Question about stubborn upper arms!

[nbooi]

Hey all,

Long time r/xxfitness lurker, first time poster.

I'm writing for some advice about stubborn upper arm fat (batwings, bingo wings, whatever you call them! I am a 29y/o female that has been on a weightloss journey for the past year. I have always struggled with my arms being proportionately fatter than the rest of my body, and they are definitely my biggest insecurity (e.x. my torso would fit in a medium top, but the arms would never fit).

I started my fitness journey at 170 pounds and recently weighed in at 146 - I am working out with a personal trainer and have lost 5% body fat and am getting stronger every week.

As I know you can't spot target fat loss, I've been working on overall fat loss and toning my upper body. I'm seeing results (back and biceps) yet every time we measure, I lose inches in every place but my arms. After over a year of working out and eating right, I am at a bit of a loss. I feel as though surgery is my only option but would love to hear Redditors experience with stubborn areas such as upper arms. I just want to feel comfortable in sleeveless tops for once in my life!

Thanks in advance,

C

Edit: Thanks to everyone for your helpful answers - I'll keep doing what I'm doing and hope to see results.

 

[fauekie]

@nbooi My family always jokes about our "'grandma's last name' arms" because we ALL got my Grandma's arms, which hold on to every last bit of fat at all costs. Even my smallest, fittest relatives have much larger arms, so I do think there can be a role of genetics with this. Doing a lot of arm exercises definitely helped, I think because I was starting to see more definition at my strongest, but my experience was that they didn't change size as much as the rest of me did when I lost fat, and the changes I did see happened soooooo slowly. I did feel more comfortable in sleeveless shirts because they looked a bit more defined even though they were still bigger, but I also had to learn to live with them a little bit (and I just buy men's t-shirts, because I find they fit better in the arms, and trying on women's t-shirts just makes me feel worse about everything.)

 

[ambassadorcjk]

@nbooi I never had fat arms until I got pregnant at 35 and gained about 100lbs. I lost all the baby weight within 2 years but my arms just stayed puffy. I’ve always worked out 3-5 a week doing cardio and lifting and also tracked calories. Arms stayed fat. It wasn’t until I started doing more arm-involved cardio that they leaned out. Running didn’t do it. Biking didn’t do it. It was the elliptical with the arm bars that you hold that finally shrunk them down. You have to hold the bars tho and use a challenging resistance (10+). If you think about it, when doing cardio your arms just kind of hang there unless you engage them. Tennis would be good too, I’d think

 

[jumpingginger]

@nbooi I didn’t like my arms till I got bigger shoulder muscles. I still have some flab but something about the shoulder muscles being big too makes my arms look stronger.

 

[ryanchamp]

@nbooi Arms are a bitch.

They’re one of those body parts that, for some, stay fat until the rest of you is lean. Keep cutting until they budge, sorry their isn’t much more can be done. If @15-20% BF you still don’t like your arms... then maybe look into other options.

 

[carley9897]

@nbooi Honestly, would it be possible for you to start accepting your 'flubby' arms? Given that you are at a healthy weight and regularly exercising.

 

[nbooi]

@carley9897 This is definitely part of the battle. Unfortunately, they are truly the area that affects my self-esteem the most.

 

[dawn16]

@nbooi Instead of focusing solely on mass loss, have you considered gaining muscle mass in other areas to look more filled out overall, rather than having (as you put it) disproportionately large upper arms? The other comments here seem to focus on more fat loss, but 146 lbs should be in a normal weight range (by BMI standards) for you if you are of average height or taller, so I would recommend focusing on lower body to even the physique out. You gain more strength, can continue eating at whatever caloric intake you have right now (or even more) rather than further cutting back, and can achieve a proportionate look.

 

[nbooi]

@dawn16 I take your point! I'm definitely hitting the lower body hard too, so maybe this will be the case as I continue along. Thanks!

 

[dawn16]

@nbooi Focusing on our least favorite parts makes them seem greater than they actually are, which is a terrible waste of your energy. You are making progress. You are healthy and strong therefore your upper arms are healthy and strong. If any part of you needs to "catch up," just work out muscles you don't usually work on, let them get stronger, but don't fixate on the fat.

 

[goldladyslipper]

@nbooi My upper arms are one of the very last places I lose fat too. I wasn't happy with them until I was at a very low body fat % and even then I still had that big fatty bit by the armpit which you can't lose. All you can do is keep on going with your fat loss, keep building up your arm muscles to get that definition and eventually you'll see progress.

 

[earthboundmisfit929]

@goldladyslipper Same here! I always had thick arms, and once I started IF and lost more body fat in general then my arm slimmed down too.

 

[greenday129]

@nbooi A photo would be helpful. You don’t need surgery. Keep losing weight and your arms will get smaller. Also “toning” isn’t really a thing