How on earth do you lose weight in your arms? - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

mimsyborogoves · 05-01-2012, 10:47 PM

While out shopping today, I noticed a dilemma when trying on tops: my torso fits in smaller sizes. My arms do not, depending on the top. I really can't wear anything with any kind of fitted sleeve because while it might fit my body, it doesn't fit my arms. I'm constantly having to buy shirts in a size too big so they'll fit my arms.

Is there any way to make the fat in my arms disappear faster? I mean I can weight lift out the wazoo but I feel like that's not really gonna do anything but build muscle and not make the fat go away any faster. I know you can't target it, but I mean how stupid am I gonna look with a small body and big, fat, flabby arms? I don't wanna look disproportionate, and I feel like I do. =/

freelancemomma · 05-01-2012, 10:52 PM

If your arms are one of your "trouble spots," you may need to get closer to your goal weight before you start losing a significant amount of weight there. That's what happened to me with hips and thighs: it's only when I lost the last 15 pounds or so that the weight came off significantly in that area.

F.

valalltogether · 05-01-2012, 10:54 PM

i dunno, i guess its a combo of building muscle in the arms and losing fat through diet?? i have the same dilemma though.. i really dislike my arms so you will always see me wearing 1/2 or 3/4 sleeve shirts or a cover up. i can't wait to pick up a top and not examine what the sleeves look like. ugh..

pixelllate · 05-02-2012, 12:27 AM

For me its my thighs. But the weight will go away there. Your arms will get smaller, at worst they might look bigger in proportion to the rest of you, but they will go down in size, kind of like how some people are thin up top and bottom heavy. I'm just eating at a cal deficit and simply waiting. Weight training too, but thats just to shape (for me anyways).
If it makes you feel less alone, I lose weight in my sternum/chest bone the fastest, so even if I'm overweight I look super skinny right above my bewbs and not much change anywhere else.

JohnP · 05-02-2012, 12:34 AM

The good rule of thumb is that your problem areas will always be your problem areas because your body prefers to store fat there and prefers not to burn fat from there.

Nothing you can do will help your arms except to keep losing fat and eventually your arms will shrink.

Pepino · 05-02-2012, 01:11 AM

Don't be afraid to lift weights! Yes, it will build the muscle but it is very hard for women to add bulky muscle to their upper body and the benefits will outweigh (pun not-intended) any miniscule increase in arm size. Muscles help you to burn calories even when you're not working out.

Yeah, it sucks how our body get to choose where they burn the fat first (usually genetically determined). My body doesn't listen when I tell it to move the fat from my love handles to my chest LOL

bronzeager · 05-02-2012, 01:17 AM

It was like this for me and at a certain point it just ... happened. Not even when I was losing mostly (between about 23 and 22 1/2 BMI technically I think) but even months and months into maintenance when I had resigned myself to what I had left there was still redistribution. It may happen for you at a different point or in a different order.

(The next thing now is that I have KNEES! I just noticed, like, last week blow-drying my hair. Like, JENNIFER ANISTON KNEES. Well, almost. Weight loss is so weird.)

I was worried about arm flaps even when they were big -- I'm 43 and as a teacher I do a lot of writing on a chalkboard and waving my arms around which makes me self conscious about them. So I had a regular pushups and triceps dips program which helped make them more firm, especially in the back. If you want to try that it would give you something to do while you're on the way. Don't worry if you can't do very many at first, even just girl-knee pushups. Just do them in good form, every day, very consistently, you can split them into a couple times a day even. When I do them every day that's when I make progress on them.

mimsyborogoves · 05-02-2012, 01:36 AM

Thanks you guys, but sadly I don't really feel any better cause sounds like I'm always going to have stupid, fat arms and I'm never going to look right unless I get super skinny. *sigh*

LandonsBaby · 05-02-2012, 02:45 AM

My arms will always be fat. They were bigger when I was thin too and that isn't going to change. My Grandmother has big arms, my mom, my aunt, my cousins. I've actually considered surgery but I don't think I could go through with it. You still have quite ways to go until your goal so it may all even out in the end. I wouldn't be worried about it. Frustrating though, I know.

ValRock · 05-02-2012, 02:50 AM

Weight train!!!! I'm just going to start answering every question with this, on the forum

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But seriously. You can't spot reduce... but muscle makes everything look better and more compact

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I used to have huge arms. They're pretty proportional now. Hang in there!! As you lose bodyfat, they'll shrink!

Aunrio · 05-02-2012, 03:01 AM

I Third the weights. I was terrified I would have flaps/ wings when the weight came off. I probably now have the second nicest pair of arms at my office. It took a few months and slightly heavier weight than I see my women friends typically pick up but no flaps or crazy masculinized arms.

lilywinsit · 05-02-2012, 03:14 AM

Working on the "wings" using weights, not much improvement yet, going to takes several more months I think.

JohnP · 05-02-2012, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mimsyborogoves

Thanks you guys, but sadly I don't really feel any better cause sounds like I'm always going to have stupid, fat arms and I'm never going to look right unless I get super skinny. *sigh*

No ... but you are never going to have super skinny arms unless you get super skinny.

There is a big difference between what I said and you said.

debigulating · 05-02-2012, 08:35 AM

I don't know if your rule holds universally true, John (not criticising, just offering some hope to OP). My problem area is my stomach, that is where my body always prefers to store fat. It is also the first place I lose from (the only place I have so far lost inches). I have no idea how it will go from here, but I don't think it's entirely true that your body will wait until you're nearly at goal to lose your arm weight.

sontaikle · 05-02-2012, 08:44 AM

Lol ValRock, you always beat me to it.

Weight train. It'll help those "problem areas"

My arms were always HUGE. Now they are tiny and have muscle, but honestly it wasn't until I got into the 120s that they went down in size. But because of all the weight training I did it was like the fat peeled away and left the muscle I worked hard to keep