How to REALLY Get Yourself Ready for Swimsuit Season

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▲ STEP ONE

Shave, wax, tan, exfoliate, lotion up and whatever your feel like doing to get your skin prepped for exposure.

▲ STEP TWO

Put on a swimsuit or bikini that you loooove.

▲ STEP THREE

After you put on your swimsuit or bikini, if you're feeling insecure about something on your body, it's ok to cover up! You don't have to take it off unless YOU want to and DO NOT let anyone pressure you into uncovering yourself if you don't want to.

If you're feeling proud and confident in your swimwear no matter your body type - DO NOT let anyone pressure you into covering up (unless it's a rule or law).

▲ STEP FOUR

Go to the beach, pool, lawn sprinkler party, etc...

▲ STEP FIVE

Realize that glances and stares cannot harm you.

If you catch someone's eyes on you they're most likely looking at you for more POSITIVE reasons than negative:

1. They're admiring your suit or cover-up.
2. They're admiring your confidence.
3. They're wishing they had big boobs, perky buns, smooth legs, big pregnant belly etc like yours.
4. They see you have flaws TOO and realizing they're not the only one.
5. They're simply noticing you.
6. Most often in my case when I look at other people: They're daydreaming/thinking and their eyes coincidentally settled on you (which could explain a scowl if they're in a bad mood.)

▲ STEP SIX

Realize that your body is always ready for swimsuit season!

If you're not ready for swimsuit or bikini season it isn't because you didn't have enough time to flatten those abs or blast that cellulite. It's because you haven't given yourself enough time to prepare for it mentally.
Thanks to the flawlessly airbrushed celebs and super models in fashion magazines and television commercials, we've convinced ourselves that that's what women are supposed to look like and we hate our bodies for not looking Photoshop fresh. What we fail to realize is that without Photoshop, those women look no different than us.

They have belly pooches, stretchmarks and cellulite and ingrown hairs and little scars and bumps and wobbles too.

They're not perfect. No one is.

Gorgeous models and bathing suits brought to you by ModCloth. Click for swimwear collection.

Now, I'm not saying that having insecurities about your body is wrong. In fact, I'm seeing a lot of articles these days that seem to be trying to make women (especially plus-sized women) feel bad for NOT flaunting their bodies.

It's ok to be uncomfortable with showing so much of yourself.

Think about it: on a day-to-day basis we're mostly covered and then all of a sudden, BOOM you're half naked in, in public in front of a bunch of strangers. Yeah, it can make a person understandably uncomfortable.

When you go out in your swimwear at the beach or at the pool, you're mostly likely going to be surrounded by dozens of other women feeling just as uncomfortable as you about something on their body. A 6-ft tall, 120 lbs leggy picture-perfect blonde could be making herself sick with worry because she feels people are staring at her birthmark.

We all have body issues. We all have insecurities and that's ok.

But what's NOT ok is letting those insecurities dominate your emotions and your desire to have fun. 

If you want so badly to feel the water on your skin, free from wraps, sarongs and other cover-ups then JUST DO IT. It's as simple as that.
Do not sit all day sighing at the water!
Disrobe, be free and have fun! 

Luckily we live in a day and age where "ideal body types" are diminishing and ALL body types are becoming the norm. It's a pretty good time to be woman!

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