JennyK

I had to get a new bathing suit today.

Bright lights, large mirrors, pale skin...

ACK...it was horrible. And I am an average size.

I did find a matronly blue one that will do the job for 50% off.

I was in mourning for the long gone days of bikinis and frozen drinks on the beach.

I came home to a 2 foot inflatable pool and a diet coke.

Sigh...

Jenny

Cynay

ROFL.... boy do I relate.

But hey, I would not give up who I am today for that body anyway...

JennyK

I hear you. It is not so much the body...although sagging abs are just sad...it is the care free mind set that I had when I actually LOOKED forward to a new bathing suit. That person is long gone. I am wiser and smarter and more complete now...and I certainly know how to "complete" the suit as well!

GettingBy

Tanning lotions work great to at least get rid of the icky pale skin! I HATE how white I get in the winter... and I only have one other color in the summer... RED! Neither looks good in a bathing suit so the "fake" tan (hold the radiation, please!) at least makes me feel better!

bahookie

Oh yeah!
Being scottish I have 3 colours of skintone
blue-white in winter...
lobster as soon as the sun pops out for 5 minutes...
and freckly thereafter.

I don't even want to wear a one-piece out of the water now that there is much more of me than there used to be, and the extra has come wobbly at that!

I'm glad I'm me though The thought of going back to those younger days and making all those mistakes again is enough to send me bananas!
Swings and roundabouts - droopy bits vs taste of wisdom :-B

equus

I'm lucky because I liked my body less when I was younger. As my confidence has grown I've liked it more, now it's got a softer belly, less athletic and with a bigger bum I don't mind too much - it feels like mine, it's changed shape with my life.

Thanks for posting this, it's made me realise being the kid with no **** has it's upside! I'm sure I wouldn't feel the way I do if I'd ever really managed glamorous in my younger days.

Mind you I'd kill for tanned legs! I'm like Bahookie - a slight blue tinge!

Aquiana

Been there! I'm an average size too, usually at least, and seeing myself in those mirrors with those lights.....it's terrifying. Last summer was probably the first in ages I actually felt I looked good! This year I'm pregnant so I'm huge, white, sweaty and I'm not sure how I'm going to shave my legs in about a month. Lol I've been trying to talk Abf into painting my toenails for me but so far it's a no go. Hee hee, I know it's worth it but it's going to be one heck of a summer.

splendra

My body has served me well all these years. I do not look like a teen ager any more but, hey I am 50 years old...

My H says I still look great in a bikini which I wore when we were in south Florida this winter. Might as well take care of your body, I think being aware of my body and what I put into it helped me to recover from drugs...and although my mom tried to strip me of myself esteem while growing up she never could take away my desire to know how the body functioned and what I could do myself to keep my body healthy.

I can't help what color my skin is but I can keep my muscles firm...I am also very light skined and blond/red headed and I get sunburned very easily...

cwohio

ohh yeah - i can relate - 2 things i hate to shop for: bathing suits and bras! when i was young i was skinny, skinny. now i am pretty average sized (8).

:Lmao

i am fair also so i don't really get much tan - just a slight beige. i bare my white legs (in capris and long shorts that is) proudly - broken capillaries and all! i have tried all the tanners and somehow just can't get them even so - WHITE IT IS!

bahookie

you know, I just don't understand clothes sizes. I'm wearing a pair of trousers I bought in Las Vegas and they are a size 8. If i go to Marks and Spencers here I take a 10 or 12 but if I go to a trendy shop I'm a 14!!!!

I like the American sizes best

cwohio

jane - clothes sizes are all over the map any more - seems like a size 8 now is what used to be a 10 or 12. clothes sizes have expanded over the years i'm afraid - to make the ever expanding masses feel good. i really don't think i am a "true" size 8 but i have not had to go to the + sizes yet so i count my blessings!

bahookie

yip and Gap is a law unto itself! I tried on an eight and I could get both my legs in the same trouser!

unfortunately my partner has a compuslive appetite on top of everything else. She's gone way up to about a size 20 (uk - don't ask me what size that is to you!) and it seems to have rubbed off on me. I've put on a stone since January just by nibbling all the chocolate, crisps and biscuits lying around the house. Time to catch a grip I think!
Jane
xxx
Ps you never know, by this time next year I could either be buying those plus sizes or posing in a bikini!

walkingtheline

bahookie has been peering in at me! I skip the lobster part, sunblock w/SPF 50 is my constant companion.

JessicaNAJ

Size 14 here, But I'm tall so I don't look as big as I am........I use to be a 6 until I had kids. Then, along with being on prozac went up to an 18. I'm finally on my way back down.

I tan pretty good, wear a cover-up over my swimsuit. I used to actually lay out for 2 hours each weekend. I realized last weekend, though, that the heat really bothers me. Does that mean I'm getting old?

BTW - those 2 foot pools are awesome for cooling off

bluester

JennyK,I am over 50 now. The older I get the less I care about what people say about my body or what I shouldn't be wearing..fashion wise. If I want to wear a two piece swimming suit..then I will. Learned something from a 80 year old lady..I was on a cruise with 5 years ago. This lady told us that she had been married for over 50 years to a man who would not let her wear a bikini and was very controlling. Was tight with his money. She said her husband passed away a year before and she decided then and there...that she was going to enjoy what was left of her life. So she was taking her kids and grandkids on a cruise. She bought herself a bikini and was celebrating her 80th birthday in the style she had always wanted to.