A Big Butt and A Smile (except when my pants are too tight)

I’ve always been curvy. I’m a classic pear shape, which means I can get really small through my arms and waist but my booty is always there. Thankfully, running has saved me from getting a mom butt. Why is it that childbirth, and let’s be real here- entering one’s thirties- makes gravity grab onto your cheeks and just drag ’em down? At 21, I wore a bigger pant size but my ass looked damn perky. Now I have to run. And squat. And lunge. And eat fewer cookies.

I’m doing pretty well on the cookie front, since I gave those up for Lent, but I’ve realized that I need to eat a bit better overall. I’ve gained about six pounds and I’m not really sure when that happened, though if I had to pinpoint, it was probably when we bought (and ate) allllll the Girl Scout cookies. A few weeks ago, my pants began feeling snug, so I stepped on the scale and discovered I was up from the last time I weighed myself (about six months ago).

This past weekend, I decided to do a little bit of meal planning and on Monday, I logged everything I ate into My Fitness Pal. What an eye opener! I think of myself as a healthy eater who overindulges on sugar, but if my food log for Monday was any indication, I’m consuming way too many calories overall. Oops. I’ve been nursing or pregnant for so long, I guess I just lost sight of things. And I work out a lot! Too bad that’s only part of the puzzle (waaaaah, why can’t chocolate be a diet food?).

I don’t think My Fitness Pal is for me for the long term- it was cumbersome and time consuming for me to enter in all that data, and I still can’t figure out how to enter in any exercise besides cardio, but it was a nice reality check. I want to be fit, but I also want to look fit, and fit into my pants.

So healthy-eating club, holla! Where my friends at? I know Cyanne over at Run, Stretch, Go is incredibly disciplined about eating clean, and she shares her recipes. Any other blog recommendations for me? I’ll share with you! We ate this kale salad (along with grilled chicken sausage) on Sunday night and it was delish. You know I love my greens.

Do you food journal? What helps you stay on a healthy eating track?

19 thoughts on “A Big Butt and A Smile (except when my pants are too tight)

  1. I don’t have children to blame, but man, the jump into the 30s, woah. It’s like one day you’re 29 and can drop weight like you drop keys, and literally the next day you question how much weight you’ll lose if you get a haircut.

    The last month, I’ve been extra diligent about logging everything, and ensuring I have an average 500 calorie deficit each day (some days I don’t, but I tend be more active on weekends so I can make some up there). It’s helped. I’m down ~7 pounds. I need to stay strong and keep pushing, but I’m getting there.

    Thanks for sharing my stuff 🙂 and also, we need to be MFP friends!

  2. I hear ya! I’m also a pear shape. I noticed a change in my body when I turned 27 and it’s only gotten harder to lose weight since, I’m 32 now. I’ve been doing my fitness pal just to get back into a groove. Then I plan on going back to eating clean.

  3. I notice that if I buy unhealthy food ( chips, cookies, etc) I will always go to snack on them when I am not hungry so now I just don’t buy them. I do feel I deprive myself but I figure I eat those snacks when I visit my parents because they always have them laying around!

    • I try to buy snacks for the kids that I don’t like to avoid this…for instance, they love those berry flavored Oreos and as much as I love Oreos, I won’t touch those. Yuck!

  4. I am just lazy and fall into the unhealthy habit. I started journaling again today. I need to avoid processed food at this point in my life, it stays with me all over and I am NOT happy about it. Thanks for posting this great reminder to keep things in check.

    • Yes! All those cookies and crackers and chips. Uch. Everyone else in my house loves it, which makes it harder. I’ve been trying to prep some healthy snacks for myself so that I’m more likely to reach for that.

  5. Haha you’re too funny girl. I’m a classic pear shape with a booty myself, and though I haven’t entered motherhood or my 30’s yet, now that I know how much fun gravity becomes I just can’t wait!!

  6. I don’t know if you use anything to log your mileage but I use Runkeeper and synced it to myfitnesspal. Only have to log it once.

  7. I don’t food journal because I’m scared of what I’ll see!! Yes – I need to be much more disciplined. I know I’ll feel a lot better but it’s just so hard to get there!

    • I’m terrible at food journaling. The other day I was cleaning my desk and found a notebook labeled food journal and one page was filled out- in January 2012. Oops. My pants sure do try to hold me accountable though!

  8. I can’t give you any advice or anything like that because I have a lot of problems with food and weight and all that stuff, but I think you’re beautiful and I know you can make the changes you want to make. 🙂

  9. I’m with you! I’ve gained about 10 lbs in the last year (but am trying not to blame the boyfriend). I like doing MFP because it keeps me thinking about my food choices throughout the day, though it can be a lot of work if you’re super exact about it. (I’m not – measuring cups are my friend, but scales are not.) Anyway, the boyfriend and I are starting this weekend with doing food prep on Sundays and sharing meals throughout the week (we live about 30 mins apart, but that’s what Tupperware is for), which I’m excited about because it means much less boredom than when I used to make two meals on Mondays and eat them by myself all week long. (So bored by Wednesday…)

    I haven’t used many of her recipes, but Kylie at Imma Eat That (http://immaeatthat.com/) has some delicious looking stuff… Anyway, good luck!!

    • I think when you’re happy, you get a little lazy about diet. And I think you’re pretty happy! So yes, blame all the good things, including the boyfriend. 😉

      I’m good at measuring- we actually have five sets of measuring cups and spoons because I’ve been obsessive about it since I did Weight Watchers a million years ago. My meals are very healthy. It’s the snacking. (I love snacks.)

      That said, I’m terrible at food journaling. Planning is where it’s at! I’ll check out that blog. Thank youuuuu.

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