Dude, I weigh more than you and I still go out in a swimsuit. You just have to do it once before you realize it's not as bad as you think it is. Like seriously, I went to the LAKE in a swimsuit. I haven't done that since I was 11 maybe. I even tanned. Nobody cares. Nobody even looked at me actually, I made it a point to see out of curiosity. I was like you, but I REALLY wanted to swim this year for the first time since I was in middle school, so that's why I sucked it up and went for it.

Nobody looks at you the way you look at yourself. In fact, people don't even really notice you. Believe me. They are FAR too into themselves to pay for than 1/2 a second of attention to you.

When I went to the lake with my friends, at first I wore shorts and a shirt. Finally I said "screw it" because I wanted to tan. I laid out, and a girl (like 15 years old, perfect body, in a string bikini) commented that she liked the neckline of my swimsuit, and asked what brand it was. Do it! You don't look like a huge beast like you think you do, I don't even have to see you to know. ;)

Every time you don't go because you feel fat and ugly you will feel worse. I would break that cycle now before it's unbearable.

I say go to the pool. I am *twice* your size and today was the first time I'd been swimming in 9.5 years. All these years I'd felt that I was too fat go, that I didn't deserve to be out with the normal people, but I *crave* the feeling of the water. I bought a suit a few months ago, and worked up the courage to go on Memorial day weekend. I got there and the pool was closed :( Wasnt' till today that I mustered up the courage to try again. I suffer from social anxiety so I had to think about each step before I'd even try, but I got there, and as soon as I slipped into that water I was so glad I had. Was I the biggest person there? Yup. But...no one cared O-o. No one gave me any disapproving looks, no one seemed to care at all. I freaked out for a second when I heard some 30 something guys mention Shallow Hal...but they weren't looking at me, they were watching the kids on the diving boards doing cannonballs. The water felt so good to me, normally I feel trapped in my body but the water let me move around without pain and feel free. The 'worst' parts of the trip were walking too and from the pool, but again-no one seemed to notice. I'm really glad I decided to go, as hard as it is for me to believe, I know I deserved to enjoy myself just as much as anyone else there.

ok, so update, did you go to the pool, and how was it? Let US KNOW!

So I obviously joined this thread a little late, but I just want to say that it made me happy to see so many beautiful, confident women in one place! I understand the insecurity about bathing suites- everyone does. But it breaks my heart any time someone lets their weight control their life, especially if they're turning down things they'd enjoy. OP- I hope you went to the pool, and I hope it wasn't as bad as you feared!

SEE. MY. SIGNATURE. (3rd one)

Go to the pool.

Early in 2008, about a year into my weight loss effort, I FINALLY started taking swimming lessons at the community college every Sunday. After not swimming for maybe 18 years!!!

And I could have kicked myself for not going sooner! Because of the various ages, sizes & shapes of all the women in the water aerobics class just before my beginning swim class. And then, in my swim class, we had the same range.

So now it's 2010, and I've kept up with swimming. Now I'm in the intermediate group, though I tried advanced for a time. There were women heavier than me in both groups. Heavy as me at my heaviest, and even heavier. And you know what? THEY KICK MY BUTT IN THAT POOL. It's all about form & theirs is amazing. I'm hanging on the side of the pool, gasping, and they're flipturning right into the next lap without pause. Several of them swim every other day for exercise, that's why they're so assured & so good.

If you could just see these classes & see these women ... you would jump right into that pool instantly. (And hopefully not do a belly-smacker.)

Gotta live
 

I understand right where you are. I am a plus size woman that is larger than you and I must say I would not even where a one piece but I have found some very stylish swim dresses that flatters me and I look phatabulous lol... give it a try. you will look awesome. I wear a size 26/28 some 30s but I will not let life pass me by while im 'getting fit'. let me know if that helps. :carrot:

Ok so let me tell you I have felt the same way many of times untill I just said the **** with it! If you they do not like what they see they do not have to look. Also I agree get a bathing suit you feel comfortable in! I hate one pieces but I love a tankini with a cute skirt! Check out torrid or layne bryant they do have cute ones for us "healty girls"

Don't let life, and the fun things it brings, pass you by because you're afraid of what some people might think. If they're going to judge you, screw them. And, like the studies have always shown, people aren't paying as much attention to you as you think. Especially people at the pool...too much stuff going on, and lots of people are too self-important to notice other people anyway. ;)

hahah i started this thread a while ago!! and nooo... i didn't end up going, but that WAS before I read all of your amazing posts! I just wanted to throw in here that it's not really about being "noticed" by other people, it's more like, this girl is 22 and gorgeous and the most perfect fit, model tan body, and i would PERSONALLY be self conscious. I'd be embarrassed to let my own MOM see me in a bathing suit. I don't even go over to my friend's house (my boyfriend's sister, so obviously he lives there too) in TANK TOPS......

I swear to you, people will not mentally be placing you right next to this gorgeous 22-year-old & comparing you, part for part, like two cuts of beef in the freezer section. I swear this, upon my honor. You are doing it, privately, and it's hurting you (and heck, I have done this to myself, too, which is why I can recognize it in someone else) but no one else is going to do this.

Also, are you having that image of The Pool that some people have of The Gym? I have learned that some people fear the gym because they make it into a mythological Shangri-La in which tan beauties populate every machine, further honing their already perfect bodies. And then they get there, and it's pretty much their neighborhood, only everyone's at the gym.

Which is what I think you will find at the pool.

Listen to me: The pool is NOT going to be crowded by an endless succession of clones of the 22-year-old gorgeous girl, with you the only one who did not come from the same plastic injection mold.

That girl is the exception, not the rule. Really.

And maybe as someone suggested upthread, you should start with baby steps. Buy a tank top, damn it. They're all ridiculously marked down, since stores don't think you need summer clothes anymore in the heat of July. Put that thing on & wear it. Experiment. Go places in it. Work your way up to a bathing suit.

You've got a goal for your signature now, don't you? ;-)

I have to agree with the majority here, GO!
You are only in your twenties right? This is the time to wear bikinis, have fun, and be careless about what others say (of course not exclusive to twenty year olds), but my point is your skin and your body are beautiful at that age...

I'm 41, and my height and weight are almost the same...except that I have horrible skin, varicose veins from all the standing that I do at work, my olive skin scars not so nicely, I had two children...and many other not so aesthetic problems. To top it all off I live in Miami, land of implants, cosmetic surgeries and tans, I know is hard... I still do it, because life is short and it's meant to be experienced. Believe me, here in the plastic capital of the world there are plenty of average bodies.
Go enjoy yourself.

Girl, I am 19 and no exactly what you're going through. I can swim with little kids or adults but people my age i'm like... not happening. You have to make yourself do it once, then it gets easier :) You should totally go to the pool.