Remember those days when the protruding belly was cute in your little pink two-piece? And having a little chub on your thighs was adorable? Sadly those days are long gone (for me at least).
That’s me around age 3. I wasn’t very camera shy back then; in fact I was a bit of a ham. My how things change. I much prefer to be behind the camera now. But those were the days, weren’t they? No notion of body image. I just knew that swimsuits meant fun… the beach, the sprinkler, a baby pool out on the lawn… slip n’ slide! Who could forget slip n’ slide? No nagging worries like “does my butt look big?” or “should I suck in my tummy?“. I was just happy to be out in the sun and playing in my super cute pink suit which I loved (as you can tell by my stylish pose).
Fast forward to today and bathing suits bring a great deal of anxiety to me. Squeezing into a little piece of fabric and parading all of my curves around outside of the confines of my little apartment?… well, the thought of it makes me queasy. This year more than years past because I gained about twenty pounds last year. Maybe I ate too many cupcakes? A mix of stress, eating whatever-whenever, and lack of exercise contributed. Sure, the cupcakes probably didn’t help the equation, but I refuse to give them up completely… I like my treats too much. Although, I may cut back a little bit on the butter-sugar-chocolate trifecta at least until I reach the point that the words “bathing suit season” no longer makes my entire body cringe.
I’ve been upping my exercise. And attempting to up my fruit and veggie intake. Both of these are good things and are working… slowly. But I realized something today. I’ve only been partially committed so far. Oh sure, I’ve lost about two pounds in the last few weeks. But that’s only two pounds in about a month. The right direction but… meh. Too slow. This has lead me to a decision. I need to get serious about it if I really do want the pounds to come off. This means doing some things I don’t like to do like keeping a food journal. Ugh, I really hate keeping a food journal. But it is amazing how aware I become of every piece of candy I eat at my desk when I have to write it all down.
But it also means doing some things that I do enjoy like embracing the fruits and veggies of the season… and discovering new ways to eat them. I love shopping at the farmer’s market and the spring and summer bring out the best fruits here in sunny California.
So I am committing right here and now that I will lose those pesky pounds. I have not yet figured out how I will balance baking with this goal but I’ll have to find a way (I can’t give up baking). Meanwhile I’m trying to get in touch with my inner three year old. I mean, think of how much easier it would be if I just started to believe that a little extra belly hanging out of a two piece really is cute?
Do you have any fitness goals this spring? How are you handling the upcoming “swimsuit season”? How do you maintain your girlish figure?
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