Expert: Linda Erwin, M.S. - 4/17/2005

Question
Hello mrs.Erwin
          I'm a 16 year old girl and I'm fairly thin. I'm around 5'9 and 125 pounds. The thing that I would like to change about my body are my arms. I have muscular arms(I think so anyway) And I would like to tone them down, to make them look more feminin. Do I lower my protien intake? is that safe?   And do you have any other ideas I could use to just lower the muscle mass on my arms? Would aerobics make me loose muscle mass?
thank you!

Answer
Hi Linda,

I understand you have a concern about your arms being too muscular.  Because you are so thin, your arms will show definition.  Eating differently will not change that and it would be unhealthy.  As you get older, you will probably round out a little bit unless everyone in your family are all very thin.  You don't want to get rid of muscle weight anyway.  That is what kicks up our metabolism, makes us strong and healthy.  You could gain some weight which would change your body.  Try eating a little more of higher fat "good foods" such as nuts, whole grain pastas, use real butter (not too much), bananas, dairy.  If you add 200 calories a day, over time you will gain some pounds.  There is no guarantee that the added weight will go directly to your arms.  It will go all over.  Your normal weight range for your height is 131-159 lbs.  
Please don't obsess over your arms.  Women probably envy you all day long.  Be proud of your body exactly the way it is.  If you want to gain 10 lbs, great...if you feel healthy the way you are, then don't do it.  Working out with weights will increase your definition and muscle, so work other parts of your body.  Aerobics will not help you lose muscle tone but it won't increase your arm size either.  Aerobics is for lungs and heart (cardiovascular) improvement.  
Hope this helps,
Linda