Don't Fit Your Pants? Gain Weight!
I've never worn tight jeans in my life. I mean, the kind that mostly fit and aren't too short or too long in the rise. Even for the petites department, I find that my rise (distance from crotch to natural waist) is too short relative to the rise that's designed for the pants offered. I have a rather shallow hip. It isn't even much - half an inch or an inch at most, but it actually makes a big difference. For most of the pants I buy off the rack the waistband is too loose on me if the crotch hits in the right place. If I pull the waistband down to where its snug, then the seat and crotch are too low. That, plus my butt isn't exactly filled out. Imagine the Ryan cut pants actually hitting where the Martin pants should...with too much slack at the waistband. With that in mind, I have never worn the tight jeans that most women seem to favor when they go out. (I know, I know...I'm avoiding the 'perfect jeans' search.) For dress slacks, I always get them altered.So it was a bit of a shock when I randomly tried Banana Republic's low rise boot cuts in 00P this past weekend - and they fit almost perfectly. In fact, they were actually snug on me - in the way that I assume jeans are supposed to fit? To be honest, it was a little uncomfortable adjusting as they stretched to fit over the course of the weekend. Since they were new AND tight, I definitely felt a little hampered in my freedom of movement! I guess I'm just used to a looser fit.
The sad thing is that I realized that it was because I had put on fat around my waist (and probably had a bit of water retention) - and only at my waist. I essentially "padded" my lower waist a bit to fill up the empty space. (In fact, they were just slightly too tight in the waist compared to the rest of the hip area.) So my pants fit better - even though I was wheezing my way up staircases. A bit disconcerting, don't you think? With this added new information to digest, it seems like my current choices are:
A) get winded while doing slightly strenuous activity because I'm losing muscle mass and gaining fat - BUT gain the ability to wear pants off the rack;
B) get back into shape so I don't keel over from sprinting a block - BUT be unable to wear off the rack clothes well anymore;
C) become a crazy gym rat that packs down protein shakes to build up muscle in my posterior to make my hip circumference bigger AND be in shape
Hmm. This is really crazy, because most women exercise to slim down. Not too many people I know actually try to gain body fat to fit into their clothes. And I have to admit, C is definitely not happening (nor have I been able to gain much muscle either).
Unfortunately, my recent good fortune has been dashed. I tend to easily fluctuate a pound or two with exercise, but am unable to actually gain much more mass than that - even with muscle building exercises and protein shakes. I estimate that I was up to about 90 when I bought the pants on Thursday, and am now down to 88. Very annoying as it's ONLY at my waist. I somehow lost the difference from dancing for hours on Saturday night.
So, I'm back to slightly loose jeans again - but it was fun while it lasted! My advice to all those that have a similar problem? Let yourself gain a little extra weight and see if it works for you. I'm not exactly sure if the trade-off is worth it, but it's certainly worth a try!
(I'll post a picture of how things fit when I'm feeling a bit more "full", as I lost the opportunity to do so this weekend.)
Labels: Banana Republic, double zero, jeans
posted by Amy @ 8:15 PM
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6 Comments:
Hi! I've been reading your blog on an RSS feed for a while now, just thought I'd comment here. I've found that pants will definitely fit me better if I gain weight, but it's just so difficult for me to gain or retain it. Like in your case, it fluctuates a lot. Some days when I'm a pound or two up (which would be a miracle), my jeans fit great. Other days, I won't wear a certain pair of pants because the butt looks too baggy, and it sucks! I would love to have a booty! But that's another topic, heh. I haven't been to Banana Republic in a long time. I should check in soon and see what the double-0's are all about.
I'm not sure you're allowed to complain if your complaint is along the lines of, "I was up to 90 lbs today..."
Not really a complaint so much as an annoyance. I can't have my cake and eat it too (being both in shape and a higher weight).
Yes, I agree that most people would prefer having the problem of gaining weight - but when I'm this low on the spectrum of everything (height, weight, bra size, etc.), it actually is hard.
I think Meisje would agree!
Some people happen to have something close to the metabolism of a shrew (*raises hand*) so keeping up body mass and weight is a struggle, and it's just another reason why certain clothes won't fit right, even if they're in your usual size. The grass is always greener yadda yadda yadda, right?
I completely feel your plight. I do take issue with people that feel like we're not allowed to complain since we're under 100lbs. Being underweight is hard. It's more difficult to put on pounds than it is to lose weight, metabolisms are crazy hard to slow down.
Right now, I'm sitting at 95 pounds for the first time in my life and loving it, I wish it were permanent, but I know if I go more than 12 hours without eating, I will be beack down to 90 in no time flat.
Living in Oklahoma, I know I won't be able to find a 00P but I should order them online. I may get lucky.
I'm wondering about the Anonymous post, as well as your own. I know 12 hours seems like a long time, but really, if you eat a healthy breakfast and sleep for the recomended adult hours 6-8, it shouldn't be THAT hard. This is the point where my wondering comes in-- if you really wanted to gain weight(not necessarily muscle mass), wouldn't you get in a lot of calories before sleeping, or with things like Ensure? I understand that it can be disheartening to have these struggles, but I wonder really how much of it is a struggle, and how much of it is an unwillingness to change (in this case, to be a few pounds heavier, or to eat more, or to exercise less, or to see some fat on your stomach). I say these same things to people who are overweight. Are you making an excuse? Are you really trying what you know works, eating less and exercising more, or in this case, eating more and exercising less? Are you just saying it's impossible because you don't want to change?
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