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Lara Starr's avatar

I love that you found this exercise for yourself and enjoy it so much. I have similar issues. These days it's less about fat and more about flab, varicose veins, bruising and discoloration. My legs are a trainwreck.

I hate that I don't feel comfortable in short skirts, shorts or a swimsuit in.public. I miss out on a lot.

April Whitney's avatar

I follow many plus-sized influencers. It’s been inspiring seeing how they go out into the world with confidence.

Lara Starr's avatar

I love that <3 I wonder if there are influencers with legs like mine out there - I should look. It's really a thing for me.

Suellen Darblay's avatar

April,I’ve often had the same feelings! I started swimming 40+ years ago when I was pregnant! Haven’t continued, sadly, altho I achieved the goal of swimming 1 mile. Then 30ish years ago I started going to Harbin Hot Springs, and saw so many different kinds of bodies, that I sort of got over myself. Thanks for writing about this.

April Whitney's avatar

Thanks for the comment, Suellen! I didn’t go into it in the post, but swimming helped me keep my sanity when I had to recover from some tragedies. Having to navigate the world with a broken foot has made me feel especially limited, weak, and vulnerable. I’m looking forward to getting back into the pool to build up my strength and endurance.

April Whitney's avatar

One thing I didn’t mention was how much I love the Apple Watch’s Fitness swim tracking. It tracks strokes, laps, heart rate, recovery and more. Really great when you’re looking for encouragement through seeing quantifiable tracking