Answering Reader Emails

I love your blog! Sometimes I feel like I'm the only plus sized girl out there, you are such a comfort. I am ready to rejoin WW and you have been such an inspiration to me, and I wanted to thank you for sharing.

OK, here's the personal part... I hope I don't offend when I ask this but how do you wear skirts without chafing? I love the look of skirts, but I end up with raw skin when I try to wear them.

Thanks for any help you have,
Wendy

Hi, Wendy! Thanks for your email and the blog love. I follow blogs that provide me with inspiration so it really means a lot to me that you feel the same way about T Minus, T Plus. Weight loss and healthy living is such a personal journey, so I hope that WW helps you find your goals!

That is a personal question, but I am a very open person, so I am happy to discuss "chub rub" as my friends and I so lovingly call it. Before I get down to the details of this answer, I think it's important to point out that a lot of women have to deal with the issue of thigh rub no matter what their weight. When I weighed 120 pounds less than I do now, my thighs still touched at the top. I was a young, slim girl and was not at all over weight, but I still had to deal with it. So please excuse the "chub rub" name; it's just what we call it.

I don't usually have to take any precautions at work against chub rub since I don't really do much walking around. I go from the parking garage to my desk and that's pretty much it. However, at this point I'm going to interject a little story:

I once met a man at a wedding in Indiana. He lived in San Francisco and I lived in Austin and we started a long distance thing. Our first real date after the wedding where we met was in Las Vegas where we met up for the weekend. I wanted to look cute, so I wore skirts. We did a lot of walking up and down the strip in the summer heat. I started sweating and my thighs were rubbing so much it was killing me. I was too emabrassed to tell him that we needed to stop walking around so much. As a result, my thighs were rubbed so raw that they developed scabs.

EEEWWWW, right? Not exactly a romatic thing. This brings up my first suggestion. I think it helps to try to keep dry. So, don't run out the door in a skirt if you are still damp from the shower. And if it's hot outside and you know you are going to sweat or do lots of walking, it's probably best to take some extra precautions.

Tina's Chub Rub Buster #1:

A friend of mine taught me a trick when I came back from that trip to Vegas. She told me to use antiperspirant on my thighs where they touched. I tried my regular solid deoderant and that was a mistake. It just blobs up. Yuck! Then I discovered gel deoderants. Perfect! I use Arrid Extra Dry b/c it's always been my favorite, but I am sure other gel antiperspirants would work too. Along the same lines, there are some sports products for runners that are specifically for thigh chafing, but I'm inclined to think it's just antiperspirant with a different label.

Tina's Chub Rub Buster #2 (aka The Big Guns):

Sometimes antiperspirant isn't enough, especially if you're going to be doing a lot of walking or it's really hot outside. That's when I pull out the big guns.

I bought these spandex shorts several years ago at Target. They are not Spanx or any kind of tight, tummy-sucking thing. I hate those things and I only wear them for fancy events. I think that these were with the "ballet" stuff. They are just stretchy shorts and are super comfortable. Rand thinks that they are hideous (the grey color probably doens't help with that) but he loves that I'm not constantly asking him to slow down (I need to walk more slowly when I'm not wearing them to help prevent chafing). By simply putting a barrier between my thighs, the rubbing no longer bothers me. I wear these a lot!

I have been looking for another pair of these and haven't seen them at Target, but I bet they could be found at a store that carries a wider selection of workout clothes. Just look for something that is not cotton, since a nylon or other wicking material will be better for hot days.

I hope this helps, Wendy! Thank for the email.
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