I literally could not be more pumped!!!!!
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Reader question!!
This one is an excellent question that I got from a reader a few weeks back, via Facebook. And after getting this question, I had to wonder a lot of the same thing.
A reader sent me a question, via Facebook, that went a little something like this.
Hey lady!! Any good recommendations for plus sized workout clothes? Do any stores carry or is it all online? Have searched for days!!
Had I not worked in specialty retail, I would have never in my life even thought about how irritating it is to find workout clothing in “odd” sizes. And your sizes aren’t “odd” to me, but retailers often act as though anything over a size 10 is an odd and unsellable size to stock on their shelves. For me, even with my tiny heiny, I have to shove my tush into a size medium in most tights, because the smalls and the extra smalls make me look like a sausage. So what’s a normal-sized girl to do, especially when she’s looking for workout clothes that will wick, won’t smell, and will dry quickly? And I totally understand the not wanting to buy online, I HATE buying online only to realize the clothes make me look like a nurse. So what’s she to do? Head to your local specialty retail store (A Fleet Feet works) and check out these brands that carry a range of sizes.
- Moving Comfort. The maker of the bras also makes flattering technical gear for running. A lot of ruching, decent colors, and flattering cuts if you have anything you’d like to hide. Moving Comfort is available in stores, as well as online.
- Nike. They make a decent selection of clothing for the curvy lady. And they make them in super cute colors and cuts. If you’re young, curvy, and you want to look your age, Nike is the way to go. Available in stores, technical, and also can be purchased online once you kind of get in your mind what you want.
- Skirt Sports. Specifically designed for women, Skirt Sports has skirts, running dresses, and a number of other flattering items for women, and hosts a decent amount of larger sizes. Can be found in store, as well as online.
- Finally, if you’re looking to save a little cash, both Lane Bryant and Old Navy, have a performance line available online and in-stores. But a word of caution. Though you may be saving some of the cash, the fabric isn’t as technical and performance oriented as you may be looking for, and you may notice it wearing out a little funny, smelling, or causing a little bit of chafing.
Ladies, as you’re on your quest to look for active wear, it whatever size, remember to look for synthetic materials that wick, breathe, and flatter that sessy figure! Good luck!
I saw the Queen last Saturday.
In the midst of moving and rocking and rolling with everything that’s been going on, I took a break to see the Queen Bey last Saturday evening, bringing the grand total of times that I’ve gone to see her up to 3. Every show has been phenomenal, and if possible, her body, and her sense of physical fitness has gotten better, even since the birth of her child last year.
Now I promise, I’m not just posting to brag about the fact that I saw Beyzus, and to make you all jealous. In fact, this all has a health-related point.
So anyhoo, the first thing we (me and Deb, the younger sis,) do when we finally got seated, was to go on the hunt for some food. We’re kind of dorky, and both of us looked at each other and almost simultaneously said, “I wish we could find a salad here,” as we circled the stadium. There was certainly some tasty-looking food there, but we were prepped to dance for 2+ hours, and nothing sounded grosser than slamming some cheese fries and then going in for Bey’s workout plan with a belly full of that stuff.
I settled on a saltless pretzel and a beer, and I think poor Deb just went for a teeny tray of fries that set her back like almost $10. Not kidding. Highway. Robbery.
As we were waiting in line for the pretzel, Deb turned to me, and said something really profound. So a little context here, Beyonce’s audience was mostly black women, like us. She goes, “I’m actually shocked at how many overweight women there are here. We really have a problem,” which she said with a sense of genuine sadness.
As I looked around, I saw she was right. The women were beautiful. And beautifully dressed, but it was true, it was evident that most of these women were overweight, if not obese, and at a concert to worship a woman who clearly works out, and works out hard.
And of course, I did a little research. And the numbers for us, black women, just weren’t good.
Scan it quickly. 4 out of 5 African-American women are overweight. That’s kinda bad. And I don’t need to lecture you and bore the eff out of you with the bad things that come with being overweight, but I will say this.
I’m doing my part not to become a statistic, if not for anything else, for the sheer fact that I like to feel good about what I’m doing for and to my body, and working out keeps me sane.
So ladies, the next time you’re kind of not sure if you want to sweat it out at the gym, turn on Queen Bey, and let her inspire you to do something good for yourself. We have GOT to change these numbers.
Smile. This is my favorite song.
I love a good sense of humor. I also love the first comment on this video.
“Thank God this isn’t the version where Jimmy Fallon and the Roots are Naked.”
Does Robin Thicke get any cuter?
If you’re one of those girls who’s been planning your wedding forever, cool.
And if you want to pretend like you’re not, don’t forget, I can see your Pinterest posts publicly. (But helpful hint, you can privately Pin stuff so your future boyfriends don’t get scared off.)
But I’m not one of those girls. Sure, I’d toss around ideas like, ooh maybe I’ll wear this! Maybe I’ll invite such and such. I have to make sure to learn to Dougie before I wed! You know, stuff like that. But to say I know what I’m wearing, what colors would be featured, what the decor and set-up of the room would look like, I have no idea.
And for those of you who think you know what you want. I won’t say you’ve wasted your time, but hear me out. You may want to just start fresh with ideas when your time to plan comes cause….
I went wedding dress shopping yesterday. Oh yes, this part, I had in my head. I saw myself, a tall, leggy model like the ones in the magazine. Flowy. So chic. Yet so relaxed. So innovative! No one had ever seen a dress like mine before. So I took my bestie, Michael, and off we went.
I put on at first this lace number that was supposed to look something like this.
And when I put it on, every person in the room gasped in horror. Michael. The woman helping me. And the two women that were there for the moral support of their bride-friend. It was awful once I got it on my body. It didn’t move. I had no hips. They even tried to sash it to make it manageable. And no dice.
Maybe I’ll look good in a gauzy destination gown, I thought to myself. So I popped a champagne-colored, chiffon number on.
Less horrid, but still pretty bad.
“Do you have anything mermaid-y?”
Again, I winced. The dress made me look like I was going for my 5th wedding, and like I was trying to recapture my youth.
After a few of these, I found one. Obviously, I’m not going to tell you what it was, because you’re just going to have to wait, like everyone else, but here’s my advice, as an almost-married lady. Try it on. Go visit these places. What you have going on in your head? Not necessarily what the deal will be in real life. Good luck, brides 🙂
Sometime terrible has happened.
I lost my day planner in the move.
My pink day planner. The one that I purchased in January that held the key to all my appointments, held all my Zumba classes, and best yet my marathon training, that I’d so meticulously laid out between now and October.
I called Austin in a panic and accused him of stealing it. (Reasonable)
I checked everywhere that I thought it could be. (No dice).
And I’ve determined that my planner, with my marathon training is shoved in the bottom of some box, and I can’t live another second like this – I went to Barnes and Noble and bought another one so I can redo my marathon training and start anew.
Do I go with this sassy gold planner?
Do I go with this like bright pink fuchsia one again?
Do I wait for the other one to pop up? (No)
I settled on the 2014 Deluxe Calendar. If I find the pink planner, we can be friends, and that can be my casual planner (casual list-making, duh), but if you need me, I’ll be making lists and re configuring my life. You know where to find me.
Fat Camp Motivation
I apologize for the somewhat sporadic posts, but as things go, my life has been turned every which way. While I was at camp, I got word that my first-floor-condo had flooded when the guy on the third floor went to throw in a load of laundry. The water dripped (and dripped is the absolutely wrong word for what it did) down and destroyed the building. Weirdly enough, the belongings were good, but the walls, the floor, the baseboards, everything, just had to be ripped out.
And so there was the mad dash to find a place to live.
And then the mad dash to get everything packed.
And then the mad dash to recruit victims to help move.
And now, I’m here, blogging to you amongst cardboard boxes, trying to eat my breakfast out of a Gladware container because I can’t, for the life of me, remember where I packed the bowls, and even if I did remember, I haven’t put any contact paper down to put them away. Oh well. Can’t be bothered right now.
Anyhoo, so in the midst of all of that, the Greensboro Marathon is still approaching, and I’ll be darned if all of this will affect my training.
But I needed to do my long run (10 miles) yesterday, and I didn’t feel like it. I really didn’t feel like it. And then, like a sign from the heavens, I checked my Instagram. And one after another, pictures like this started to come across.
CPT, my camp home, hosted their second annual 5k yesterday. It’s kind of, no it is, incredible, because you’re talking about kids that came to camp not having exercised in weeks, months, years, some of them. For them to be over halfway done with camp, and to have run a 5k, is nuts. Absolutely nuts.
So my whining turned to motivation when I saw picture after picture after picture of my girls, my fellow counselors, and the guys finishing their 5k, some of them shaving TONS of time off from their 5k in the previous year. With that in mind, I set out on my 10-miler that wrapped up with me feeling accomplished and like I’d shared with my girls, the 5k experience.
Aw snap, this is why I don’t eat nachos!
I was awakened by the deafening Marimba tone of my iPhone. It was the AT&T guy, calling to install my wireless and crap, like two hours early. So while I’m up, I might as well do that 5-miler I’d narrowly avoided the night before, right? I mean, the Greensboro Marathon isn’t gonna run itself, amirite, amirite?
So I hit the Greenway, and I felt like garbage. All because someone (I) had had the brilliant idea to eat a plate of nachos when I know good and well my practically-vegan behind couldn’t digest it.
I slogged through the first mile. Slogged through the second and part of the third, and it felt like my legs, infused by all the saturated fats of the queso, just wouldn’t turn over as fast as my mind was telling them. Toward the end, my legs caught up, and I even caught sight of a few coworkers putting in some mileage on the Greenway.
Long story short, I don’t eat nachos (before a run at least) with good reason. With every step I took, I could feel the queso roiling around in my stomach, and I totally regretted my decision as I pounded it out. today is what I would call a bad run. But it’s all good, right? Tomorrow will be a more FloJo type of situation.
What do I eat, and when, when I run?
This question was submitted to me by Alexa Terry Wilde. Now, if you’ll remember, she was the good friend who got married in May in that cool, beautiful barn wedding.
Alexa, admittedly, is not a long-distance runner, however, she’s suffering with a pretty common issue, cramps, each time she heads out for a run.
There could a few things going on here, but her specific questions was, what should I be eating before/after a run so I’m not cramping during a run?
Number one, make sure you’re drinking enough water throughout the day. But strike that balance, if your tummy is sloshing, back off a little bit.
Second, are you a morning runner or an evening runner? Mornings are easy, if you’re running in the morning, go with something light. Eat a piece of toast with Nutella on it, or half of an english muffin with a cup of coffee of a glass of water before you run, and the cramps should be banished.
If you’re an evening runner, things can get a little tricky based on the fact that you’ve literally been eating and drinking all day. And if you’ve been eating heavy, greasy meals, count on a little discomfort, especially through the first four miles or so of your run. However, if you know you’re an evening runner, stick to small, light, refreshing meals, an egg on an english muffin for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and maybe a piece of toast or dried fruit for snack. Make sure you’re drinking up, and save the protein bars, eggs, and shakes for after the big run.
Overactive Blogger 