It's that time of year again. Supermarket shelves are stacked high with fitness DVDs, every TV commercial break contains countless advertisements for diet foods, gym membership prices have been reduced, everyone looks at you strange if you dare to breathe near anything with more than ten calories in it and the only thing you're allowed to drink from now until the end of August is water. Yep, you guessed it, it's time to get SUMMER BODY READY!
As the temperature starts to increase and schools begin counting down the days until the Summer holidays, time is fast ticking away and, before you know it, you'll be on a beach, wishing you'd done a few more squats, eaten a few less ice creams and bought swimsuits which aren't as tight. Well, I'm here to tell you that there shall be no need for you to wish for those things. I'm here to remind you that you do not need to change your body in order for it to be a 'beach body,' you simply need to accept it.

I understand, I do. Everyone here, there and everywhere is trying to get their body toned and in shape, ready for their Summer holidays and they're trying to encourage you to do the same thing. They're shedding those last few pounds that they've piled on over the duration of the colder months and they're getting ready to hit the beach, feeling confident and looking good. It's sad that we feel the need to change ourselves in order to be ready for Summer. I know that, personally, I dread Summer. I dread the hot weather and I dread the clothing. (When was the last time I wore a pair of shorts again?) I don't feel comfortable with my appearance, nor would I willingly go outside in a swimsuit. Many other people my age are in the same boat and I worry for all of our well beings. I worry how we're going to grow up - is this negative low-self esteem mindset forever? How could we possibly change it when everyone else looks tanned, toned and tip top in their Summer clothing and I look like a jelly baby? Well, changing your mindset doesn't have to come from changing your appearance as it's perfectly possible and acceptable to love the skin you're in without changing a single thing about your exterior.

Sure, if you want to work out more in preparation for Summer, by all means, go ahead. Do what makes you happy but be sure you're doing it for the right reasons. Work out because it makes you feel good and it has a positive impact on your well being but don't kill yourself in the gym just for the sake of having a flat stomach  when you're on holiday this year and don't do it in order to compete with everyone else. Exercising is great but only if it's done with good intentions and with your well being at heart. Besides, if you're trying to lose weight before July strikes, what's to say you'll stop there? How do you know "just a few pounds" will be enough? Will you ever be totally satisfied with your body? Chances are, if you start working out whilst totally hating yourself and are doing it because you just want to be slim like the girls on magazine covers, the outcome isn't going to be healthy. Whereas, if you start working out with a positive, loving attitude towards yourself and do it because it simply feels good, then you're likely to be happier in the long run. But, at the same time, if you don't want to start exercising in preparation for Summer, then why should you? No one is forcing you. Those TV ads for those low calorie snack bars want to get inside your head and they want you to feel as though you're worthless by being who you are, so don't allow them to have that power. Do not let advertisers control you. Summer shouldn't be something we fear, it should be something we look forward to and it should be a time in which we feel free to celebrate ourselves. There is no need for you to change in order to make yourself lovable to yourself. You are who you are and who you are is worthy of self appreciation at all times of year.

We live in a society which likes to shame us for loving ourselves. It is frowned upon to like yourself, to accept a compliment or to actually want to be who you are, how disheartening? You should feel no embarrassment in loving your body because it's beautiful. It was made to keep you safe, happy and healthy and it's serving all of those functions right now. The human body is an amazing thing and there is no right or wrong way for it to look. Plus, what it looks like on the outside is irrelevant. All of us spend far too much time being concerned with how other people must be perceiving us, so much so that it actually stops us from living our own lives to the fullest. Try to make it your mission this Summer to accept yourself for how you look and don't deprive yourself of the things you love for the sake of having a thigh gap in an Instagram photo. Besides, Summer was invented so we could indulge in ice cream, right?

Likewise, do not shame other people for their bodies. Everyone's is different and just because it may not look idealistic to you, it works for them and they should feel able to enjoy life as they are without the unnecessary pressure from people who should be supporting and uplifting them. If someone wants to wear a pair of short shorts which show off their cellulite, let them do that. If someone wants to wear a crop top which exposes their rolls, why can't they? Likewise, if someone wishes to show off their muscular legs, 6-pack or toned arms, that's no crime either. The weather is getting hotter so the amount of clothing we are wearing is lessening. Wear what you want and let other people do so too without feeling the need to pass comment on it. Life is too short to be so wrapped up in how other people are looking and how you think other people think you look. At the end of the day, we're all just doing what we can to make sure we aren't walking sweaty messes.

So, whatever your body looks like right now, whatever it's going to look like this Summer, don't feel the need to change it in order to fit in. I promise, it's lovely already. Regardless of whether or not you've got abs, regardless of whether you're tall or short, slim or curvy, toned or not toned at all, your body is a Summer body. Every body is a Summer body and everybody deserves to bask in the wonder of Summer for every second it is here without feeling bad about the shell which was simply created to help keep together everything that's on the inside. Have fun, this Summer and every Summer, and every other season in between. Take each day as it comes and remind yourself each morning that a beach body is whatever the hell you want it to be. There's no real definition. If your body is on a beach, it's a beach body. If your body is wearing a bikini, it's a bikini body. If your body is existing during Summer time, it's a Summer body. You're great just as you are.