" I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie"

This is the first of the "Ask Annie" blog responses! Send in your burning fitness questions and I will dig through my brain files to get you my expert answer. Thanks for those who have submitted already. This week's question:

"It doesn't matter how much I work out or what I weigh I am always rocking my thighs and butt. What are some good exercises I can do to tone them up and maybe shrink them a bit? Well not the butt just the legs."

Great question!! We often have areas of our body that we want to shape or reduce. Everybody stores fat in different places - some in the lower abdomen (tummy), some in the arms, and many (especially North Americans) store it in the thighs and buttocks. It is common to work hard to target a specific area and become frustrated that we don't get the results we want.
The answer? Unfortunately, just as we cannot command our body to divert our fat stores to aesthetically pleasing parts of the body, we also cannot tell the body where to trim the fat when we exercise. The good news is that there are some ways to enhance the muscle tone in those areas.
Try as you might, you won't be able to burn fat from a specific area on the body. If you run 5K a day, attend Zumba class with regularity, and suffer through tabata intervals 3x a week in an attempt to reduce fat from your legs, you may end up losing a half-inch off your waist instead. This is just the way it is - so when exercising to burn fat, aim for overall calorie burn, regardless of where it happens.
If your goal is to burn fat: According to the Mayo Clinic. one pound of fat is equal to 3.500 calories, which means that you have to burn 3,500 more calories than you eat before you can drop just one pound. Use an online calculator to track how many calories you burn during your daily exercise, then compare that to your approximate daily caloric intake.
Keys to fat loss? Eat clean and follow the food guide for good balanced eating. Get moving, get the heart rate up, make cardio your friend. Stay motivated and don't give up!
You can, however, target these areas and tone and strengthen them, although as mentioned above, they may not get "smaller". They will however get STRONGER, which in the end is better - you can kick any hater's butts!
Try my favourite moves for butt/thigh strengthening :

Good Mornings: emphasizes the gluteals and hamstrings. Hold a barbell on the shoulders in the squat position  Bend forward with back straight and feel the hamstrings and butt stretch. Legs bent or straight (but softened) according to trunk flexibility.
Travelling Squats w/Resistance Band.: To tone your outer thighs, you need to move laterally. Stand with feet hip-width apart and a band tied around your anklies. Step out to the left as far as you can, working against the resistance of the band. Bring right foot to me, than lift left leg out to side as far as you can, keeping torso upright and toes pointed slightly downward.
Repeat above 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps.

Remember, above all, to accept that certain parts of us are just a part of our charm! Exercise, eat well and be happy - cheers to good health!

Find Your CORE!