Flabby Saggy Swingy Arms

jagodfrey08

I'm not trying to glaze over anything. I'm working with my doctor, who is also a nutritionist, on the diet portion. I'm coming to you guys for the exercise portion, and I greatly appreciate all the advice. I am eating at a deficit to lose weight. I have gone from 202.8 down to 180.5 in the past 9ish weeks. I currently eat at minimum - 92g of protein a day, with most days being over 100g. I keep my carbs to less than 40%, and I make sure those are complex carbs like whole grains, sweet potatoes, berries, apples, corn, and the like. I eat 3 main meals and 2 snacks a day. I am trying to beat the prediabetic diagnosis as well. So, what is so wrong with my diet? How is it not going to help me lose the fat on my arms? According to MFP, I only burn about 500 calories a day outside of my BMR...and my doctor told me not to eat back my calories. Is she wrong? I am a bit confused, now.

ouryve

Even Madonna has bingo wings, btw. It does seem to reach a point where it's hard to fill with sufficient muscle, in many women.

wilsoncl6

jagodfrey08 wrote: »

I'm not trying to glaze over anything. I'm working with my doctor, who is also a nutritionist, on the diet portion. I'm coming to you guys for the exercise portion, and I greatly appreciate all the advice. I am eating at a deficit to lose weight. I have gone from 202.8 down to 180.5 in the past 9ish weeks. I currently eat at minimum - 92g of protein a day, with most days being over 100g. I keep my carbs to less than 40%, and I make sure those are complex carbs like whole grains, sweet potatoes, berries, apples, corn, and the like. I eat 3 main meals and 2 snacks a day. I am trying to beat the prediabetic diagnosis as well. So, what is so wrong with my diet? How is it not going to help me lose the fat on my arms? According to MFP, I only burn about 500 calories a day outside of my BMR...and my doctor told me not to eat back my calories. Is she wrong? I am a bit confused, now.

A lot of people eat back their calories, some don't. Not sure of the reasoning behind the doctor's suggestion although it may be to ensure you hit your caloric goal as some people have a hard time tracking their calories accurately and stay in a deficit. Some people only eat back half or 3/4's of their goal for the same reason. The only problem I see with it is that you may be burning more calories on a daily basis than you've set your goal for. The negative to this is that your weight loss may be even more aggressive than you'd like, resulting in a higher chance of muscle loss. Your doctor may have additional reasons. If you're unsure, just ask the doctor why.

psuLemon

jagodfrey08 wrote: »

I'm not trying to glaze over anything. I'm working with my doctor, who is also a nutritionist, on the diet portion. I'm coming to you guys for the exercise portion, and I greatly appreciate all the advice. I am eating at a deficit to lose weight. I have gone from 202.8 down to 180.5 in the past 9ish weeks. I currently eat at minimum - 92g of protein a day, with most days being over 100g. I keep my carbs to less than 40%, and I make sure those are complex carbs like whole grains, sweet potatoes, berries, apples, corn, and the like. I eat 3 main meals and 2 snacks a day. I am trying to beat the prediabetic diagnosis as well. So, what is so wrong with my diet? How is it not going to help me lose the fat on my arms? According to MFP, I only burn about 500 calories a day outside of my BMR...and my doctor told me not to eat back my calories. Is she wrong? I am a bit confused, now.

Well at 180lbs, it's most likely you have a good amount of fat to lose. I suspect your doctor isn't having you eat back exercise as a means to accelerate weight loss and help keep you motivated. Nothing is wrong with your diet. Just warning you that aggressive weight loss can increase the chances of muscle loss (especially as you become more lean). But at the current time, you are probably in a good position. Also, as your body fat decreases, your triceps and other body parts will look better.

AnnPT77

jagodfrey08 wrote: »

That's kinda what I have going on, AnnPT77. When my arms are flexed, there is no wobble or jiggle. When they are held straight out, it's a huge swoop. It looks so gross to me. It has gotten smaller, but I want to work on those triceps for sure. My arms have always been pretty weak, too. So, I will keep plugging along on my weight loss and work on toning the muscles under the fat.

I think I'm not communicating effectively.

If you can flex it out of existence, it isn't (mostly) fat. Fat doesn't flex into tautness.

There may be a little bit of fat there that gets stretched into a bit more firmness by the flexed muscle; there may be some loose skin that gets stretched into a bit more firmness (or filled out better) by the flexed muscle.

The muscles themselves in the back of the arms will wobble when you hold your arm in the right position so that they're very relaxed, with gravity pulling them downward. This can be true in women with very strong, very toned arms.

You can prove this to yourself if you use the opposite hand to grasp a handful of this upper-arm 'fat' when in the relaxed position, then flex the muscle. You should feel (much of) the "fat" magically transform into a muscle, instead.

<Warning: rant coming> We women are so accustomed to hate on our bodies that we've taught each other to look at our upper arm muscles; misidentify them as some kind of evil, fat, ugly thing; and pledge to work out until we get rid of them. I'm sorry to say it this bluntly, but that's a form of body dysmorphia.

Will your arms look 'better' (according to cultural norms) if you get stronger and leaner? Yes, absolutely. Is it good to be stronger? No question. Will relaxed upper-arm muscles stop wobbling when they're relaxed? Not much.

<end rant>

jagodfrey08

Thank you all. I appreciate the clarification from all of you in regards to my diet. I will definitely modify as I get closer to my goal weight. I really appreciate all the insight!