Sunday, May 08, 2005

Supersize me

I bought a new swimsuit today. My old one was probably all right, but I was getting a little nervous. I don't know if you've ever had a swimsuit collapse on you, but it is an embarrassing experience. I am still traumatised by the time a few years ago I climbed out of the pool and my swimsuit decided it would like to stay behind. It had drooped almost to my knees before I noticed, hitched up the sagging folds and made a dash for it. It was a surprising experience, and not a nice surprise, either, because the swimsuit didn't just droop alarmingly, it turned transparent. I didn't know a swimsuit could die so spectacularly. I thought it was more of a gradual thing.

So while my current swimsuit seems all right, in my hypersensitive alertness to swimsuit collapse I had noticed - or thought I noticed - a slight loss of elasticity around the legs. This coincided with a sale of swimsuits at the gym, so I checked out the racks and tried a few on.

In the end I decided on a two-piece thing with long shorts. (I tried to find a picture of something similar on the web, but either this is a fantastically unfashionable style or I don't know what to call it, because I couldn't find anything remotely like it.)

I tried on the L size and it was too small for me.

I then tried on the 2L size, and it was a little tight under the arms but not unacceptably so, so I bought it. It was cheap. They didn't have anything larger anyway, and the price was right. It was less than 4000 yen. The original price was 12,000 yen.

After my usual cycling and machines workout, I had a swim. The new swimsuit feels lovely and safe. I am no longer nervous about the old men eyeing me from the Jacuzzi as I climb out of the pool.

I weighed myself before my swim, because the scales were beside the door between the changing room and the pool. I discovered that supersize me weighs fifty one point two kilos.

10 comments:

kenju said...

I am rolling on the floorlaughing about your being nervous getting out of the pool. Last week, I was at my health club, sitting in the hot tub. Two woman, slightly older than I walked up the steps out of the tub and it was as if their suits had disappeared. From the middle seam outward, the fabric had thinned so much you could see Everything (with a capital E!). Thier suits were not tht way in the front, so what makes the backs disappear??

kenju said...

I now see that I should have previewed my comment; I really do know how to spell.

Norma said...

My swim suit is about 5 years old--never been worn. I'm guessing the elastic will go before I ever get in the water.

The Village Idiot said...

I absolutely LOVE your blog. I found it through the blog exchange, have blogmarked it and expect to come back here to read a lot. Thanks for sharing!

The Idiot

Anonymous said...

I go through a lot of suits and my last one died a similiar death. There's a big mirror in the dressing room that you look in as you walk in from the pool and I noticed that Everything was on display in my newly see through suit. It was alaraming.

Paula said...

Norma's comment cracked me up! I thought I was the only woman who buys swimsuits and never wears them. What can I say--it's always too damn cold.

Cooper said...

Boy shorts, they are called boy shorts.

Anonymous said...

51.2 kilos: **THIS** is "supersize"? Well, yes, I would say your size is super---in the sense that you are svelt, GoodAunt. I just looked it up on google and it says you're about 112 lbs. Now, unless you are only 2 feet high, there's no WAY you could be anywhere NEAR even "full-figured," much less FAT.

As for the suits falling apart in the back, I think it's from the sun. At least, that's what I concluded a few years ago about mine.

Solution against "The See-Thru Transformation": buy or sew only woven cotton suits (not as comfortable, but will only fade--- and eventually fray a bit around the edges.

Ms Mac said...

Laughing hysterically ay your swimsuit misfortune, very funny.

I would imagine if you are into 2L size swimmers, I would be into some kind of Godzilla sized clothing. Perhaps a trip to Japan should be postponed until I lose 8/10ths of my body weight!

Badaunt said...

Kenju and Anon: It is the elastic going that makes them transparent, I suspect. Did they have big bottoms?

(Also, spelling doesn't count so much in comments, particularly if the reader doesn't notice it, which I didn't.)

Norma: I used to have that problem before I joined the gym. I had three swimsuits I'd bought in sales and kept for so long I was afraid to wear them.

Village Idiot (love the name!): Thank you. Very much.

Paula: You need to find a nice friendly gym like mine, where everybody is old and makes you feel young and fit.

Alice in Wonderland: Thank you! I will look it up.

E.P. and Ms. Mac: Actually it is the shape, not the size. It wouldn't matter how much weight I lost, I'd never fit into a Japanese 'small' or even 'medium.' Japanese women have no WIDTH. Even the tubbiest Japanese woman can get into a 2L. I have quite a bit of extra swimsuit around the tummy area.

And don't worry. I am not planning on losing any more weight. In fact after discovering I was 51.2 (as opposed to the 51.4 I was before semester started), I popped into the supermarket and bought a large bag of mixed nuts AND a packet of dried mango. I then ate them all, AFTER eating dinner. (And then felt a little ill, but never mind that.)

Also, I am not 2 feet tall. I am, er... 5.38057743 feet tall, without shoes. Unless I've shrunk.