Hello all!
Had an interesting experience today involving purchasing plus-size exercise clothes. My good good friend Sara (who is a fitness enthusiast and has lost quite a bit of weight) and I were just talking about this topic. She had a plus-sized friend send her information for exercises for plus-size women, including places to buy exercise clothes. I'll attach the article about the clothes here:
http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=dress_for_success_your_guide_to_plussized_workout_clothes
Feel free to check it out!
On a related note, I need some new workout clothes. When I was exercising pretty regularly last summer in SC, I had two pairs of sweatpants-style shorts and two pairs of sweat-pants style capris that I cycled through during my workouts. My FAVORITE pair of workout capris (which I incidentally got from Wal-Mart) ended up with a hole in the back from what I think was a combination of my brother's dog and an aggressive washing machine cycle. Now I'm back down to one pair of capris and two shorts and I just don't like doing Zumba in shorts. I have the classic "my shorts roll up my thighs" problem that most plus-size ladies deal with. I don't want to be thinking about pulling my shorts down when I'm trying to bust a move!
Long story short, I'm in the market for new workout clothes and I have both a gift certificate and a coupon to Lane Bryant (my FAVORITE plus-size store). The article even mentioned Lane Bryant as a good place to get some well-fitting exercise clothes! So today I thought I'd stop in on my way home from practicum and pick up some new work-out duds. I've both seen active wear in an LB store before and have even bought some on one occasion; however, this branch of Lane Bryant had NO workout clothes and the sales lady looked at me with a rather perplexed expression. I was surprised, but asked if any of the other branches in Baton Rouge would have some and she replied that she didn't think so. I turned to head to my car and a fellow patron beside me commented, "Why would they have workout clothes HERE?" After laughing, she went on to say "Surely they don't want us to workout, they want us to keep coming back." I smiled and walked out of the store, but the comment stuck with me.
Is is supposed to be strange for a plus-size woman to seek out exercise clothes? I certainly don't think so. I'm under the impression that I need exercise desperately, probably more than the average woman because of my size. Don't we deserve to have properly fitting and somewhat stylish plus size workout gear? I certainly would not feel comfortable in the gym with a sports bra and some spandex shorts (the thought actually makes me laugh because of my modesty and lingering body insecurities). So I guess it's back to the drawing board for me. I'm going to call my go-to Lane Bryant branch to see if they carry activewear (I think I remember seeing some that last time I was there). I've considered ordering online, but styles/sizes are limited and sometimes the sizes are different than the size charts, which concerns me. We'll see!
So anyway, I was a little surprised and even somewhat discouraged by the attitude of my fellow patron today. I just thought I'd share and see if anyone else had opinions/advice on the subject!
Until next time,
BK
Don't be discouraged! You've got this! Just because she isn't motivated to change doesn't me you don't have a right to be. She may have a point in that society doesn't exactly set plus women up for success in the fitness realm, but hang in there, you'll find the right clothes!
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