Summer Fitness, The Mindful Way

Summer is coming.? The evenings are brighter, holidays are on the horizon and life is just a little perkier. It’s also the time of year when our bodies are most exposed – a horrifying thought for many people. What should be a happy, frivolous time has for many become that of self-loathing and dread.

Too many women spend their summers obsessing about how they look – or more accurately how they think they look. How many summers have you spent beating yourself up for not losing weight sooner or not starting your beach-body fitness regime earlier? The headlines don’t help, exclaiming how we need to shape up FAST for the ?perfect? beach bod – no pressure!

The truth is it’s not too late to feel fit and fabulous for summer, and I am here to help! But first, I need you to step away from the fad diets and those quick-fix fitness regimes; we are going approach this summer differently. Let’s start here:

Don’t panic!

Your holidays might be just around the corner, and you really want to look well on the beach – that’s totally normal, we all do – but panicking isn’t going to help. Start now! Instead of wasting time in fear, think of these days and weeks as a wonderful opportunity to end the summer body image blues for good and start your journey to year-long health. It’s never too late to start! Every little bit counts, so get going!

No ‘shoulds? allowed!

Beating yourself up because of all the weight you should have lost by now, or how you should look by the pool, is pointless and very damaging to your self-esteem. Negative self-talk won’t motivate you, it is incredibly unproductive and will ultimately make you throw in the towel. Replace that negative chatter with more supportive, positive thoughts. Accept where you are TODAY, forget about the past and work towards the future.

No more perfect please

Striving for perfection leads to disappointment. The ideal body doesn’t exist, so why aim for that?! Start out on your journey with realistic, healthy goals that aren’t about achieving the perfect body but more about improving your health and how you feel about yourself. You must change your mindset in order to make changes to your body – this I know for sure! We are all works in progress, beautifully imperfect and it’s time to embrace this.

The Plan – Fit & Fabulous

Everyone wants to feel good about themselves and you truly can. Over the next six weeks, I will share tips with you to help you feel fit and fabulous this summer. We will focus on changes from the inside out, nourishing and exercising our bodies in a balanced, healthy way. We will focus on positive self-talk that empowers us to love our bodies and embrace the beach!

Follow Liz Costigan on Twitter,?@LizCostigan.