The Bikini Quest

The Bikini Quest has started.

We're heading to a barbecue tomorrow and it promises to be a hot, sweltering day so swimming will definitely be on the agenda... BUT what to wear?

Here's the dilemma... I own two bathing suits. A one-piece which I did NOT purchase for it's looks but more for it's functionality. It was to be my "I'm going to start swimming for fitness" bathing suit. Well, I never did start "swimming for fitness", but I still have the bathing suit (and a matching bathing cap too, which you will NEVER see me in).

My second bathing suit is a bikini - a very small bikini. I bought it last year when I was in a "I don't care what I look like, I am buying a bikini" mood. And it doesn't look bad, to be honest, BUT it does show the one body flaw that I can't correct no matter how many crunches I do. It doesn't hide my appendix scar and, believe me, my appendix scar is a doozie!! It's a long, heart-breaking story which I won't go into, but let's just say that if I was in a wet t-shirt contest, one might think I had two belly buttons - one dead center and one off to the right. Yeah, it is that gross. So I thought I would go out and find a new bathing suit... a cute 2-piece with a higher waisted bottom... just so I don't scare all the other sunbathers tomorrow. But the thing is, I don't want to rush and buy something that I may not really love, or that doesn't look that great on me. Then I realized that a new bathing suit would be the perfect "carrot at the end of the stick", my reward for kicking my workouts up a notch and seeing what I can accomplish in a month by really REALLY giving it my all.

So this is my bikini quest and it has officially started today, Saturday, July 3rd, 2010. Don't get me wrong. I do regularly exercise and I do regularly push it. But like so many others, I have hit a plateau and am having a hard time losing that last dreaded 5 (okay, maybe 10) pounds. So this afternoon, I headed downstairs to my home-gym (yes, I am lucky enough to have a home-gym) and I pushed myself through an hour workout - 10 minutes of bootcamp-style warm-ups followed by 3 circuits of strength-training exercises. And I really did push myself, I swear!

A healthy dinner is on the menu for tonight (and yes, I will have a glass of wine...it is the weekend and who are we kidding??) and I won't be staying up too late. I have to get up early for a planned morning run before heading out to the barbecue (see opening paragraph)

Which brings us back full circle, and you may be wondering "Well, what WILL she wear at this barbecue tomorrow?" The answer? I'll be wearing the small bikini and wrapping a pretty, bright yellow sarong around my waist to hide the scar. Of course, if I go swimming, the sarong will have to come off. Hey, what's the worst thing that could happen? I scare everyone out of the pool and get to enjoy it all to myself... not a bad idea, actually :-)