As spring semester is coming to a close, everyone is scrambling to put their summer schedules together. Many students are planning vacations with family or friends, many of those vacations are going to be taking place on a beach. This opens a whole new can of worms for a lot of women, because they may not have been working out to prepare for laying out on the beach.
Society has created these stigmas that we have to start preparing for “bikini season” in January or earlier in order to look good in a bathing suit. This makes some women feel inferior to women who are already in shape, possibly making them feel like they aren’t already beautiful to begin with.
Everyone is beautiful, no one has to have a six-pack to look good in a bikini. It is important to note that it is easy to wear a bikini without tight abs and muscular legs. A woman does not have to prepare for a summer body if she doesn’t want to. A summer body is usually something both women and men are desperate for, overworking themselves as they try to be perfect.
Fitness is some people’s passion, which is perfectly okay. I personally have so much respect for those people. However, I don’t always have time to hit the gym.
I consider myself a healthy person, I try to eat well and I exercise when my schedule allows it. However, this spring semester, I was unreasonably busy and wasn’t able to go to the gym as much as I would have liked. I was upset at first, but I stopped allowing myself to be guilty.
I knew that I’d be wearing a bathing suit at the beach this summer, surrounded by friends and family dressed in the same attire. A great part of me truly didn’t care what I looked like in a bathing suit, because it was just me. I knew I would feel good no matter what I looked like.
Would I like to be in shape? Of course. Who wouldn’t? Sometimes, it’s just not that easy. Whether it’s fatigue, a crazy work schedule or preventative mental illness, getting into shape is no easy feat.
So, if you didn’t start working out right after Christmas, don’t worry. If you want to start tomorrow, go for it! But don’t feel pressured to change yourself to fit the stigma. Once the stigma is gone, all that is left is beauty and confidence. If you choose to start exercising, make sure it’s for your own happiness and not someone else’s.
If working out wasn’t at the top of your priority list this semester, don’t worry about it and definitely let guilt overtake your happiness. You are going to look beautiful in your bathing suit.
No matter what your body looks like, it’s you. That’s pretty awesome.