Arms?
 

Not sure where to post this, but I was hoping to get some advice about "toning" your body (specifically your arms) during weight loss. I have lost quite a bit of weight but I am worried about having loose skin even after I get to my goal weight. For those of you who have reached (or are very near) your goal, what did you do to ensure that your arms were toned and you didn't have loose skin once you got down to your final weight? Was it a matter of just losing the fat (with cardio) or were they any particular exercises you did that helped?

I don't have an answer to this, but I see you've lost quite a bit of weight already and I'm curious about the state of your arms at your current weight. Do you have loose skin?

I have loose arm skin...well - its still filled with fat but its sagging now
and I can see how its going to end up. I can see a bit on my inner
thighs as well.
Not sure your age - I'm 38. I am sure age has a lot to do
with how the skin will react to a large weight loss.
When I am at the gym on the treadmill I do 2 lb arm weights,
2 things at the same time lol. Not sure if its done a lot to firm
up the skin but I am getting muscle definition.
People also say daily exfoliation and lotion with Q10 does a lot to tighten skin. But honestly I think it is mostly due
to age, genetics, how much you have to lose and how long you have
been fat. My arms have had this weight in them for over 20 years!!
They will probably look like deflated balloons.
Honestly - don't even worry about it. If you lose your weight wear
the saggy skin like a badge of honor! My fat arms have stretch marks
on them and I will wear sleeveless....so when I lose the weight they will
be saggy stretch marks. I say if you don't like it, then don't look.

Because I still have a lot of body fat to lose, I believe I'm not at the point of having a lot of excess skin on my arms, just body fat. My arms are smaller than they were, but obviously bigger than I'd like. I don't think I'll know if I have loose skin until I'm closer to my goal. I'm hoping it's still just primarily fat and that I can burn that off in tandem with my weight loss.

Thanks for your response odennela. I, too, have stretchmarks and so I'm used to "covering" my arms. I just hope it won't look like I never lost the weight in the first place! But I agree with you, getting to your goal is definitely something to be proud of - no matter the outcome of your arms!

I think that as we age the skin of our underarms gets saggy, no matter what weight we are. In my group of friends we joke that if we could wave our arms fast enough we could fly with the wings we have.

You have lost a remarkable amount of weight. Congratulations, and keep at it. You will enjoy being a thinner you, no matter what your arms look like.

Thanks JoJoJo! And congrats to you for being a survivor! :hug:

Nothing will ensure you'll have great arms when you're done, but strength training can certainly help. You need to fill the space with muscle.

I got really lucky when it came to my arms. I regularly wear tank tops without a second thought. I thank a lot of strength training and lugging around a needy toddler for the last two years for that. Good luck!

I've done this rally (weight loss) before. To help tone up arms, I did a lot of push-ups. They're not fun but they DO work and help with that "wobble" look. If you can't do army push-ups, do girlie push-ups. And you don't have to do 50 of them, just do what you can and work up from there. An easy way of doing this is starting with a few at a time. Maybe doing a total of about 15 and then the next day add one more push-up.

i hate push ups. i do overhead tricep extensions (you can also do laying down) and bicep curls mostly. tricep dips also help.

I lift a lot of free weights and I got a lot of arm definition from doing Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred.

thanks to all of you!