Maybe the title of this blog brought something up for you. If it did, I wouldn’t blame you!

How many times have you been in line in a store or scrolling online and come across some magazine or post that looked something like this?

“Get Summer Body Ready with This Simple Diet and Exercise Plan!”

Now, how many of those times did you then look at the picture of the “beach body” attached and think about all of the ways your body did not look like the photo in the article? Again, if this has happened to you in one way or another, I wouldn’t blame you!

That first part, of being “summer body ready” implies that people’s bodies are conditionally allowed to be visible because of how they look. It also implies that our body is only shaped and designed for one time per year. To these articles, we only look our best by looking a certain way, and we have to prepare our bodies to look that certain way solely because of how the Earth’s axis is facing the sun!

That is the part of this transition in seasons that can make it more difficult to enjoy the change in weather, those longer days with the sun, and all of our favorite summer things. When the “perfect beach body,” “summer bod,” or “bikini body” propaganda is emphasized, it can be really hard to feel summer ready when our body does not emulate the ideal.

But, how can one body type be the only body for summer when we are all under the same, summer sun?

All Bodies are Summer Bodies

What if we were to look at it this way:

-If you have a body and you’re properly fueled, hydrated, and protected from the summer heat and sun, you have the “perfect beach body!”

-If you have a body and it is summer, you have a “summer bod.”

-If you have a body and you have a swimsuit, you have a “bikini body.”

Through our daily consumption of mass media, it can be incredibly easy to be exposed to the messages that only certain people can enter a season if their body matches the ideals that the fashion industry and summer marketing campaigns promote.

However, those summer body diets often also promote unrealistic fad diets, those that do not align with the majority of lifestyles, nor our bodies’ caloric needs. Those exercise plans are often made by individuals without consideration for the abilities and needs of other bodies, their age, and their health.

If we were to even stop and take a minute, we could find that the original “bikini body” concept originated from an ad for a women’s underwear company, Slenderella International in 1961, a company run mostly by men and not of body types that matched their infamous bodily description.

That is why no magazine, post, or piece of media can appropriately dictate what a generalized ideal of a “perfect” body is for a season that looks different for so many people. That is also why no “beauty guru,” fitness instructor, or swimsuit designer holds a right to shame the body you wear.

Swim with the Shame Sharks

So, when that summer body shame begins to set in, remember these ten points:

Try to buy swimsuits from companies that promote models, fits, and styles that appeal to all tastes, and body types, specifically, yours.
All bodies are summer bodies, but all summer bodies need to be hydrated and protected from the sun.
Summer foods are fun and cool! So if you want a cold summer treat or that fresh summer produce, listen to your body and what it needs.
Remember that swimwear and fashion companies are designing clothing for a general population. The idea is for the clothing to fit you, not for you to fit it.
If you are trying to change your fitness level, try to practice mindful exercise (link to the bilateral running blog?) and form a new relationship with it. What are your intentions and the purposes of exercising? How can you make exercise be additive, rather than subtractive from what matters to you?
Just because the weather changes, does not mean your body needs to change with it.
As fun as the summer can be, it can also be uncomfortable. So, wear and do what makes you comfortable, not what the media says your body is “ready for.”
It is called summer fun for a reason. Spend your summer experiencing your fun, not preparing your body to have fun.
Your current inner and outer wellbeing is worth more than a marketing campaign from the 60’s.
Try to increase your awareness of the internalized messages you have held onto and not only how you respond to them, but how you can also separate from them. (link to blog about thanking your mind and defusion?)

Your Summer Body is Your Body

Ultimately, your ability to enjoy your summer is not dictated by the resemblance you show to swimsuit models. Your summer is about doing the things with the people who make it feel like summer.

So, as we step into this new season and all of the wonderful summer things like the smell of sunscreen, sound of beach waves crashing, and no school, remember:

Nobody has the right to tell anybody what everybody should look like.
No-body has the right to tell any-body what every-body should look like.

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Written by: Sophie Koch, LGPC
Sophie is a LifeSpring therapist who offers online and in-person counseling services to adolescents and adults (15 and up) to offer help with depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, trauma, and mood disorders.