OPINION – With summer in full swing, I’ve been wondering lately if I am “beach-worthy.” Do I dare wear my bikini? I find it fascinating how much more material my bathing suit contains than it did 20 years ago.

In high school, I paraded around in what seemed like dental floss with scraps of cloth. My bathing suit collection could quite possibly tell the story of my life.  In my 20s, it was a bikini; and in my 30s, during the pregnancies, it was a one-piece suit with an over-sized T-shirt and shorts as I pretended I just didn’t want to go swimming.

Now, I have resorted to a tankini with board shorts; I am going for that sporty look that gives the impression I may go wakeboarding any minute. If I can’t look like a supermodel, I may as well look incredibly adventurous.

At birth, I am convinced that we are given an extra 20 to 40 pounds on a revolving loan. We should call this our own little personal weight savings account.  I never knew that throughout my lifetime, I would gain and lose those same pounds over and over again. It is an ever-present and constant reminder that my rear end gains an extra dimension every five years or so depending on what is happening in my life. Thank you personal weight savings account; you have become the most dependable thing in my life.

Maybe my problem is that I own too many mirrors. My dog has never looked in a mirror and seems incredibly happy and confident –I think he may be on to something.

Speaking of mirrors, it would be a good idea for stores to have a special fitting room just for those of us that dare to try on a bikini. It would be a specially designed candle-lit fitting room with a small mirror that shows only your face and the sexy, masculine voice of Channing Tatum saying, “Kids? You have Kids? Wow, you look amazing!”

For the most part, men could care less about their weight. They own it. They seem even prideful about acknowledging their weight. They don’t even try sucking it in. Men will actually stand there, bellies protruding, admiring themselves for the weight gain.  I wish I were that proud of my mom thighs and could parade them around the house.

When I meet someone for the first time, I don’t know if they have just lost 300 pounds, gained 20 or if they are just bloated from eating a burrito.  But what I notice is their attitude and their happiness level. The person that recently lost 100 pounds would be strutting around as if they owned the place, even if they were still 250 pounds overweight, excited about their accomplishment.

It is all in our minds and attitude, isn’t it? We are our own worst critics. Long-winded diet books could reduce their information to just one sentence if they kept it simple: Stop eating so much and you will lose weight. And if you really want to look amazing in a bikini, exercise. It is so simple, isn’t it?

Bathing suit cover-ups are for those of us that just want to allude to the fact that we look great in our bathing suits as we slurp down our diet coke and munch on our basket of pool snacks. After all, cover-ups keep them guessing.

And to the men of this world, unless you participate regularly on a European swim team, throw away your bun-hugging Speedo. Keep us guessing and put on some swim shorts.

In fact, I am beginning to believe that no one really cares about our weight as much as we do. We obsess over it, think about it, read books about it, choke down celery. And obsess about it again.  Is it worth it?

I think it’s time to cut ourselves some slack. No one cares about our weight as much as we do. Weight has nothing to do with who we are, only how we feel about ourselves.  Wear your bikini with attitude.

Attitude trumps cellulite every time.

Kate Dalley is a news commentator and co-host of the Perspectives morning show on Fox News 1450 AM 93.1 FM. The opinions stated in this article are hers and not representative of St. George News.

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Copyright 2012 St. George News.