A day at the beach

Picnic & swim at Telok Batek, May 2011

 

Thanks to lovely Stacia at swimming it off, I have the courage to post this here.

I had this pic taken last weekend on a beach in Malaysia. I was out on a picnic with my mum and her friend, neither of which like water, getting into the sea or swimming!

But I got into my suit under a sarong on the beach, and trekked off into the sea amidst a load of young people, who amazingly to me didn't comment once on my size or even pay me much attention, which was great. Yay for the self-confidence to do this - I certainly wouldn't have attempted this last year despite being smaller then! The undercurrents are a little treacherous in this area of the world, as the beach shelves very quickly so swimming out to sea wasn't an option, but treading water for about 40 minutes and a little leisurely breast-stroke was do-able. And gosh, were my arm and shoulder muscles sore the next day!

It's lovely and sunny here, and I get to use the pool at my mum's condo most days which is great. The last three weeks of swimming have paid off already - I wore a top yesterday that was tight around the hips two months ago - hurrah!

Still no idea what I weigh, and actually it doesn't matter. What counts is that my general outlook is positive and happy, and that I eat healthy stuff on the whole, and that my body likes to move. I've decided to focus instead on how much smaller my waist and hips are becoming, and dropping dress sizes :)

Still missing my dad - mum & me talk about him often which is really good. I allowed myself to feel my feelings of grief yesterday and indulged in a few tears, and kept away from the fridge. Self-help reading this week: Women, Food and God, by Geneen Roth.