Secrets of a Former Fat Girl by Lisa Delaney Read Free Book Online Page A

running.
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    Bra Basics: Keeping the Girls Comfy
    I am so flat that I could probably do all my bra shopping in the preteen department. Comfort and support are still important for women like me, but for those who are more on the average and above-average side (cupwise, I mean), they are crucial. Here’s the Former Fat Girl’s guide to finding a fitness bra that will give you both.
Allow for the impact factor. Possibly the most important thing to consider is where your typical type of workout falls on the impact scale. Is it high, low, or somewhere in between? Most manufacturers and many catalogs and Web sites rate their bras by the level of impact they can withstand. Activa (www.activasports.com) and Title Nine (www.titlenine.com) are two of the best.
Pick a sweat-wicking fabric. Fabrics such as Coolmax, Nike’s Dry-FIT, and Champion’s DoubleDry work to move moisture away from your body so your skin stays drier. Your bra will be less likely to rub you the wrong way if your skin is dry.
Go seamless. No seams mean less chafing: Brands such as Champion and Nike offer a variety of seamless models, some of them with underwire construction.
Look for wider, padded straps. Wider straps help distribute the load (sorry!) more evenly to ease the strain on your shoulders. Some bras use gel in the straps for an even comfier ride.
Choose a model with molded cups. This kind of bra lifts and supports while maintaining your girlish shape. Virtually shapeless “compression” bras, on the other hand, use sheer force. You might as well duct tape them down.
Get some advice. You’d be amazed at how detailed some of the apparel Web sites are; for instance, Activa gives recommendations for specific bras that address particular problems and walks you step by step through the process of taking your measurements. The site also offers a toll-free number in case you can’t find the info you need or just want to chat. The women at Title Nine have a sense of humor about what they do, and it shows. They call their bras things like the Wired and Ready for Action Bra and (my favorite) The Last Resort Bra, their recommendation for the big, bouncy girl who has tried every other bra out there.
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    Follow the 10 percent rule.
    For anyone who exercises—from the elite athlete to the wannabe Former Fat Girl—any workout will get easier after about six weeks of doing it regularly. That means two things: To keep getting stronger, burn more calories, and lose more weight, you have to push yourself even harder, but in your excitement at your progress or your anxiousness to keep the results coming, you may push so hard that you hurt yourself. The last thing you want to do is get on a roll, and—bam!—end up nursing a sore knee, an achy ankle, or worse.
    That’s where the 10 percent rule comes in. It’s used by trainers and other experts to help you figure out how to keep pushing yourself without going too far. It goes like this: Each week you are allowed to increase the intensity, distance, or difficulty level of your workout by a maximum of 10 percent. That means if you’re walking two miles this week and feel up to it, you can add .8 of a lap next week. Round it up to make it easier to keep track of. Or if you’re walking your two miles in, say, thirty minutes, try to pick up your pace to shave off three minutes. That doesn’t seem like much, I know, but it will when you try to do it.
    Step away from the mirror.
    The reason for the wall-to-wall mirrors in most workout rooms isn’t to fuel the vanity of girls in outfits who look as if they came straight from their waitressing jobs at Hooters. Nor are they meant to torture everyone else with the sight of their soft middles and muscles. The real reason for them is to allow people who know what they’re looking for to monitor their form and to give you a 360-degree view of the instructor during class.
    But there is a downside to staring at