3 days ago
They lost weight on GLP-1s. Now they're shopping for swimsuits.
Capri Taylor was perusing her local Ross Dress for Less, flicking through the racks in search of some clothes. As she made her way down the aisle, Taylor stumbled upon the swimsuit section. For most of her adult life, she would've skipped past the swimsuits or dreaded trying them on. But this time, she spotted a particularly cute two-piece. 'I decided to just go for it,' Taylor tells Yahoo Life. 'I was so excited that the first thing I did when I got home was to try it on, and I snapped a picture to send to my best friend, like, look!' says Taylor.
Up until then, Taylor, 31, didn't consider a two-piece swimsuit an option. Before starting a GLP-1 weight loss medication last year, she weighed 198 pounds, was prediabetic and just wasn't comfortable in her own skin. 'I've always been self-conscious and envious of girlies who can carry the weight and feel confident in whatever they wear,' she says. 'I just never got to that point' before losing weight.
Now, having lost more than 60 pounds, Taylor is discovering a new side of herself: a version that loves a brightly colored, geometric-patterned two-piece. 'Being a mom, I always felt like I had to put myself in a box when it came to swimsuit shopping,' she says. 'Losing the weight has made me feel so much more confident stepping out to find something that I feel good in.' Taylor still loves a good one-piece suit, but she's enjoying a sexier, slightly more bare look.
Bikinis can be a fraught purchase for many women, but especially so for those like Taylor — who hadn't worn one in years — whose bodies have gone through dramatic changes. Still, daring to bare more isn't simply a result of 'being skinny,' she says. 'It's about the first time I've felt confident in my body.'
What is swimsuit shopping like on a GLP-1? Here's what women taking the medication say about their recent forays into triangle tops, tankinis, cheetah prints and more.
Haley Sipes, 31, hadn't worn a two-piece swimsuit since high school. But after losing 100 pounds with the help of a GLP-1, the mom wanted to branch out. So, she set up her phone to film a 'haul' of several two-piece suits she'd recently bought to try on her new figure. In the video, she gives a detailed, upbeat review of each suit, from most to least modest.
Behind the scenes, 'I wanted to throw up,' Sipes tells Yahoo Life. She had her husband in the room for moral support. 'Between each swimsuit, I was like, 'Tell me I look OK, tell me I'm not crazy,'' she says.
When Sipes posted the video ('I figured, if I show this to 70,000 [followers], it'll be way easier to wear it out in public, because that's more people than are in my whole town,' she says.), she was amazed and surprised by the outpouring of positive comments. Sipes recognizes now that how she sees herself isn't always the way that others see her. 'I really do deal with some body dysmorphia,' she says. 'It's like my brain can't catch up with my body.'
It's a common refrain among people who have taken GLP-1 medications. While body dysmorphia is often discussed in the context of disordered eating, it's also a common part of any drastic body change. Some people who have lost weight may feel a kind of discomfort in their new shape, or still see a former version of themselves in the mirror. And, even when Sipes sees how far she's come on her journey toward better health, she can still spot areas that make her feel self-conscious.
'There are definitely some hard transitions involved in weight loss, when you have this new body that you're trying to dress,' she says. 'I do have quite a bit of loose skin in my stomach area, but I think that everybody has their insecurities.' Perhaps, Sipes adds, 'that's just from growing up seeing tiny, unrealistic models with flat stomachs and thinking that anything that isn't that doesn't fit the definition of beauty.'
And she's learned that she's not alone in her battle for self-love. Sipes recently had plans to go to the pool with a friend who she's always seen as 'the epitome of what I'd like to look like,' she says. When Sipes hinted at her nervousness to be next to the friend, 'she stopped me and was like, 'I'm insecure in a bathing suit too,'' says Sipes. 'It really helped more than I ever would've expected. We healed together, and we're both going to wear these bathing suits.'
Her own body, Sipes has realized, is like that of many women in their 30s who have had kids. She wants to celebrate it rather than hide it, and shared her swimsuit haul online in part because she hasn't seen enough bodies like her own online. She also went on a mission to find a swimsuit with some 'tummy control' that would be flattering without making her feel like she was wearing Spanx.
And she did! The winners? An Old Navy swim dress (a more modest option, for when she's on mom duty and needs to be able to run after a toddler) and a vibrant color-blocked two-piece from Pink Lily, plus a swim skirt she found on Amazon, which she ties over her two-pieces to help her ease into a more revealing look. She still hears that nagging little voice questioning whether the suit looks OK here or there, 'but this time it was a lot better because I worked really hard for the body I'm in,' she says. 'Being able to see my body as progress instead of a project was really healing.'
This summer, 29-year-old Mercedes Groves is stepping out in triangle bikinis and cheetah-print two-pieces. 'I really just wanted to be brave,' she tells Yahoo Life of wearing swimsuits that she once might have been too self-conscious to try. 'This is the first time in my life that I've felt comfortable enough to be brave. So I really wanted to take this step.'
Now that she's lost 80 pounds with the help of semaglutide, Groves is no longer limiting her style choices based on what will hide the parts of her body that made her feel self-conscious. 'To be able to fit my body and dress it how I always wanted it to look has been a whole experience in and of itself,' she says.
On social media, she gives the occasional smoldering look when modeling her new outfits. But in conversation, Groves has an infectious giggle, and her sunny disposition shines through. 'I was always the fat funny friend,' she says with a laugh. 'It's a real thing, I was always friends with everybody, but it's not like you were desired.'
Groves makes sure her young son understands that the change in her body is about getting healthy, not about how she looks. But she's acutely aware of how others look at her. Groves says it's exciting to lose weight and feel more desired, but 'it's a double-edged sword.' Like Sipes and Taylor, Groves has many changes to get used to, from her clothing size fluctuations to loose or sagging skin in some places.
And while the attention can be nice, 'it's been kind of wild to be in a different body but with the same people around you and have them be different toward you,' she says. 'You can tell when someone gives you the up-and-down [look].' She adds that 'it kind of messes with your head a little bit' when others suddenly act kinder than they did before. You just get treated differently when you're healthy and — [I] don't wanna say 'thin,' but it's true. I've felt both sides of that.'
Groves, who owns a nail salon, copes with that double-edged sword by focusing less on the appearance of the person she sees in the mirror and more on what she represents. When she's feeling insecure or worried about how some part of her body might look in a swimsuit, 'I think about how hard I worked, and remind myself: It's hot mom summer,' she says. 'All these moms out here in these bikinis, and we don't give a rip!'
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