Your Body Is Already Summer-Ready. Here’s Why…

Why Summer Can Be Especially Tough When You’re Healing Your Relationship with Food and Body Image

As summer approaches and the temperature climbs, so too does the pressure to "get your body ready" for the season. If you’re working on healing your relationship with food and body image, this can be an especially tough time.

The messages around us can make it feel like your body must meet a certain standard before it’s acceptable to enjoy warmer weather, wear summer clothes, or go to the beach. And for many of my clients, this time of year can feel especially challenging.

The Real Impact of Diet Culture

Diet culture is everywhere, and it’s so embedded in our society that it often goes unnoticed. It promotes harmful behaviours under the guise of “health” and convinces us that our bodies need to be fixed, shrunk, or controlled. It creates a distorted lens through which we see ourselves and others and it has real consequences for our physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing.

One of the most damaging things diet-culture does is make us see food as the enemy and our bodies as problems to be solved. Instead of experiencing food as nourishment or pleasure, it becomes a source of guilt or fear. This isn't just a summer problem of course, but summer tends to amplify it.

Why Summer Can Trigger More Food and Body Struggles

When summer arrives, so do messages about detoxes, cleanses, and "bikini body" challenges. If you already struggle with food and body distress, this kind of marketing can easily reignite a cycle: feeling uncomfortable in your body > turning to restrictive or controlling behaviours >binge eating and increased distress around food and body > back to square one.

Here are some common ways diet culture might be showing up for you this summer:

1. Body Image Pressures

There’s a heightened focus on how bodies look during summer. Wearing less clothing can make us feel more exposed, and it can be harder to find outfits that feel good and offer comfort. Add in the unrealistic beauty ideals constantly shown in the media, and it’s easy to start feeling inadequate or hyper-aware of your body.

2. Routine Disruptions

Summer often brings changes -school breaks, holidays, longer days, travel. These shifts can mean more unstructured time, which can allow intrusive thoughts to creep in. Lack of routine can be a trigger for disordered eating patterns, especially if structure is something that helps you feel safe and grounded.

3. Food-Centred Social Events

BBQs, picnics and parties are meant to be enjoyable, but they can feel overwhelming if you’re working on your relationship with food. Eating in front of others, unpredictable meal times, and the possibility of unsolicited comments can all create anxiety. Well-meaning family members might say something about your body or eating habits that unintentionally reinforces negative beliefs.

4. Fitness Pressure

There’s a strong summer narrative around “getting fit” and being active, but often it’s less about health and more about appearance. Exercise can quickly shift from being joyful or energising to becoming a way to ‘earn’ food or ‘make up for’ eating. Social praise for these behaviours can mask what might actually be harmful patterns.

So, How Can You Protect Your Recovery This Summer?

• Challenge the Narrative: You don’t need to change your body to enjoy summer. The idea of a “summer body” is a myth. If you have a body and it’s summer, it’s already summer-ready!

• Set Boundaries: Whether it’s with social media, diet talk in conversation, or certain environments, protect your space. It’s okay to excuse yourself from chats about weight loss or to mute accounts that make you feel less than good enough. (Check out my blog here for more on this)

• Wear What Feels Comfortable: Prioritise comfort and confidence over trends. You deserve to feel good in your clothes.

• Sick to Helpful Routines: Even during holidays or travel, keep hold of a few helpful routines, whether it’s eating regular meals, journaling, taking breaks for rest, or staying connected with a supportive person or group.

• Offer Yourself Compassion: Notice when those old thoughts or behaviours are trying to creep in. You’re not failing, they’re just familiar patterns. Pause. Breathe. Reconnect with your values. (Check out my blog here for more on this)

• Reclaim Joy: Food can be pleasurable. Movement can be freeing. Summer can be fun. You have every right to share these experiences.

Healing your relationship with food and your body is ongoing, and summer doesn’t have to derail that. By bringing awareness to the sneaky ways diet culture shows up this time of year, you can start to opt out and choose something more nurturing that supports your recovery, your joy, and your peace.

If you’re looking for a place to start, download my Free Breaking the Cycle Starter Kit. This is  your gateway to transforming your eating patterns and building a mindful, balanced, and joyful relationship with food and includes practical tools and insights to help you begin today.

And if you’re ready to go deeper, my book The Binge Freedom Method™ lays out the exact framework I use with clients to address the root causes of binge eating, providing clear action steps, compassionate guidance, and real-life strategies for lasting change.