New Swimsuit

Back in November, I bought my first new swimsuit in three years.  The difference between my old suit and my new one was striking (see the photo for yourself here – it’s very cool), because the old one was size 3XL, and the new one was size XL – I had lost about 145 pounds at that point.

I bought the new suit because I was going to Colorado for Thanksgiving, where my sister Sarah and her family lives, and I wanted to go swimming with them – there’s a kick-ass pool they go to all the time at their community center that has a three-story slide and lazy river (photos here).  So I bought a casual truck-style swimsuit, and it served me well.

Being in that pool at Thanksgiving reminded me how much I like swimming, and what great exercise it is.  So in December, while in Michigan for the holidays, I drew upon the 10 years of competitive swimming from my childhood, and started swimming laps at a local pool.

I’ve now gotten into a rhythm of swimming here in LA about once a week, and I love it.  But I’m still wearing those non-aerodynamic trunks.  It’s time for a new suit for my workouts!

Growing up, I used to practice and race in the standard, skimpy, 3-inch men’s Speedos that left nothing to the imagination.  I’m so glad that styles have changed, and now Speedos can be found that look like bike shorts, that go from waist to just above the knee.  A big improvement!  I found a simple black suit that I liked, and because of a birthday gift card from Sarah and her family,  the suit didn’t cost a cent.  Thanks, Sarah, Justin, Sam, and Allison!

Here’s the new Speedo, next to my old trunks:

What’s that?  You want to see a picture of me wearing the swimsuit?  Um… No.  That’s not gonna happen.  I’m not ready to share that much of me on the World Wide Interweb!  If you want to see me in aquatic apparel, the closest you’re gonna get is me in a wetsuit, which you can see here.

OH! I nearly forgot!  Whereas trunks are sold in standard sizes like M, L, and XL, Speedos are sold by inches, like pants.  That Speedo is a size 36″.  It’s the first 36″ anything I’ve bought – all my pants right now are 38″.  I’m not ready for 36″ pants yet (I want a Speedo to be super snug, and that’s not how I like my pants), but that’s still totally something I’m proud of!

I blogged yesterday about how I’m going to share everything I eat this week, as part of my return to Food Logging, so here’s my…

Food Log for Monday, March 14, 2011:

–Breakfast: 1 packet instant oatmeal, 1 banana, 1 apple
–Lunch:  Leftover Black Bean and Corn Salad, sliced roma tomato, big bowl of raw broccoli
–Snack:  1 apple
–Dinner:   Egg Scramble (2 handfuls spinach, wilted, 3 egg whites, red pepper, mushrooms, scallions, herbs); 2 pieces dry wheat toast; big bunch of grapes
–Beverages:  2 1/2 water bottles (64 ounces each), 2 glasses hot tea, 2 liters sparkling water

Keep it up, David!

My Incredible Shrinking Clothes – Swimsuit Edition

I bought a swimsuit yesterday.  I haven’t bought a swimsuit since early 2008, before going on a family vacation to Key West.  I still have that swimsuit, so the first thing I did when I got home was take a photo to compare my new swimsuit to my old one.

This isn’t the first time I’ve photographed my Incredible Shrinking Clothes – check out the inaugural edition here and the workout pants edition here.

But before you go clicking on those links – check out my Incredible Shrinking Swimsuit!

I lined up the seam along the right side of the photo (left side of the swimsuits) to create the optimal comparison.   The purply-grey pair with the red side panels is a size 3XL.  I never liked the color – it’s hideous and unflattering – but I didn’t have many options at the big & tall store when I bought them.  I wore them almost daily to the pool during that week in Key West, and actually, now that I think about it, that may be the last time I’ve worn a swimsuit.  Almost three years ago.

When I was growing up, if I had been told that there would be a period in my life where I would go three years without wearing a swimsuit, I would never have believed it.  I practically grew up in water.  The house I grew up in had a pool, and I have memories of being in it before I knew how to swim.  I actually learned to swim as a toddler at the YMCA, and I have memories of that, too.  And then there were the 10 years of being on competitive swim teams, and 2 years of water polo – all told, I spent thousands of hours in the water by the time I graduated high school.

I bought the new swimsuit (the black one, which is a size XL) because later today I’m headed to Colorado to spend Thanksgiving week at my sister’s house, and she and her hubby take their kids to the local pool every Friday night, and I’m excited to go with them.  I was in Colorado last year for Thanksgiving too, and opted not to go to the pool, because I didn’t want to wear my swimsuit (although that wasn’t reason I told my family at the time).  If, a year ago, I had been told that in 1 year I would be excited to go to the pool, I would never have believed it.

Just because I was curious, I scoured the photos I have from that Key West trip to see if there was one of me in my old swimsuit.  There’s not, which doesn’t surprise me – I wouldn’t have allowed anyone to take a photo of me shirtless – but I saw other photos and decided to end this post with a ‘Before’ and ‘Current’ photo comparision.

Me in Key West (I was in a head-shaving phase):

Me now (another photo from a recent visit to see my friend Judie, who has llamas):

Keep it up, David!