Best Plus Size Running Bra for Large Cup Size: Enell Sports Bra Review

I'm a big fan of the full coverage Enell bra, a sports bra for running and other high impact activities for large cup sizes and plus sizes.  So here's my review.  Only I should tell you I'm out of shape now and have to admit I haven't run in a while - a few years.  I'm still recovering from a knee injury I sustained last year.  And I was so eager to get back into working out after my plus size fitness tips entry - darn!  But for years I jogged, as a plus size woman and as a woman with big breasts.  So finding a good running bra that had serious control for a big cup size was hard, let alone finding an athletic bra that fit plus sizes.

I tried so, so many plus size running bras.  First I tried doubling up bras and nearly broke my ribs and fainted from the lack of air. Champion bras were pretty good, and I had a favorite racerback bra that I wore for a while before it wore out.  The athletic bras I got at Junonia were also pretty good. In the end, it was the Enell bra that triumphed - that provided the comfort and unbelievable control that I needed for running or any kind of high impact exercise.

If you haven't heard of it yet, this bra is unbelievable, and provides so much support you virtually don't bounce.  It's a soft cup, not an underwire, and its support comes from its construction - meaning it's not extremely tight or constrictive and doesn't squeeze uncomfortably.  (If it does, you probably ordered a size too small.)  The Enell bra comes with specific instructions for donning - you have to slip it on like a jacket and then hook it up, then adjust your girls inside it.  The Enell bra comes in white, black, pink, ecru and beige. (Click on the bra image to see all colors and sizes.)

The sizes follow their own system and can be a little hard to follow, so here's an Enell Bra Size Chart for plus sizes and normals sizes (the plus sizes start at size 3).  If you don't want to view the information here, you can view the size chart at the Enell website.



Enell Sports Bra Sizing Chart

Enell Bra Size 00 is the smallest bra size and fits 32C, 32D, and 32DD, with a bust size of 32" to 35" and a rib measurement of 27" to 29".

Enell Bra Size 0 is  32DDD, plus 34DD and 34DDD, for a 34" to 37" bust and 29" to 31" rib measurement.

Enell Bra Size 1 is 34DD and 34DDD, plus 36D and 36DD, fitting a 36" to 39" bust and 31" to 33" rib cage.

Enell Bra Size 2 is for 36DDD, 38C, 38D, and 40C.  It fits women with a 38" to 42" bust and 35" to 37" rib cage.

Enell Bra Size 3 starts to get into plus sizes.  It fits a 41" to 45" bust and a 35" to 37" rib cage, and is for cup sizes 38DD, 38DDD, 40D, and 40DD.

Enell Bra Size 4 is for cup sizes 40DDD, then 42D, 42DD, and 44D.  The bust measurements are 44" to 48" and the ribcage measurements are 37" to 39".

Enell Bra Size 5 fits cups 42DDD, 44DD, 44DDD, and 46D.  The full bust measurement is 47" to 51" and under the bust around the ribcage should measure 39" to 42".

Enell Bra Size 6 works for cup sizes 46DD and 46DDD, plus 48D and 48DD.  The bust size is 50" to 54" and the ribcage measurement is 42" to 46" around.

Enell Bra Size 7 fits 48DDD women, plus 50D and 50DD.  The bust fit is 53" to 57" at the widest point (don't forget to measure with your bra on) and 46" to 49" around the rib cage.

Enell Bra Size 8 is the largest size as of this writing.  It fits 50DDD cups, plus 52D and 52DD.  Bust measurements range from 56" to 60" and rib cage measurement is 49" to 53."

Other tips about the Enell Bra:  This is not a bra to wear alone, because the seams and hooks are visible.  It's really for under your workout top.  What's cool is that it avoids the "uniboob" look that a lot of ultra supportive sports bras have. The fabric of the bra, by the way, is a nylon spandex blend that's manufactured to be very wicking, which counters some of the "heat" factor of such a full coverage bra.

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Finding Jeans that Fit Curvy Women: The Eternal Search for the Waist

Jeans are my favorite item of clothing next to warm fuzzy slippers. They're also a source of torment. Here's my problem.

As a busty, short, wide-hipped, plus size woman, I'm hard to fit. Jeans are either too long, too baggy in the waist and calves, or too tight in the hips and thighs. They don't, in other words, fit my petite, curvy figure.  I only really have luck with stretch skinny plus size jeans.

Of course, there are plenty of large size jeans to choose from these days - unlike when I was growing up. Skip over to the mall and go into the Avenue or J. Jill or Coldwater Creek or Sears or J.C. Penney or Macy's or Fashion Bug Plus or wherever and you'll find jeans in the plus size women's clothing section.

And online it's crazy. Fashionable low-rise Torrid jeans, plus Silhouettes and Junonia and Land's End and L. L. Bean and Eddie Bauer and...the list only begins, from major retailers to specialty plus size clothing designers. They all carry jeans because jeans are popular. But oh, the selection. Jeans may exist in large sizes for women. But they're not in any form useful to me. Either they don't fit or I don't like them or the price isn't right (good tailoring comes with a price tag - at Nordstrom, for example).

I admit it, buying denim jeans wouldn't be nearly the problem it is if I weren't so picky about my jeans. Some might even say anal. My hate list for jeans reads like a fussy grandmother's rheumatic complaint list. It comes from a legacy of shopping trips to Lane Bryant when I was a kid. I'd come out of the store with Jordache or Gloria Vanderbilt jeans that were too long and too baggy, and yet all there was to choose from.  (Now Gloria Vanderbilt plus size jeans actually come in a short size.)

So here's what I don't want. I don't like fancy stuff. I don't much go for embroidery or sparkly sequins or fringes on my jeans. I don't like bell bottoms--I'm sorry, flare jeans. Bootcut is all right, sometimes...if I plan to wear boots. But I don't want acid washed jeans, I don't want pre-frayed jeans, I don't want pre-faded jeans, and I adamantly don't want to have to roll up the bottoms of the jeans. I'm such a jean nazi that I don't even want an elastic waist, not even a three-inch section of elastic waistband in the back. I just want jeans.

With the exception of one modern style innovation--which I will reveal later--OK, never mind, I'll reveal it now--STRETCH. Lycra. Spandex. Those wonderful little man-made threads that allow full, curvy figures to wiggle into slimline jeans that emphasize every curve. That's my modern weakness.

Other than stretch, though, I want traditional jeans. The cool stuff. I want Levis plus size jeans. I want Lee Jeans and Wrangler's. The classic styles. The classic colors. Blue. Black. Khaki. Tan. Beige. OK, and brown isn't bad. Purple might be all right. But pink, no. Absolutely not.

I like rugged, classic Western wear jeans. The denim jeans the cowboys used out on the range in the days of the Wild West. Even though I've never in my life set foot on a range, ranch, or anything of the sort, I want those jeans. I want the jeans everyone else who's skinny gets to wear, even if they choose not to.

So what's my solution? I've got one, but it's not dignified. I scour the Internet--yes, I confess I'm that dangerous animal, an online clothes shopper with a credit card--for slim, classic jeans that fit curvy women. That fit petite women. That fit plus size women.

And when I find a pair of jeans that does all three, and has nice, comfy stretch, and is in a cool classic indigo blue, I get them. No, I consume them like so much popcorn. If they're on sale...don't get in front of me; you might get hurt.

So where do I shop? Where do I find these rarified animals, cool jeans that fit curvy women? All over. Land's End, L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer, J.C. Penney. Some of these places are just awesome for mid-range plus sizes like me. And even eBay, where I've found gorgeous stretch petite Pierre Cardin jeans for ridiculous sums. I found some absolutely wonderful, perfect, slim-fitting stretch jeans for plus sizes in classic Western styles from Shepler's, on sale for under $20 at the time.

That's what I really love. The classic jeans styles aren't the ones that make you shell out a hundred bucks or more. They're the ones that cost less than a dinner at Applebees. I mean, they're cheap even when normally priced, usually under $30, and at most under $40. I get 'em on sale or at a discount, at $15 a pop, and I feel true pity for the retailer because honestly I'd pay double, even triple, if they only knew my desperation.

And why this post, now? Well, I've recently moved up a size...or two, due to a small addition to the household. (Yes, it's just the first of many grievances I, as a mom, plan to place on Junior's small, unknowing shoulders.) And even though I work at home and barely poke my head outside to be witnessed by human society, I've begun to realize quality of life would be vastly improved by jeans that fit my plus size petite figure. My husband wouldn't mind it, either, I rather suspect.

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Get Fit While Fat: Tips for Walking

Get fit while fat? You bet! You can wear plus sizes and still go the distance. You just have to work up to speed, both aerobically and mentally. Here are some tips for plowing through the real and imagined obstacles in your path if you plan to take your walking or jogging show on the road.

Courage!

Walking in public when you're fat takes courage. There's no question about that. Of course, you could simply exercise in private. If you have a home gym or happen to adore race walking down an abandoned street at 3:00 A.M., that's a fine solution. If not, you just have to buck up and accept that you'll be exercising alongside the Slender Majority, out in the open where the wild bullies roam.

It Gets Better!

The first time you set off, you're scared. You can't help but envision professional "wimp spotters" posted on neighboring roofs, ready to film the aerobically challenged for a YouTube special. Fat-hating gossips after juicy source material lurk behind every window curtain. You scurry past the neighbor's dog, whose echoing bark will, you fear, draw unwanted attention to those clingy sweats that have somehow lost their slimming magic in the bright light of day.

But you're game. You tug at your shirt to make sure it covers the really bouncy bits and keep going. The next time, it gets easier. Before too many weeks, you're zipping along, waving at the neighbors, showing off the new trainers, and having a ball. The real moment of triumph, though, comes when you realize that you're going faster and farther and breathing deeper and slower than some of your thin counterparts.

You realize you can do this, after all.

Minimize the aggravation / maximize the fun.

Here are techniques you can use to keep yourself positive while out exercising:

Wait for the Hurt.
Resist the temptation to be paranoid. Wait until someone actually does make fun of you before you assume that's what they'll do.

Go With Option A
Assume the best, not the worst. Yes, some people may secretly be laughing at you. On the other hand, they might not be. Whenever you have a choice between Option A, the good option, or Option B, the bad option, go for Option A in a big way.

Do It Outside
Avoid the gym. Exercise outside. Outside, there are myriad distractions that will, well, distract you.

They Went Two By Two For a Reason
Exercise in pairs. Go walking with a buddy and watch the bully-wannabes fade away in the wake of two walkers with ample attitude.

Hydrate.
Carry water. Water makes you look, figuratively and literally, cool. Especially when you gulp it down straight out of a fancy hydration pack that says to the world that this dude or dudette lives and breathes working out in Mother Nature. Water, incidentally, also keeps you from fainting, an important factor in your how-not-to-embarrass-yourself-while-exercising plan.

Smile. Ferociously.
Meet people's gazes and smile with a full set of teeth. Show potential bullies you're no victim and that if they look at you wrong, you'll blast them with green slime, whip out your digital camcorder and serve them up as a side dish on YouTube.

Do It Every Day. Get Into the Habit.
Walk sensibly and injury-free. Warm up. Cool down. Stretch. Obey any pain signals and slow down or stop. Injury-free means you get out there more and keep your positive momentum going.

Be the Body.
Forget the world. Enjoy the euphoria from the exertion and all those endorphins rushing through your system. Have a blast!

Before you know it, you'll be an exercise addict, and the question won't be how to get yourself to face the world. It'll be how to stop you!

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Obesity Epidemic? Ooh, That Word!

Aargh! I hate my soapbox. It's held together by rusty nails and it splinters every time I step up on it. But this is important. So up I go...

Obesity epidemic! Obesity epidemic! Quick, to your quarantines! Obesity's out and spreading!

All right, all right, I have no beef with "obesity." Well, there is the fact that, through no fault of its own, "obesity" sounds a bit too much like "obscene." But I can live in the same room with obesity. It's "epidemic" that gets my goat. And when they get together, they become the anti-phrase as far as I'm concerned.

Maybe I'm overreacting. But really. I mean, after seeing the phrase plastered all over the newspapers this week, it's dawned on me that this is the new catch phrase for obesity.

Did a big worldwide obesity conference happen that I missed? Who coined the term "obesity epidemic?" Please, tell me if you know.

What I suspect is that somebody figured yelling "obesity epidemic" would nicely butt-kick all the fat folks out there who seemed to lack the motivation to lose weight into doing just that.

Right. All those fat people who somehow missed getting the message that fat is bad. All those fat people who just feel society's love pouring in on them. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

It's not necessary to tell fat people that there's a problem. The very turnstiles they walk through say so loud and clear.

The flu is an epidemic. The plague is an epidemic. The Internet, some might say, is an epidemic. Obesity is not an epidemic.

Obesity did not enter our culture as a sudden outbreak and it is not a disease. Obesity has gradually and continuously increased in Western-influenced populations since, if memory serves me, the late 19th century. And obesity is associated with some diseases, yes. But--as the classic rant goes--association is not causation.

And all the association of obesity and disease means is that some medical researchers asked themselves, "Is obesity associated with X disease?" It is so, so likely that if the same researchers ever decide to ask whether blond hair is also associated with X disease they will find that it is so. That's because in nature, tons of things are associated with each other without causing each other, like spit and bubble gum.

The use of "obesity epidemic" is deeply scary. It's a powerful way of telling the entire insecure population of the world that they're mortally sick and a threat to the endurance of civilization on par with AIDS or the bubonic plague.

So that's why I feel the use of the phrase "obesity epidemic" is becoming pandemic. And I don't know what to do about it.

Oh, wait. Yes, I do. I started this blog. I'm blogging. Blogging's pandemic. So it's only right that one pandemic combats another. Hmm, is there an epidemic of pandemics out there, or is my mind playing tricks on me...?

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Copyright Nerd Writer Mom 2008