How to Lose Weight in Your Fingers & Hands

To lose weight in your fingers and hands, you must create an overall plan to lose weight across your entire body. There's no way to target one specific area of your body for weight loss. Instead, eat healthy and exercise to burn calories and lose weight. Perform some hand exercises to tone and strengthen your hand muscles as part of your workout regimen. If you're losing weight but your hands aren't getting smaller, the problem could be water retention instead of fat.

Start exercising at least 30 minutes a day, five days a week. If you're a beginner, start by walking briskly or swimming, which raises your heart rate and works muscles throughout your body. Add resistance to your workout by using hand weights or by using the weight machines at a gym. As you grip the weights, you're working your hands as well as your arm muscles. To lose a pound of fat, you must burn 3,500 more calories than you put in your body, so exercise is key to losing weight.

How to Lose Weight in Your Fingers & Hands

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Create a healthy eating plan incorporating fresh vegetables, fruits, lean meats, whole-eat breads and low-fat dairy options. Stay away from fried foods, processed foods and foods filled with sodium, such as Asian food made with soy sauce. Count your calories for each meal and snack to make sure you stay within your daily limit. The American College of Sports Medicine recommends women stick to at least 1,200 calories per day, and men to at least 1,800. Adjust your caloric intake so your exercise allows you to burn more calories than you consume while staying above the recommended calorie minimums.

Reduce your sodium. Check labels for the sodium amounts, including on condiments and in drinks, specifically sports drinks. You should consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day, about a teaspoon of salt. If you're at a higher risk of problems from increased sodium, such as if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or kidney problems, or if you're black or older than 50, you should consume less than 1,500 mg of sodium per day. Sodium can cause your body to retain water, which is often most obvious in your hands and feet. Drink plenty of water -- eight 8-ounce glasses daily -- and your fingers and hands should begin to look slimmer. Exercise can help as well, as you sweat out some of the water your body is retaining.

Physical Therapy Exercises After Hand Surgery

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Exercise your hands to tone the muscles in your hands and fingers. Squeeze a stress ball, holding the squeeze for three seconds for 10 repetitions. Work your way up to firmer stress balls or a tennis ball. Use Chinese exercise balls to build your hand muscles as well. Roll two balls around the palm of your hand using only your fingers of that hand, trying to keep the balls from touching. To stretch the muscles, press the fingertips of both hands together with the fingers spread apart. Move your palms in and out slowly.

Warnings

Swollen hands can be a symptom of some serious diseases, such as congestive heart failure and kidney disease. If a low-sodium, well-balanced diet and exercise don't help you lose weight in your hands and fingers, see a doctor to check for potential health problems.