That annual panicky feeling

[GingerBeverage]

Of having to wear swimwear in public
Does anyone else get it? I hate that I do, but I've had it since 12yo.

Yep me too!
I had been going to the gym and eating well, but we're going to Italy in June and now coronavirus has put me off track. Because we might not end up going (frail ill mum who has my kids after school), I am eating ALL the cream eggs!!

Awful, JM. So the list for stockpiling is toilet paper, pasta...creme eggs?

Unfirtunatrly the panic has hit me earlier this year as I may have to go into a swimming class. Ugh!

Yes! I enthusiastically invited my DBro and DSIL on holiday with us in June not really thinking about how amazing my SIL looks in a swimming costume. I do not. I am totally going to blame my DS and hold him strategically in front of me.

You need a big dose of fuck it OP. Every time you think about it, tell yourself "Eh, who cares" and think about something else.
Works for me.

You need to fuck what anyone else thinks like some of the most fabulous women on the beach who are all shapes, sizes and who all have wobbly bits!
It's the sign of a life well lived.

OP I hate it too :( I'm in decent shape but horrifically white (basically blue) and onlly expensive laser (with regular top-ups) keeps my dark spiky hairs on my legs in check (actually laser has changed my life, until I got it done first time a few years ago I didn't even like to put on a summer dress or shorts as waxing/shaving my hair gives me awful red rashes and red bumpy ingrowns.

More to the point I have LOADS of small moles and even more (hundreds, seriously) cheery angioma all over my torso and chest. Bikinis are OUT for this reason, even though I have a fairly flat stomach and really wouldn't mind showing off a tiny bit of the miserable gym work I do!! Even swimming costumes show loads of my angioma and moles and I am self-conscious and HATE it.

Anyway, just to say it's not always just weight/size/shape issues that lead to swimwear dread...! I quite fancy one of those burkinis tbh!

CHERRY angioma! Not cheery. They are far from cheery...

Yep me too! We go to Florida in a month. I’ve got half a stone to lose. I’ve started eating protein for breakfast (eggs, bacon, Greek yoghurt, protein shake-one of those) and I can’t believe the difference it’s made. I’m not craving carbs and sugar, I’m not starving hungry by mid morning and the weight is actually coming off.

Not this year. We were away somewhere warm at Christmas and I've managed to stay in shape.

I have beautiful SIL to be on our holiday next month who always looks gorgeous. My stomach is bloated from cysts/endo and I can't fit in my summer clothes.

Me too! Hate it. It's just all so primitive

@NarniaBanarnia someone recommended Isle of Pardise self tanning drops last year, you add it to your normal moisturiser and it is idiot proof. Total Game Changer.

www.lookfantastic.com/isle-of-paradise-self-tanning-drops-light-30ml/12194398.html

Thx 2020nymph, oddly enough I was thinking about tan drops this year as I hear they are way better than they used to be. I need a very subtle glow as almost all tans, even the light versions, look too much/orange/fake on me. They look like a layer of pale orange sitting on the surface of my skin if that makes sense, rather than anything even vaguely like a tan.

I hear good things about Tan Luxe drops for pale skin too so I may splurge...

Hope they really are complete idiot proof as I’m very very incompetent with fake tan application!!

Thank you

I know I need to stop caring, but I just do. I don't have the mental power to switch it off. I know lots of people do, but it's just this gnawing sense of anxiety and dread that has never stopped since I hit puberty. (only for swimwear, thankfully)

Oh Narnia - well done on actually getting into shape though. And YES to burkinis - just would take all the pressure off.

And I too have an extremely fit SIL. I just tried on some shorts I wore in second trimester and they're too tight, even though the baby is long out.

My DSis said to me that when she lived in Brazil for a few years after two DC and lots of weight gain, everyone just said... get a bikini, you're in Brazil, and wear it. Everyone in Brazil wears dental floss bikinis, even when you are 80. And she did, and no one ever noticed her on the beach or at the pool ever again. Only you feel self-conscious Ginger; everyone else is worrying about their own flaws far too much to worry about anyone else! So, buy something that you like, and feel gives you enough support and coverage to move off the lounger without public indecency, and enjoy the sun and the swimming. And have fun. Your DC will only remember having fun with a happy mum who played. Any sensible eating and fitness programme you can follow will be a help.

Just bumping this to say at least I'm not worrying about it anymore! Small positives!

😆

I didn’t spot date of first post immediately!