jessica mitchell jessica mitchell

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend as I did. Going to start off today’s article with a little side information. In order to put a stop to some posts here on DC by basically one individual claiming I’m somehow not real — and I’m not sure what part of the fan sign I made for DC, which has been posted here, he missed exactly. Or is he claiming I really didn’t lose my leg?

Seriously, WTF, why would anyone want to make that up? I’ll have two legs again any day, thank you very much – so I’m not about to pretend that I have one. What makes me laugh is that why, if I’m not “real”, is he continuing to read my posts here on DC? Have to laugh at that one. I’m at a loss as to which part of me isn’t real.

Perhaps I’m the love child of Elvis and Wilma Flintstone? Or, maybe I’m the lost daughter of Michael Jackson. It’s early and I think I’m not quite ready to deal with such deep philosophical questions. As much as I don’t really care to even address such silly claims, I took a couple self-shots of me getting ready this morning – assuming this person didn’t believe I lost my leg and that’s the thing that isn’t “real” about me. Now, probably this person will claim it’s really a picture of Elvis in drag. Well, I like to think I have much nicer boobs than Elvis ever did, even in his “large” days. If this isn’t real enough for you, I can’t help you. On to the post for day….

I read a tweet that I received this morning from @skmel28 that got me thinking, and since we missed our normal Friday “ask-me” article last week, I’ll talk about skmel28’s question today. His question was : “Hi jessica, I hope you had a great weekend …. btw, how does that work in the gym and on the beach with your leg ?”

I had a fabulous weekend skmel28, thank you! I’ve always been a gym rat – and I’m always at the gym. I love it. I’m there probably five days a week. I had to adjust my routine at the gym after I lost my leg, that’s for sure, but I manage to break a pretty good sweat when I’m there — which means I’m doing something right. I pretty much break it up with cardio every other day, and weights every other day. Some days I’ll do a little of both. I wear my prosthesis to the gym on cardio days — I normally ride the stationary bike, and there are some aerobics type classes I attend too. The classes are way hard for me, and I probably look like a total idiot trying to do the moves, but I figure I’m there to work out and I don’t really care about the rest. All of the people in the classes I attend are so very supportive of me, which is really awesome.

Weights are a lot easier for me. I’ve found my prosthesis just gets in the way for my days with the weights, so I usually leave it home and go on crutches those days. I had my prosthetist make me a special socket that’s for weight training – so I can do the “butt machine” as I like to call it and some other leg lift machines.

Just in case you don’t know what a “socket” is, it’s what I put my stump into. There’s no foot attached to it, just a socket — but it’s a little longer than usual and extends a little past where my knee would be, so I can use some of the leg/butt machines. It comes in handy if I want to kneel on the mats and stuff too. So I’ll wear that on my weight days.

The regulars at the gym have all gotten used to seeing me work out there, so it’s no big deal. When new people come in, visiting town or whatever, they are the ones that tend to be curious. It’s all fine though – most people aren’t creepy about it. I had a girl around my age from Florida come up to me yesterday asking how I had lost my leg and stuff.

The first time I went back to the beach was awkward, to say the least. Now, I don’t really give a shit what people think. That first day back at the beach sucked though. My friends were so sweet about it and took me bikini shopping beforehand – apparently to ensure I looked as hot as possible despite not having a leg. From the suits they picked out, apparently they were going for me blinding people with my boobage so they wouldn’t even notice my leg. Seriously, you should have seen some of those tops – there’s more fabric in a band-aid I think.

So we get there and I find out that prosthetic legs and sand are not friends. It’s nearly impossible, at least for me, to walk in sand with my leg on and not fall on my face. During that time, I was still wearing my first temporary leg, so I was not even used to walking with it on hard surfaces. I love swimming, especially in the ocean — always have.

I remember that day – because I really think that was the day I took on my new “don’t give a shit what people think” attitude. I was sitting on the sand, wanting to go swimming, but knowing I couldn’t walk down to the water. And when I got there, my prosthesis wasn’t supposed to get wet. I was thinking either I’m going to say “I can’t do this” or “I can’t do that” for the rest of my life, or just forget about “what people might think” and live my live.

I took my leg off, hopped down to the water and went swimming. Swimming for the first time with half a leg missing was also really weird, but that’s a different topic. Coming out of the water and having to hop back to my towel was also the moment I realized that having big boobs and one leg was a horrible combination. I’m sure the guys at the beach that day might disagree, but whatever, guys think about boobs 24/7, right?

Speaking of the gym, I need to get there now. Have a beautiful day all of my lovely DC readers! … and don’t forget to get more involved in my Friday ask-me column!

Check back on Friday for “Ask a one legged hot chick”. Don’t forget to drop your questions in the comment section or send them to Jessica on Twitter.