Double chin and fat arms

Beverly2Hansen

I don't think arms look fat. I think my assessment that you're not seeing yourself with neutrality is accurate. That being said muscular arms can improve confidence so I think you'll feel better with recomping. You're doing great!

AnnPT77

I think your arms look fine, normally proportioned.

I personally believe that there's an extra-weird pop culture thing around women's arms, like even on over-thin models their arms look even more disproportionately thin than the rest of them (even "toned" fitness models sometimes). One of my personal pet peeves is that fitted workout jackets almost universally have tiny, tiny narrow sleeves. Workout jackets!?! WT(bleep)?

OTOH, I suspect that in some people's conceptual vocabulary, I'm "bulky" because I look like I might have actual functioning biceps. 🙄

OP, I think @springlering62 has a point: While I think your arms look just fine now, and proportional, you might like the look of them more if you you worked on recomp, added a bit more muscle in your arms.

I hope I'm not overstepping to add that I think some posture work would help you, too, really more for avoiding future back problems than about current appearance. In your side photo, it appears that you have a bit of the head-forward posture that most of us have these days (from leaning over phones and computers, probably). Because that posture comes with a tiny bit of rounding the shoulders forward, it can affect the appearance of arms *a little* as well. (It can kind of squoosh some front-of-shoulder tissue into the upper arm area, make it look a little broader/softer. Try standing sideways to a mirror, roll your shoulder back and down, as if pulling your shoulder blades closer together and down your back. See if that creates a different upper arm look - may or may not.)

The technical term for this posture is "postural kyphosis", but it's more casually called "head-forward posture", or less flattering names like "nerd neck". (If you look up "kyphosis", you'll find that there are scary types; the postural sub-type isn't scary, just worth fixing). There are lots of exercise videos from physical therapists (that last is important) on YouTube. These guys are an example:

https://youtu.be/DB6RNxThAxU

That head-forward thing can also affect jawline appearance, maybe even the double chin perception - but that's not the shoulder part of it that can do that, it's the head part of it. We all have soft tissue under our lower jaw. Head forward can squoosh that out a bit, too. It's harder to describe the posture correction to try it in the mirror, but it's kind of about pulling the head and chin back, making the upper spine straighter (not rounded, but still relaxed/natural, as if suspended by a string at the crown of the head), and lifting the chin a little as well.

I 100% endorse the idea that we're our own worse critics. If I may be so bold, I think it's an even bigger possibility when relatively young (like 19 😉), because there's more social pressure, and we've usually just been going through a lot of body-shape changes in the past few years, and that can be disorienting for body image. It'll be OK: You'll figure out ways to be the best you, and to love your body for the many amazing things it can do.

springlering62

@AnnPT77

😲 that was beautiful

rheddmobile

In terms of equipment, starting as a beginner you can do a lot with just bodyweight. Try pushups and squats to start.

goal06082021

Fidgetbrain wrote: »

Thank you! You’re dead right I do have pretty bad posture, a year of online college didn’t exactly help either 🥲 I wanted those elegantly slim arms where the elbow is wider than the bit above it but I’m not sure that’s possible for most people?

What you describe as "elegantly slim" is better thought of as "skeletal." You have perfectly normal-looking human arms, attached to a perfectly normal-looking human body.

AnnPT77

Fidgetbrain wrote: »

Thank you! You’re dead right I do have pretty bad posture, a year of online college didn’t exactly help either 🥲 I wanted those elegantly slim arms where the elbow is wider than the bit above it but I’m not sure that’s possible for most people?

No idea. I have giant elbows because I have Really Big arm bones (really! even at BMI 20 I have large-ish wrists, usually wear men's large gloves (lots of women's don't fit at all), my ring finger is size 10 (common women's rings often stop at size 9), etc. ). I absolutely would never, ever, call my arms "elegantly slim", but I don't know if my giant elbows are bigger visually than my upper arm, or not. That's my arm in the profile photo, but it's hard to tell what it looks like when bent like that. I guess I think I'm sort of skinny/stringy, but defined-ish in the arms? I don't have a current photo with straight arms, but they looked like this at BMI 19-point-something a few years back when I overshot goal weight.



Personally, I feel like the vital thing is to find our own beauty in the general overall body shape we personally have. We can work on that shape, to bring it to (realistic) points that make us happy. That, plus confidence that comes from finding it, is IMO what makes people attractive - that's what I mean in my PP by "figure out ways to be the best you".

At this stage, I have to be honest, I'm not very interested in my *appearance* much at all, more interested in capabilities for doing stuff. If anything appearance-wise, I think it's fun to look stronger or fitter than most people seem to expect a 65-year-old woman to be. 😉 (Photos are both more like age 60, I think. I don't look much different now, though, IMO. Someday I will, since I'm Getting There age-wise, but that'll be fine, too.)

AnnPT77

Fidgetbrain wrote: »

goal06082021 wrote: »

Fidgetbrain wrote: »

Thank you! You’re dead right I do have pretty bad posture, a year of online college didn’t exactly help either 🥲 I wanted those elegantly slim arms where the elbow is wider than the bit above it but I’m not sure that’s possible for most people?

What you describe as "elegantly slim" is better thought of as "skeletal." You have perfectly normal-looking human arms, attached to a perfectly normal-looking human body.

I think I described it badly I don’t mean the elbow bone is literally jutting out but just that the upper arm curves inwards a little instead of continuing to get wider until the shoulder. Again, I see it’s not a reasonable goal for me though

I'm still not sure about verbal descriptions, but I think you'd find your upper arms would be "contour-y-er" or "shape-y-er" long term from some patient strength training. (Do full body, though, not *just* arms!)

Consider programs here:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

(There are bodyweight ones in there for beginners - you don't need weights or a gym, at least not right off the bat.)

RunsWithBees

Fidgetbrain wrote: »

goal06082021 wrote: »

Fidgetbrain wrote: »

Thank you! You’re dead right I do have pretty bad posture, a year of online college didn’t exactly help either 🥲 I wanted those elegantly slim arms where the elbow is wider than the bit above it but I’m not sure that’s possible for most people?

What you describe as "elegantly slim" is better thought of as "skeletal." You have perfectly normal-looking human arms, attached to a perfectly normal-looking human body.

I think I described it badly I don’t mean the elbow bone is literally jutting out but just that the upper arm curves inwards a little instead of continuing to get wider until the shoulder. Again, I see it’s not a reasonable goal for me though

I think my arms are kinda like that but I it’s probably just due to genetics though. Gonna post some photos to compare… when I was obese my arms were definitely thicker. I lost 43 lbs over 10 months and my arms slimmed down but they were one of the last places I lost fat from. When I was younger and before I was obese I was always very self conscious about my “spaghetti arms” and now that I am a healthy BMI 23.3 they are back to being spaghetti-like but I don’t mind anymore, they are what they are and I am happy with them. For reference I am 5’11” 167 lbs 46y/o and mainly a runner, I don’t really do arm exercises, maybe a little swimming but that’s about it, I’ve maintained my goal weight for 7+ years now. Not sure if this helps but you can see how my arms did change with my weight loss, although you look like you are already at a healthy weight and much younger than me. By the way, your arms look completely normal and proportional to your size. Recomp definitely sounds like the way to go for you, best of luck!

rheddmobile

Fidgetbrain wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Fidgetbrain wrote: »

goal06082021 wrote: »

Fidgetbrain wrote: »

Thank you! You’re dead right I do have pretty bad posture, a year of online college didn’t exactly help either 🥲 I wanted those elegantly slim arms where the elbow is wider than the bit above it but I’m not sure that’s possible for most people?

What you describe as "elegantly slim" is better thought of as "skeletal." You have perfectly normal-looking human arms, attached to a perfectly normal-looking human body.

I think I described it badly I don’t mean the elbow bone is literally jutting out but just that the upper arm curves inwards a little instead of continuing to get wider until the shoulder. Again, I see it’s not a reasonable goal for me though

I'm still not sure about verbal descriptions, but I think you'd find your upper arms would be "contour-y-er" or "shape-y-er" long term from some patient strength training. (Do full body, though, not *just* arms!)

Consider programs here:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

(There are bodyweight ones in there for beginners - you don't need weights or a gym, at least not right off the bat.)

Thank you, I’ll check them out! I can’t actually do a single push up at the moment so it will be nice to gain some strength aside from aesthetic changes lmao 😬

If I can make a suggestion, rather than start with knee pushups, which are really a different movement, start from an elevated surface such as a chair or a counter, and move to a lower surface whenever it starts feeling easy. When I first started getting fit I was so out of shape that I did wall pushups, and they were hard! A good form push-up hits all your core muscles as well as your chest, back, and arms, so it’s a lot of bang for the buck.

Mazintrov13

Can I just say mewing is just using correct tongue and body posture and definitely will make a difference in your jaw and face appearance if done correctly.
This is my before and after mewing about 3 months

Mazintrov13

Fidgetbrain wrote: »

Mazintrov13 wrote: »

Can I just say mewing is just using correct tongue and body posture and definitely will make a difference in your jaw and face appearance if done correctly.
This is my before and after mewing about 3 months

I can’t get my tongue to sit at the roof 🥺 the tip is always there and I can put the middle up if I think about it but I physically cannot get the back of it up

I had lots of trouble at the beginning as well it takes a bit of work! I also have a posterior tongue tie which makes it very hard.
Try swallowing correctly by only using your tongue and not other facial muscles you should feel the back of your tongue on the roof of your mouth.
Also check out Mike Mew on YouTube if you haven’t already

g2renew

Your arms look fine proportionally and period! BTW, I am a professional artist - almost 40 years- and I do lots of commissions for portraits. My 'professional' opinion: you suffer from the same thing most people do-being too critical of ourselves. You look fine. Body shaping with weights might help you appreciate your body better.

AnnPT77

Could be postural, but it's normal for bodies to have some asymmetry. It's certainly in the range of normal to have a bit more muscle on the dominant-hand side, whether visible or not, among other possibilities.

I don't think your body in that last photo looks anything even faintly abnormal, but if you're curious, it might be useful, next time you see your doctor for some other reason, to ask her/him to take a look at your spine for straightness, or other things of that sort. (Many of us can have a bit of asymmetry there - or anywhere - without it being any kind of a problem, so I'm suggesting it just as an interesting thing to ask, if it interests *you*, not as a screening for some possible Big Deal that I'm not telling you about).

As an aside, it's also normal to *feel* that one's posture is X when it's actually slightly Y, such as feeling one is straight when one is not. My sport is a technical one, where body positions really matter (on-water rowing, specifically). Coaches regularly give us corrections about things that we're doing that don't match with what we thought we were doing, posture-wise or in other physical ways. Self-perception of body position only goes so far, particularly after we've internalized a certain posture or movements as feeling "normal". 🤷‍♀️

Bodies are weird. So are brains. 😉

Don't worry. 🙂

MsCzar

Not sure about arms - but re chins: Actor Cary Grant (who supposedly never had plastic surgery) swore by daily chin exercises. One was repeatedly doing an exaggerated Ah-OOO-gah - thrusting the chin forward on the 'OOO.' The other exercise was to lie down with your head hanging off the bench or bed and sloooowly lifting your head up.

After losing 80lbs./5.7 stone my chin was looking saggy. I'm up for a neck lift - but I thought I'd give it a year and see what exercise could do. I've been doing ol' Cary's exercises now for a month and can tell you it HAS made a difference!