A Letter to...

all those who produce and sell activewear (actually this is more of a rant).

Dear Folks,

I've been fat my entire life.  I once was thin enough to just go into a store and buy something off the rack.  However, I didn't get that way in a healthy manner.  I know that my being overweight is not your problem and that it is my fault (although I recently found out that it's because I don't eat enough, not of the right things, but in general), but I do believe you can help me.  I've actually written to several of you years ago, asking why you did not have a plus size line (at all and definitely not in store).  I actually got a response from Nike, saying that their marketing team was working on it.  Evidently it didn't pan out, because that was EIGHT years ago.

I'm just wondering, do you not understand how hard it is for us bigger girls to find something decent to work out in.  Oversized t-shirts and baggy pants don't make a person feel good (unless they get that way form weight loss).  Here's a little notion I have learned from my experience in teaching and from my studies on student motivation, if you make a student feel good about themselves, they get motivated, and these generally leads to success, or at least improvement.

See the connection here?  If you produce clothes that us bigger folks can wear and we feel good about ourselves/cute, I can almost guarantee you, that there will be a lot more success stories for weight loss.

So check this out, this is the normal process for buying clothes for me.  Step one: Scour the internet for something decent.  Step two: think about whether or not it might work for my body type.  Step three: go back and forth on whether or not to actually order it.  Step five: decide not to place an order.  Step six: place an order, pay for shipping, and wait not so patiently while the week or more passes until your order arrives.  In the meantime, build up hope and expectations that what you ordered is going to look amazing and make you want to get out the door and go run.  Step seven: receive and open package, try everything on, realize that more than half of it doesn't work, you've either ordered the wrong size, or it just doesn't work, and waste more time and money sending it back and (if you're motivated) reordering more. Step eight: wait another week or more for your reordered goods to arrive.  Maybe something actually worked this time?  By now, at least two, if not three weeks have passed and my motivation is gone and I feel like crap because I couldn't get what I needed because your clothes don't fit my body.  Makes a person sad and unmotivated.

Scenario when I can find a store that always carries my size:  Decide I need something.  Go to store.  Try it on, try one other sizes.  Either buy, or go to the next store.  There's a lot less anticipation and let down in this version.  I've noticed that I seem to be less unhappy about things if I can get some instant knowledge as to whether or not your product will work for me.

I have never understood why companies like Nike and Adidas (and other sports brands) do not have a plus size line.  Just think, a bigger person is a customer longer, they would buy a variety of products. Some people would probably go from a big plus size like a 3x (or bigger) all the way down to like a M/L in your regular sizes. Image how much more money you can make.  A regular size gal might jsut walk in and be like, "Oh, I have all this already" and leave.  A bigger gal is going to be like, "HOLLY SHIT, I need all of this" and spend more money.


You're missing an opportunity here folks.
Fatty trying to lose a pound.

P.S. -  I have found that Old Navy and Lane Bryant do have a decent plus sized activewear line.  However, like most Lane Bryant cloths, you have to be an amazon woman to wear them.


Old Navy's line is much better and I have purchased quite a few items from their line: 5 or more cotton/spandex shirts, two pair of shorts (same style/color, different sizes), two pair of capris (same style/color, different sizes), and three compression/built in sports bra tops.

Before buying these clothes, I always felt like butt when I worked out.  I'd wear a T-shirt that would show my gut when I raised my arms and baggy shorts.  I felt like crap and couldn't stay motivated.

Now that I've bought these clothes, I've stayed more motivated and have almost completed the C25k program with plans to keep running, and have also lost over 20 pounds.  I still have a long way to go, but it's a start.  I feel better about myself and love that I don't have to worry about looking like a walmart rag-a-muffin when I'm trying to make my fat cry.

P.S.S.- Dear Old Navy,
Please get some more activewear styles and colors.  Also, work on those sports bras. Is anyway actually buying those?