Ok, I seriously need some help on this. Before I say anything, I want to state that I am part of an androginy magazine in the making. That means, I dress up like a girl and wear make up and get paid for it. I'm still not fully satisfied with my body though...what can I do to slim down and have as close as possible to a womanly figure as possible? I don't want to be beefy and muscular, but nor do I want to be completely anorexic. If you're going to chastise me on this matter thats fine, but this is my paid proffession so trust me, I've heard it all. Anyway, thanks for any help possible!

Make sure your calories are at a deficit, but dont drop to low. This will help prevent muscle gains and loose fat.

Lift lighter weights, but higher reps. While you dont want to gain muscle per se, you should do some form of resistance training, this system will be of most benifit to your needs.

Do lots of cardio.

Thats my advice. Good luck and dont worry, folk round here wont flame you for anything. :)

I wouldn't chastise you for your career choice, I just get the feeling that you're on the wrong forum. :lol:

Most of the women here are here because they want to look or feel stronger or more powerful. Not that you can't also look and feel sexy and feminine while you do it, but in my opinion the typical present most popular feminine ideal tends toward weak helpless waif. I hope I'm wrong.

It seems odd to me that you would choose this as a profession when you are not satisfied with your body.

Work out like anyone else on here, just eat differently and probably do more cardio too. Eat below BMR and you'll lose weight.

Most of the women here are here because they want to look or feel stronger or more powerful. Not that you can't also look and feel sexy and feminine while you do it, but in my opinion the typical present most popular feminine ideal tends toward weak helpless waif. I hope I'm wrong.
Interesting. I don't know what's trendy, I don't usually agree with trends though. Personally I (and most of my friends) like muscular women. Not BIG, but fit and in shape. They don't have to be completely ripped, hardcore 6-pack shredded types, just firm, a little bit of veins showing in the arms, tight legs with that separation between quad and hamstring (that one always drives me crazy).

Not only more cardio, but long cardio sessions. Running is good, low-impact cycling is also OK (NOT mountain biking) becasue it doesn't build muscle for most people, but you'll need to do over an hour each session at least - the longer the better, with 2-5 hour stints when you can get them in! Don't wory about fasting or other such stuff - eat carbs during the 'workout' to keep you going.

Lifting should be low volume - personally I think that is more important than intensity. You could lift heavy if you really restrict the volume to 1-2 exercises per workout, maybe 2 workouts/week.

How do I know all this? Cyclist and runner freinds who absolutely do not want to 'get buf', but need to maintain some heath, fitness and strength in their upper body.

So you can take that for whatever it is worth, but I think they have the 'look' you are looking for.

Thanks a bunch, I'll put this advice to use. :tu:

Also, make sure to do core stability exercises. You don't want a protruding abdominal wall if you want to look like a woman, because men and women tend to protrude in very distinctly different ways. There is a great thread on core stability exercises in the weight training forum.

Also, work your obliques. A lot of guys complain that building their obliques too much ruins their v-taper, but that's a real masculine tip-off, so you probably don't want a big v-taper. It's possible that building your obliques will make your hips look a little bigger and your waist look a little higher, which might make you look a little more feminine, or, at the very least, a little less like a dude.

Also, do back hyperextensions, but don't do anything that hits your lats.

This is all wild guessing, but it makes sense that anything that tightens and strengthens your lower torso without enlarging your shoulders and upper torso will help to mask your masculine proportions.

The idea comes from a cog sci class I once took back in college - people identify men and women automatically and subconsciously by the shoulders-waist-hips ratio (note, shoulders, not chest). Women consistently describe as masculine figures with big shoulders and narrow hips, and men are more attracted (in studies, in studies) to women with a waist to hip ratio of about .7, regardless of their overall size.

Hey, it's random conjecture, but maybe it will help.