Good news: I've lost weight. Bad news: I'm mooning everyone

August 6, 2019 9:41 PM

So I've now gone from around 190 to nearly my high school weight of 165. And dropping. Know what else is dropping? My pants. As in my butt, never much to speak of, has ended entirely. And now no pants seem to stay up. I've gone down waist sizes. I've tightened belts. Nada. So do any of those build your butt up things work for guys or is that bum-bunk?
posted by rileyray3000 to Health & Fitness (20 answers total)

I have the same problem. I have no solution, beyond wearing better-fitting pants (when I can find them) and longer shirts. (So, in a way, I guess that's the solution.)

Congrats on your weight loss!
posted by turbid dahlia at 9:44 PM on August 6, 2019

Have you tried suspenders? They may do a better job of holding your pants up, and can be hidden under t-shirts/shirts, I'm pretty sure.
posted by Tamanna at 9:48 PM on August 6, 2019 [8 favorites]

Can't tell whether you're being facetious about the last part of your question, but as long as you take care to "activate" your glutes, lifts like squats and deadlifts and hip thrusts will build up your posterior if you're a guy, too, as will walking on a treadmill on an steep incline while squeeeeeezing.
posted by shaademaan at 12:04 AM on August 7, 2019 [4 favorites]

Suspenders, yes! And you can choose to rock them as a fashion statement if you dare, it is the dapper new svelte you!
posted by Meatbomb at 12:10 AM on August 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

regular squats, split squats, and deadlifts will work for anyone with a butt regardless of the butt haver's gender
posted by poffin boffin at 12:32 AM on August 7, 2019 [7 favorites]

I think it'd be easier if you buy new pants rather than trying to get your new butt to fit inside your old pants.

However, in a pinch, you could try the (viral) button trick for making your pants waist tighter.
posted by batter_my_heart at 12:50 AM on August 7, 2019 [4 favorites]

You could take one pair to any local dry cleaners that advertises 'alterations,' and ask them to put a dart or two in the waistband. If this works, then take all the other pairs too. But they will still probably look a little roomy in the seat area.
posted by carter at 5:07 AM on August 7, 2019

Same issue here. There isn't a good solution except for braces/suspenders. It's an okay look if you dress right. Not very dapper if, like me, you tend to live your life in jeans, though.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:12 AM on August 7, 2019

To solve a waist gap in women’s jeans, I’ve had success with sewing a length of elastic (about 6 inches long) onto the inside center back of the waistband, like center the elastic where the label usually is. I followed this tutorial, but modified it slightly to use 1-inch elastic instead of 1/2-inch. (I tried 1/2-inch first, and it didn’t pull in the waistband enough.)

Get 1-inch-wide elastic and use a sewing machine. Start sewing from the middle on one of the long sides of the elastic. Stretch a bit of elastic out as far as it’ll go, and sew; stretch the next bit and sew; etc., until you reach the end, where you backstitch and cut the thread. Then repeat going the other way from the middle, stretching and sewing. Repeat on the other long side.

The back of the waistband will look very gathered until you put on the jeans, at which point it will look much less gathered. Also, any remaining gathering is fully covered up by any untucked shirt long enough to cover the waistband.
posted by snowmentality at 5:12 AM on August 7, 2019 [1 favorite]

For jeans, the cut of them can help a lot. I went from "relaxed fit" to "straight leg" and my pants stay up so much better. Men tend to think waist size is the only important measurement, but the rest of the cut makes a lot of difference, too.
posted by xingcat at 5:51 AM on August 7, 2019 [10 favorites]

What you need are some pants with a bit of stretch. I'm not talking leggings, just a tiny bit of spandex. Buy them to size or slightly smaller.

You can also try looking for pants with adjustable waistbands. They have an elastic + button system inside the waistband and you can adjust them to make them smaller.
posted by jraz at 5:54 AM on August 7, 2019 [2 favorites]

Seconding that a change of cut helps.
posted by madcaptenor at 6:24 AM on August 7, 2019

So you want a bigger butt? Yeah, of course those exercises do work. But while squats/deadlifts are the typical advice, and they are excellent whole body exercises, the real butt magic is in hip thrusts. So many hip thrusts. Dudes got good butts too!

But yeah, I think you just need new pants. Mine aren't held up by my butt that i'm aware of (though it is as my girlfriend said last night a "little fat butt") but my pants fitting right and a belt. The top of my pants rests right at the top of my hip bone.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 7:01 AM on August 7, 2019 [2 favorites]

Yeah, if you want to build your butt, it can definitely be done. You need Bret Contreras.
posted by yawper at 9:13 AM on August 7, 2019

I've lost some weight over the past few months and noticed that my regular, straight leg jeans and pants tend to sag, but my slim-fit and skinny jeans conform more appropriately to my new, slender-er frame. So, maybe investing in a couple pairs of mod-ish slim fit and skinny pants?

Also, one of my pairs of slim fit jeans have something - looking at the tag, they're "5% elasterell, 2% spandex" - in them that make them fit really well with no sag.
posted by elmer benson at 9:14 AM on August 7, 2019

My whole family suffers from no-behind-to-speak-of syndrome and are all about suspenders.
posted by jeszac at 10:12 AM on August 7, 2019

Suspenders can be quite appealing and will definitely solve your problem. I will say that they’re pretty dreadful with jeans and t-shirts though. You might need to become a khakis and oxford shirts guy.
posted by HotToddy at 10:25 AM on August 7, 2019

Best answer: I came here to say, like others, that squats will surprise you when you commit to doing them routinely. I started doing squats in physical therapy a couple years ago and, no joke, in about two months of thrice weekly squats sessions (3 sets of 12 repetitions) my pants were noticably tight in the booty. Where previously there was no booty.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 12:44 PM on August 7, 2019

As a coda to squats, I should mention that I graduated to adding in elliptical exercises that build muscle mass in both the booty and thigh regions. I still do squats, but after I run and squats are a no go, the elliptical is amazing.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 7:21 PM on August 7, 2019

Bicycling - which can do wonders for your overall health too.
posted by buzzman at 2:24 PM on August 8, 2019