[Ms.Trish]

I know losing the fat is much better than skin issues but I'm curious if everyone who has 75 or more lbs to lose have skin issues...I see women in magazines..the fitness mags who have nice, toned arms....I'm losing regardless I just wanted to see if anyone lost a bunch of weight and toned up nicely...;o)
thanks

[fitchick2be]

I want to know about this, too!

~sue55

[srmb60]

Here's a link to a thread about skin issues. Very informative

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...highlight=skin

[Meg]

Yes, you absolutely can tone up your arms (and all the rest of you), even if you end up with some loose skin when you reach goal. Here's a picture of me when I reached goal. I definitely had my share of excess skin on my arms but I think you can still see some definition.

The way to have great looking arms and look tight and toned all over is to lift weights from the first day of your weight loss program. You'll keep your metabolism running high, lose weight faster, and look great once you get to goal.

[jarden]

Dang Meg, you look toned!! Can I ask you what is your regular excercise routine?? thanks a bunch!!

[VirgoChic]

The pictures doesn't show up for me, Meg. I really wanted to see them!

[Meg]

Hmmm, if that link doesn't work, try this one -- it's all my weight loss pictures. If THAT link won't work for you, let me know.

Jarden - my exercise routine now is pretty much the same now as the year that I was losing weight. I do cardio every day - between 30 and 60 minutes - (usually on the crosstrainer, elliptical or bike) and I lift weights five days a week. Right now I'm recovering from shoulder surgery, so my workouts are somewhat limited and it's driving me !!

[fitchick2be]

SusanB, thanks for the link.

Meg, thanks for the info.

[Nori71]

Wow! AMAZING! I can only hope my arms look as good as yours do at the end! Just curious if you had very big arms to start with? I have huge arms - 18 inch biceps, with flabby underarms.

Originally Posted by Meg

usually on the crosstrainer, elliptical...

OK, maybe this is a stupid question. What's the difference between a Crosstrainer and an Elliptical? At my gym they have Precor CrossRamp EFX5.23 elliptical trainers - no moveable handlebars, but a ramp you can adjust all over the place. And then they have Precor Elliptical Crosstrainers (EFX 5.33) - with handlebars, but a fixed ramp. They are both ellipticals, right? I guess the Crosstrainer is called that because it includes an upper body workout? For some reason I don't like this machine much and don't real feel that it works my arms? I must be doing something wrong on it. So I usually do the Precor Crossramp and kick up the incline to 15 or do a challenging course.

[Meg]

Let me go check my starting measurements ... my arms were 15 1/2. I carried all my weight in my bottom half - my starting hip measurement was 57 inches!!! I'm sure your arms will be lovely by the time you reach goal.

Our gym happens to call the Precors with the adjustable ramps 'ellipticals' and the LifeFitness ones with the arms that move and nonadjustable ramps 'crosstrainers'. I know lots of people call both ellipticals and I think that's correct. It's probably just the way that the people at my gym tell the two machines apart.

I think that what I call the crosstrainer is harder than the elliptical, but maybe it's because I can't adjust the ramp? When I'm on the elliptical, I tend to change the ramp every two or three minutes - keeps things interesting! I agree that the crosstrainer isn't much of an upper body workout because your legs are really doing all the work.

But they're both really awesome cardio!

[Nori71]

Originally Posted by Meg

But they're both really awesome cardio!

That's for sure. For whatever reason I find the CrossRamp elliptical more of a challenge. I try not to hold on and try to really power through it, both backwards and forwards. Besides I don't like how my arms jiggle on the elliptical with the handlebars! Once again you look fab!!