Arm fat is prevalent among people who are obese. However, if you don’t follow certain rules, you may still wind up with fat under your arms after losing weight. In order to prevent it, you need to identify the root cause.
Women are more predisposed to develop and keep arm fat after weight loss because of their genetic makeup.
Additionally, your diet has a profound effect on how fat is distributed. You also want to think about the kinds of exercises you perform.
If you have arm fat after weight loss, you need to consider whether these factors apply to you.
Why You Have Arm Fat after Weight Loss
1. You lost weight the wrong way
Some people lose weight in a non-sustainable manner. You might have gotten the scale to budge, but you could have lost water weight instead of real fat.
If you lost weight through an extreme diet, you are likely to belong to this group. Usually, fad diets cause unsustainable weight loss.
Any diet plan that forces you to maintain an extreme calorie deficit is unsustainable and has deadly side effects.
2. It is in your genes
As I said above, women have a greater likelihood of having arm fat than men.
Our genetics often determine how fat will be distributed in the body. This means that as you lose weight, the body will torch fat from different parts. Some parts will lose fat faster than others.
Therefore, you need to be aware of this fact and manage your expectations. If you especially had a lot of weight in your arms, it is possible that it may linger there.
3. You rejoiced too soon
The reason why you tend to lose weight quickly in the first few weeks of a diet is because of the water you shed. If you stop after losing a few pounds, you may have arm fat after weight loss.
Most people can lose close to 7 pounds in the first week of dieting. However, in subsequent weeks, you may lose 1 or 2 pounds.
During these first few weeks, you may still have arm fat and probably fat in other unflattering areas of your body. To remedy this, give yourself time before expecting major changes.
4. You rarely get enough sleep
For you to lose arm fat, you need to get more efficient at losing fat all over your body.
Sleep controls fat loss through the regulation of hunger hormones, so you need to get a sufficient amount of it. Leptin and ghrelin determine how much you eat. Additionally, stress hormones increase fat retention.
In this study, it was shown that the people who slept four hours more than their counterparts, ate 300 calories less. Sleep is thus vital for fast and lasting weight loss.
5. You didn’t eat enough protein
Protein is an essential nutrient in fighting fat retention. This is because protein is the constituent ingredient in building muscle.
Additionally, protein helps to reduce your appetite and increase the feeling of fullness. Since protein takes longer to digest, your body is likely to use its fat reserves for energy.
6. You did not do triceps exercises
Your arm consists of biceps at the top of the arms and triceps at the back of the arms.
Most people focus on building biceps and ignore triceps. This makes the arms look less toned since triceps are the bigger muscle group.
Some of the exercises you can do for triceps are shoulder taps or tricep dips.
7. The training you used
If you lost weight without exercise or use the wrong training regimen, you are likely to retain arm fat.
A surefire way of getting rid of those ‘bat arms’ is doing interval training, research shows. This involves alternating between high-intensity exercises and low-intensity ones.
The regimen improves your metabolism and increases the chances of fat burning.
Alternatively, you can choose exercises that target all muscle groups. They may range from squats, burpees, pushups and overhead presses. That way, all the muscles in your body are involved and you lose fat in stubborn areas such as your arms.
If you don’t want to go through the pain of designing your own workout, follow the fat blaster sequence. If you follow this sequence diligently, you won’t have arm fat after weight loss.
8. You forgot to lift weights
Spot reduction is a fallacy in weight loss. However, muscle building is not. If you want to replace the fat under your arms with muscle, you have to incorporate weights into your routine.
Doing weights will help to fill out your triceps so that they look firmer. Apart from the use of dumbbells or heavier weights, consider doing a triceps pushup or triceps kickbacks as well.
If you did moderate-intensity workouts or long-distance training, you would maintain your arm fat.
9. You are stressed
If you are stressed, you are more likely to have hormonal imbalances. This means that your body will resist the development of muscle. It will also become more efficient at storing fat.
You can regulate your hormones by reducing stress. Practice mindfulness and avoid situations that make you anxious. If you can’t change your circumstances, you may want to make peace with them.
10. You have hormonal imbalances
Sometimes you have too much estrogen in your body.
As I mentioned before, women’s genetic makeup causes them to retain fat in their arms. Therefore, if you have too much of the female hormone, you would also have a higher likelihood of fat retention in your arms.
Sometimes, excess estrogen comes from birth control pills or chemicals in cosmetics and food. These could all cause arm fat after weight loss.
11. Your meals are not balanced
If you eat very few calories and don’t include certain food groups, you are likely to develop an unflattering silhouette.
When shopping, it is important for you to buy fruits, vegetables, whole grains, white and red meat as well as plant proteins.
This way, you get all the macronutrients you require. Your body is likely to burn more fat and you would thus improve the appearance of your arms.
12. You ate too many processed carbs
You might have managed to lose weight with processed carbs because you had a calorie deficit.
However, when your blood sugar is imbalanced, you may develop insulin resistance. This means that you will store fat instead of using it for energy.
It is a good idea to get rid of excess junk food and sugar in your diet.
The Bottom Line
Arm fat after weight loss may be due to hormonal imbalances, poor food choices, and ill-advised exercise routines. It is critical for you to address each of these concerns before you attempt weight loss.
Make sure you get enough sleep, reduce stress, lift weights, train, and lose weight slowly to prevent flabby arms.
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