Swim Suit Calorie Estimates

I finally broke down today and went swim suit shopping. For most women I know it is the worst day of the year. No matter your size or shape at age 53 there is not much good about trying on bathing suits. Not that I am going to appear in public in a swimming costume anytime soon, but I figured I better get an idea of how my new body looks in different suits while there are still a few choices left in the stores.

I thought that an off Tuesday morning would mean fewer shoppers and a chance for me to get the handicapped dressing room so I had enough room to stand far enough from the mirror so I could get a good full look at all the sides of me without having to go out in the hallway and use the big three way mirror.

I started by perusing all the choices on the floor and then I gathered at least ten suits to take in the dressing all at once so that I did not have to leave the privacy of the dressing room to get a different model.

Trying on bathing suits is a workout that is not listed on any exercise websites. As I tugged and wriggled and pulled varying amounts of spandex around various body parts I started thinking that I should be getting walking credit for the amount of calories I was burning by trying suits on.

If the bathing suit was a one piece but had a shelf bra with no under wires I burned about 15 calories trying it on if it were a size too big. Same suit in the right size was 18 calories and in a size too small burned 25 calories. If you added a complicated under wire/bra system to a bathing suit it added another 5 calories to the trying on workout. Those estimates are for “regular” suits.

When I tried on a “Miracle” suit you could double the calories burned because of all the contorting, and wriggling and pulling it took to get the suit on in the right places and all the parts tucked in. Then there were the calories burned by standing on my tipee toes to see if my legs looked better longer and thinner. Well of course they did, but my legs are not going to get any longer.

Despite the extra good workout I got in all the “Miracle Suits” they were no marvel. I ended up getting the least expensive suit I tried on and gave up going to a second store to continue the “Try on work out.” I know that all the suits in my closet are too big based on the fact that I had to buy a size I have not seen in the swimwear category since I think I was in high school. I’m sure that there has been size inflation, but I am taking this new suit as a small victory. Let’s just hope it can hold all the parts in the right places since it is the most basic model without any bells or whistles. I also bought new underpants, but since I could not try those on the report about their fit will have to come later. I know you can hardly wait.