Swimsuit season? I don’t care.

Meal plans, and cleanses, and fat-burners, OH MY!

Tis’ the season for every social and conventional media outlet to tell you that summer is right around the corner, you’ll be wearing a swimsuit soon, and you need to start this program or that program, take this supplement, or do this exercise with great promises to be READY for said swimsuit. Because you NEED to be ready.

I’m calling shenanigans.

Newsflash…health and fitness in your life does not have seasons based on whether or not you’re going to have to be in a swimsuit.

We do have seasons in our health and fitness that are determined by our life season. Having a baby, starting a new job, moving, illness, school or hundreds of other things can affect how health and fitness works for us, and fits in our lives.

But a swimsuit shouldn’t, and it doesn’t.

A swimsuit does not tell us how strong our muscles are, or our mental clarity, or stress level, or stamina, or how much energy we feel during our day. A swimsuit doesn’t determine our ability to sleep better, or to handle stress, or to pick up our toddler for the fifty-millionth time that day.

Simply, a swimsuit does not make our lives better. It’s what we wear when we go swimming. Hence, the name swimsuit, or bathing suit.

I dare you right now to go get your swimsuit, and yell at it, “YOU ARE FOR SWIMMING!”

Once we are able to move past this mindset, this purely aesthetic reasoning, we find that our motivation to workout, be active, eat nutritionally and intuitively, becomes second nature. A way of life that is consistent and filled with grace. A middle ground that we know how to return to when seasons of life move us away from it.

Don’t let a swimsuit dictate your health and fitness. Let your life, your season, your desire for a better life (you know that better sleep, stronger muscles, reduced stress, etc I talked about earlier) be your motivation.