3 Steps to Navigating “Beach Body” Season

Here we go again! The sun is out, the weather is warming up, and the layers are coming off. The pressure to get “beach body ready” has already begun. Posts on Instagram and TikTok with #summerbody #bikinibody #summerready are hitting your FYP. The focus on body image and diet culture during this season can be detrimental to our mental health and challenging to navigate.

Here are some strategies for doing your best with difficult circumstances:

1.     Curate your social media

We know from research that the more time we spend on social media, the more body dissatisfaction we feel, and the more likely we are to engage in dieting behaviors.

It’s important to remember that content on social media is edited with lighting, angles, AI filters and more. This creates a highly distorted, misrepresentation of how bodies naturally appear.

It’s also important to remember that the content you’re seeing from people with thousands of followers is monetized. While they may seem to be someone sharing a glimpse into their everyday life, it is targeted advertising. They are making money off your views, likes, shares, etc. so it benefits them to curate content that draws your attention and keeps you engaged.

Take the power back from your algorithm by using social media controls to hide, report, or unfollow accounts and posts using images that promote bikini bodies or diet culture.

You can also set timers and reminders to limit your overall use of social media. You can do this by going to your settings – screen time – app limits, or by going into the settings of your social media app and creating break reminders or daily limits.

2.     Focus on the activity, not appearance

With warmer weather comes greater access to the outdoors, at least for those of us who are not winter weather lovers. Why not enjoy the experience while you’re having it? See if it’s possible to notice when your attention has drifted to evaluating how your body looks, and intentionally bring yourself back to focus on a different aspect of your experience in the present moment.

 So for example, if you’re at the beach with your friends and you catch yourself criticizing a part of your body for not looking the way that you would otherwise want it to look, this is the moment to bring your attention back to your surroundings, like the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, or the smell of the ocean air, or the warmth of the sun on your skin. It’s okay to give yourself permission to drop the self-critical thoughts and anchor in something pleasant.

3.     Do it all with self-compassion

Remember that no matter what comes up, this is an opportunity to be kind and patient with yourself. If what you notice is an experience of aversion with your body, rather than believing that this aversion means there really is something wrong with you, you might take that aversion as a cue that what you really need is your own soothing.

If it is difficult to shift from self-criticism to kindness, you might imagine how you would respond if you heard a young girl say something negative about her body. You might respond with, “Oh sweetheart, everyone’s bodies look different. There is no right or wrong way for your body to be. Your body doesn’t need to be anything special for anyone else. Your body is here so that you can experience and enjoy life!”

Dr. Sarah Kopencey