Alas, summertime is right around the corner and whether or not you are in the fitness industry, the sub-conscience messages come flooding in every direction that our bodies are supposed to be all dialed in and swimsuit ready.  The pressure to look perfect is greater than ever and the overwhelming sense that we must be smaller is all-consuming. Isn’t it strange that just because the weather becomes warmer, society seems to change the rules of play, and instead of encouraging a warm beverage and decadent dessert as it did in the wintertime, it now decides that we all need a cleanse and some cucumber water? 

Being Iconic this summer is saying ‘yes’ to the many pleasures and unique opportunities that summer offers us. Being shredded is awesome, but enjoying the present with people you love is priceless. 

Without realizing it, many of us will break out the chicken breast and broccoli, order a salad for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and find ourselves endlessly in front of the mirror seeing if our diets are paying off. Before we know it, the season of warm weather, sunsets, beach days, and bonfires become a time when we're most restricted, rigid, and routined in our fitness and eating habits and become a bit obsessed with looking like we are ready for summer.

When we get to a place like this, many of us find ourselves declining invitations because we don’t quite look the way we want to. We dread the pool hangs and the park picnics. We will opt for a t-shirt instead of the tank top and the leggings instead of the shorts. The word “No” becomes our friend because spontaneity doesn’t have a place in our charted goals and sadly, we find ourselves feeling a bit cold amid the summer rays. 

We are not demonizing a lifestyle that gravitates toward healthier choices and we are also not advocating for a summer rage fest. We instead want you to see the summertime like a season, not an event. It is not something you need to get ready for. It is a fun and changing part of life that we get to enjoy because it is happening. We can plan and prepare for so many other areas of our lives, but trying to reach perfection for a short few months of the year is not worth the stress. 

Summer doesn't need you to be perfect for it to be enjoyed. We hope that you enjoy this summer by saying 'yes' a lot more than you say 'no.'

‘Yes’ to dinner with friends at new restaurants, to late-night drinks, to movie theater butter popcorn, to ice cream just because, and yes to pizza as much as possible! When summer is over, you are going to want to reminisce about how good all those moments were, not about how good you looked in those moments.