Oonagh Trehin
- May 28, 2018
- 2 min read

Every body is a beach body.

It’s that time of year when diet culture tells us we have to look a certain way- “get abs for summer”, “get your beach body”. There are lots of issues with these dieting messages.

First of all, it makes no sense to change yourself for a location or a certain time of the year or an item of clothing!

Diet culture marketing sends out these messages, but that doesn’t make them true. Remember that they are selling you something, so they need you to believe the message. They rely on your self-doubt and poor body image. We are not just paying for diet culture with money, we are paying for it with our self-esteem and our confidence.

So here are some points to bear in mind over summer:

Bikinis, sundresses and most clothes come in a range of sizes for a reason- so everyone can enjoy them and choose what they want to wear.
There is no weight limit on the beach or the pool or anywhere else- go wherever you want!
Worrying what strangers will think of your appearance is pointless- most are not paying attention and if anyone does look, you probably won’t see them again.
Don’t waste your life trying to change your body, your life is so much more important! Is it worth sacrificing ¾ of your year to look a certain way for a week of summer?

I saw some awesome thoughts on this on Instagram lately, so here are some that I really loved.

Firstly, how unoriginal is it for a “perfect beach body” to just be skinny? This beach body is much more creative- with melt-resistant ice cream, hot sand proof feet and the ability to speak to sea creatures! (@foodandfearless and @gofeedyourself_ )