It's Memorial Day weekend -- aka the unofficial beginning of summer -- and soon you'll be inundated with annoying articles about the best exfoliation treatments, ab exercises and a diet that could only rival that of Kate Middletonprior to last year's royal wedding.
If that weren't enough, the commitment to achieving beach body "bliss" is further cemented by the endless gym and vacation ads of "perfect" silhouettes plastered everywhere.
But to truly motivate you and amplify the anxiety, SHAPE magazine teamed up with FitSugar to deliver a survey on what women really think about sporting a swimsuit this season. An alternative title for the survey: Misery loves company.
While the overall findings are far from earth-shattering, there is one particularly interesting nugget: 68 percent of women polled would forego at least one month of sex in exchange for the perfect bikini body.
That's probably because 82 percent of women surveyed said they felt overly pressured when it came to getting in shape for summer.
Which leads to the next traumatic scenario that could only haunt one in the Facebook era: If photos from that beach outing were to appear on the social network, some 44 percent said they would remove the tag or ask their friend to take down the photo.
As for wearing a swimsuit around your significant other, one in four women feel most confident in that scenario.
Sadly, when it comes to baring their bodies, confidence isn't something that most women seem to feel. More specifically, more than 50 percent of women told SHAPE they hate their abs, while 29 percent revealed they are most insecure about their thighs.
But not all women are slinking into bikini season trying to lose weight. If you need some affirmation that women of all sizes and shapes can rock a stylish two-piece, check out XOJane's gallery of women in swimwear. Because at the end of the day, women should be able to enjoy the beach and their sex lives.
(Huffington Post)
