I took the liberty of starting a new thread. (We just learned about alliteration last week, can you tell? )

I don't know about you, but I REFUSE to let my weight keep me out of a swimsuit this year! I think the last time I wore a swimsuit was in 1998. I probably weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 165-170. I've been too chicken since, and I don't know why. Everytime I go to the pool/lake/etc., I see women much larger than me proudly wearing swimsuits and HAVING FUN! This year, I vow to do the same thing.

We just joined a gym as a family. I've been wanting to join for a while, but it's just been too expensive. Hubby just found out his work offers a corporate plan for the local chain, and it's really cheap! $77 a month for the whole family, no contracts, use of the entire facility including outdoor pool, tennis courts, and racquetball courts for no extra charge. I'm PUMPED! I have tomorrow off (I had to take three days of sanity leave - don't ask...) so I'm going to get my consultation tomorrow.

here's my advice to everyone: DON'T FEAR THE SWIMSUIT!

if you're shy, try to find one with good coverage and think material, and join in the fun! swimming is not only fun, but a great exercise!!

luckily, i've been a team swimmer for many years (quit for a few but i'm getting back into it) so i've never held back on wearing a suit. just stuffed my flub in and forgot all about it.

water makes you feel weightless, too. =)

Personally I love to swim so I have learned over the years since I have always been fat to just deal with it, don't let the worry of what others are thinking keep you from having fun.

Such great advice!! My in-laws used to have a pool, and every summer I would sit on the side, in a chair, just watching the kids have fun. I hated it!!! Now that my in-laws don't have a pool any more, I take the kids to the Y to go swimming, so I had to start swimming with them (they're too young to go in alone), and I'm so glad I did. I love it, and I could just kick myself for all the years I sat on the sidelines and didn't join in.

Good for you, Jennelle & the rest of you, too.

I've never not worn a suit. A t-shirt over the suit, yes. Other than that, I tell myself no one is looking at me & I try & have a good time.

My favorite swimsuits have always come from Junonia
http://www.junonia.com/cgi-bin/sgdyn...ODIV=0102&UID=!+USID!

I wear a DDD cup (and the cup still runeth over) and these suits always provide the best support. I love them.

Eventually, I'd like to wear the two piece that the girl is wearing on that page (the one loading her surf board onto her car). But I have a kick-*** hot pink suit for this season. I keep threatening I'll buy more. I mean, I'm at the ocean a lot (don't get too jealous, San Diego water is FREEZING cold almost all year).

They also sell Polypropylene Aquatard if I ever get the guts to Scuba.

I went kayaking about a year ago, and I had to wear a wet suit!! I was so embarrassed about being the biggest one going, I almost did not go. A teacher (and English teacher!) talked me into it... and I had one of the GREATEST experiences of my life. My reccomendation for anything is to "just do it!" you only live once! Here's to swimsuit season. Peace. -Apryl

I just bought a swimsuit in recent weeks. I love it. Nice to have one that fits -- but I've always had a swimsuit no matter what size I was.

My weekend wasn't quite what I expected. I expected to go out Saturday, see my students play in their competition, and go out for dinner and learn to swing dance with a friend. The weather was lousy (snow, sleet, ice, freezing rain) so I didn't go anywhere. I stayed home and finished my taxes. Yuck. It fit the weather, I suppose, and it's DONE!!! On Sunday, I saw my brother at the hospital. It's so hard to see him suffering so much, but I'm also really glad I went.

I've been eating too much this week. The stress has gotten to me, but I'll keep trying -- to find ways to reduce stress. I've been trying to keep in contact with friends. I'm fortunate in having a few girlfriends I can call and say "Aughghghghghghghgh!!!!!" This too shall pass, as they say, I suppose.

I've always gone swimming, since I love it. Yes, I was self conscious about being in a bathing suit, but I was NOT going to give up swimming. We just went yesterday, and our local university pool.

If you're looking for plus size bathing suits cheap, try Ross. Last year I found three really nice ones for under twenty dollars each! I love the ones in Junonia and Fashion Bug, but I refuse to spend seventy dollars on a bathing suit. Ross actually had a good selection of plus sized ones. Go now, before they run out though.

Sherry

So nice to think of swimsuits as I look out the window at the new snow!

I'm another who wears swimsuits all year round at an indoor pool. I don't really care that I'm not the most svelte creature a round and trust me, I've seen worse. (Mostly men, but that's another story - sorry Matt & Si. Why do guys with big bellies EVER pick the skimpiest little suits when they DO have other styles available and when the young kids are wearing oversized trunks! It's like me wearing a thong bikini.)

Plus with each week of 3FC, we look more and more trim in that suit and feel more and more confident about it.

Whew! I just look at the Junonia site and they want A HUNDRED AND NINETEEN DOLLARS for a bathing suit!!! That's RIDICULOUS! I mean, I know I'm a big girl, but I don't think it takes THAT much extra fabric to cover me!

Hi Everyone,

I'm a newbie to 3FC and to the 100 lb. club and finally have time to post. It is so wonderful here . I love the fact that none of you are letting your weight control your lives. I wish I could be that way but I am just way, way, way too self conscious about my body to be as brave as you all. The last time I wore a bathing suit I was 14 and wore a mono-kini (if I'm remembering it's name right) that was after I lost my weight the first time. At age 12 I wore a woman's size 26 pants, I had lost enough weight to fit comfortably into a size 6 skirt by the time I reached age 14. Sigh... I stayed that way for a few years and had the time of my life... I was soooooo happy!!! Then when I was 16 some very bad evil things happened to me and the weight returned as a result of me not knowing how to deal with my situation. I turned to food to ease my feelings of being scared, depressed, upset, and nervous as the people I though were my true friends vanished from my life at the time I needed them most. Needless to say my weight crept back up and to even more then it was the first time. I was 26 and weighed approx. 320 lbs. by the time I realized it. I couldn't even really fit into a size 28 pants anymore, I was being suffocated by my weight when I laid down on my back, I could hardly drive because fitting behind the steering wheel was becoming a problem and sitting in a booth at a restaurant was about impossible and really uncomfortable too. Since last year I've lost 85 lbs. on my own. Life is just so much better now but my body still looks the same, only in a smaller form . Until I can "get rid" of this disgusting cellulite on my thighs and calves I will only dream of bathing suits, shorts and skirts and will just sit in my long pants by the side of the pool smiling, waving and cheering all of you on and maybe, just maybe next year by this time I will be in a suit and in the water splishing and splashing and having fun with you girls and guys too

looking forward to becoming a big loser in the year 2003!
Sugar Pie

I bought a suit last summer for taking the baby to swim lessons. It was the first one I had bought in a really, really long time.

I had a huge meltdown yesterday. I was crying uncontrollably for about 2 hours. I can't explain it at all. Yes there are a lot of things bothering me lately but generally I deal with them okay. I'm not in some kind of denial about things that are wrong in my life so I don't think that I am repressing my emotions and this is how it came out. It was very weird and upsetting that I couldn't get control of myself. I'm so looking forward to having some better weather later on this week. This past weekend we had this miserable ice pellet/freezing rain storm and I was in the house all day Friday and Saturday with the baby. That might have been part of the meltdown. Anyway it will be nice to see the sun and some warm weather.

Jennelle - then, don't wear one because they're addictive. I would have never thought to spend so much money on a swimsuit but I was tired of falling out of the cheaper ones I bought and watching them disinigrate in a couple of months. My first Junonia suit lasted almost 5 years.

Hey, I'm a cheapskate but this is something that's way worth the money for me!

Jessica - 5 years! Wow! Considering a Wal-Mart suit costs $20 and lasts one season at most, the Junonia suit IS a bargain. I guess my only excuse now is that I don't plan on being this size next year, so I'd better go on and buy the cheap suit.

SugarPie....Glad you posted Can I give you some advice, though...
Try not to use words like "disgusting" to describe yourself. When we label ourselves with ugly words, we end up living down to them. What you feel on the inside is what you exude on the outside, and what you put forth on the outside is how people are going to treat you. Be proud of the weight you've lost and kept off thus far, and remember that you ARE beautiful - in every single way. (Yes, I stole it from Christina Aguilera...)

Jen...Must be meltdown week. I thought I was gonna have to drive myself to the nervous hospital on Wednesday! We will be okay.