The Little Things

They say it's the littlest things that make the biggest difference. Well, if that's the case, then Brasilian swimsuits can do a lot in this world.

As I was putting away some laundry, my new Brasilian swimsuit that I have finally gotten brave enough to wear landed in the drawer next to some American ones and I got a whole new perspective on just how different things are...

and a whole new motivation to work out!

On the far right, we have a usual swimsuit for me. Not overly 'Granny,' but certainly modest enough to be comfortable hanging out with people I know. The one in the middle is a slightly more scandalous number I wore in Jamaica on the honeymoon (I was in pretty decent shape after the stress-related weight loss from having just 4 months to plan our wedding and prepare for an international move! AND, with the exception of my husband, nobody there knew me or would ever see me again.) And then, there on the left, we have the newest addition to the collection: my Brasilian swimsuit.

The adventure of shopping for a swimsuit here was interesting. At first I was almost certain I was in the little girls department, everything I saw looked way too itty bitty for anyone over 12. I started doing a little looking around and alas, these were made for women. Okay, now to figure out what size I wear in Brasilian clothing (specifically swimsuits). I immediately started looking for something marked "Grande"- I can be honest with myself! Everything "Grande" looked awfully "Pequeno" though. Then I found a "Grande Grande" and thought maybe I was on to something. As I held it up next to my "Grande" (and a "Médio" just for the heck of it), I figured out the difference in sizing of bikinis: string length. Nope, we don't add material when making a larger size; we just make the strings longer so it will reach around you. Well, I bought a "Grande" and after tying it on, I still have some string to spare. ;) Wearing it, I feel like maybe I need to employ some of the beauty pageant tricks of double sided tape to avoid an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction, but other than that I am actually pretty comfortable here in it. I get a lot less looks than I did before in my very, very American swimsuit!

Now, I was going to add a picture to illustrate the difference in men's swimsuits too. But, the ol' hubby probably wouldn't be too happy with me. And you all know what a speedo looks like anyway: much, much smaller than boardshorts!

So the little things in Brasil should be accomplishing big things: providing motivation to keep our behinds in the gym!