Allow myself to introduce... myself.
I am a prototypical, albeit not extreme in the curves, hourglass figure. Upon hitting my twenty-seventh birthday, I realized that I needed to re-evaluate my health and fitness situation (due to a family history of heart disease and type II diabetes), and lost 40 pounds with a healthy diet and regular exercise. I'm now 29, engaged to my fiance (he predates the weight loss by many years, though), and entering my last year of graduate school.
I have a lot of interests, but the focus of this blog will be primarily on clothing for curvy women, and fitness, as well. Although body-building (specifically building muscle for looks or competition) is not a focus of mine, I am very interested in being strong and physically fit. Life is for living, and I spent too many years in terrible shape and unable to enjoy life as much as I want.
I can't deny that I also want to like the way my body looks, and I think natural, non-steroid-induced muscles on women are beautiful.
It's very difficult to find information on how hourglass shaped women lose fat-- many websites will say "this is how men will lose fat, and these are the locations hardest to lose fat from," and some websites will also say "this is how women will lose fat, and these are the locations they find hardest to lose fat from," but invariably this websites refer to women who have the traditional "pear-shape" figure, and the statements made do not apply to women with hourglass figures.
I guess the over-arching intention (at least at this stage) for this blog is to discuss the difficulties of clothing in an attractive and professional matter, a curvy female figure; and also hopefully a discussion of how hourglass women lose weight and gain muscle differently compared to other women.
That said, I think all figures are beautiful and have great features, and I hate misogynistic comments (including internalized misogyny) about women and how they "should" look. I want to look good for myself (though I want my fiance to think I'm beautiful, and my coworkers and boss to think I look professional), not because a women's value is intrinsically tied to her attractiveness. I'm a person first.
I'm not an hourglass, but as a busty woman interested in getting stronger (and one that gain muscle easily), I'm looking forward to reading more posts from you!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment, Astrid! I think we'll have a lot in common. I think all busty women have similar clothing trials and tribulations, anyway!
DeleteJust subscribed to your blog. I saw the shout out on Boosaurus' blog, and I' interested in the whole weight training /clothing thing. I am always interested in clothing. And newly interested in weight training as I am trying to lose 40 more pounds!
ReplyDeleteLook forward to reading.
And maybe I'll figure out what my shape is. I have ALWAYS thought I was a pear (big thighs/butt here) with big boobs. But now, I am not so sure. I have big arms. My limbs have muscular tendencies. So I guess I'll just be surprised when I hit my goal. Can't wait for your reviews and observations!
Hi Jame! Boosaurus is pretty awesome, and it does sound like you and I have a lot in common!
DeleteI just added a new post about weight training and why I do it, I hope it will be helpful...
Regarding body shape, I'm not sure it's as cut-and-dried as it's portrayed-- I use the "hourglass" designation, because it's an easy description, and it does happen to match how my figure is, but as you can see from Boosaurus' blog, even though we have very similar measurements (even more similar than she posted), our builds look surprisingly different (I knew what she looked like, and I was still surprised by how different our pictures looked next to each other). Her limbs seem to be more slender than mine ever are, even if I wasn't muscular).
If you gain and lose weight evenly, and you have big boobs in addition to hips and booty, it's pretty likely that your body type is really similar to an hourglass. So hopefully, this website will be really useful for you!
Thank you for the comment!
I am also a "muscular" or stockier hourglass. I think they call us "cellos"... However, I have a larger frame than you. I am a 36FF/G and will probably never go down to a 34 band - currently bands are sitting on bone on the front and muscle (with a touch of fat) on my back. I do carry extra pounds...just not on the ribcage. I'm wide - wide hips, wide shoulders, wide ribs....wide.
ReplyDeleteI started fitness training about 9 months ago, and am going through the body changes that come along with the process. It is definitely an adventure - staying in bras that fit is a major undertaking!
Congrats on your impending wedding!