Kill the Arms

When did I start hating my arms? Right about the same time that Michelle Obama started to show hers.  Firm, muscular biceps with smooth, tight skin; damn her and her sleeveless dresses!

What exactly is wrong with a flabby upper arm? Try the “wave test”.   Does your upper arm keep waving after you stop?  Not too attractive.  My real epiphany occurred as I tried on a sleeveless dress three weeks ago. It is well into warm weather in the southwest and sleeveless is a must.  Of course the fabulous downlighting provided courtesy of Nordstrom’s fitting room did nothing but highlight my every undulation.  Yes, you can have cellulite on your arms and I do.

Five reasons to not like my arms

1. Complete absence of muscle definition
2. Upper arm resembles bowl of cottage cheese
3. Weird little pouchy thing by my armpit
4. Crepe paper where my skin used to be
5. Positive wave test (see above)

My summer project is “kill the arms”, or put more gently, trade in the old arms for new(er) ones. Here is my plan:

I started my campaign on March 25^th with a nice dose of Thermage CPT. This is the latest version of the gold standard Thermage skin tightening utilizing radiofrequency energy.  One treatment and I should see less crepiness and tighter looking skin developing over several months.

Three days later I had my upper arms treated with CoolSculpting.  This is the latest in fat reduction utilizing cryolipolysis, cold induced fat reduction.  A giant suction cup draws the saggy fat in-between two plates that slowly cool the area to just above freezing. The fat crystallizes at this temperature but the skin, muscle and nerve tissue are unharmed.  After 3 months I should lose about a 20 to 25% of the fat layer.  Less to love. (CoolSculpting is ideal for abdomen, love handles, muffin top etc… ).

Part of our aftercare for Thermage is a treatment with Triactive (a low level laser/suction/massage) that continues the process of collagen stimulation.  Maintenance treatments can be done weekly or monthly over time, I started at 2 a week and am tapering off to one a month.

Now that I have kick started my arm rejuvenation I have embarked on a daily maintenance of Glytone LipoLift (a low tech massager with a glycolic cleanser) to stimulate circulation and massage out fluid under the skin while showering. After showering I am using a Glytone body lotion with glycolic acid to improve the crepiness.

Oh, yeah, and I started lifting weights.  I figure the bigger my biceps get the better my skin will fit.

My “Kill the Arms” regimen should result in killer arms by mid-summer.  I will get back to you then, I’ve got some family weddings to go to and I am counting on those killer arms.