If you're a large woman in America, your whole life us an opportunity to feel self-conscious,embarrassed, resentful and way too big. you can hide in the corner or in the couch, you can go to therapy, or you can put on your lycra bike shorts and get out there and move.
—Jayne Williams, Slow Fat Triathlete

9/12/2004

Resources for fat chick athletes

Are you female and out of the S-L clothing continuum? Me too. Finding workout clothes is a pain. It's a catch-22 -- you're too big to wear cute workout gear and you're too big because you're not working out. Anyways, here's a list that I wish I would have had when I started out.

Sport bras for the overly-endowed: Enell Sport Bras.
You put one on, and you can just forget about your breasts, because they will be subdued. I can do any sort of aerobic activity and my breasts don't move. It's brilliant. It's worth it to check local sports shops and bra stores so you can see how it feels before purchasing, because I'm told some women don't care for them. Indeed, it took both the bra fitter and I to get it on the first time. And yes, it's more expensive than buying a sport bra at Target. Everything here is more expensive than Target. Damn it.

Stylin' clothes: Terry Precision Cycling.
Terry carries plus sizes, and many of their "normal" sized womens' gear come in XXL. They carry my favorite thing of all, the walking skort (they call it the Player), which combines an unpadded bike short with a wrap around skirt -- and three pockets, big enough for kleenex, gel, iPod. First of all, they're cute. Second, they're modest -- no advertising your beer belly or your tube of lipstick. And third of all -- pockets, brothers and sisters. Pockets! Oh, and did I mention they have tops? Cute tops?

More stylin' clothes: Team Estrogen.
Hanna pointed them out as a local favorite. I had somehow missed that they carry plus sizes, but of course, they do. Nice selection as well, though it does favor cyclists.

An other option for clothes: Junonia.
My complaint here is that they do have a lot of "active styles" and a whole lot of it is cotton. Yuck.

Last options: checking out chain sporting goods stores for their men's XXL sizes. I was able to get a couple pairs of Brooks running shorts for cheap.

Where do you buy workout clothes? Share the wealth!

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