[PenChick]

i hate my arms too!! i honestly believe that i have a gene in my family for fat arms. everyone in my family has them no matter how thin. I think my 2 yr old niece has them to and she weighs like 20 lbs! my poor niece inherited the fat arms gene...But i cant wait until they do get just a tad bit smaller...maybe i should do more shoulder lifts to work on the arm padding.

[beautifulone]

I hear you, everyone.

I really hope that my arms will become smaller and the skin will become tight around my muscles. Im keeping my fingers crossed and praying.
Ive been doing bicep and tricep exercises, and the change is so awesome, I actualy have some strength in my arms and I only recently started! They seem slightly bulky though, so Im not sure what thats about. Im hoping for awesome results!!

[Meg]

Someone PMed me about this thread, so I hope you don't mind if I try to clarify something about muscle building and fat loss.

Building muscle will raise your metabolism and cause you to lose more fat because every additional pound of muscle in your body burns about 20 - 25 calories per day. A pound of fat burns about 3 calories per day so it's easy to see why adding muscle is a great way to burn more calories 24/7/365.

BUT ...

Muscle doesn't burn off the fat that's on top of it. In other words, building/strengthening the muscle under fat won't make that particular area of fat go away any faster. Building muscle anywhere in your body will raise your metabolism and cause you to burn more overall calories, making it easier to create a calorie deficit. The biggest muscles in our bodies are in our legs and butts, not our arms. So it's a mistake to only focus on building muscle in our "problem" areas. We all need to strengthen every muscle group in our bodies, regardless of where we personally store fat.

Unfortunately, our bodies store fat wherever they please and burn it off in whatever order they please. We can't choose where the fat comes off and there isn't any way to target a specific area of fat to lose. Usually wherever you gain fat first is where you'll lose it last, whether it's hips, belly, or arms. And there just isn't any way to change that fact.

So doing arm exercises will build strong arm muscles but won't make the fat on your arms go away any faster. Same with bellies and legs. The best way to lose the arm fat is to concentrate on losing fat all over through a program of cardio, whole body weightlifting, and calorie restriction.

But don't lose hope -- problem areas DO go away (or get better) by the time you reach your goal. My problem area was my 57" hips/butt and I had to wear pants two sizes bigger than tops. I looked like a bowling pin. As I lost weight, the disproportion between my top and bottom got worse, not better! Even when I was down to a size 10, I didn't think I'd ever find a pair of pants that would fit my smaller waist and still gigantic hips and despaired that I'd ever even out. I honestly thought that I'd end up as a smaller version of my previously shaped self.

But the last 20 - 25 pounds came off 100% off my lower body! I think there just wasn't any other fat left to lose so my body HAD to finally let go of its favorite fat (that stuff had been there for decades!!) Much to my amazement, I often now wear a smaller size on the bottom now than the top.

[beautifulone]

Originally Posted by Meg

The last 20 - 25 pounds came off 100% off my lower body! I think there just wasn't any other fat left to lose so my body HAD to finally let go of its favorite fat (that stuff had been there for decades!!) Much to my amazement, I often now wear a smaller size on the bottom now than the top.

Meg, I love your posts, they're so informative. Reading about your lower-body loss gives me great hope! I've been telling myself rationally that the fat HAS TO come off and I will have thin legs/butt/hips at 130-140 lbs, but then when I look in the mirror it's hard to imagine them ever looking thin and small. So thanks for sharing!

[Tracymichelle]

I am having issues with my arms right now too! I have lost 95 pounds and even though I never thought that my arms were huge when they were on my 344 pound body, they now have so much hanging flab/skin. It looks like wings and I am very self-conscience about it. I am careful not to raise my arms certain ways when I am wearing short sleeves so as to hide the flap. I don't know what the deal is really. I am not having too much of a loose skin issue with my stomach or legs so I don't get the arm thing! There is still alot of fat there though so maybe it will get better. Anyway, we just have to rememer that we look and feel better now. We can disguise the flabbiness but you cannot disguise being overweight or obese so keep on going and I am sure that your arms will catch up with the rest of you.

[Tammy73]

Thanks for the insight Meg. I was reading this thread and wondering what my body will look like when I lose more weight. Now I feel confident again that I am doing the right thing by doing cardio and weight training early on in my
weight loss journey. I know that none of us can predict when and where the weight will come off. It's just good to know that over time it will come off.

[OnceUponADrive]

I have majorly big calves, too. But it's mostly muscle. My boyfriend always says I could be a body builder if I did more weight training, which is exactly the look I DON'T want. I swear, I could build up more muscles in a month than most men can build up in a year. I've pretty much accepted that my calves and thighs will ALWAYS be big and never feminine, but maybe just a bit smaller when I lose some more fat from those areas.

[shadowclaw]

Originally Posted by Meg

Unfortunately, our bodies store fat wherever they please and burn it off in whatever order they please. We can't choose where the fat comes off and there isn't any way to target a specific area of fat to lose. Usually wherever you gain fat first is where you'll lose it last, whether it's hips, belly, or arms. And there just isn't any way to change that fact.

Thanks for the clarification, Meg! I think that I'm one of the lucky ones, though. My weight generally slaps itself on my hips and thighs first, but that's where I do tend to lose it first. I lost about 35 lb. last year (which I did unforunately gain back due to getting off-track, but now I'm back in the game), and I ended up dropping about a size in my pants... when I measured my hips, it was about a 4 inch loss. That actually happened in the first 15 lbs, too. I only lost an inch from my bust overall. Although miraculously, when I put the weight back on, only some went to my hips. I weigh the same as I did before I lost the weight, but I'm still down 2 inches around the hips. I'm not complaining, though! When I gained weight back in my sophomore year of college, my hips blew up like you wouldn't believe!

[Mommysince21505]

My arms are big and always been a little bigger. Even when I was skinny my arms were too big! I use to have to stretch shirts... Anyway, hopefully you will lose some inches in yours as you get close to the last few pounds. If not I guess you will just have to learn to accept your arms and enjoy your wonderful success (losing all your weight)!!!

[See Spot Shrink]

I've found my tribe!

My arms are the bane of my existence! They look like two big salamis!! I loathe them and it doesn't help one bit that so many of the shirts they're selling now have the puffed sleeve/banded bottom with button combo going on! Sigh...I actually popped a button off one of my shirt sleeves yesterday. Like the Incredible Hulk! (Shoulda just slapped on a pair of shredded capris and some green makeup and called it a day! Grrrr! )

And to think I had arms like sticks when I was thin! Never in a million years would've thought that I could have fat arms. You never know where you're going to hold most of your weight until you gain it, huh?