Summer is just around the corner! You know what that means…beaches, sipping cool drinks by the pool, fun vacations and…diet culture. It seems like everywhere you look there is an advertisement to get you to change some part of your body in order to be “summer ready.”
What if I told you the key to achieving the perfect summer body was to…ditch the summer body mindset? Seems simple in theory, right? But this can be difficult when we are constantly being bombarded with messages saying the opposite! So how can you avoid getting sucked into the season of diets and comparison? Here are a few tips:
Tip #1: It’s time for a social media cleanse!
Yep, you heard me! Let’s clean up those social media pages. However, this type of “clean up” doesn’t involve using soap and a sponge. Instead go through your social media and find the accounts that leave you feeling less than amazing about yourself.
The ones shaming you for taking a break on your rest days, or for eating the pizza on a Friday night. Those accounts are not helping you to realize your full potential!
Try following the accounts that encourage you to lift yourself up, and fill your page with positive messages about the wonderful human you already are, like these (click on Our Favorite Instagrammers).
Tip #2: Unplug your morning.
For most of us, the sound of our phone’s alarm signals a new morning; and a chance to get caught up on everything we missed online while sleeping. What if it didn’t? What if instead of reaching for your phone and checking your socials first thing in the morning, you turned off your phone, took some time to meditate, and embraced the slowness of the morning?
When we are constantly caught up in what everyone online is doing, we start to feel guilt over not following along. Taking some time, like a small moment in the morning, can help to put life into perspective, allow you to enjoy who you are, and even better – tune out whatever nonsense the media wants you to believe.
Tip #3: Stand up to diet culture. Literally!
Now this last one can be difficult at first, so remember to treat yourself with kindness as you become a “diet-fighting” warrior! When you start to notice messages or trends, in social media and in the real-world telling you to change certain aspects of yourself in order to become “in season,” stand up for yourself.
Whether that means closing an app, or telling the person making these comments, “I am working on self-confidence and accepting who I am so please refrain from making such negative comments,” you’ll start to notice how at peace you will become with experiencing diet culture’s sneaky ways.
This last tip takes some time and practice, but once you begin, you can share your newfound power with others around you. Talk about uplifting!
These tips are just a few of the things you can do to help counteract diet culture’s grasp on the changing season. Summer is a time of fun and relaxation, not obsessing about our bodies! Your body is beautiful and ready for any season just the way it is!