Bikini Season Thoughts on Body Image

Last week, as I caught a glimpse of my bare arms in the mirror, I was happy with what I saw.

No makeup, no straightener, no attempting to contour my arms to look skinnier, no filter. 

I’d like to think I have decent body image. Even when I’m above a weight I want to be at, I still realize that I’m in decent shape and I remind myself how far I’ve come. I remind myself what my body can do — like run a marathon under 4 hours or a half under 1:50 and lift weights.

My therapist made a great point a few weeks ago. I must have made some sarcastic aside about my body, and she reminded me that I work in both fitness and social media, so I am bombarded with images of women who are fitter than most, not to mention surrounded by them both at work and industry events. If you’re reading this blog, you probably follow a lot of other fitness bloggers or personalities on social media, too. Remember that not only does social media just show the highlight reel, but for many of these women, it’s their job to look awesome and fit all the time. And while many of these women work hard, some are just genetically blessed. I’ll never have the body of a fitness model, but that doesn’t mean I won’t work to feel a little more comfortable in my own skin, to carry a little less of that dangerous fat around my midsection, to fit better into those shorts in my drawer that just aren’t working right now.

I’ve been doing our lifting program at work (p.s. you can try any of our programs for free for 30 days and we’re just $12.95/month after that) for about a month, and I’m definitely starting to notice more definition and tone in my arms and some of my dresses are starting to fit a bit better. More than that, I’ve been treating my body better over the past month than I had in a while, and that’s made me feel AWESOME.

I wanted to share a few interesting body-image related things I’ve read lately.

1. If you’ve read this blog for more than a hot second, you know I’m obsessed with the bright, whimsical Lilly Pulitzer clothes. I’m not a person who takes herself too seriously, so wearing bright pink dresses with monkeys on them kind of suits me. I was super bummed to see this story about my favorite brand a few weeks ago, with one employee having cartoons at her desk that said “Put it down carb face” and “Just another day of fat, white and hideous.” Whether she was directing this at herself, at potential customers, not ok. Sure, it’s one employee’s views, but especially at a company like Lilly that’s been highly publicized lately, you’d think that she would have thought to have taken it down or someone would have thought to do a once-over of the office before the photographer came in.  

2. On a happier, more positive note, Lauren Conrad has banned words like “thin,” “slim,” and “skinny” from her website, which is awesome news. We all know those words sell and are clickbait, so this is a great step towards focusing on well-being rather than on a “skinny” ideal.

3. LOVE this video on “how to get a bikini body.”

4. And finally, from fellow blogger Gracie: a wonderful, heartfelt post about learning to accept how she looked in a bikini even though she still wants to lose some weight.

I want to hear from you: how did you learn to love/accept your body and what do you think about these body image reads above? And, any fave bathing suit lines/styles that are really supportive? I think it’s time for me to graduate from the triangle tops and stop nearly flashing everyone.