I’m a 55-year-old mum with cellulite – I look hot in a bikini & don’t care what people think, I’ll wear it until I’m 80
WITH sizzling weather finally here, bikini season is upon us.
Age-defying stars including Myleene Klass, 45, Heather Graham, 53, and Elizabeth Hurley, 58, have shown they’ve still got it by posing in sexy swimwear on social media.
But would you be confident enough to wear a similar-style bikini today to the one you wore in your younger years?
Claire Dunwell and Charlotte Owen asked women in their forties and fifties to do just that – and this is what they had to say.
‘I’m more confident, sexier and so womanly’
CLOTHES stylist Kiin Buono, 51, says she feels sexier now in her striped Topshop bikini than she did when she wore it 12 years ago.
The mum-of-two, who lives in Hammersmith, West London, with partner Graham, 55, an antiques broker, says: "Being in this bikini again felt fantastic.
I am more confident, sexy and womanly this time around – and I can honestly say I love my body more now than I did at 39.
I fill the bikini out far nicer than I did back then.
I was a naturally slim size 8 when I was younger but there was always some part of my body that I wished I could change.
I was 21 when I became a mum and 27 when I had my second baby.
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In my twenties, I’d wear pretty shoes to distract from my skinny legs.
Friends and even strangers told me I looked amazing but as the years went by, I didn’t love my body and I was desperate to be bulkier.
It’s only with age that I’ve come to love and appreciate my body and I treat it with respect – by eating healthily, with lots of protein.
In my mid-40s, I reached a turning point when I really started to like my shape.
It was around this time I hit the perimenopause, and as my hormones fluctuated, I became curvier.
Although I was the same B-cup, my boobs were fuller.
Now I work hard to maintain this shape.
I do strength training three or four times a week, especially to add muscle to my legs.
Now I’m older and wiser, I’ve accepted I won’t get another body so I’ll keep wearing a bikini and feel confident in it.
Women, love your bodies.
They are incredible whatever shape7 or size they are.
‘Age won’t define me… I plan to wear a two-piece well into my 60s and 70s’
AT 55, Wendy Abrams may have cellulite but she wouldn’t swap her body for the one she had in her late teens and she plans to keep wearing bikinis as she ages.
Wendy, who lives in Greenwich, South East London, with her partner and son, 12, says she was an unhealthy size 8 when pictured in a polka dot bikini at 17.
The accounts assistant wants women in their 50s to embrace their shape.
She says: "In my teenage years, I became increasingly conscious about what I was eating.
I was a size 6-8 and my diet consisted mainly of cigarettes, glasses of wine and olives.
My BMI was below the recommended number for my height and I wasn’t healthy.
There is a fine line between being slim and being unwell and my younger body crossed the line.
In my 20s, I was diagnosed with anaemia triggered by an unhealthy lifestyle which affected my fertility – and I had several miscarriages.
It was a sad time and I was quite depressed.
In my 30s, I knew I had to do something so I quit smoking and replaced it with going to the gym.
When I started eating properly and healthily and looking after my body with exercise, everything changed.
I was still the same size but looked after myself much better – I even fell pregnant at 43 with my son.
Now I look back and feel disappointed that I restricted myself so much.
I’m proud to get back in a similar bikini as the woman that I am now.
The contrast between the way I felt about my body then and the way I feel about my body now is very different.
As I’ve got older, I’ve become more proud of it and I feel so much more confident wearing a bikini now.
I have cellulite and while I wish that it wasn’t there, it’s not that important to me.
And I will be wearing a two-piece when I am well into my 60s and 70s.
The younger me would have thought having dimpling on my legs was a disaster but I’ve learned to accept things I don’t like about my body.
I’m not going to let any hang-ups prevent me from enjoying life.
I am proud of my age – and I won’t let it define me or what I wear."
‘Figure is the same as it was in my 20s’
MUM-of-two Zoe Frost says she is proud that she has maintained the same figure she had 25 years ago.
The 48-year-old travel industry tour operator lives in Ockley, Surrey, with her husband of 23 years, and their children, Hugo, 15, and Zara, 13.
She says: "Getting back in the same bikini I wore when I was on holiday in Marbella, aged 23, is a great feeling.
I had a great figure in my 20s and I still have the same body now.
It has always been my goal to keep it the same.
After I had my two kids, I went crazy for the gym.
I lived for it until five years ago when I started to get a lot of pain in my hips from spin classes.
I had to stop with the gym and find a new way to stay in shape.
My body changed and I’ve dropped half a dress size as I’ve lost muscle.
I’ve also lost definition in my arms and tummy and my boobs are a bit smaller but I’m still proud of how I look.
Now I get my exercise looking after my three horses.
If older women struggle to stay trim, it’s no one’s fault.
A lot of it is metabolism.
I’ve always been able to eat what I want and kept my figure through being very active.
But my mum and grandmother kept nice figures – it’s definitely in my genes.
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Fad diets can be a problem – women lose a lot of weight then put it back on.
Sometimes it’s just about common sense and finding an exercise routine that you can stick with."