It's bathing suit season.  And I'm sharing my huge goal……for how we can all support each other to shed our inhibitions this summer and to create a community that helps us discuss how to feel confident in a bathing suit.  From cute bathing suits to mom bathing suits to positive self image mantras……we do it all here.

Two.  That's the amount of times I'd worn a bathing suit since Lydia was born before last summer.  And we live in Southern California.  And also two.  The amount of times I practically broke down in tears before putting those suits on.  Now, I get that this sounds ridiculous and maybe even a little self centered.  Look at our world.  And I care THIS much about putting on a bathing suit? How is that even possible?  Insecurities are funny that way, right? They lie to you.  They steal your energy.  They suck your attention.  You fixate on the size of your thighs instead of your toddler's first time at the beach.  You tell your husband to not take ANY pictures of you with your baby in the sand, because all you can think is that you don't ACTUALLY want to see what your post-baby belly looks like.  You'd rather live in the ignorance is bliss category (and in clothes, it doesn't look THAT bad).

Just Wear the Suit: Cute Bathing Suits and Self Confidence

It has arrived.  Summer.  Enter longer days, no alarm clocks, pool parties and…….hopefully cute bathing suits.  Did you just cringe a little? It's ok, I totally get it.  It kind of takes the fun out of the summer.  RIGHT?  All of sudden you're concerned about the size of your thighs or how things have gone a little south in the last few years.  The focus has been taken off those memories with your family, and has moved over to your fears and insecurities.

And trust me, I get it.  If I'm being honest, I've spent most of my life being uncomfortable in a bathing suit.  As soon as I was old enough to be aware, I realized my hips were too big and my thighs rubbed together.  In my twenties, I strict dieted down to a slightly smaller size……but my insecurities didn't shrink as the number on the label did.  They remained.

If you've been around these parts for awhile, then you know that a few summers I had my own mini-revolution.  I JUST GOT OVER IT.  The insecurity, the hiding at the pool.  I'd had enough.  With the support of all of YOU, I shot pictures in a bathing suit and I put them on the internet for the world to see.  Why? I figured if you'd all seen them already…..I wouldn't care about a few women at our local pool anymore.  And while it wasn't exactly a magic fix, what I did do….was realize I wasn't ALONE.  That so many of us felt this way and we were sick of it.  So I spent that summer wearing cute bathing suits, taking photos, and ENJOYING myself (yup, I even found the perfect mom bathing suits to add to my collection for pool days with my daughter).  And by the beginning of THIS summer? I can't wait to hit the beach.  Yup, seriously.  Somehow along the way……my mindset shifted.  And I just don't feel trapped in my own body anymore.  Crazy right?

So, I didn't want to keep it to myself.  This feeling? We all deserve to have it.  And now, I'm here to give YOU all the same support you gave me.  The same encouragement I felt? I want each of you to feel it.

Last summer, we launched #justwearthesuit.  And it's pretty simple.  Wear your cute bathing suits. Wear your mom bathing suits. Take a photo.  Use the hashtag.  If you choose, talk about how to feel confident in a bathing suit.  Your pictures will show up on Instagram for all of us to see and support.  I'll be sharing all of you in my Instagram stories.

Do it ladies.  I promise…..a happier, healthier you is on the other side.  And I'll be cheering you on…..we all will.

Just Wear The Suit Carly

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