In May this year I joined a weekly running group for beginners. It was targeting unfit adults, and for a small subscription we met for an hour every Wednesday for 10 weeks. The ambition of the course leaders was that we would build our fitness week on week, and aim to complete one of the Saturday 5k ParkRuns - without stopping.
To begin with I was rather reluctant about it. I'd attempted the course a couple of years ago, but for one reason or another (probably child-care related) I hadn't had the focus or determination required for success. In other words I'd flunked out.
This time the children were both older, and if I didn't start to do something about my fitness soon I'd find myself hitting 50 next year and it would get harder. My BMI (body mass index) was wavering between 26-27 (2 points over the government healthy range, technically 'overweight') and I'd had a run in with high blood pressure a couple of years ago. Everything added up. Time to make a change. I decided to 'commit to get fit'. I call it my 'Fit by Fifty' mantra.
It wasn't easy. Well, actually, the running wasn't bad, but the timing of the course clashed with my work commitments. I finished work (contracted work in a public library means keeping the hours you're contracted to) at 5pm, and the course started at 6pm. So far so good. The only problem was I was 45-50 minutes 'rush-hour' travel away in Witney, and the course was 6pm in Wantage....
The logistics of driving home, with a child pick up on the way, meant I was always late, but I didn't miss one week. And my first ParkRun (http://www.parkrun.org.uk/abingdon/) at Abingdon on 28th June saw me complete the course, without stopping in 34:36. I've since completed five ParkRuns and have brought my time down to 33:02. Yey me!
Now that the children are older, more independent and (in some ways) less demanding, I'm enjoying having some 'me' time. I try to run a couple of times a week, and have recently joined in a group doing 'boot camp' style exercises on Tuesdays 6-7pm. There's no way I'd self-motivate to do sit ups, step ups, side-planks, squats, bicep? dips, burpees, lunges and the like, in sets of 10, 15, with sprints in between each station, but the group ethic has inspired where lack of willpower failed.
But. There's something bugging me. I'm not expecting to lose weight immediately, indeed, the weight seems to have stayed the same, although I must have shaped up, as I've noticed that most of my summer clothes have become looser since I began running. The problem is, that if/when I lose weight / tone up my torso, then my boobs look bigger by comparison.
This is not something I'm trying to achieve. I'm over-sensitive to the size of my bosom, and would dearly love for them to be smaller. I'm much like many women in their dislike of a particular part of their body. My dilemma, however, is the opposite to the majority, and therefore puts me in a minority position, and not one evoking much sympathy from either sex.
So how big is the problem? In UK sizes I'm 36" measured around the ribcage and under the bosom. My cup size is GG. I've tried to ignore it for many years, and have adapted my wardrobe accordingly. I wear tops with V-necks to flatter, shaping, darts and separates are my strength, and I'm never lost for a safety-pin holding the gape between straining buttons at the appropriate place...
This irritation becomes more apparant when I'm running. Indeed, being big breasted has put me off running for quite a few years. There is the obvious issue of boob bounce, and the less important but no less irritating issue of wandering eyes. What's also annoying is that I'm the only female in my family with this kind of breast size. It's not inherited, so must be a quirk on my genes that my female relations don't share.
Over the years it has crossed my mind to investigate breast reduction, but I haven't got that kind of money, and how good a result do you really get? However, I am curious to know how much a breast of my size would weigh (so how much weight could I lose if I did have a reduction?). A bit of poking around on the internet and there's quite a variation of opinion, from a couple of UK pounds (1kg approx), to a melon-sized (all puns intended) 4kgs (!).
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/720520-ok-ladies-weigh-your-knockers-here
According to this link, my size roughly equates to 2.1kg or 4.6lbs. It rings true to me, I've got the shoulder grooves from the strain my bra has been under these many years.
Think about it. (OK, any menfolk reading, this is not meant to be smutty in any form. If you think this is smutty please leave this page immediately. I may intend things to be funny, hopefully we all may smile, but smut-lovers should navigate away now). 2.1kg is the equivalent to strapping 2 x 1kg bags of sugar to my chest when I go for a run. Well, actually, they're there all the time. Imagine how cumbersome that is to live with. (Smut-lovers, stop imagining please). If I lost 2kg of weight, I'd be within the healthy range of BMI for my height.
So, logically, I should be tempted to investigate breast reduction. But no. There are many more important things to be tackling, and my breast size is in reality just an annoyance I have to put up with. And I've purchased a very solid looking bra to help with this enormous challenge.
When it comes to running with a large chest, there are two trains of thought, to camps to choose from, two babies to help you reduce unwanted bounce. Firstly: to compress and contain and, secondly, to support. Both 'systems' claim to reduce bounce. You can compress your breasts by selecting a specialist bounce reducing sports bra. Smaller breasted women claim this type of bra is 'all you ever need'. Believe me, if you're into double cup sizes, it's not.
So you wear your sports bra, and then on top of that you wear a sports support crop top of some design. Double protection, double struggle getting them on, and even more effort taking them off when you're done and sweaty. The look is very matronly, one-boob roll effect, but the overall chest size appears reduced, and the bounce is minimal.
The alternative is to wear an underwired sports bra - select one with running in mind. I've recently purchased the Panache underwired sports bra. It's very comfortable, and is incredibly well padded. The effect is to make me look larger than I am. However, it does seem to support my breasts very well when running, and it's now my preferred choice when I'm wearing my white running shirt.
It's all well and good posting a photo of the bra without anything to offer scale. So here's my actual bra, with a pineapple and some bananas in it.
When I weighed it, the scales said 4lb 4oz or just under 2kg. That breast reduction is beginning to look tempting.....
Keeping it real! Kat :)
To begin with I was rather reluctant about it. I'd attempted the course a couple of years ago, but for one reason or another (probably child-care related) I hadn't had the focus or determination required for success. In other words I'd flunked out.
This time the children were both older, and if I didn't start to do something about my fitness soon I'd find myself hitting 50 next year and it would get harder. My BMI (body mass index) was wavering between 26-27 (2 points over the government healthy range, technically 'overweight') and I'd had a run in with high blood pressure a couple of years ago. Everything added up. Time to make a change. I decided to 'commit to get fit'. I call it my 'Fit by Fifty' mantra.
It wasn't easy. Well, actually, the running wasn't bad, but the timing of the course clashed with my work commitments. I finished work (contracted work in a public library means keeping the hours you're contracted to) at 5pm, and the course started at 6pm. So far so good. The only problem was I was 45-50 minutes 'rush-hour' travel away in Witney, and the course was 6pm in Wantage....
The logistics of driving home, with a child pick up on the way, meant I was always late, but I didn't miss one week. And my first ParkRun (http://www.parkrun.org.uk/abingdon/) at Abingdon on 28th June saw me complete the course, without stopping in 34:36. I've since completed five ParkRuns and have brought my time down to 33:02. Yey me!
Now that the children are older, more independent and (in some ways) less demanding, I'm enjoying having some 'me' time. I try to run a couple of times a week, and have recently joined in a group doing 'boot camp' style exercises on Tuesdays 6-7pm. There's no way I'd self-motivate to do sit ups, step ups, side-planks, squats, bicep? dips, burpees, lunges and the like, in sets of 10, 15, with sprints in between each station, but the group ethic has inspired where lack of willpower failed.
But. There's something bugging me. I'm not expecting to lose weight immediately, indeed, the weight seems to have stayed the same, although I must have shaped up, as I've noticed that most of my summer clothes have become looser since I began running. The problem is, that if/when I lose weight / tone up my torso, then my boobs look bigger by comparison.
This is not something I'm trying to achieve. I'm over-sensitive to the size of my bosom, and would dearly love for them to be smaller. I'm much like many women in their dislike of a particular part of their body. My dilemma, however, is the opposite to the majority, and therefore puts me in a minority position, and not one evoking much sympathy from either sex.
So how big is the problem? In UK sizes I'm 36" measured around the ribcage and under the bosom. My cup size is GG. I've tried to ignore it for many years, and have adapted my wardrobe accordingly. I wear tops with V-necks to flatter, shaping, darts and separates are my strength, and I'm never lost for a safety-pin holding the gape between straining buttons at the appropriate place...
This irritation becomes more apparant when I'm running. Indeed, being big breasted has put me off running for quite a few years. There is the obvious issue of boob bounce, and the less important but no less irritating issue of wandering eyes. What's also annoying is that I'm the only female in my family with this kind of breast size. It's not inherited, so must be a quirk on my genes that my female relations don't share.
Over the years it has crossed my mind to investigate breast reduction, but I haven't got that kind of money, and how good a result do you really get? However, I am curious to know how much a breast of my size would weigh (so how much weight could I lose if I did have a reduction?). A bit of poking around on the internet and there's quite a variation of opinion, from a couple of UK pounds (1kg approx), to a melon-sized (all puns intended) 4kgs (!).
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/720520-ok-ladies-weigh-your-knockers-here
According to this link, my size roughly equates to 2.1kg or 4.6lbs. It rings true to me, I've got the shoulder grooves from the strain my bra has been under these many years.
Think about it. (OK, any menfolk reading, this is not meant to be smutty in any form. If you think this is smutty please leave this page immediately. I may intend things to be funny, hopefully we all may smile, but smut-lovers should navigate away now). 2.1kg is the equivalent to strapping 2 x 1kg bags of sugar to my chest when I go for a run. Well, actually, they're there all the time. Imagine how cumbersome that is to live with. (Smut-lovers, stop imagining please). If I lost 2kg of weight, I'd be within the healthy range of BMI for my height.
So, logically, I should be tempted to investigate breast reduction. But no. There are many more important things to be tackling, and my breast size is in reality just an annoyance I have to put up with. And I've purchased a very solid looking bra to help with this enormous challenge.
When it comes to running with a large chest, there are two trains of thought, to camps to choose from, two babies to help you reduce unwanted bounce. Firstly: to compress and contain and, secondly, to support. Both 'systems' claim to reduce bounce. You can compress your breasts by selecting a specialist bounce reducing sports bra. Smaller breasted women claim this type of bra is 'all you ever need'. Believe me, if you're into double cup sizes, it's not.
So you wear your sports bra, and then on top of that you wear a sports support crop top of some design. Double protection, double struggle getting them on, and even more effort taking them off when you're done and sweaty. The look is very matronly, one-boob roll effect, but the overall chest size appears reduced, and the bounce is minimal.
The alternative is to wear an underwired sports bra - select one with running in mind. I've recently purchased the Panache underwired sports bra. It's very comfortable, and is incredibly well padded. The effect is to make me look larger than I am. However, it does seem to support my breasts very well when running, and it's now my preferred choice when I'm wearing my white running shirt.
It's all well and good posting a photo of the bra without anything to offer scale. So here's my actual bra, with a pineapple and some bananas in it.
When I weighed it, the scales said 4lb 4oz or just under 2kg. That breast reduction is beginning to look tempting.....
Keeping it real! Kat :)
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