You’ve heard of the “Freshman 15.”
You’ve heard of the “Spare Tire.”
But have you heard of “Bloggers Butt?”
Well, I am here today to tell you it does exist. And I have the blown out pants to prove it.
Many bloggers out there have been able to work hard at fighting this phenomenon while sadly I have not. I hope to change that though, with hopefully your help.
So first off I want to tell you my Story
I used to be skinny. Oh yes, back in high school. I was one of the kids that could eat ANYTHING and stay the same weight. I could eat junk food, no problem. Fries, hamburgers…the more the merrier. Life was good. (Note: I wasn’t super skinny or anything…I have always been average – I was 5.5 inches and weighed around 125-130. I was in good shape though and did all kinds of sports so some of that was muscle).
Then came marriage, and after a few years pregnancy occurred. Something changed in me during that 9 months…my metabolism stopped working. I ate the same foods I always ate but gained 70 lbs when I delivered at 32 weeks (I had twins who came early. ) The sad thing is that the twins together didn’t even weigh 8 lbs…so, yeah I was a gainer. It took a good 6 months, but I was back to where I was before weight wise. However as anyone that’s had a baby knows…your body is never quite the same as before. Hello stretch marks, extra tummy skin and saggy boobs!!
Then 5 years later (yes…having twins scared me to have more kids) we decided to have another baby. This time I knew what my body does to me when I am pregnant with my metabolism, however I still didn’t control what I ate. So I gained 50 lbs this time with just one baby inside. It took another 6 months, but got almost back down to my weight – just 5 lbs over. Then a few years later I had my 4th baby – and another 5lbs decided to stick around on my body.
I then decided to work at it a bit to lose those pounds, and so I tried some diets including Body for Life, and exercising at the gym. The exercise did change my body shape which made me really happy. But as for the diet…I tried and failed. I did 2.5 weeks on the Body For Life diet (without cheating). When I stepped on the scale after that 17 days and saw that I hadn’t lost one pound I was so irritated!! I gave up, went out and had me some fast food and the next day I had lost 3 lbs! I tell you…its all mental for me or something. I am fairly sure dieting makes my body release something that causes me to hold onto the weight – or that is what I tell myself. So anyways, whenever I work out my body shape does change, but since I don’t last long on diets it would also come right back when I stopped working out.
Fast forward to then starting my blog around 3 years ago. I was looking GOOOOD people…good!!
I mean look at me – here I am when my son turned 1 – pre-blog days. I look at me wearing my favorite jeans that I grew too fat for. *Sigh* By the way, I still have those jeans hanging in my closet – even though its been like 3 years now that I haven’t fit into them. But I hold onto them thinking and hoping that my body will magically lose weight and I will fit them again. The dream is still alive….
Then I began blogging. I slowly added more and more time online. 1 hour a day to 2 -3 hours. And as my blog has grown I find I spend more hours than that even sometimes. Not to mention I LOVE to EAT! Ack. Long story short – I have allowed my body to gain 15-20 lbs in the past 3 years! And at least 5lbs have gone to my butt for sure…..thus the jeans with the torn out bum.
After the first year of blogging I did try to fight my weight gain – and for about 4 months I trained to do a 5k race. I hated running, but I loved the feeling when I was done. I lost probably 5-9 lbs and felt like I had a lot of energy.
Me finishing up my first and only 5k.
After that race I felt really accomplished, however I pretty much never ran again. Or exercised for that matter. I think I just reached a “level of maturity” where I don’t really care what anyone thinks about my body – and I like me for me, no matter what size. But the problem is that I never seem to FEEL good, and when I exercise I remember feeling good. And when I eat healthy I FEEL good as well, instead of all the bad stuff. I would like to fit into those jeans as well.
So…my dear lovely readers – here is where I am hoping you can offer your advice to me. I know there have got to be some of you out there that have successfully lost weight. I need your HELP deciding what would be a great way for me to lose weight and melt away my bloggers butt.
I am letting you all decide what I should do!
Please help me!! I am going to compile your responses here and on facebook and the #1 talked about thing I should do I am going to do it and keep you all posted with any or all results.
Here are some of the popular ideas I have been thinking about:
- Start running 3x a week and training for a race again
- Start Jillians 30 day shred
- Go Vegan (Vegetarian)
- Hire a personal trainer
- Advocare
- Do P90X
- Join a Gym and do Zumba or other classes
- Do nothing * I have been leaning a lot towards this one…ha ha…
- Drink protein shakes 2x a day and eat a healthy small dinner
- Weight Watchers
- Other diets – just anything but that lemonade cleanse diet (shudder).. I can’t stand cayenne pepper and gagged it down for a few days before quitting. Please don’t make me do this one..
So….let me know what you think I should do! Please leave a comment below or on my facebook page and I will compile the results in the next couple of days and let you know your most popular choice for me.
If you share your vote as to what I should do…I might just share my “before” picture with you. And I cannot think of anything worse than sharing a before picture. Your eyes…your poor poor eyes. The picture may or may not cause some damage. 😉
About Karrie
Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...
Comments & Reviews
Melissa says
After my last baby I needed to lose those last ten lbs and I did weight watchers wY hubby. We didn’t attend meetings- just kept tracked of our points. I learned not just how tO count points but how to help my kids eat healthier too. It makes you conscious of what you’re feeding your family! The good thing too was that I could still eat sweets- my fav was cake mix made w diet coke and cool whip- yummy! I horrible horrible horrible at working out too because like you I haw always had this awesome metabolism!! I went for walks and did jillian michaels workouts on DVD and would have kept going til I lost the jiggle too( I was 120 but still had so much fat!) but I got prego again! This is my last baby so in three months I will be right back there again! Hahaha. Good luck Karrie!!
Rachel says
I have heard that replacing your office chair with one of those big exercise balls helps you burn tons of calories and tone while you are sitting at your computer! I even have one you could borrow that I am not using right now. (I live just down the street from you) Also, have you ever heard of Sunrider? They have amazing nutritional products that help your body cleanse and get healthy through nutrition.
The tea is wonderful and it cleanses at the cellular level. I have DVD’s & paperwork you could borrow if you would like. I love it! Let me know if you have questions.
T H says
A great, free way to keep track of your daily calories is by using Fitday.com. It has a food log and activity logs, and keeps track of your goals and your progress. In dieting and getting in shape, its always good to remember that when you cheat, the only person you are cheating on is yourself.
Ludicrous Mama says
I’ve also heard good things about the 10-slices-of-whole-grain-bread-a-day diet, but never tried it. But when I first read about the apples one, it was from a health club who did annual ‘Biggest Loser’-type contests with different diets each year. The ONLY one that they ever did that saw results was the apples one, and the people who tried it found it was the easiest to be compliant with and easiest to stick with long-term.
Ludicrous Mama says
I had great success with half-assedly following the 3-apples-a-day diet. Just eat 3 apples a day, and make no other changes. Apples burn more calories than they give to eat and digest, so that’s a plus. They’re sweet so they satisfy that craving somewhat. And they’re filling, so whether you eat them as snacks or before a meal, that’s less junk you’d potentially be filling up with. Other than that I changed nothing. I still hoovered McD’s and Oreos and Cheetos. I lost 10 pounds in 6 months, which isn’t phenomenal, I know, but I was averaging just 2 apples a day, and only the 5 days a week that I worked, not all 7 days each week. So 10 pounds was kind of awesome! 🙂
Karrie says
very very interesting idea there – someone once mentioned to me that instead of dieting once they decided to just make sure and eat x amt of healthy stuff manditory each day like this apples one. I like it.
Karrie says
Suzanne, that sounds really interesting…off to google it 😉
Karrie says
Amber – you rock!! Look at your amazing results! 12 inches – awesome.
Brandy says
I can’t stick to diets and I am terrible at exercising. I want to eat what I want when I want to eat it. A bunch of my friends were doing the hcg diet. Some were taking drops, some shooting it up. Along with the drug they were on a 500 calorie diet. I won’t take medicine and there is no way am I going to take medicine through a needle. My friends were loosing alot of weight on this diet. I became intrigued so I wanted to try it without the medicine just the 500 calorie per day diet. I lost a lb a day and Igot to eat what I wanted as long as I stuck to my calorie limit. On saturday and sunday I would cheat and usually gain 2lbs back. So I was loosing about 3lbs a week for a total of 22 lbs so far. Its amazing how much you can eat on a 500 calorie diet. The cheating on the weekends is mandatory to shock your body so it doesn’t go into starvation mode.. I am 5’8″ and I was 152 when I started so I didn’t have alot to loose to be where I feel comfortable. Usually when you are built like me diets don’t work this well. Good luck!
Karrie says
Thanks Brandy! That diet sounds really scary with the needle. But 500 calories per day – wow. What can you eat that is super low calories, I do like the idea of eating whatever I want when I am hungry!
Connie Haack says
The one I want to try is the Pink Method. I saw it on Dr. Phil. The excercise is on DVD and looks very doable. There is a diet included. I think the cost was around 80.00. and this comes with online support. But free download from Kindle might be a better way to go for me because I want to lose 15 pounds.
Megan Page says
I strongly suggest the 17 day diet (order book from Amazon), it’s a life changing diet and one that is totally easy to follow and you eat real food. It starts ya off on cycle-1 which has no carbs, then cycle-2 you add in some healthy carbs with some different items of healthier protein, cycle-3 you add in more healthy carbs and more different choices of protein along with other vegetables and fruits allowed to eat. Then cycle-4 you get to choose which cycle you follow throughout the work week and on the weekends you can cheat. I really love this diet cause like you, I love my food but I also wanted to lose about 20 or so lbs (get back down to my pre-prego weight and get back in my favorite expensive jeans.) I can now get in those jeans but still would like to be about 5-10 or so lbs lighter. So, I’m starting cycle-1 again. The weight comes off pretty quick too, especially if you add in some exercise here and there. I think though they suggest not to do much exercise during the first cycle. (if I remember correctly.)
Anyways, I say 17 day diet…we love it. Oh and make sure to find awesome recipes on this site: http://www.thedoctorstv.com/forums/527-17-Day-Diet-Recipes
You definitely want to mix up your recipes and make sure to not eat all chicken for dinner or all salad for lunch during the first cycle as you will hate this diet. But if you get creative with it, I think you will enjoy it and do well with it. I truly think its the best diet out there.
Good luck!
Karrie says
I think my mom did this diet once, it sounds really familiar. By the way – by the time I can fit into my fav jeans they will be totally out of style I am sure…but in my heart they will always be my fav.
Savanna says
My suggestion is not a fancy diet but it has worked for me. I eat around 1500 calories a day during the week and 2000 on Sunday. I made a sheet off excel to keep track of each day and have it posted to the fridge. With four kids at home its a pain to pack them up go to a gym plus I like my privacy and not paying for a membership. So I have a treadmill and the Wii personal trainer II. For the treadmill I recommend going to the library and getting books on tape. They are awesome about getting you hooked on the story and you’ll go so much longer. I also like the Wii for the change up in the workout each time. Another thing that has helped is for me is to put on tennis shoes when I get up in the morning. It is like a constant reminder all day long to eat well and get moving.
Karrie says
Ooooo great idea Savanna, getting a book on tape. I do love a good read. 😉 Thanks!
Camille says
My vote is for the Jillian shred dvd COUPLED with weight watchers.
Christy says
I would strongly suggest doing the Advocare 24 Day Challenge along with excercise. It will jump start your weight loss and give you the mental focus needed for your blog and busy life as a mom!
Tiffany says
My girlfriend is doing South Beach and running intervals on the treadmill and lost 10 pounds already this month. Personally, I run 3 times a week regularly. That keeps my weight in check. I should mention if you are going to run, DO INTERVALS. Do not waste your time running for 30 minutes slowly. Do a 4-5 minute slow warmup and then run your regular speed for 2 minutes, run a fast speed for 2 minutes, regular for 2 minutes, fast for 2 minutes, etc. Do that for 30 minutes ( or whatever time you are going to run ) and then do a cooldown. I promise, it will make running work a whole lot better for you. Good luck!
Kelly says
Check out the Perfect 10 diet…it was a free download for kindles…..I am lovin’ it. Lost over 10 pounds the first 2 weeks…..
Karrie says
That is awesome Kelly – 10 lbs in 2 weeks? Congratulations.
Emily says
Weight Watchers was great for me when I had the extra money to put towards paying for help. After that I have used http://caloriecount.about.com/ and have enjoyed watching what I eat via that. As far as exercise, I challenged myself to move 30 minutes every day for at least 100 days ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo is a good watch to understand why).
Sarah Ray says
How about a personal trainer? My sister has lost 90 pounds since May! My mom got inspired by her and has lost 60 pounds since August, I just started but have already lost 20 pounds!! It’s amazing to have a partner. I have tried everything, but never stuck to it. My trainer is awesome! This month he is offering one free session to try it out (no gym membership required!) The gym you train in is no Gold’s but it’s locally owned and operated and has everything you need, and you don’t have to pay for a gym membership you won’t use. Plus he will set you out a healhty meal plan with real food! Yogurt, fruit, veggies, chicken, steak… normal people food. haha. You might wanna add it to your list. 🙂 After your free session you’ll know if it’s something you want to continue doing. He even does group training… so best friend, sister, husband, or a neighbor can work out with you too! Price for one person, 3 sessions a week is about $250/ month. 🙂 His name is Brad Romm and he works with Showtime Fitness. His number is 509-628-7875.
Karrie says
Thanks, I will update and add personal trainer to the popular choices!
Nalani says
Did your mom and sister work with your personal trainer as well? I’m interested to hear how hard he pushes you and what his strategies are.
Meri says
Weight Watchers online is fantastic. There are a ton of great recipes, which helps you realize all the little ways the pounds get packed on. The hardest part for me was getting in the habit of logging in everything that I ate, but once I got past that hurdle it was easy!
Karrie says
I did do Weight Watchers once and it was great (for about 2 weeks…) can you see a pattern here? I need to get through a diet for more than 2 weeks and then maybe I will actually be successful. Thanks for your suggestion!
Melody says
Definitely the Shred! The best advice I could ever give (that was given to me) is to do something every day. If you work out 2-3 times per week, it’s SO easy to talk yourself out of it by saying “Maybe tomorrow”. This is one of the few things that has really worked to help me stick with it.
WIth the dieting, it’s hard to say because it doesn’t work for me. What did work was watching Food Inc. You’ll be horrified of the fast food industry and pretty much the food industry in general. This helped change our eating habits to start off, but I realized quickly that with working out, I wanted to eat healthier. Our bodies just get so darned used to eating junky, but once you start eating healthier, you will feel yucky when you eat the junky stuff again. It was a VERY gradual process for my husband and I, but we are now at the point that we don’t want to eat that stuff anymore.
Lastly, good luck! I know how hard it is to create and stick to a routine. Especially when we have so many other competing priorities. I had to start getting up super early to get in some blogging time and still have time to work out. Can’t wait to see your progress!
P.S. One of the best things I ever did was tell my readers I had goals to get fit. More than anything, that kept me accountable.
Karrie says
Melody, you are a HUGE inspiration to me (as well as a source of great guilt might I add…LOL) just so you know! I will probably like to get up and work out first as I get online and cannot seem to stop looking and finding deals…and before I know it so much time has gone by and I am scrambling to get my other housework, cooking and kid stuff done. So I think if I did my workout somehow first (but I hate getting up early…) then maybe while I am sitting on my behind I will still be burning calories? And maybe if I get sweaty enough I will force myself to shower more, thereby not allowing every day to be all pajama day. 🙂
Melody says
I get up at 5 to blog for an hour or so (and have a cup of coffee without my kids climbing all over me!) and force myself to stop working at 6:30 and work out. I get so dang sweaty, I can’t imagine not showering so that’s a win-win. My 3-year old will watch a few episodes of Dora or something while I work out and shower and by the time I’m done, my youngest is up and raring to go. It took a long time to find a schedule that worked. And find the willpower. 🙂
Tanya says
I say go for the running. I find it is very effective. By the way your post cracks me up. I also have some clothes I keep holding onto hoping I will fit into them. I guess I am a dreamer too. LOL