Being a Swolita

Hello everyone! So today I'm going to be talking about my experience as a body builder and a Lolita, or "Swolita" as I like to call myself.

 I've always struggled with fitness. I've never been a fat kid, but I've never been much of an athlete either. When I was younger I was in karate and dance, but around 14 I had to stop both due to finance and transportation issues. During my dancing years, I became quite proficient in tap, jazz, and ballet, even going so far as to win an award with the rest of my dance group at a competition we attended. I always pushed myself in class and would practice a particular step or combo at home if I was struggling with it in class so I could have it down by the next lesson. For most of my dancing career, I would spend 3 or more days a week at the dance studio, typically with two or more classes lasting an hour to an hour and a half. At one point though, I switched to a school where I only had two classes a week. I started noticing that I was gaining weight (a bit more than was needed for someone still growing) and my parents had to explain to me that I couldn't eat the same ammounts as when I was in more dance classes because my body didn't need as much to be maintained. I had been in fairly intensive dance for so long that I had become acustom to a higher metabolism. After I left dance and karate, I struggled to find another, closer physical activity I could participate in that would allow me to stay in shape. I tried fencing for a while, and was getting pretty good at it before the group I was in broke up. Since then I've struggled with staying in shape or even finding something I enjoy doing in the way of physical fitness.

 While I still don't have the strongest of workouts, after a eight week overall fitness program and a 12-week weightlifting one about a year later, I've put on a lot of muscle. Before I moved out of my parent's house for my career and fitness change, I wore small to medium blouses, had a bust of 34 in and a waist of 27 inches, and typically weighed 125-130 lbs. Now I struggle to find blouses and jackets that fit my shoulders and don't fit like a sack, have a larger chest and waist measurement, and weigh around 145 lbs. All of this is due to muscle gain. I have several handmade blouses as well as my first Lolita dress and multiple pairs of bloomers that I made quite a while back that, after the 12-week weight lifting program, no longer fit. Keep in mind, these articles had all fit about a year ago, long before I started the program. Now I face the struggles of a Swolita, too much muscle to properly fit a lot of Lolita clothing. I'm having to face the reality of the fact that I'm either going to have to buy "Plus sized" Lolita (which is pretty much anyone over a US medium) and alter them as needed, or buy articles with lots and lots of shirring.

 While there are the disadvantages, there's also some amusing byproducts of being a Swolita. I've halfway jokingly and somewhat seriously discussed the idea of making a Swolita gym outfit. Think you're pretty awesome showing up in your muscle shirt and gym shorts, guys? Well you ain't seen nothing until a Swolita walks in wearing a floofy dress and asks if you even lift. And then proceed to lift like a boss. Yes I am overexagerating. With that in mind, if any of you are looking for a good exercise program, I highly recommend Bodybuilding.com as they have exercise programs for all skill levels and goals. The program I used was Jamie Eason's LiveFit 12-week program and it worked great for me! Just make sure you use enough weight for the number of reps you're doing. ;)

 Have fun becoming a Swolita!
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