I recently discovered the blog SmartFitChicks, and through that, discovered this video of blogger Chrissy speaking about the need to stop Photoshop.

This video could not have come to me at a better time, because the mentality Chrissy is talking about starts appearing in my head every year around this time. We’re all bombarded with the message “Get your summer body ready!” “Get a bikini body in five weeks!” and so on and so forth, all accompanied by images of what we’re “supposed” to look like. And those old, familiar insecurities start rearing their nasty heads, even though I know those pictures are photoshopped and unrealistic and blah blah blah. I know better. Yet it still happens.

With this beach vacation (that starts tonight!) approaching, those nasty, negative thoughts have been even more prevalent. And I’m sick of it, so like Chrissy said, I’m going to stop “shoulding” on myself and focus on recognizing that my body is fantastic just the way it is. In fact, my body is rockin’. Here’s why:

My body is healthy. It doesn’t have any debilitating diseases, disabilities, or injuries. It rarely even gets the sniffles.  It can walk, run, jump, lift, dance (badly), and basically do whatever I ask of it. So many people are not that lucky, and yet I take my body’s health for granted every day.

My body is resilient. For the past several weeks, I’ve asked a lot of my body. I’ve pushed ever-increasing mileage on it without taking a cutback week. I’ve made it do two workouts a day most days. I haven’t taken a rest day in over two weeks. I’ve cheated it out of sleep, made it stay on its feet all day every day,  and buffeted it with stress. And yet, it’s still healthy. It’s not injured or sick or even exhausted. That’s pretty amazing, body. (P.S. Don’t worry, body, you’ll get some much-deserved rest this week).

My body is fit. No, it doesn’t have defined abs. Yes, it has cellulite. But it can and has run 26.2 miles (fast enough, once, to win). It has a resting heart rate in the low 50s, Doctors often have to take my blood pressure twice because it’s so low they think they misread it, and at my annual physical, my doctor always says, “Oh, those are some good lungs.” And my body keeps pushing through long, hard workouts and two-a-days to keep getting fitter and fitter.

My body looks just fine. It does not and will never look like the bikini-clad models on… everything. But it’s not like people are turning away in horror every time I walk out the door. The only one who cares at all what I look like on the beach is… me. And I know of one man who is pretty fond of my body’s appearance, and his opinion is the only other one that really matters (I mean my husband, just to be clear).

(source)

And so, at this time tomorrow, when I’m headed to the beach, I will wear a bikini, and when I cover up, it will be for sun protection, not because of shame. I have nothing to be ashamed of. My body is rockin’.

Tell me, why is your body rockin’?