Speedos and self esteem

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Hi all. I'm a 35 year old gay male, and I wanted to introduce myself. I am so excited to find this forum. I've always been lean but had very significant body image issues. I've also long since had a speedo and lycra thing, and sadly, being body shy and wearing speedos has never worked together. Last year, I began running, and after a few months, braved wearing tights. Slippery slope, I finally mustered the courage to actually buy a few square-cut speedo-style bathing suites. The bigger area needed was actually putting them on, in public. My first attempt was on a beach in Florida. I saw down, quickly pulled over my shorts I had over top, and never left the beach chair until I was ready to leave. I even slouched down so I wouldn't be seen. Since then, I've gotten brave, and finally wear these when at the beach with friends or on vacation. I don't think I'd have the courage to wear them when out with family, or anywhere where there may be loads of kids, but I'm loving it. My body image issues have actually gotten a lot better since starting to wear them. I feel more confident, and overall this has had a huge impact on my life. I'm still wondering if I'll be brave enough to wear more traditional speedo styles, but this was a huge step. I'm so glad to find a forum of people who "get" this, and can't wait to start to get introduced to the community.