The past couple of weeks have found me at the gym about ten days.  My typical workout consists of 15 to 20 minutes of hard cardio, 30 minutes of weightlifting, and 15 minutes on a treadmill. I alternate what I’m working on with weights. One day it’s arms, shoulders, chest and back. The next day it’s legs, hips and core. I’m already seeing some significant results; however, I’m also seeing some other things.

Namely flying squirrel arms.

The reality of having a lot of fat for a long time is that I had all the skin required to cover it.  Now that the fat’s not there, the skin doesn’t know it’s not needed anymore and doesn’t seem to be hitting the road.  So, I’ve got extra skin – particularly on my arms, abdomen and thighs.  And, I’m not going to lie, it bothers me. It bothers me that it’s there and it bothers me that cosmetic surgery is really the only way to totally get rid of it.

We see articles all the time about losing belly fat or trimming our thighs or getting a smaller posterior.  The truth is (and you already know this) without liposuction. we cannot spot reduce the fat in our bodies.  The body calls up the contents of fat cells for usage in whatever order it decides.  Right now, I’m 13 pounds away from my goal and, if I got a vote, almost all of them would come from between my rib cage and my knees. I have not been issued a voter registration card, though, so I’m fairly certain I will not get any input on this.

So, I can’t determine where the fat comes from; however, I can make certain that I am diligent in exercising the muscles in those areas that I’d like to see decrease.  I can work to firm and condition the underlying muscles.  As those firm up, even with the extra skin, the appearance of the whole area is improved. I’m told that the extra skin will decrease over time, as well; but, that it takes several years.  Oh, well.  I was planning on living them, anyway.  Might as well see if that is true, right?

As I said, I’m 13 pounds away from my goal and I’m confident that (like last time) my bra size will reduce to Why Bother before my thighs are where I’d like for them to be. C’est la vie! I will keep working towards that goal, fitting back in my favorite skirts from last year and I won’t worry about the rest of it.

I don’t like the extra skin, but it’s not going to kill me the way the fat was.  And, I’d like to lose the rest in my hips and thighs, but if I don’t, that won’t kill me either.  What will kill me is living the way I was, eating whatever I wanted, allowing my head trash to get in the way, and never exercising. I might not be able to spot reduce fat; but, I can certainly spot reduce unhealthful habits.

To those, I can be my very own Lady McBeth and command: Out, damned spot!