How to lose buttocks and thigh fat in a week without exercise

If you're looking to get strong, toned legs, you know how tough that can be and chances are you've looked up how to lose thigh fat online. There is nothing wrong with wanting more definition in this area (because leg goals!), but tbh, you can't choose to slim down just one spot of your body.

“You can reduce your overall body fat by eating healthy and exercising, but your body doesn’t know where it’s burning fat,” says Lisa Moskovitz, RD, CDN, the CEO of NY Nutrition Group. “Wherever there’s fat on your body, it will come off. And we have fat all over our bodies.” Women tend to carry more fat in their hips and thighs compared to men, according to research.

That said, by leaning up overall, you can end up losing fat in your legs too. “The key is to be consistent and progressive with your training—and to cultivate nutritious eating habits over time. It won’t happen overnight, so habits need to be formed over time—and that’s the good news: Habits do get formed over time and results will stick!” says Susane Pata, NASM-CPT, a spin and certified group fitness instructor.

And losing fat in general comes down to creating a calorie deficit for weight loss, says personal trainer Ben Lauder-Dykes, CPT. As you lose fat, you can strengthen and shape your body and build muscle in a particular area you desire via exercise.

But note that you may not see results immediately. “When you lose fat, everyone is different in where they start to lose it,” says personal trainer and nutrition coach Kelly Cosentino, CPT. Commit to the process, and eventually you will start to see the desired changes in your body.

So while there are no shortcuts to zeroing in on thigh fat only, there are a few steps you can take to reduce bloat and inflammation and tone your legs while losing weight all over. Here are key habits to consider incorporating into your daily routine.

Meet the experts: Lisa Moskovitz, RD, CDN, has over a decade of experience in counseling clients on weight management. She is the author of The Core 3 Healthy Eating Plan.

Susane Pata, NASM-CPT, teaches group fitness classes and has been working in the fitness industry for over 20 years.

Kelly Cosentino, CPT, is a personal trainer who specializes in fat loss and muscle gain.

1. Keep tabs on your body fat percentage.

Your body fat percentage is the amount of body fat you’ve got going on compared to your overall body mass, explains Albert Matheny, RD, CSCS, the co-founder of SoHo Strength Lab, Promix Nutrition, and ARENA. “What you really want is a higher percentage of lean muscle and [a lower percentage of] body fat,” he says.

There are smart scales that can help you keep track of these numbers, he says. And while they’re not always 100 percent accurate, they should at least be able to help you track your progress. You can also look into getting a DEXA scan, which is an imaging test that can reveal your body composition, at a local gym or health center near you to get a sense of where you're currently at. Also, consider working with a physician or trainer you trust to discuss what a health body fat percentage is for you.

2. Incorporate exercises that specifically target your thighs.

Exercises like squats, lunges, and deadlifts work the small muscles of your inner thighs along with other leg muscles, Matheny points out, and that’s important for getting your legs nice and toned. But exercises like adductors and abductors can be the “icing on the cake” for really getting next-level tone in those areas, he says.

If you have a gym membership, you can use a machine that’s specifically designed to target these areas (you’ve seen it before—you use it to push your knees in and then out to build up those muscles).

Prefer to keep your sweat seshes closer to home? Clamshells and side leg raises can help you get a similar effect.

3. And when you train your thighs, have a plan.

Don't just randomly add a leg day every once in a while. Go in with a routine and plan in mind.

Choose your favorite exercises from each group and complete each for eight to 12 reps at your maximum weight for a total of three to four sets. Ideally, try for two days of leg workouts each week, mixing multi-muscle compound movements (think squats and lunges) with more targeted exercises (like bridges and hamstring curls).

Target your thighs all over by doing curtsy lunges, sumo squats, and goblet squats. Focus on your inner and outer thighs with lateral lunges and band leg side raises; and hit your hamstrings with deadlifts, reverse leg curls, and bridges with hamstring curls.

4. Get heavier weights in the mix.

Losing weight in your thighs (and all over) takes effort from a lot of different areas. But Matheny says that, once you get to a certain body composition, “the muscles of your legs may not be that strong.” If you’re going for true tone here, it's important to increase your strength there, he points out.

That’s why he recommends layering in strength training, and specifically looking at adding in some heavier weights. Think: holding heavier dumbbells while you squat or doing deadlifts with a little more weight on that barbell. “To target your legs, you really want to do squats for your inner thighs and deadlifts,” he says.

5. Watch your salt intake.

Salt makes your body retain excess water, and that causes bloat that can affect your whole body, hips and thighs included. “Water follows salt, so the more you eat, the more water gets stored instead of being filtered out by your kidneys,” says Moskovitz. “By cutting back, you’ll notice almost an immediate change in how you feel and how your clothes fit.”

Most people need 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day (the upper limit is 2,300 milligrams), per the American Heart Association's recommendations—but many of us are getting way more than that. Cut back by limiting processed foods, like sauces, canned veggies, and soups, which are often loaded with sodium.

6. Add more electrolytes to your diet.

You’ve seen them in sports drinks, but electrolytes like calcium, magnesium, and potassium are plentiful in many healthy foods that might already be in your diet.

All of them—and potassium, in particular—compete with salt. “The more [electrolytes] that you have, the less salt your body will retain,” says Moskovitz. “It helps keep the fluid balance stable, so your body flushes out water retention.”

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Dark leafy greens, yogurt, and bananas are excellent sources of various types of electrolytes. Moskovitz says everyone should aim for nine servings of fruits and veggies every day: two to three half-cup servings of fruit, and the rest veggies (one cup raw or one-half cup cooked).

7. Cut back on carbs.

When your body transforms carbs into glycogen, they're stored along with water in your liver and muscle. That means the more carbs you eat, the more water your body stores. “That’s why a lot of people find they lose a few pounds immediately on a low-carb diet. A lot of that is water weight,” says Moskovitz.

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She suggests getting a minimum of 75 to 100 grams of carbs per day, although some people might need quite a bit more depending on their height, weight, and activity level.

Just don’t skip whole grains altogether since they're an excellent source of filling, heart-healthy fiber as well as folate, iron, magnesium, antioxidants, and phytonutrients. If you’re not sure of your carb sweet spot, check with a nutritionist.

8. Carry a water bottle around with you.

It seems counterintuitive, but the less water you drink, the more your body holds onto it. Drinking plenty of water flushes out the excess salt and fluids your body doesn’t need, reducing bloating.

It also helps curb your appetite since dehydration mimics hunger. Moskovitz suggests aiming for two to three liters per day—on the higher end if you’re exercising or it’s hot outside.

9. Cut back on the cocktails.

A few drinks can sneakily add a whole lotta calories to your daily intake. Whether you go for light beer or a mixed drink, they can easily add up to at least 100 to 110 calories per beverage, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

The foods you choose to eat while under the influence aren’t usually optimal either. In fact, a study from the journal Appetite found moderate drinkers were 24 percent more likely to order something savory like salty fries, which may be the only edible item at your local dive bar, after drinking. And it’s not just the quality of food that affects your weight but the quantity you’re taking in, especially if you didn’t start off the evening with a hearty meal.

So, limiting how much and how often you consume booze can help with any weight-loss goals you might have.

10. Add some cardio into your schedule.

Aerobic exercise is another way to flush out excess salt and fluids, says Moskowitz. What’s more, any activity that gets your heart rate up is also your best bet to spend calories and burn body fat—including on your hips and thighs. The higher your calorie burn, the bigger the calorie deficit you can create, and the more likely you are to lose weight—and reduce fat all over.

Just remember: You have to stay hydrated. Drink 16 to 20 ounces more water per hour of intense exercise and eat extra foods with electrolytes if you’re crushing it at the gym for more than an hour.

11. Try tracking your meals.

Keeping a daily record of every food you eat helps you stay on track and accountable when you’re trying to shed body fat. Moskovitz likes the app MyFitnessPal since it’s easy to use and has estimates for most foods (but plain old pen and paper works fine too).

Keeping tabs on your diet also means mapping out what you're going to eat ahead of time as often as possible. “Life gets in the way and it’s hard to stay on track, so having your meals planned out helps for sure,” says Moskovitz.

12. Eat more fiber and protein.

Pack every meal with fiber and protein to boost weight loss, since both macronutrients help keep you fuller on fewer calories. Protein, in particular, is essential for building the lean muscle that will make your legs look great. Moskovitz suggests aiming for a total of 25 to 35 grams of fiber and 75 to 100 grams of protein per day from veggies, fruits, whole grains, and lean meats.

13. Do squats one day and lunges the next.

Yes, you can work your thighs to build muscle and strength, but you don’t want to do the same exercises all. The. Time.

Lauder-Dykes, who is a strength and conditioning coach and trainer at Fhitting Room, a high-intensity training studio in New York City, says the most important thing to do is switch up your moves. “Different exercises can challenge a muscle group in a different way," he explains.

Some examples: Add front squats to your routine and target your quads, and do back squats to work your glutes and hamstrings more. Focus on single-leg movements (like lunges and split squats) and your stability muscles, including your inner and outer thighs, will fire up to keep you steady, Lauder-Dykes says.

14. Don’t forget about HIIT exercises.

To get more bang for your buck in a shorter amount of time, combine strength training and weight lifting with HIIT, says Lauder-Dykes. It'll help you burn extra calories and create a calorie deficit, which can help you lose fat.

“This also helps increase energy burned at rest and better performance, so you can go at higher efforts and intensities, and be able to sustain it for a longer period of time,” she notes. That blend of strength and interval work leads to an even higher calorie burn—without actually having to work out more.

15. Find ways to relax and recover.

Stress can cause your body to produce hormones like cortisol, which cause the body to store fat, Angela Fitch, MD, the vice president of the Obesity Medicine Association, associate director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center, and faculty at Harvard Medical School, previously told WH. Look, you can't get rid of stress completely, but you should find your own personal methods to help minimize it.

Need some ideas? Try scheduling time away from work and/or your phone, going for a walk, practicing meditation, and enjoying some self-care, like reading, getting a massage, or talking to a friend who helps you chill out.

16. Make sleep a priority.

Not getting enough sleep can trigger you to make unhealthy food choices, says Dr. Fitch, who recommends getting at least seven and a half hours a night. "When you don’t sleep well, you increase your appetite. The next day you are hungrier, and usually, for carbohydrates and fat," she previously told WH. "When you are tired, your body wants to eat processed carbohydrates and sugar to stay awake."

Going through a full sleep cycle every night also promotes calorie-burning (win!). "REM sleep burns a lot of calories," Dr. Fitch says. "When you don’t sleep well, you store more energy as fat, as you become more insulin-resistant and these higher insulin levels promote fat storage."

17. Hop on a bike.

“Cycling helps with overall body fat—not just thighs," says Pata. "Cycling that is progressive and consistent can help burn fat and calories with each session—and that can add up to developing overall lean body mass. At the same time, leg muscles are being conditioned, which can help change the contour of the leg.”

Beginners should add this activity to their routine one to two times per week for 30 to 60 minutes—then increase the frequency to three to five times a week. Use resistance and never go below or beyond the range of 60 to 120 RPMs. Going faster can damage your knees over time and is not effective for weight loss.

“Stay in it to win it—start off with something doable and build on it with a progressive program,” says Pata.

18. Put on your walking shoes.

Walking is a great way to ramp up your energy expenditure throughout the day, so doing it on a consistent, weekly basis will definitely add up in weight loss over time, says Pata.

But note that you won't see immediate results, which is why it's important to keep doing it it every week.

“It is a safe, inexpensive, and easy way to begin a fitness program, especially for those just starting out and those who are de-conditioned, sedentary, or obese,” says Pata. “Over time, walking can change the body’s resting metabolic rate (the total number of calories burned when your body is completely at rest) because it can help increase lean body mass—which will require more energy expenditure.”

To get the benefits, she suggests walking three times per week and aiming for 30 minutes each session. “When you feel more energetic, go for a longer duration. When you feel short on time, go for shorter durations, but make up some of the time with extra walk sessions per week,” adds Pata. “For this to be progressive, try jogging for a bit later on and even running, or mixing all three up.”

19. Ramp up the intensity.

Progressive overload will also help your legs get super strong during strength training and HIIT workouts. “If you do the same thing all the time, nothing will change and your body will keep burning at the same rate. Force your body to adapt for best results,” says Cosentino.

For strength training, try increasing reps and the number of sets, incorporate tempo training (slowing down reps), and add pulsing. For HIIT, work out for longer periods while maintaining intensity, so if you start by doing 20-second intervals, add five to 10 seconds each week.

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