Too embarrased to go swimming
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I was...except I have seen women bigger than myself at the pool in swimsuits. I figure if THEY can do it, why cant I? So I did...all summer, several times a week to do water jogging. Glad I did. You should, too!
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My kids haven't learned how to swim (they're 7 and 4) because of my low self esteem in a swimsuit. I know I just need to get over it, but I have so far found every excuse in the book to avoid taking them to a pool.0
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A swim shirt might help you. Just shorts and a shirt.0
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Just go do it! This is for you and nobody else and you will feel so much better for having done the exercise. I swim regularily and to be honest I hardly notice other people because my focus is on meeting my goals when I go. I'm no romance novel cover guy, but vanity is a state of mind we can control..... so take your trunks and your towel and get in the water!0
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Does anyone do laps in the pool even though they can't swim properly? I'm terribly uncoordinated and though I can swim alright I"ve never been able to put my head in the water and then bring it up to breath as I'm swimming. Tried again a few weeks ago and just ended up sucking in water and choking.lol0
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i cant really help you get over the horror that is swimming in public. i can offer this. i too am alarmed to be seen swimming (no shirt) BUT i do it anyway because IT IS SO WORTH IT. in fact i would be doing as well as i am if i hadnt started swimming again this summer. im 300 pounds (big frame man) and i cringe when there are slender people at the pool, sometimes i turn around and come back later BUT i come back. try going early or late when people tend to avoid swimming. jjust remember you are worth it and swimming is worth doing.0
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Don't be!!!
I set out to lose 100 lbs at the start of the year. Around March I started swimming. Since I began swimming I have reached my halfway goal and I would have never been able to do it without the swimming. I swim with an adult masters program in my area. I am definitely the biggest girl and probably boy on the team but it is what I enjoy doing and it is helping me reach my goal. Don't let your insecurities get the best of you. No matter what your body looks like you will always find something wrong with it. I have found most people to be highly encouraging of my swimming. My time has improved dramatically and I feel so much stronger. If you really like to swim go out and do it.0 -
I hate the way I look in a swimsuit but who cares! (think beached whale)
I will go and swim my laps. Do whatever I want to do. I am not there for a beauty pageant!!!!0 -
I am that way about the gym-but I have to get over it.0
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Does anyone do laps in the pool even though they can't swim properly? I'm terribly uncoordinated and though I can swim alright I"ve never been able to put my head in the water and then bring it up to breath as I'm swimming. Tried again a few weeks ago and just ended up sucking in water and choking.lol
take a couple of lessons.
i can only do breaststroke, fwiw.0 -
Does anyone do laps in the pool even though they can't swim properly? I'm terribly uncoordinated and though I can swim alright I"ve never been able to put my head in the water and then bring it up to breath as I'm swimming. Tried again a few weeks ago and just ended up sucking in water and choking.lol
take a couple of lessons.
i can only do breaststroke, fwiw.
I have taken lessons.lol. I'm just terribly uncoordinated0 -
I am such a strong swimmer even being fat so I don't usually care I just go anyway0
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I totally understand. I used to love being in a bathing suit and now there is no question. I am so happy that I didn't go to Cuba for my vacation cause I was dreading stepping into my bathing suit. However, one thing that helped me (I no longer do it cause I changed paces to go to the gym) is to enroll in a water aerobis class. It's an older crowd and you are so comfortable cause no one in those classes are there to judge. Everyone is different sizes. It's good to force yourself but don't do it to the point that you'll never go back. Also I must add that it's totally true what people have answered....most of the time, people r not even looking. Sometimes it's all in our head 0
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Your story is so much like my own...
Swimming was all I did during the summer when I was growing up. I would be at the pool from open until close - took all the swim lesson classes I could and joined the swim team at a young age. Loved it and kept it up year-round for several years, but then I started to put on some weight.
As a kid, I didn't care that I was a little big. It was actually kind of a great psych out for the skinny kids I would compete against. This is a little weird, but I would pretend like it was my first meet while they felt even more confident to swimming against a beginner who was also fat. Then I would destroy them in the water.
Long story short, that confidence failed me as I got older and I stopped swimming. I spent years without going to the pool. My skin did not see the sun for more than 3 years. The whole time, I wanted to be in the water, bould not force myself to go. I have gone through this internal struggle for more than half my life.
The good news? I have gotten over myself. The way I see it - everyone at the pool (swimming laps) is doing so for the purpose of getting healthy. I just go out there and put on my mirrored goggles and forget everyone else is there. Focus on my technique and my breathing and just swim.
The people at the pool are supportive and if you get back in there you will not regret it. PLEASE trust me! :happy:0 -
Ummm...at 5ft3 and over 200 I still go swimming. In a swimsuit, a speedo. If your self conscious wear a rash guard but I doubt anyone will care.0
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Many people feel that way. Your feelings have nothing to do with swimming of any kind. I love to swim, but I had to get over the fact that I wasn't comfortable with my own body and stop worrying about people staring or what others think. Take a breath!,,,,,,, It so true. What I found is that most people are more worried about how they, themselves, look more then anyone else. And for those who want to snicker or make inappropiate comments are showing there own insecurity and probably have bigger problems then me. I also found that other people who are genuine actually admire those who go swimming for enjoyment and exercise with a good attitude. So GO FOR IT. IT'S YOUR LIFE!0
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Does anyone do laps in the pool even though they can't swim properly? I'm terribly uncoordinated and though I can swim alright I"ve never been able to put my head in the water and then bring it up to breath as I'm swimming. Tried again a few weeks ago and just ended up sucking in water and choking.lol
I'm very uncoordinated. I swim laps. It's the only way I can guarantee I don't bump into anyone. I can barely see a thing without my glasses on, but at least in the swimming lanes everyone is going in the same direction, so I'm not going to swim into someone who's swimming towards me. (Incidentally, it's amazing how people don't move out the way - I'll be inches from them before I see them and then I am the one who has to swim rapidly to the side to avoid a collision! You'd think people would use their common sense and get out of the way if someone is swimming towards them with no apparent awareness of their presence!)0 -
Funny you should post this. Today I am going Lap Swimming for the 1st time in years. I have looked for 300 excuses today NOT to go, but I am putting on a brave front and just doing it! At the very least, I hope others there look at me and say, "Wow, look at her. At least she is here trying to do something." You can do this! Believe in yourself. You are depriving yourself of something that will bring you joy, satisfaction, and good health!0
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This thread has been quite encouraging! I haven't been swimming for about 15 years, but in the last month the idea has become very appealing. I even bought a swimsuit. I just haven't had the nerve to go yet. Without my glasses, my eyesight is terrible, so I worry I'll get lost from the changing rooms to the pool :laugh: Thinking about it, I'd be too concerned about walking in the right direction to worry about people looking at me.
To cloney87 and others who are nervous about swimming... I think we can do this! Let's all jump in together 0 -
It is a lot more scary in your head than it is in reality. I'm blind as a bat without my glasses and look like a beached whale in my swimsuit. I started goind swimming again a few months ago after about 15 yrs break. Once you get there you realise that most of the people don't have great bodies. Ages range from very young to very old, sizes from tiny to huge, ability from barely swimming to athlete and most importantly everyone is so busy worrying about how they look they don't have time to look at you!
Swimming is great fun and a good workout. Oh for the glasses weareea you can get prescription goggles online for about £15 or just wear your glasses like I do
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While I will make jokes about going to sleep on the beach and waking up to some Save the Whales folks trying to roll me back in the water - I really love to swim. I spent a lot of time growing up in the water, and it is still my most favorite way to exercise. I have a horrible body image, but will not let that keep me away from the only exercise I REALLY ENJOY doing. My problem is more of availabiltiy that attitude. Don't let anything stop you. ENJOY!0
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Does anyone do laps in the pool even though they can't swim properly? I'm terribly uncoordinated and though I can swim alright I"ve never been able to put my head in the water and then bring it up to breath as I'm swimming. Tried again a few weeks ago and just ended up sucking in water and choking.lol
I'm very uncoordinated. I swim laps. It's the only way I can guarantee I don't bump into anyone. I can barely see a thing without my glasses on, but at least in the swimming lanes everyone is going in the same direction, so I'm not going to swim into someone who's swimming towards me. (Incidentally, it's amazing how people don't move out the way - I'll be inches from them before I see them and then I am the one who has to swim rapidly to the side to avoid a collision! You'd think people would use their common sense and get out of the way if someone is swimming towards them with no apparent awareness of their presence!)
This is because when you swim... at least freestyle you are looking down at the bottom of the pool not up. Looking up creates an arch in your back and forces your legs down creating drag.
If you are swimming properly in the lane there should never be an instance when you have someone coming at you. If you are sharing 2 people to a lane then you should be splitting the lane, 3 or more you should be circle swimming.0 -
I know exactly how you feel when I was a teenager done nothing but swim, and the I put all the weight on I got back into the pool Jan/Feb of this year and I love it, just take a deep breath and get it over with you'll feel so much better when you do, the worst part is walking from the locker to the pool, once you're in the water you're gold! Good luck!!0
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I feel that way with the extra pounds. Also unsure how my stroke would look compared to others.0
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I'm 100 lb overweight and recovering from shoulder surgery. This means right now (and for the last two months) I can't shave my armpits, wear a bra, or swim anything like a proper stroke, run an elliptical machine, or do any normal weight work. I can also barely shave my legs. This large, hirsute, ungainly female puts on the swimsuit, and hits the pool as often as humanly possible. There, I swim one-armed strokes that surely look as ridiculous as they feel, as long as I feel able, before heading for the changing room to change or striding through the entire gym wearing my swimsuit, pants, flip-flops...and a big towel wrapped around my shoulders.
The gym is the one place I let myself figuratively give the world the finger - by demonstrating a profound lack of interest in what others think of me. Everywhere else, I'm pretty meek, frankly, and doing my best to either melt into the woodwork or hide. So far, nobody who doesn't like it has said anything in earshot, and I'm too busy doing what I do to catch any disapproving glances.
The first times were the hardest, but once you get in there and get in the zone, it's easy to forget what others may think in favor of getting the job done.0 -
I love this thread. I love swimming laps. I have an indoor pool in my building and so I swim every morning before work. and before anyone else is in there. I always think I am swimming like an olympian until my kids swim with me and then they just laugh and laugh. i always try to race them. i think i am so good - because i swim 70+ 25 yard lengths every morning. hahaha they just blow me out of the water and then i feel like a super geek. but i don't care. it feels so good to swim.0
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Go swim, you'll make somebody's day. Of course, it might be the day of some pervy older woman like me who really loves big men, but think of that! You can go and give somebody a cheap thrill while you porpoise about and burn calories. I'd go swimming more often if I were guaranteed a glimpse of a big guy in his swim trunks...0
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For those of you saying that you are uncoordinated when swimming - why don't you take some swimming lessons? I have just started going to Adult Improver lessons to learn the strokes properly. It is hard work! But hopefully by the end of the 12 week course I will be able to swim efficiently enough to do lengths of the pool.0
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I can totally relate to the horror of being seen in public in a bathing suit. My daughter is 5 and has started swimming herself, though, and that's done two things to help me get over it. First, I see the swimming instructors at her swim school: they are all shapes and sizes, including a couple who are significantly bigger than me. Second, I figured I don't have a choice but to go in the water with her (well, I suppose I could just keep my kid out of the water, but what kind of parenting would that be?), so I bit the bullet. And it wasn't so bad. Nobody stared, nobody commented, nobody cared but me. My husband (who is 3X or 4X in shirts to give you an idea of his size) is a hairy guy like you say you are, and he goes in the water too. He wears a swim shirt, that seems to help him feel more comfortable and confident. The only exercise he ever does is in the pool. And nobody gives him a second look either. I hope this helps you gain the confidence to get past feeling embarrassed and get in the water!0
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I'm planning on making swimming a weekly thing since last Saturday I burned off a heroic amount of calories doing it, plus the 60 min walk to and from the leisure centre. I'm not all that self conscious when it comes to wearing a swimming costume - though admittedly I am a bit tall for it - my problem is that I'm a horrendous swimmer. My form is horrible, I don't trust the water to support me while swimming (even though I can comfortably float while stationary) and - well - I just suck at swimming. I held on to the side for the whole time last time I went. There were 4yo kiddies swimming better than me!
I'm still gonna go though. Hopefully as time goes by I'll get better at it. Besides, apparently the worse you are at swimming, the more calories you burn! :P0
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