Your Summer Body

Every year, right around the time the weather hits 20 degrees, the internet collectively decides it's time to panic. "Get your summer body!" As if our bodies have been hibernating all winter and need to emerge six sizes smaller before they're allowed to see daylight. Here's a radical idea: your summer body is the exact same body you had in January. It just needs a little more sunscreen, a reusable water bottle, and maybe some bug spray.

I grew up watching Beverly Hills, 90210, where every stomach was flat, every pair of jeans fit perfectly, and nobody ever seemed to eat anything more substantial than frozen yogurt. I absorbed the message that if I didn't look like that, I didn't belong in a swimsuit. The thought of wearing a bikini felt about as appealing as giving a speech in my underwear.

Here's another fun fact: many of our insecurities didn't happen by accident — they were marketed to us. Cellulite? Women had it long before anyone worried about it. But in the late 1960s, magazines like Vogue helped rebrand perfectly normal anatomy as a flaw that conveniently required creams, treatments, and products to "fix." It's hard not to feel inadequate when someone profits from your insecurity.

And this isn't just a women's issue. More and more boys and men are skipping beach days, keeping their shirts on, or avoiding pools altogether because they don't resemble the six-pack superheroes and fitness influencers plastered across social media. Body image doesn't discriminate — it just changes costumes.

If summer sends your inner critic into overdrive, it might be time for a social media clean-up. Your feed should make you laugh, think, or smile — not convince you that your body is a renovation project. Unfollow the accounts that leave you feeling "less than." Fill your screen with people of different shapes, sizes, ages, and abilities. Spend less time with people whose favourite hobby is calorie counting and more time with people who ask if you've tried the fries.

Move your body because it feels good — not because you're trying to earn dessert or deserve a day at the beach. Practice body neutrality if body love feels out of reach. Work with a therapist if you need support setting boundaries with diet culture, comparison, or that relentless voice in your head that somehow became an unpaid personal trainer. And while you're at it, remember that you are so much more interesting than your waist measurement.

So here's my summer challenge. Wear the swimsuit. Or don't. Wear the shorts. The cover-up. The bikini. The rash guard. The oversized T-shirt. Whatever allows you to jump in the lake, chase your kids, build the sandcastle, paddleboard, eat the ice cream, and laugh until your stomach hurts.

Because here's the truth: everyone else is far too busy wondering if they look okay to spend much time thinking about whether you do. Your body isn't a trend. It isn't a before photo. It isn't a problem to solve before Labour Day. It is the reason you can swim, dance, hug, hike, laugh, and soak up the sunshine. And that's more than enough reason to let it have the summer it deserves.