5 ways to Survive Swimsuit Season

Hey guys and welcome to another edition of: Self-Confidence-Saturday! If you are new here, you should know that Saturdays are dedicated to building our self confidence by diving head on into a whole bunch of different topics. Today’s self-confidence Saturday is a bit more unique because it is a guest post by one of my best friends in the whole world, Mandy Corrigan, who just so happens to be a life coach and the co-founder of The Sparkle Project. So listen up ya’ll (getting my Texas on), what she has to say it gold.

It’s officially summer (ok, maybe it’s not officially summer until June 21st) but in my book it is!   Memorial Day weekend has come and gone, the weather is heating up and the BBQ’s have begun.  Ahhh I love the lazy days of summer… but wait… oh man… with summer also come invites to the beach and pool parties and … UGH…. Swimsuit Season!  Just thinking about shedding the layers to expose what’s underneath is enough to shake the self-confidence of even the most slender of our sisters, let alone the rest of us…. But this year is gonna be different! Here’s a few tips to rock this season with class AND confidence!

1) Tell Negative Nelly to shut up and remind her that even celebs have cellulite (if you don’t believe me google it)

We all have that voice inside our heads… you know THE one… that seems to be hyper critical of everything… especially how we look.  With the hopes of not sounding completely cuckoo I will admit I call my inner critic ‘Negative Nelly’ (sorry to any of you who have loved ones named Nelly … I mean no offense!).   She is the harshest critic I have and there are days I just simply have to tell her to SHUT UP!!  While we all know in our heads that the pictures in the magazines are fake and that the beautiful people gracing the covers have been in the make-up chair for hours (right Kendra?!) and then airbrushed after that, we forget to really let that sink in.   We will never look like those photos because they.are.not.real.

2)  Quit comparing yourself to others –  Who you are is unique and beautiful

I love Dove’s mission to remind us that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes and I fully believe that we were each made by a Creator who does not make mistakes.  We are created to look and be who we are.  Not to look or be like someone else.

Who you are is who you were created to be and you are beautiful!  Tweet this… write it on a sticky note to put on your mirror… or do whatever it takes to let this sink into your soul until you truly believe it.

3)  Find and invest in a swimsuit that flatters you.

I am not sure when the bikini became the end-all-be-all of swimwear, and in all honesty the itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini doesn’t flatter 99% of us.  While I do wear a two piece swim suit I am of the opinion that modest is hottest.  I feel most confident and sexy in a swimsuit that I am not constantly pulling or stretching to cover parts of my body that I am worried about falling out of when I bend over to pick up my beach towel. The tankini is actually my go-to.  While swimsuit shopping usually ranks right up there with cleaning toilets, we are fortunate to live in a time when they make swimsuits for all body types.  Take a little time to figure out what looks best on you, and go with it. Yeah I know you will still have those moments when you look in the mirror and feel Negative Nelly start to whisper in your ear, but then refer to #1.

4) Get in the water!  

Now that you have your power suit on… GET IN THE WATER.  Too many women sit on the sidelines and miss opportunities to make memories with their kids, family and friends because they are concerned about wrecking their hair and make-up (this is what waterproof makeup is for) or exposing a part of their body they feel shouldn’t be exposed.  Let me just say… that unless you absolutely cannot swim (and in that case wear a life jacket),  the people who love you the most do not care what you look like and care most about having fun, splashing through the fountain, riding the rapids, or floating around in the pool with you.

5)  Stop the body bashing sessions with your girlfriends (and when needed refer back to #1 and #2)

This summer I am going on my own anti-negative body image talk campaign.  I am committed to stop all negative comments against myself and to kindly steer the conversation of my friends and loved ones to one of affirmation this swimsuit season. I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten together with other women in the summer and the first words that fall out of our mouths have been “oh man I wish I would have lost the rest of this weight”, “I hate my thighs” or “I wish I didn’t have this stomach pooch”  etc. We all have our problem areas and for some reason we feel like if we call them out to our girlfriends it will make us feel better. In reality this just makes everyone more self-conscious and hyper critical of our bodies.  Ladies… this needs to stop!

So this summer, I encourage you, to silence your Negative Nelly, love the person God’s created you to be… warts and all, and accept invitations to pool parties, play with your kids in the sprinkler, and have FUN!!   Be an example of what it looks like to be confident and classy. Join me in creating a culture of women who love themselves for who they are. Let this summer be one in which your inner sparkle outshines our petty insecurities.

Have a great Saturday Everyone and HUGE thanks to one of my favorites, Mandy!

p.s- I am so thankful for this post because I really struggle hard core with the whole swimsuit thing. But she is right, I don’t want to sit on the sidelines and miss opportunities to play with my kids because I am afraid people are focusing on my inner thighs, post prego boobs and chips + salsa bloated tummy. I am making memories this summer.

xo,

Kendra