FAT ARMS - anyone have luck shrinking them???

cheyniemama
cheyniemama Posts: 63
edited October 14 in Fitness and Exercise
So, I have lost 30 so far, with NO CHANGE to my arms, which are YUK!

I have maybe 70ish more I would love to lose.

So I wonder if I am stuck with these guys (short of having them surgically removed...I am serious, I will if they don't go back to normal when the rest of me does), or if anyone has been able to get skin to shrink in that area.

Advice, tips, your story, recommended exercises, whatever. I'll take it all!

Thanks :)

Replies

  • walkdmc
    walkdmc Posts: 529 Member
    I've also lost almost 30 pounds in a year and my arms have decreased about 1/2 an inch. Inches are disappearing from everywhere but my arms. I guess some of us tend to hold weight there. I do a lot of light weight lifting/body pump type classes along with cardio.
  • chooklady
    chooklady Posts: 47 Member
    I do 'my' version of push ups and I was amazed to see what happened to my arms. The improvement came after 2 weeks and is very noticeable after 3.
    I do the male straight-backed push up, but go down only about an inch or so . I can barely support my weight, I just bend my elbows a little bit and then up again. At first I could do 3 and collapse.
    After 3 weeks I have built up how many I do, not all in one go, I do a hundred. It takes 2 commercial breaks, or about 5 commercials.
    My arms look younger!
    I am still only going down a few inches, my nose will never hit the floor but it doesn't matter.
    Ps your tummy flattens and your back too.
  • kdeaux1959
    kdeaux1959 Posts: 2,675 Member
    My wife has had some luck with trimming her arms a bit by adding upper body weight training (light weights designed for firming and not for bulking up). She uses the does the upper body workouts on the band machines at the "Y". It has really helped her get her clothes to fit much better. I would think that perhaps arm movements during aerobic activities may would help as well (such as on the elliptical machines).. Hope this helps.
  • cheyniemama
    cheyniemama Posts: 63
    Thanks! Keep the ideas coming...I would rather no have surgery if I can avoid it (pain + expensive = not fun)
  • Molissa08
    Molissa08 Posts: 112 Member
    My arms are one of my worst areas - I can't even bring myself to wear tank tops.
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    If you have 70 pounds more to lose I would just keep plugging away. 70lbs is a total body transformation!
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
    SergeantSunshine_reused Posts: 5,382 Member
    If you have 70 pounds more to lose I would just keep plugging away. 70lbs is a total body transformation!

    This!

    I used to have very pudgy arms. Always wore hoodies to cover them up
  • embersfallen
    embersfallen Posts: 534 Member
    bump x 1454545 lol. HATE my arms. grrr. Weight training is helping but still less then pleased!
  • meltygarden
    meltygarden Posts: 111 Member
    I have lost significant weight before, and my arms are an area that changes dramatically. To be honest, I had the best luck with buying those wraps for the upper arms and wearing those for a few months while the skin settled in. Made it smoother and firmer by quite a lot. You can get them on amazon, can't remember specifically what they are called, but they are like one of those waist girdle things you can get that basically displaces water puff for a while and makes your waist slimmer. Same stuff, but for the upper arms.

    edit to add - granted, I am a person who naturally has a good bit of arm muscle, in addition to accumulating fat easily there - so I was only addressing the skin shrinkage issue rather than the toning issue. I like the suggestion above about the modified push up for that. Sounds like what my daughter did when she was trying to build up her little noodle arms for swim team.
  • LeonaB17
    LeonaB17 Posts: 304
    You can't control where your body gets rid of the fat. You can tone your arms up with weight training but if the skin is all saggy and stretched (like mine)... well you might just have to get over it.
    Check out my profile pic - it's kinda hard to see... but I have an arm roll near the top of my arm near the bicep. It's only when I hold my arm a certain way (which I managed to do in the pic). Used to - that was full of fat, now that a lot of the fat's gone it sags and makes a cute little arm roll. haha - I know its ugly but its way better than the giant blob it used to be.
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
    I still have quite a lot of fat on my arms but I do push ups against a wall every night (2 sets of twenty) and lift weights at the gym to help tone and build the muscles under the fat. I have noticed inch loss since I've been doing that. My triceps (bingo wiiiiings!) are the worst bit of my arms so I've recently started focussing on them on my circut training and free weights.
    One of my goals is to build enough strength in my arms (and lose enough weight in the rest!) to do an unassisted pull up... Just one, I will be happy!
    When I had my bodyfat percentage measured before embarking on the gym, my biceps were 17.5mm and my triceps a frankly shocking 25mm!
    Push ups are awesome as well as tricep dips, and they can both be done at home every night to help develop your arms!
    The nicer the muscles are under the fat, the nicer your arms will look when the fat comes off!
  • SaSSyhasCurls
    SaSSyhasCurls Posts: 93
    I have fat arms. What helped shrink my arms a bit was lifting 2 pound free weights 4 times a week with 50-75 reps with 3 to 4 sets. They are still big to me, but are getting smaller with more weight lose and cardio.
  • cheyniemama
    cheyniemama Posts: 63
    I know the fat will eventually reduce (well, hopefully) I just wonder about the streched out skin. Will that go away?
  • debbylee22
    debbylee22 Posts: 456 Member
    I have had to lose the same wt. a few times in my adult life... and I keep the measurements records from the previous attempts. I was comparing notes, and noticed that this time the arms are not as small at this weight as they were in previous years. :sad:

    I have been doing weights, and front & backwards push-ups consistently (maybe too consistently)! So I am trying to only do them every other day. Think that could be the problem? I am a creature of habit & have to do everything the same every day... but I'm thinking that has been the cause of no effect. Any thoughts ? (I'm new to wts).
  • debbylee22
    debbylee22 Posts: 456 Member
    Push-ups!! That's what's working for me now. Up to 40 normal & 45 backward. :noway: Can't believe I can actually do them now!
  • FITnFIRM4LIFE
    FITnFIRM4LIFE Posts: 818 Member
    Strength training and use your bodyweight for push ups planks and chair dips.
    Good Luck it can be done:-)
  • Cdbrat
    Cdbrat Posts: 2
    Same problem here. I noticed my arms were getting toned as I do upper body during aerobics - I do the walk-at-home dvd's. Triceps are the worst! A trainer told me the more muscle, the better chance we have a shrinking skin. Plus, at the beginning of my weight loss journey, I started slathering on firming lotion with collagen. Every little bit helps, right? Trainer also told me to increase my weights - women tend to be afraid of bulking up but she said with heavier weights, it actually helps the toning. So far, results are noticeable more quickly. I'm 60+ down with more to go. And I'm wearing tank tops for the 1st time in decades - not because my arms look great, but because I don't care. I see toning, at least on the top and my shoulders are awesome!
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    If you have 70 pounds more to lose I would just keep plugging away. 70lbs is a total body transformation!

    I came in here to post this exact advice. And then I realized I was quoting myself from two years ago. I'm consistent, at least.
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
    If you have 70 pounds more to lose I would just keep plugging away. 70lbs is a total body transformation!

    This. Again. Still

    /thread. again.

    *puts bullet in thread's head*
  • newdanifit
    newdanifit Posts: 7 Member
    my arms are my most hated part. in order to get them to look normal i have to be at least 5-10 pounds smaller than the rest of me looks good at. im 5'2 and start looking weird (emaciated face, etc) when i go below 116 except my arms don't look normal until closer to 110. i dont wear tank tops or sleeveless dresses ever. and forget a bathing suit. shorts and tshirts for me :(.
  • NonDebutante3dot0
    NonDebutante3dot0 Posts: 51 Member
    I have big arms, yup, batwings and all. The batwings all but went away when I lifted heavier (12 lbs for bicep curls as opposed to the 1-2 lb barbells designed for toning). Regained the 38 lbs I lost two years ago but I'm back in the saddle and hoping the same thing will work again!!
  • kikomansauce
    kikomansauce Posts: 59 Member
    I can't stand to wear anything sleeveless because of my arms :( but I'm determined!!! I'm planning to start the 100 push up challenge http://hundredpushups.com/index.html Anyone care to join??

    Push ups seems like the one dumbbell-free workout that definitely has noticeable effect on toning arms.
    Anyone know how long it usually takes to see some noticeable change with the arms...?
  • FabianRodriguez94
    FabianRodriguez94 Posts: 221 Member
    My arms were oddly one of the areas that lost fat further into my journey. At around 40 lbs lost, the fat started melting off my arms. Keep it up!
  • MellyLester
    MellyLester Posts: 7 Member
    I come from a family of fat armed women. I can be at my best weight but if I don't do a lot of weights for arms then they just stay big. I find its the only way they get defined and some strength training chair dips push ups etc.
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