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Battling Bikini Season

...or how I learned to give up the bikini for the wetsuit.

If my women’s magazines would have me believe anything this time of year, it is that I am a failure. Since February they have been promising me a bikini body if only I did these “five killer moves!” As a Fitness Professional, I read these articles with a combination of interest and disgust. Interest because I’m always game to learn a new move to help me and my clients reach their goals. Disgust because the bill of goods I’m being sold is an empty promise. I finally decided, years ago, to give up the bikini and instead don swimgear that is a little more “me”.

That doesn’t mean I don’t work on my body, or care about my body. Of course I do. In fact I do a lot more than “five killer moves” a day. But my goals are to feel confident in everything I wear, even if it isn’t a size 0, or shows a bit of muffin top.

My swimgear of choice these days is a wetsuit. You see a wetsuit can take me MUCH further than a bikini. It takes me on multiple swims across Martha Lake in the summertime. It’s taken me on triathlon swims every distance from 1/4 mile swam mostly on my back, to 1.2 miles in my first half ironman competition. Not to mention, a wetsuit hides a variety of sins!

Short shorts are another thing I’m giving up this season. I’d much rather don my baggy bike shorts, complete with the “Depends” type lining. Those shorts take me places short shorts dare not go; on bike rides with my husband from home to Seattle, out to lunch in Lynnwood, to work on a “bike commute day”, or even just across town to pick up something small at the store. 

Skimpy tanks are out too, even if my “Killer Arm Moves” have paid off. My girls need support, so give me a race shirt that brags to the world that I completed the New York, Las Vegas, or Green River Marathon. Layer that with a supportive top that goes from daytime to nighttime in supportive style! After all, one must always be prepared for a zombie invasion, if my high school students are to be believed, and rule number two IS cardio.

Our bodies are amazing things. They adapt and change as we get fitter, feed them better, and take them out to play on a regular basis. So I’ll be strutting my stuff in bike gear, running gear, and a wetsuit this summer and will be proud of my strong arms (even if there is some saggy skin), my muscular legs (even if short shorts would reveal sins of the past), my six pack (even if it is hidden under stretch marks), and my tiny hiney because those are all things I worked for ALL year long. Pffft women’s magazines. I may never grace one of your covers, but I am proud of who I am and how I look because I am a REAL woman.