Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Day 16: Suicidal? Depressed? Self esteem in the toilet? Did you go swimsuit shopping, too?


Yeah... it was that bad. I meant to order a suit from Lands' End & forgot... I was going to overnight it but there was no more time. See, I'm going with some friends tomorrow to the waterslides in Redding, California so I am REQUIRED TO WEAR A SWIM SUIT. In public. Or get arrested. Since I had waited so long & I live in a small community, I ended up going to Fred Meyers. They seemed to have a good selection- I had eyeballed it while walking by a couple of times. It would be fine, right?

I wanted to wear a two piece suit. I like the convenience of it when going to the bathroom and, in my mind, I thought the tank portion could hide things a little better. That was my Lands' End plan... So I went & found the separate bottoms & tops in sizes I thought would work. Then I entered the "DRESSING ROOM FROM HELL" where I soon forfeited my self esteem. The strides in the bottoms were all too short. And the tops were also... too short. Meaning- THINGS DIDN'T MEET IN THE MIDDLE. Okay.... time for a back up plan. I grabbed a couple of Speedo one-pieces & headed back in. Now I was seeing all of the inner-thigh stuff I never see "in real life" BECAUSE I WEAR CLOTHING. Yikes. And the one pieces I tried on didn't have any.... how shall I say.... extra lining in the chest area. So I looked like I had just walked out of a cooler.

I found the petite blonde who was working the area and asked "do you have ANY plus sized suits?" (this is always a FAVORITE question for ANY woman to ask!! FUN!!) And she said "you know how, next to the swimwear, there's an Oregon Beaver and Ducks athletic section? On the other side of the display wall, over there, are some plus sized suits." It was kind of like when you go to Dillards and the plus-sized-women's-section is on the FIRST floor, no where near the "NORMAL" woman's section, somewhere between the appliances and children's clothing? ARE YOU WITH ME??? So I went to no-fat-woman's-land to look for the suits and yes, they were there... The one I saw was 3 shades of blue with flowers ALL OVER IT... it was a !!HUGE!! one-piece with a !!HUGE!! skirt built in.

Internet... I know you don't know me THAT well, yet... But I'm NOT a crier. I'm tough. I don't hug. I'm a hand shake/no emotion/business-y kind of gal. But right there in Fred Meyers, in the DRESSING ROOM FROM HELL I stood there and thought about crying. (that's as close as I get.) And then I thought "I go out every day, wearing exercise clothing. If I had to go out every day wearing swim suits, I'd never leave the house."

Then, the light bulb went on.

Fred Meyers has an AMAZING selection of fitness clothing. And LOTS of those items are made from the SAME MATERIALS THAT BATHING SUITS ARE MADE OUT OF. Like... my friends Lycra and Spandex!! YES!! YES!! So I went over there and found some solutions. I found a black skort by New Balance that was on clearance and made completely from synthetic materials. Because it is an exercise skort, it is totally longer then the bathing suit bottoms I was trying on and the stride is also much more comfortable. THEN I found a couple of different tank tops that 1) are LONG! Like, I could pull them below my butt if I wanted to and 2) have built in bras! SUPPORT!! and 3) I like the pattern! I do!!

I'm not over-the-moon with my experience. I'm glad it's over. However, I found something I can live with and wear to the park tomorrow. I came home and tried it all on for Eric and Lauren LOVED the outfit. She thought it was "fancy!"
And isn't that what it's all about, anyway?

Because in a couple more years I can look like Christie Brinkley and she STILL won't want to be seen in public with me. That's when I'll bust out the string bikini.

Today I completed an hour of cardio & my outside of the box experience... let's chalk it up to the story above. Tomorrow, I won't be able to go to the gym so it would be a good day to check back & see what the give-away is.....

12 comments:

natioam said...

OMG....thanks for the great idea! I do a water aerobics class and it is painful getting into that bathing suit and going out to the pool where the kids are also taking swimming lessons. I just want to curl up and die sometimes. it is ok once I am in the water because my face isn't bad, but man the walk is almost like doing the walk of shame....not that I would know anything about that. Just sayin...anyways thanks for the sharing the advice.

Heather Tramp said...

Wow, I'm so glad you posted this. I would have never thought outside the box and I've been dreading this experience. I may have to follow your lead and check out the fitness section!

Laurens_Closet said...

I'm glad this post has helped you two out! I NEVER thought about using fitness clothing, before... and I'll let you know if I have any "OH CRAP" moments at the waterslides. Knowing my luck, the dyes will fade out with the chlorine & my outfit will be see-through. ; )

The second pic in the post is the actual outfit I'll be wearing tomorrow... I bought the shoes online- they're called "FitFlops" and are supposed to help you burn calories as you walk. Dr. Hempel says that's a bunch of malarkey... we'll SEE! (regardless, they have sequins and are comfy so they were a good purchase- zappos.com)

Kinder said...

Shopping for a bathing suit is bad for me, but wearing one is worse. I hate it! And why do all the skinny girls work at swim wear shops?

Isn't going up and down those slides exercise?

Laurens_Closet said...

Good question about the slides... I can't wear my BodyBugg tomorrow (just checked my calories for today & I've burned over 3400!!) so it will be hard to tell. I didn't "hit the gym" yesterday, on the way home from the coast, but I did stop in a mall & power walked all over it (LOOKING FOR A BATHING SUIT) while Eric let the kids play & I met my calorie-burn-goal for the day. You don't ALWAYS have to go to the gym, right? : )

sunflowersandweeds said...

You're so funny and REAL! thank you for sharing!

The Duckworth Family said...

I ended up finding a suit I liked that hugged my middle, but there was that 'thigh' issue! So I did the same, exercise shorts. It worked for the mean time, but yes...despite wanting to show my body or not, I just want a suit that fits all body parts! Hope you guys had fun at the slides today.i have never been. Who'd you go with?

Rachel Garcia said...

Fashion Bug has a great selection of "plus Size" suits that are actually cute and fashionable and the actually consider a 14 to be a plus size...that seems skinny to me!! Anyhow this is where I got my last suit from and it is a tankini and it covers quite a bit!

Alison West said...

I LOVE IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Great idea and I will totally check that out never would have thought of that !!!!!!!!!!!!! HAve a great time tomorrrow and enjoy the time with the kiddos

sarah said...

I hate bathing suits. Even at my smallest I hated them. I just tried one on today that I bought 4 years ago and it looks alright. Not great but alright. It could be worse. But I have never thought to check the fitness section before.

qwerty said...

That was a good idea with the fitness clothes! I was dreading buying a suit too but finally did. I got some swim shorts and a tankini from Lands' End. I never knew their suits were so comfortable. They do sell Lands' End at some sears stores now.

AmyJo Denise said...

I love the outfit you chose! What a wonderfully inventive idea!!! Genius! I hope you have a wonderful time at the water park!