As the summer season approaches, lots of people are scrambling to get in shape. 🏋🏻‍♀️

But, even though wanting to lose weight and lead a healthy lifestyle obviously has a lot to do with the body, it has just as much to do with the mind.

Let’s be honest, we tend to flood our minds with negative thoughts and doubts about ourselves.

And come on, there’s nothing wrong with looking good in a bathing suit. But there is something wrong with making it our number one priority and letting it make us ashamed of our bodies. For starters, expecting the perfect beach body is often unrealistic.  And when we set unrealistic goals for ourselves, we’re bound to be disappointed. We may even develop unhealthy habits along the way.

✋🏻🛑  That’s why we should stop this and start changing our mindset when it comes to our bodies. Because losing weight, feeling good, and becoming a healthier and better version of yourself requires new habits and, of course, a new and healthy mindset. If you are focused on making your body healthier, then you need to do the same with your mind

Because there’s no perfect season to start being the healthiest you have ever been. We need to start doing things differently.

Beach body mindset vs. Healthy realistic mindset

Having a  beach body mindset is caring just about how we look, especially in the summertime. If you are not ripped or don’t have a well-defined 6-pack, immediately you think you’ve failed and that you don’t look “good”.

This isn’t to say appearances aren’t important. Looking good can be helpful, but we need to understand that is not everything. Also, looking good doesn’t mean being healthy. ⚠️

Looking good doesn’t demand a 6-pack. Having unrealistic or extreme cosmetic goals can interfere with more important aspects of health, such as how you feel or how your body functions.

That’s where the healthy realistic mindset comes in. Having a healthy mindset doesn’t discount how you look, but it prioritizes how you feel and function.

Here it is important to understand the difference between both of them. “Wanting a killer/ hot body “, “I just want to look good in a bathing suit“, and ” I need to lose 15 pounds before beach season“, are related to the beach body mindset.

Meanwhile, “I would like to have more muscle“, “I would like to lose some fat, but I want to do it sustainably“, “I know I still have a bit of belly fat, even though I’m doing diet, but you know what, I feel so good and energized“, are related to a healthy and mostly realistic mindset.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about your image, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to tackle that goal.

Habits to achieve a healthy mindset 💪🏻💭

Beach body goals focus on rapid fat loss. It’s easy to sell fast results, even if the results are unsustainable.

But becoming healthy often is harder to sell.  It requires focusing on habits – eating habits, sleeping habits, exercise habits, and stress management habits. If you get your habits handled, your health will handle itself.

Some health habits include:

• Being active every day (even if it’s just doing short walks every day)
• Getting at least 8 hours of sleep every night
• Managing stress with mindfulness practices (or you can even try meditation or yoga)
• Eating a diet low in refined sugar
• Drinking enough water (try to set a goal of 2L per day)

We know changing our habits isn’t an easy task, but it becomes easier when we experience the results of them, just be patient.

Improving your health habits may not guarantee a “beach body,” but it does increase the likelihood of looking, feeling, and functioning better at the beach. Which, come on, isn’t that the whole point? 😎

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