/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

I've been pretty skinnyfat all my life, being on the cusp of being underweight but with a very high fat content. I wasn't mega hot or anything but I was pretty happy with my body. Kind of shapeless in the waist, but other than that not much to complain about.
Well, I've started working out for the sake of my health and I'm really not happy with what it's doing to me. I've lost a little weight, but it's been from my butt or thighs or something, because my pants don't fit anymore (which is obnoxious, I worked hard to find pants that fit me to begin with.) and my tummy, which hasn't burned fat in proportion with my legs or butt (which I'm aware is healthy, that's just one of those places that woman store fat more easily), now looks bulgy and weird. I feel good about getting healthy but I really hope that I start building muscle where my leg fat used to be or lose weight in my stomach at some point because it's kind of hard to continue exercising when it brings you from a 7/10 to a 4.
I was thinking I could continue to eat marginally unhealthy and just exercise and be in shape, but it seems like I might need to say goodbye to my sweet tooth and learn to like whole grain bread if I want to be both healthy and happy with my body.
Has anyone gone through similar? Does anyone have any advice?