Thunder Thighs?
Find freedom from friction

I've got my dad's thighs. Long, muscular, meaty. In my youth they were my biggest complaint. Thunder thighs, we used to call them. Thighs that upset the ratio I needed to fit into my Levis. Buying jeans to fit my thighs left waistbands bagging ridiculously. These thighs made linebackers jealous. These thighs could propel me up a flight of 100 stairs without breaking a pant.

These thighs chafed.

As I grew heavier, they chafed more. Scraping seams together with every step, I wore through jeans and cords, tights and leggings within a single season.

Summers were miserable. Trying to go without hose in the summer gave me prickly heat rashes that took weeks to heal. Shorts rode up between my legs and bunched in my crotch at every third step.

Losing the weight and growing older (perimenopause brings a shifting of weight that helps pare down those thighs, finally) have brought me relief for the first time in my life. Today my thighs barely know one another, and I find that I'm actually wearing the same pair of slacks in their third winter. That's a first for me. That goes on my rewards list.

What rewards list? This is the list you keep in you log or journal where you record the things you've achieved through your weight loss and fitness efforts. This is where you record your loosened rings, the first sighting of hip bone, your greater flexibility, your increased strength, your improved sleep, days without heartburn, more lustrous hair, all the things healthier eating and regular exercise have brought you so far. Keep this list handy for the days when you're feeling a little blue, a little unmotivated.

Meantime, if rubbing thighs are getting the best of you, look into silk leggings. Wintersilks carries a nice, lightweight silk longjohn for women and men. They're light and airy enough to work under anything this season, and relieve your thighs from the pain of friction, release your slacks and shorts from climbing up your legs. Unfortunately they come in sizes only up to XL.

But then look also at Spanx hose in thigh-length and calf-length styles for giving your keester and tummy seamless control and your thighs some movement and tone under anything you wear this winter.

Talc is your friend. A soothing, medicated one will provide both immediate relief and help ward off prickly heat wherever your body parts chafe. I liked Gold Bond Medicated Powder myself.

Runners use a special goo called Bodyglide to ward off blisters and chafing during long distance events. I discovered this stuff while my thighs still met, and it worked miracles in my early running days. Kept the blisters off my feet too. I expect it would help best in the worst of the summer heat. It's worth a try.

Try everything, friends. It's so much better to find the solution to chafing thighs so you can keep moving comfortably rather than sitting still so you don't chafe. You know?

Wintersilks Long Johns
Spanx
Gold Bond at drugstore.com
Body Glide


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