Hi all,

My husband is convinced that even though I am losing weight and doing resistance training, I will always have upper arm flab. I disagree because, according to many, many things I've read over the years, you can get rid of the flab by 1) reducing the fat that is on top of the muscle by taking in less calories than you burn and 2) exercising the muscle underneath the fat.

I think he's worried that I'll lose TOO much weight trying to get rid of this arm flab (and other flabby parts, too), and that I'll end up looking anorexic but still have arm flab.

Someone please give me some hope that my arm flab WILL go away eventually!

You are right. You can reduce the flab ( fat) under your arms with a good diet, cardio, and exercises for your triceps ( and biceps for that matter).

However, genetics also plays a role here. Some women are prone to excess flab in that area, expecially as you get older.

good luck.

It also depends on how big your arms were before you started to diet and excercise, as well as how fast you lose the weight. You may have seen people on TV who have had their stomachs stapled, lost the fat, but now have excess skin hanging from their bodies.

As we age our skin loses elasticity, you may lose some of the flab but not all. Don;t let this stop you from excercising.

Wow, Jo-chan -- I wish my husband were more like yours! Mine is constantly telling me that I SHOULD be able to get rid of the extra skin on my stomach after carrying his two enormous babies in there. After I had my oldest I got so skinny that you could see my ribs and my stomach was actually concave, but the skin was all loose and wrinkly so he said there must still be fat under there and if I lost enough weight it would just firm right up and I'd be as good as new. Then he said he wanted another baby. Needless to say, my stomach looks even saggier after the second. The more weight I lose, the worse it looks because the skin just gets looser and looser. It looks like a 90-year-old woman's stomach, but my husband is sure that if I'd only work harder I'd look just like Britney Spears. Sometimes I think it would be refreshing to hear him say, "No matter how hard you try you're never going to get rid of that."

But obviously my stomach skin has been through a little more stress that your arm skin, so you should have a little more luck!

[QUOTE=WishUwerehere]Wow, Jo-chan -- I wish my husband were more like yours!

Geez! I guess I should be grateful that he's the way he is, huh? Ironically, I felt like he wasn't supporting me in my efforts, but I could NOT deal with a husband who constantly pestered me to lose more weight just because I had some loose skin.

Tell your husband you'll look like Britney Spears just as soon as he looks like (insert name of famous male of your choice with great body).

Good luck!

And thanks to everyone who replied to my question. I've lost the weight very, very slowly (50 pounds over 5-year period) so it's not like the deflated-looking skin you see on those Extreme Makeover people. It honestly looks like just...flabby arms. And I will definitely keep exercising!

I would have a talk with your husband, WishUwerehere! I have had two children too and lost 45 pounds with the first one as I ballooned up so much. That loose skin is NOT fat and your abs get stretched from holding in the baby as it grows. Your skin is the body's largest organ and it "grows" to accomodate whatever is going on underneath. It takes awhile to shrink back after having children or losing fat quickly. Sheesh, your ribs were showing, stomach concave and STILL he thought it was fat underneath?

Depending on your age, your skin will shrink quickly or slowly. But it will shrink. It is getting looser because you are losing the fat underneath and it takes time for it to adjust/take up the slack. Drink plenty of water to help keep it's elasticity.

Although there is no such thing as "spot reducing", the arms can be helped with tri cep/bicep exercises. Overall resistance lifting will help burn the fat and keep the metabolism up by burning more calories than taking in. Be sure to drink plenty of water to help keep the skin elastic. Modifying your present diet maybe all that is needed. Just up the protein and lower the carbs abit. As we grow older we lose some of this elasticity, so it may take longer for some than others. I am 52 and have lost a good deal of mine but still have loose skin to shrink back after a year and a half lifting. Lost 55lbs this way from being 245. Still have some batwings but not nearly as bad as they were before I started.