I think we, as a society, have been too hard on ourselves in achieving the "perfect body" for summer and it's time to stop! The more we stress about our summer body, the more we tend to not enjoy our lives.
Since I was a kid, adults have always complained about getting the summer body! It is unrealistic, stressful, and downright cruel to your physical and mental health. As I've gotten older, I see more and more friends and family stress that they're not in perfect shape. I'm not saying it's wrong to want to get in physical shape and have a tone body. But you should force your body to take on so much stress. I know lots of people who try to lose weight too fast and when they don't- they feel like a failure. That is wrong. Like most things, getting what you want takes time. Completely transforming your body is a lot on the body and the illusions of society doesn't make it any better. We are taught to believe that is an easy journey to lose weight. We are taught to believe it is simple to get the model body we see every day on social media. It's disheartening to make us believe if we don't have the "hot" body, our bodies are not good enough for society, let alone that we won't look good in a bathing suit because it's not up to everyone's standards. The problem with torturing yourself to have a summer body is that it not only is harmful physically, it is also harmful mentally.
Mental health plays a big role in our physical appearance. It is because we are told that being a little bigger than the average person or being fat is a bad thing! The only bad thing about being fat is that we, as a society, have allowed those kind of bigotry remarks. The biggest argument people have about someone who is fat is that they suffer health problems. I'm just going to tell the truth about that argument, we're human. We all suffer from health problems. We should be comfortable with ourselves. We should be comfortable with our bodies. We should all know our bodies well enough to know when something is wrong. It's okay to listen and know when we need to improve and repair our bodies. We should be the ones to say when our bodies are not unhealthy. But most of us don't listen to ourselves and what our bodies actually need. Instead, we're too focused on achieving the "perfect body". Society, social media, and the entertainment industry has made us believe that the only way to have healthy and "perfect" bodies is to have muscles and be toned. Any sort of fat is frowned upon and unhealthy.
I think it is time to just listen to your body. It is time to love your body. For too long we are made to feel uncomfortable with our bodies because we don't look like a swimsuit model or a gym trainer. For too long we are told to that fat is not okay. What is not okay is people trying to define who we are. You should be the only thing that matters to your physical and mental health. If you love the body you have- that should be celebrated whether you have muscles or fat. Your body is a vessel for a short period of time and you should be in charge of it. We focus too much on getting our "Summer Bodies", we forget to live in the moment and just love ourselves. Stop relying on the scales to determine your happiness. It's up to you to be happy in the life you create.
Last year I made the decision to not care about getting a muscled body. Muscles won't make me happy. It could possibly make me feel good for a short time, but it won't help my mental health. The problems I have have mentally won't change, even if I get the "perfect body". I think we believe if we have slim and muscled bodies it'll help with our struggle in life. But that is not the case... Perfect bodies don't exist. Healthy bodies do. If you're unhealthy and think having a "hot body" will change your perspectives on life- it'll only make it worse. You start to add more stress on yourself. I believe if we just listen and love our bodies the way they are, that's perfect. That's healthy. That's the goal we should be reaching for! We shouldn't torture ourselves into having hot bodies!
Let's talk about about what makes a hot body. We all have a different type of what a hot body looks like. Some prefer people who are toned, and some prefer some with "meat on their bones". It doesn't make a difference on what your preference is because it is your preference. You're allowed to have your own fantasies. The models we see on magazines and social media are very attractive but it not the norm of the real world. That is okay. We don't have to look like anyone. We just have to be ourselves. We all have a type and that's great! That means we're human. To me, a hot body is someone who is comfortable and happy with who they are inside and outside. You can be fat, chunky, have muscles- as long as you're happy, that's sexy. That's healthy.
It's time to step out of the social norm of today about stressing over getting the best summer body and just enjoy the summer! Wear the bathing suit that makes you smile. Enjoy the barbecues and pool parties. Let's embrace all bodies, all the time! Let's embrace healthy bodies instead of the toxic ideas of a "perfect body".
Embrace you!!
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