She lives!

Yeah yeah, I know, I'm lazy.
It's been far too long.
And I am back on here to snark, surprise and wonder. Once again, it's snarking about clothes, but with an extra added side of so damn pissed at the fat shaming in society today. It all kind of came into a ball when I was out shopping today.

See because of the lovely and talented Gabourey Sidibe being up for an Oscar, there's been a lot of talk in the news about obesity (not like there already wasn't) and some of it has been good, and some of it has been bad, and some of it has been ridiculous (like this lovely Reuter's article). But what's been worse has been the comments on some of these posts (I have stopped reading them utterly) many of which have shown some of the worst sides of humanity.
But some of which almost seem reasonable, until you look closer. The one I see most often has been something along the lines of "but they can't possibly be aware they're fat, or they'd simply get up and move sometimes and eat less!"
Oh if only it were that easy. For one thing, it is not a direct 'calories in/calories out' situation. Oh how I wish it was. Of course that's the basic equation, but some people spend calories more easily by far. For instance, for the last month and a half, I have been going to the gym every other day, doing at least an hour of mixed cardio and weights, and eating between 1500 and 1900 calories a day.
How much weight have I lost?
I gained four pounds.
So yeah, it's just not that easy. I'm more average than your active american, and it's not getting me any thinner. It is, however, getting me more healthy and so I'm not upset because getting healthy, not losing weight, is the reason that I decided to go forward with the gym membership et. al. If weightloss happens, it'll be a nifty side benefit, but I'm not worried about it. I've already lowered my heart rate considerably and I'm enjoying a lot more energy and bounce in my life.
Today though, I went shopping, and I was reminded of one of the other hurdles that people might face in getting healthier. It's a small one, maybe it's a petty one, but for someone who's already facing a lot of hurdles (shame, health issues, possibly depression, lack of access to healthy food, etc) it can be a big one.
Lack of decent workout clothing.
Now, this is a bigger issue for women than for men. At all of the stores I checked out (and there have been many) that carried clothes for men, there were at least one or two brands that carried workout clothes up to a size XXL. Yay for them. Not so much for us girls though.
I couldn't find anything larger than an XL, and even those were few and far between, and all cut on the small side of the spectrum.
Sure, I can exercise in nothing more special than a t-shirt and a pair of old sweat pants. However, for many women it's embarrassing enough to be in a gym, let alone in a gym looking even more different from everyone else than you already do. Most women that I know of who refuse to work out list he fear of being stared at, judged, or ridiculed as the number one reason they don't go to a gym.
Secondly, and this is just speaking for myself, a t-shirt and sweats don't really stretch in all the right ways (I find that most of my T's the necks are a little too small when working out. They shift and make me uncomfortable) and it's getting warmer, and I find that they are really crappy for working out when it might actually get above, oh, sixty. They get sweaty and uncomfortable quick! I want moisture wicking, and coolmax, and all that wonderful nifty high tech stuff! I want to be comfortable when I work out. I deserve, dammit, to be as comfortable as thin people. But apparently that's not allowed. I even went to a few plus size stores (both online and brick and mortar) and what very little workout gear they had was all very thick and heavy and more suited to lounging than actually moving.
Society! Please stop shaming me for my fat and then turning around and making it harder for me to get fit! It's really nasty and hypocritical of you!