i spent a long time debating with myself whether or not i could in good conscience answer this ask. there's a lot i don't know about you, your age for example, whether you're estrogen or testosterone dominant, your height or weight or body composition. i don't know what you'll do with any of the information i might share, i don't know what your motivation is or mind set...i don't want to be preachy but i hope that you stay healthy :( i think that's the most important thing. i won't talk about societal constructs or whatever and i guess i'll just answer the question at face value...

basically the only way to lose size is to have fewer calories in than calories out. the ways to achieve that may be different but that's the fundamental concept. ppl talk about abs being made in the kitchen not the gym and it's true, your diet and nutrition are...let's say 80% of contribution to fat loss compared to working out. we can have lots of conversations about how you calorie restrict - by how much, whether you should be eating more protein or fat or carbs, when you should eat etc. but i think the best diet is the one that keeps you healthy/not nutrient deficient and that you can stick to. i can't tell you what that might be...you really have to listen to your own body and be ready to adjust...if you're always tired or craving things it's not working, try something else...we talk in the fitness community about how body composition changes you're aiming for a 5 year+ plan...most ppl kinda revert back in a year or two...if you wanna know how many calories you should be eating there are tons of TDEE calculators out there but honestly like what you consume is the important thing...

in terms of exercise...i'm going to assume you're estrogen dominant which might be wrong but it tends to be that testosterone encourages abdominal fat storage whereas estrogen is more lower body fat. i've heard a saying along the lines of women lose fat like a bathtub...it goes with the there's no such thing as targeted fat reduction. if you're losing in upper body you'll just have to be patient because your body evolutionarily wants to hold onto lower body fat. if you really find you are consistently losing body fat and not just muscle mass or water weight then i would keep doing whatever you're doing and wait. if you want a lanky frame what i would recommend is long distance running. if you want your legs to look like a marathon runner's then you should (slowly train to) run marathons. sprinters have bulkier legs because they build muscle and size. long distance running is good for cardiovascular health and if you have proper form it's actually really good for your knees and shouldn't be an injury concern (altho most ppl have bad running technique). if your goals are purely aesthetic and you want rly rly rly small legs this is what i would recommend even tho it goes against everything i believe in lmao...strength training is good for calorie burning but like i think the literature is rly testosterone biased...you can do "toning" or whatever that bs is too? i still think you should strength train because muscle is less dense than fat and burn more calories throughout the day but there's a balance between ppl who say girls who lift don't get bulky vs. ppl who say weightlifting makes you bulky. if you look at strong female lifters a lot of them have sizeable upper legs but i feel like based on your ask you don't want that...? and like i said if you want sprinters legs you can do muscle stuff but if you want that marathon runner look you really do just wanna run long distances imo... ...or you can not focus on aesthetics and just get rly muscular legs and deadlift >200lbs like me...lmao...honestly i have a lot of thoughts about this kind of stuff and if you DM me i think we can have a more constructive conversation toward your goals TT________TT