Summer body: do’s and don’ts (they might surprise you!)
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The idea of putting on a swimsuit and showing our body sounds terrifying. As we avoid looking at it in the mirror, the only solution we can see is to do something that works fast so we can lose weight before our vacation.
With summer around the corner, this might be popping up in your head more and more each day. That's why today, I want to give you five tips on how to get YOUR summer body.
Keep reading; you might be surprised!
Don't start restricting foods
I know, this is the first thing you think about doing. However, it should be the last! The more you restrict yourself, the more deprived you'll feel, and the more you'll eat once you start eating those foods.
We desire what's forbidden, and the longer a food is resisted, the more desirable it gets. Not only that, the more we push it back, the more we think about it, and the more likely we are to crave larger amounts.
Once you 'give in' and start eating those forbidden foods, you'll overeat because your body doesn't know if the permission is temporary. Hence, it tries to get as much as possible in case more deprivation comes next.
In fact, just the decision (or idea!) of starting a diet can set you off to feel out of control around food. How? Imagine the doctor telling you from tomorrow on, you'll never be able to eat cookies. What are you going to eat until that restriction starts? I bet you're thinking about eating all the cookies you can put your hands on. And it's normal! Who wouldn't?
Research shows how restricting leads to overeating and feeling out of control around food. So, by starting a diet, you're setting yourself up for the opposite of what you want.
Instead…
Focus on adding all kinds of foods to your meals. The focus is on adding instead of restricting. What do I mean? Instead of eliminating the fries, add some veggies or a salad. This way, you won't feel deprived, and your meal will be more nutritious.
Tune in your body to listen to what it needs, what sounds good, what would give you the energy you need, and what would satisfy you. Give yourself unconditional permission to eat all kinds of foods so none are on a pedestal.
Don't skip meals
When you feel hungry, your body needs energy, not more, not less. You might feel hungry more or less often depending on what you eat, how active you are, your emotional state, and other variables.
Let's say you skip a meal. Think about how hungry you'll get to the next one—pretty hungry, I'd say. As a result, you'll overeat and feel out of control because your body craves the energy to keep functioning.
Many people skip meals to lose weight. However, this has the opposite outcome. When the body does not get the energy it needs, the brain tells the body to slow down functions to conserve energy. This means it will take more time to burn a calorie, making it harder to lose weight.
Regardless of its effects on weight loss, not listening to your body when it asks for a need to be covered is like telling yourself you're not worth having your basic needs met. What do you do when you're thirsty or need to go to the bathroom? You drink or go to relieve yourself, right? Otherwise, you know you're going to feel uncomfortable, and you can even harm your body. Why is it different from hunger and food?
Instead…
Eat consistently throughout the day, making intentional choices that feel good. If you feel hungry, ask yourself what sounds good, what would give you the energy you need, and what would satisfy you. Remove the 'I shouldn't feel hungry' thoughts and tune in to know what you need, regardless of what you had or when was your last meal or snack.
Don't engage in a strict workout you hate
The reason you start exercising already has an impact on the results you will get.
Imagine that you start going to the gym to lose X pounds in a month, and you say that if you attain that goal, you'll buy yourself a new bikini. You start motivated the first week but don't enjoy the workout and lose motivation quickly (it's just the natural process of extrinsic motivation). So you start skipping one day and then another, and you don't reach your goal at the end of the month. As a result, you'll punish yourself in different ways.
How? For starters, you didn't benefit from the exercise routine you wanted to do. Then, you probably feel like you failed, which lowers your self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-worth. Finally, you won't 'deserve' the prize you promised yourself for reaching your goal because you didn't. As a result, every time you try to achieve that same goal, your previous experience will likely hold you back.
Suppose you wonder why you're not able to stick to a workout plan. In that case, this might be your answer: extrinsic motivators (external, like getting a new bikini if losing weight) are not sustainable and are result-driven. This means that when we don't get the result we want, we fail regardless of any progress we might have made.
Instead…
You need to detach yourself from the outcome and move your body in a way that feels good, focusing on the process and progression you make. When our motivation comes from within us, we don't need an external reward because we get the joy of it.
If this feels difficult, I've got you! In this post, you have six steps to start creating a routine you enjoy.
Don't keep clothes that don't fit you
Many of us have kept clothes that don't fit, thinking that they'll motivate our weight loss journey. We need to remember, though, that weight loss depends on many factors we don't have control over. Most importantly, we forget that our bodies are meant to change as we get older. Trying to get back to the body we had ten years ago is unrealistic, and by trying, you harm not only your physical health but also your mental and emotional health.
When you keep those clothes that remind you of the body you had, you feel guilty for the weight gain and hold onto how good it felt to put on those smaller clothes. But every time you try them, and they still don't fit, you think you failed, and everything you've done was for nothing, once again disregarding any progress you've made.
With those clothes not fitting and our sentiment of our effort being worthless, the 'what the hell' effect kicks in, meaning you give yourself permission to eat those forbidden foods and end up feeling out of control around them.
Remember that your clothes have to fit you, not the other way around.
Instead…
Donate the clothes that don't fit you, and go shopping with a friend with the intention of having a good time together. When you're looking for clothes, get a few options without paying attention to the size and choose the ones that are comfortable and make you feel good.
Don't compare your body to others’
How much time do you spend comparing your body to other's on social media or whenever you go to the beach, the pool, the park, or the restaurant? And how does that make you feel?
I know it made me feel that my body was not enough, that I was not doing enough, that I should be skinnier, that I had a problem, and so on. It affected my emotional and mental health, and it took a lot of energy from me. What's more important, it took memories away because instead of being present with whoever I was, my mind was comparing my body to other girls' bodies and thinking how I should do something while remembering that I was not able to keep up with a diet. My head was not a nice place to be in.
The thing with comparison is that we're judging someone's body without even knowing their circumstances. We look at skinny people, thinking they are healthy and happy, but these are only assumptions. Maybe that skinny girl you wish you had her body is going through an illness that made her lose weight, and she struggles with putting it back; maybe she struggles with an eating disorder, and what we see is the result of it; or perhaps she has that body because she engages in strict diets and workouts, but that doesn't mean she's healthy and happy.
Would you rather have "a few more pounds" or struggle with an illness that makes you lose weight? To me, the answer is clear: Healthy over skinny.
The point is that we all are different and have different circumstances, and it's important to keep this in mind before we start comparing ourselves to others. We don't know people's circumstances, so instead of judging and assuming (which hurts us), we need to work on accepting and respecting our own bodies.
Instead…
Focus on being present wherever you are and with whoever you are. Don't miss out on creating great memories because you're looking around for evidence that you're not enough. Participate in the conversation, practice active listening, give your opinion, make jokes, and share food and drinks. Make it count! When you catch yourself comparing yourself to others, have an affirmation that resonates and feels authentic to you so that you can break the pattern and go back to being present in whatever situation you are in.
At the end of the day…
All bodies are summer bodies!
Your body doesn't need fixing. Bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and these are not measures of health and happiness. I understand that it's not easy to accept your body when it doesn't fit into the ideal standard society has made you think is the only acceptable one.
Focusing on our bodies and appearance can prevent us from being present in the moments we're living. It can also harm us by leading us to strict eating and workouts that don't respect our preferences, likes and dislikes, and personal circumstances. It can lead to physical, mental, and emotional struggles that hold us back from living the life we want and deserve.
Am I saying eat whatever you want, whenever you want? Absolutely not!
What I'm saying is that by working on making peace with food, meaning ditching the labels of 'good' and 'bad' and giving yourself unconditional permission to eat and watching food thoughts, by working on listening to your body and adding food instead of restricting so you nourish your body as a whole; by working on having a variety of coping mechanisms that support your overall health and well-being; by working on practicing self-care and moving in a way that feels good; and by working on mastering your thoughts, you'll naturally fall into your version of healthy. Your own, not what diet culture tells you it should be. You're unique, and as such, your needs are unique, which a diet that fits all won't consider.
Throughout the years, you’ve learned a lot about food, your body, your emotions, and yourself. Some of those beliefs are holding you back from breaking free from food guilt and body shame and becoming the person you want to be. If you’re ready to rewire your brain to finally overcome emotional eating and your struggles with food and your body, I’d love to have a chat.
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