It’s Spring! And in beautiful Southern California that means sunshine, blue skies and warm temps. Maybe to some of you folks in other parts of the country / world, it doesn’t mean the same thing, but that’s your issue. I pay a stupid amount of rent, at least partially, for this weather, so I’m gonna enjoy it. This time of year also means that thoughts turn to summer fun, pools and beaches. And what’s the garment of choice for these activities?

Swimsuits.

Uh-oh.

Did anyone get a flutter in their stomach when they read that? I know I did when I wrote it.

Bikinis, boardshorts and bare skin.

No place to run. No place to hide.

Hide what?

That 10 lbs you seem to have acquired over the winter. The small spare tire that crept up on you while you were looking the other way. The Thanksgiving / Christmas / New Year / St. Patrick’s Day addendum to your abdomen.

So now what?

Diet!

Exercise!

Cleansing!

Keto!

Obsession! ( which is actually an exercise program, for the love of God!)

Juicing!

All of the above!

Or, let’s just take a moment here, OK?

In the interest of transparency, I am half way through a month long diet & exercise program. And part of that is undoing some of the excesses of MY holiday season, which happens to revolve around St.Patrick’s Day. So I’m not saying that you shouldn’t diet, or exercise, or whatever it is that you are doing to fit into that form fitting suit, or look better in the painted on whatever you are planning on donning come beach time. But know why you are doing it, Do it for you, not for the acceptance or approval of “the masses” (who the hell are they anyway) or to try to emulate what you see in social media.

Why are you doing it, Bob?

Fair question.

Couple of reasons. First, I’ve been heavier. Out of shape. Significantly so. I, over a time span of several years, went from 265 lbs to my current walking around weight of 180. Not easy. But it was worth it to me. However, I LOVE food. I also really like good wine and crappy beer ( Miller Lite, so sue me..) I’m going to indulge. And it’s cyclical. So every once in a while, when I’ve gotten a little too comfortable with the trip to my local wine bar, and a little too used to indulging my taste for yummy food ( ribs, mac & cheese, fries, etc) and those choices start being reflected on the scale and in the way my clothes fit, it’s time to “reset” my preferences and my habits. So as much as I am doing it to drop a few pounds, it’s more to reset my head.

Which brings me back to you. What’s your “why”. Is your “why” important enough to motivate you? And who are you trying to please? If that answer is anyone other than you, do you really need to put yourself through it? Be happy with you. If YOU want to make a change, make it. If it’s to please someone else, or the nebulous “general public” or the crowd on IG, or Facebook, or whatevs, I’m not sure I’d go to the time or the trouble. When I was really heavy and odd-looking, my friends said “Bob, if you lost weight, the girls will LOVE you. As a younger person that mattered more to me. So I lost the weight, got in shape. You know what I found out? I found out that having lost the weight and gotten in shape, I was a fit, in shape, odd-looking person. I’ve since learned that odd-looking can be a pretty cool place to be if you embrace it.

So the point of this little parable? Don’t change to please others. Don’t chase the norm. I’ve been to Brazil several times. In general, Brazilians seem to believe that a “bikini body” is a body, any body, in a bikini. Or for the guys, in one of those “speedo” suits. I can’t do those, because I’m from Ohio. But I believe in the concept.

Be you.

Rock the pool, or the beach, by being you.

Tall, short, thin, fat.

Bring on the summer!!

Talk later,

Bob