your salads.
Step 3
Get the bulk of your calories from non-starchy vegetables, fruits, lean meat and seeds. Eat fish at least twice during the week instead of meat. Limit your intake of carbohydrates, but do not eliminate them altogether as your body still needs them for energy. Choose only whole grain sources, advises MedlinePlus.
Step 4
Do not drink sugary juices and alcohol. Instead, drink more water and herbal teas with lemon for taste and limited amounts of vegetable juice and unsweetened fruit juice.
Step 5
Do aerobic exercise such as walking, running, cycling or using an elliptical machine for one hour five days a week. Tackle your workout in three 20-minute bouts if it's easier. Maintain a high-intensity pace for the biggest impact on body composition, states the ACSM.
Step 6
Build and tone your thigh muscles using weight machines, ankle weights or resistance bands. Or do weight-bearing exercises such as lunges or squats. For each exercise, do two sets of eight to 12 repetitions four times during the week. Make sure you work out your quadriceps muscles, hamstrings and inner and outer thigh muscles.
Tips and Warnings
- Always warm up for at least five minutes before launching into your exercise program. A warm-up helps prevent injuries. Do low-impact aerobic exercises if you haven't been active for a while. You're more likely to suffer an injury if you jump right into a high-impact workout. If you're otherwise fit, you'll see faster results from a high-intensity workout. At the end of your workout, cool down for about five minutes to let your heart rate return to normal. Also stretch all your major muscle groups.
- Don't starve yourself to slim your thighs or lose weight. You will lower your metabolism and will gain back the weight once you start eating again. Also, you may become dehydrated and suffer symptoms such as dizziness and fatigue, advises MedlinePlus.
