Help...How to reduce arm flab???

With apologies in advance, because this is going to be an essay (I can touch type and I know how to abuse that). . . .

There are 3 things I'd encourage you to think about (more details below):
1. Where you are in the weight loss process
2. How loose skin tends to behave
3. Women's upper arms, and how we perceive them (I'm a woman, in case it isn't obvious)

Where you are in the weight loss process:

You're reallly getting well under way with weight loss, which is a great thing (congratulations on your progress!). One thing I'd like to point out is that it's hard to tell, in the early to middle (and even semi-late stages), how you will look at goal weight.

Many of us - me included - look worse part way to goal weight than we will at goal, in terms of perceived loose skin. Fat cells can deplete anywhere in our fat mass (not neatly starting from outer layers then proceeding inward). That means that fat areas may get squishy and sort of floppy, and people think that's loose skin. True loose skin is thin layers, like wrinkles in a medium weight fabric (maybe corduroy or denim). Think about the skin you can pinch up on a bony body part, like kneecap or back of hand. Thin! Things that are 1/2" plus folds or rolls probably still have some subcutaneous fat conspiring with gravity to keep the skin stretched out. When that fat depletes further, skin in those areas can begin to seriously shrink. Skin shrinkage, IME, lags behind fat loss, and is a slow thing in itself.

So, how your arms look now is not how they will look at goal weight, and how they look at goal is not how they'll look permanently when you stay at goal weight.

How loose skin tends to behave

So: Loose skin can really start shrinking only after weight loss is pretty well under way, and can continue quite a long time after one reaches goal weight. I'm sorry if that sounds discouraging, but I hope it needn't be: If you're concerned about it, it means there's hope for continuing improvement.

My loose skin was much worse at goal, and continued to shrink at least into year 2 of maintenance (maybe longer). Because of my personal weight distribution patterns, I lost more weight between my ribcage and knees, though I did lose some inches on my arms. At the risk of TMI, my derriere looked like a bulldog's face right after weight loss, and I think now (4+ years later) looks pretty much like any other woman my age (I'm 64 now) who's been at a healthy weight long term. This can be true of any body part where we happen to have previously stored a meaningful amount of body fat, including arms. You may find that some body areas lose down to mostly just loose skin earlier in the weight loss process, and others later, but that all tends to be pretty individual.

I absolutely agree with Niner's statement that "There are NO exercises, creams, massages, dry brushing, etc. that reduces excess skin." People may recommend some to you, but I think they "work" by giving us something to do while the passage of time is what actually achieves some improvements.

Beyond that, what I'd say is that skin is an organ, and the things that keep other organs healthy are also likely to keep skin as healthy as practical, thus elastic and perhaps more likely to be willing to shrink. That means sound well-balanced nutrition (enough protein, enough healthy fat, plenty of varied, colorful veggies and fruits), regular exercise (ideally both cardiovascular and strength, challenging but not excessive (excess = stress)), good hydration (not crazy-much, just adequate), as good sleep as one can manage, and a sensibly moderate weight loss rate (not crazy fast). Not saying you have to be perfect every minute - none of us are - but keeping an eye on those things improves your odds of a good long-term result.

Women's upper arms, and how we perceive them

Finally, about the arms: I find that most women (every single one I've discussed this with in real life, in fact) are misidentifying relaxed triceps muscles as part of their loose skin or fat. I ask them to stretch one arm out straight, then take the opposite hand, and grab the "loose skin" "chicken wing" "bingo wing" "flap" on the extended upper arm, putting their finger tips close to the upper arm bones, and hold on.

Next, I've had them flex that extended arm in as "bodybuilder-like" a pose as they can accomplish: Upper arm above shoulder level, elbow bent, hand curled down/in toward the inside of the arm, consciously/conscientiously tightening every single muscle they can feel, especially those underneath the upper arm. Anything that firms or tightens up when we do that is muscle, not fat or loose skin.

I'm not saying there's no fat or loose skin. I'm saying that in many cases, a big chunk of what women identify as fat/loose skin is actually relaxed muscle. It's 100% normal among even quite fit women (and men) to be able to extend an arm horizontally but otherwise relaxed, shake it hard, and get some floppy mobility in the upper arm. If relaxed muscles were tightTight, how would we move our skeleton around? Relaxed is relaxed, so somewhat slack. The long muscles, in a horizontal position, relax and hang a bit, under the influence of gravity. (Thighs will do the same thing, but we don't usually see them in the same way.)

(That women often misidentify their triceps and hate them as part of their "arm flaps" is one of my pet peeves. )

Hang in there, keep up the good progress, stay patient, and let your healthy body bring you positive outcomes! :flowerforyou:

Best wishes!