Danskin Now Performance Wear at Walmart

Did you make a resolution to be more active and get in better shape this year? It seems to be a perennial favorite for all of us as we look back at the year past–especially after the guilt of all those rich and or sugary holiday foods.

I know that personally I’ve gained quite a bit of weight in the last 2 years. Blame it on sitting at a desk typing too much. Blame it on my stupid plantar fascitis in my heel. Blame it on a slower metabolism as I passed 40. Blame it on poor food and activity choices. . . regardless of the reason it is something that really, really has to change. I’m not happy with how I look or feel (although my sweet husband still tells me he thinks I looks great). I need to start exercising.

One of my problems is that I’ve gained enough weight that all my exercise clothing no longer fits. I feel like a stuffed sausage wearing my old stuff and since despite the photos they put in magazines no one looks good exercising to begin with–exercising while wearing clothing that you feel like you look terrible in is not a way to get yourself motivated. On the other hand I’d really like not to be at this size for too long and to get back down into the stuff I owned before–so I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on new exercise clothing.

I swear that someone up there loves me, because it is amazing how often Walmart asks me to review something or do a project that is right in line with what I wanted to do anyway. In this particular case a few weeks back while I was shopping in Walmart anyway, a new email came in from Walmart HQ asking me if I’d like to try out some Danskin Now Performance wear and giving me a $30 budget to do so.

Serendipity eh? I know $30 doesn’t sound like a lot of money, especially for clothing, but this stuff is at a great price point. Here’s the list of items they asked us to choose from along with the prices:

$5.96 Danskin Now® Performance Heather Tee
$5.96 Danskin Now® Performance Poly Tee
$13.96 Danskin Now® Performance Jacket
$9.94 Danskin Now® Seamless Sport Bra
$6.97 Danskin Now® Bright Liner Sock, 6 pk
$8.96 Danskin Now® Mesh Pant
$6.96 Danskin Now® Running Short

It’s been a while since I’ve bought exercise gear–and I hadn’t really paid attention to all the “performance” features. I’ll admit it, I figured that if they had done something to the fabric to “improve” it that it probably felt like plastic or something. I was wrong. This stuff is all super soft, and it has some great features:

I am especially interested in seeing how the “moisture wicking” works out. I just hate that slimy feeling you get when you sweat while working out. Of course I haven’t had a chance to test it out here yet–it’s currently -4 out (yes, that’s a negative sign there) and my living room is running about 65 with the pellet stove going full blast. I don’t think I COULD sweat right now.

With my $30 I was able to buy 2 t shirts, 2 pairs of shorts and a pair of mesh pants (which need to be hemmed–no one makes those kind of things for us short folks off the rack–at least not to match my current waist measurement). I also picked up one of their sports bras. It’s a medium support–so I wouldn’t wear it jogging or for aerobics or anything–but it should be great for walking, stretching and light exercise.