SUPPORT, Part Two

Okay, by now you know that it is going to be impossible for me to talk about support for my weight loss and training without mentioning sports bras. Aw, come on! You saw that was coming. I do truly feel that someone should have an entire blog dedicated to undergarments. Oh wait. Maybe that’s my blog. Anywhooo…as I mentioned in my 3/1 blog, “there is nothing like extreme weight loss coupled with aging and having carried 2 ten-pound babies to get you thinking about underwear.” As I have increased the intensity of my workouts, my sports bra concerns have become more pressing. It is bad enough that when you lose a lot of weight, you have to try to figure out what new everyday bras to wear – but to add in the confusion of sports bras? Forget it!

Sports bras are the most interesting, mind-boggling piece of clothing. They range from the completely unsupportive, cotton-spandex, comfy tank top/cami jobbers, to rib-crushing, androgynizing steel wraps that again, inhibit breathing and may in fact cause permanent organ damage. I have a couple of prerequisites. One – lift and separate; no uniboob. Two – underwire and front or back clasp closure; nothing that requires trying to pull it on over my head. Three – Support! I am talking high impact, jump roping, trampolining, equestrian competing support.

Right now, I have two sports bras that are considered “medium support”. This means that they are very comfortable and not at all supportive. I have two others that are considered “high impact”. These are the right support but not at all the right fit and I spend a lot of time tugging at them during my workouts. No one wants to see this, and during one adjusting bout, I lost my balance and nearly fell off the elliptical. Embarrassing. I need to find one that does its job and that once I am in it, I don’t have to think too much about it. I realize that getting into it may take some time and effort. But like Spanx, the return should be worth the investment. I cannot stand Elisabeth Hasselbeck but she once said that her boobs were “like, origamically folded” into her bra. This is hysterical, and so easy to relate to. Check out the way she describes it. Too funny.

Now that I have dedicated two blog entries to the issue of support, I am sending out the call for help. I know that there have been over 100 hits on this page this week. Like any good blogger, at least 95 of those are me checking to see how many hits I have. I have to assume that 3 or 4 are my mom (hi mom!) so I am wondering who the other 5 of you are. Jeanmarie, a family friend of my teammate, Sherri, sent me the greatest email. Thank you, Jeanmarie. Your feedback was awesome! I want to encourage everyone to click on a “reaction”, leave a comment, let me know you were here! So here is the first challenge…find me some underwear! Leave a comment with suggestions…bras and panties. Don’t be shy! And if you are shy, you can leave your comment anonymously! I am walking 60 miles and sleeping in a tent for 2 nights to save the boobies so it is okay to talk about them!

Thanks for reading. More later…