Originally posted on Shannon’s blog.

With the weather on the turn in the UK, thoughts have turned to summer.

But will that, comes a lot of pressures from social media of what our bodies should look like when we are wearing a bikini and how many abs we have.

And even though body positivity and acceptance are on the increase, it can be difficult to filter out the images we are bombarded with and feel that we don’t need to change and drop a dress size.

Therefore, with this in mind, it is really important to keep some healthy boundaries around our bodies during the summer months.

A summer bod is not a thing

The term summer bod is complete rubbish and shouldn’t be a phrase that anyone says on the approach to the warmer months. Ultimately if you do want to change your body you should work on it for yourself, not just because summer is pending and you feel that you should because everyone else is or wants to.

You have the right to wear what you want

It is definitely a common feeling to think you are ‘too fat’ or ‘not hourglass enough’ to wear what you want r at the beach or around the pool.

The way I see it is, if it comes in your size and you want to wear it, you can wear it and should wear it. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise and wear the bikini with confidence.

You have the right to eat what you want when you want

Just because summer is coming does not mean that you have to cut back on carbs, only eat green coloured vegetables or not go to the family BBQ because there will be a massive spread. Yes summer is coming and you will most likely be wearing a bikini at some point, but that really should not stop you from eating or drinking what you want to.

Preach positive vibes + stick to your boundaries

If you are feeling positive vibes about your bod one day, do not forget why you felt like that and carry it on day after day and make some boundaries for yourself.

It works the same with an insta pic. If you felt cute when you uploaded it don’t delete it later.

Remember that Instagram perfection isn’t real

Instagram can be such a great place, but at the same time, it can be a dangerous one. It is important to always remember that photographs that you see on the explore page aren’t real and have been filtered in some way and photoshopped in more ways than you can imagine.

You should take all the bikini posts with a pinch of salt because the person doesn’t even look like that in real life either.

Subsequently, unfollow people who bring you down

With this in mind, unfollowing accounts that make you feel down or that you need to change is the best thing to do.

Whilst these pictures may add something to your feed or give you ‘inspo’ they are probably doing more harm than good. If you do this, you’ll actually see a considerable difference in how you feel.

Fall in love with yourself

They say that ‘if you can’t love yourself how in the hell are you going to love somebody else!’

No matter what dress size you are, what shape you are, if you have abs, or a big bum, if your boobs are small, have a gym membership or if you have never counted your calories. None of it matters. As long as you learn that you are beautiful as you are no matter what social media, or anything else implies.

You have to live with yourself for your whole life so you need to love what you have, who you are and what you look like.

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Words Shannon Mountford.