You’re a mom. Your body has been through hell in a hand basket. (Not to mention many pairs of God forsaken netted hospital panties.) At some point, your body is done with the whole “Before” and “After” crap. Thanks to Jillian Michaels and other ass-kicking fitness experts, we finally settle on a lifestyle where we feel healthy and happy with our bodies. We run. We walk. We cut back on crap food. We do exercise classes. God knows we try. But what the eff, may I ask, is up with the “Arm Dangle”? You know, that abundance of fat on the inner arm. For this mom who recently turned 41, I didn’t realize that I’d be so young when I would be introduced to the Arm Dangle. No, I thought I would be 88 when my arms would wave along with me. I’d have white hair and teach stretching at the senior center. Every time I’d lift my arm, it would jiggle and smell like Sanka. And all the other blue-hairs would lift their Arm Dangles along with me. No, it was not until I recently saw a picture of myself and had to ask, “Who is the old chick on the right with the fat arms? No, really, whose arm is that? WTF, what’s wrong with this picture?” Then I saw another picture, and yet another, with white mounds of flesh looking like they were stretching out to sea. “Holy tamale, that’s ME!” I will admit I like to eat. Always have, always will. But I exercise a lot too. Someone please tell me what’s happening to my body. And WHY is it necessary for extra flab to gravitate to this random (but oh so obvious) part of my body at this time of my life – especially when the summer is quickly approaching? And cute, colorful sleeveless blouses are finally on sale? Why is it that no matter how much I work out, how careful I am about the food I eat, it’s inevitable that the camera will capture this particular part of my arm in such a way that it looks like both arms are ready to set sail? And no matter how hard I try to crop the photo, these repulsive mounds of useless flesh stretch on and on and on, beyond the crop line. Flash back 1,800 years ago. Say I’m wandering the wilderness with my baby wrapped in animal skin, I can see the use for this excess flab. Subsisting on nothing but berries and bark, that extra body fat could come in handy on day four of an involuntary fast. I could live off of it for several days, weeks even. But what purpose does it serve now and how the heck can I get rid of it? I recently tried a week-long tone up and work out schedule. I was pretty proud of myself. Then in yet another picture, I caught a glimpse of my winged friends. Thankfully, I did find a trick in a magazine that says if you place your hand on your hip, it diminishes the appearance of inner arm flab. Please make a note of this the next time you see a photo of me. It’s my new pose, girl, and I’m stickin’ to it!