NEWSFLASH: Did you know you can actually USE excess calories to build a firmer booty?! NO JOKE?and if you don?t know this by now after following me for this long, I feel like I have failed you. (If you’re new here, isn’t this absolutely amazing news?!) It’s absolutely TRUE! 

So here’s the deal. Eating donuts alone will NOT get you the booty you want. BUT…eating a donut (with a source of protein) after a heavy workout of some heavy hitting booty moves WILL. If you’re curious about the right moves to build your dream booty, here’s one of my favorite backside booty burning workouts that was featured on Dr. Oz.

Outfit details: Reebok Sports Bra (Bonus: On sale | purple here) | Lululemon Leggings (another favorite here for under $30 – last seen here).

To shed a little light on a somewhat controversial topic (because trust me?every time I post a photo of me eating a donut I get a little bit of heat), the truth is that muscle cannot be created by the “starvation diet.” Starving yourself and denying your body proper calories and nutrition will NEVER provide ideal results! Yes, you are reading this correctly: DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF! Starvation actually EATS muscle and breeds the ?skinny fat? that so many women tell me they are trying to get rid of! (Right?! Just say NO to skinny fat!) Muscle BUILDING (and FIRMING) requires an adequate and sufficient calorie intake to actually repair muscle fibers after they have been broken down.  

As if donuts weren’t enough fun on their own, here are some of my favorite donut workout items:

For this reason, I will hit it hard in the gym the morning of a big holiday meal or even before a weekly cheat meal. I am essentially clearing room in my muscles that will need to be replenished later by “fuel” (aka FOOD) in order to repair and replenish the broken down muscle fibers. Your body NEEDS these carbs (from your DONUT!) to replace the glycogen (muscle fuel!) that you burn during a workout! This is the absolute opposite of what many people assume they should do, but let me say it again and set the record straight: FOOD IS FUEL! It is not the enemy. Donuts are your friends when used and tracked correctly in your nutrition plan. Isn’t this the best thing ever? Yes, yes, it is! 

Let me set one thing straight before you scroll down to comment something nasty about me urging people to indulge in donuts all day. There IS a difference between different carb and fat sources?some are healthy, others are not. I’ve also talked about this before in a previous blog, but it’s as equally important to not get so caught up in “making the macros fit” so you can eat 5 donuts a day that you forget about the importance of the MICRONUTRIENTS. Quick reminder: Micronutrients are essentially responsible for our health on a cellular level. The cleaner the sources of the food we eat, the healthier our bodies will be, and they will function better too (including our fat-burning potential). 

So to clarify, I am NOT telling you to JUST EAT DONUTS. Here is the point to remember: Balance is KEY, and a sustainable lifestyle is everything. For me?and for many others?I’ve found that by adding in the foods I love (donuts) and USING them to my advantage (ie. muscle building when done properly), I am able to stick to my diet LONG-term, and I don’t even see it as a diet.

While there are certainly foods that have higher nutritional value than others, we try to stay away from coining foods as “bad” foods or “good” foods, and we try to live by the 80/20 rule (80% whole, nutrient-rich foods/20% processed/junk foods). You see, my friends… the joy of macros is that a carb is a carb, a fat is a fat, and a protein is a protein when it comes to body recompositioning. If you stick to your daily macros and calorie range and control your intake, you will see change and progress! The KEY is to burn more calories than you consume. Period. You will absolutely notice a change in how you feel if you eat more whole foods and limit your processed foods, but it is NOT the end of the world if you choose to use your carbs and fats for donuts!

Even Chris finds room in his macros for his LOVE of donuts…which might even be an understatement! Ha!

I think it’s safe to say…donuts are a family affair! More about macros though for those of you who are wondering…

The GREAT thing about macros is that you get to choose how to “spend” your grams of carbs, fat, and protein. If you choose to spend them on vegetables and whole foods, you will eat more volume because these “cost” less! However, if you choose to have a donut one or two days a week, it will “cost” more since one donut will have more carbs and fat grams than the vegetables. Remember that just like eating salads won’t make you skinny, eating donuts won’t make you fat! Track your macros + stay consistent with hitting your targets + burn more calories than you consume = SUCCESS. 

Moral of the story? Eat the donut, just not the whole dozen. Donut worry, be happy. Refuel your body properly after workouts and do NOT starve yourself! A balanced life is a happy life.

Xoxo, 

Heidi

• Originally published 1/9/2018

Related reading:

Eating with Macros: A Day in the Life
Protein Confusion: Your Questions Answered!
The DOs and DO-NUTs of DONUTS
Macro Tracking For the Win! All of Your Questions Answered
Heidi-Approved (& Macro-Friendly) Fast Food Picks
I Cheat Every Day