All of my confidence, self love, and body positivity are seemingly strong until one arrow of a word flies through at light speed and flames them all up. SWIMSUIT.

Being comfortable and having body confidence in a swimsuit is something I’ve long struggled with. It’s like all of the strides I take forward with caring for myself and feeling good is obliterated and I’m left in a pile of ashes. But babes, it is time to become a phoenix and rise from the ashes beautiful, majestic, and proud.

I love the new rules for getting a bikini body that people have been posting on social media lately:

1- have a body

2- put on a bikini

Bam. That’s all that matters when it comes to getting a bikini body, just get the courage to put on the suit and rock it! But I know from personal experience it isn’t all that easy to just throw on a swimsuit and believe that you’re beautiful. What I’ve figured out is that confidence in a swimsuit really comes down to ONE single thing. Your mindset. It’s not about what you look like, what other people think, the brand you’re wearing or how tan you are. It’s about KNOWING you are beautiful and that you look amazing, regardless. Finding confidence in a swimsuit is about helping yourself DECIDE that you are confident.

It’s all a mental game.

A game I still feel like a pawn in, because mental games are always the most challenging! To win, you need strategy and to be adaptable. I’m right there with you, it’s not an easy switch that can be flipped on and off whenever, you need to use strategy to find your inner light and see yourself as beautiful.

So let’s talk strategy! Here are a few things you can do to find that inner confidence and ROCK that swimsuit!

Wear a swimsuit to compliment your body type

Every person is unique, therefore one size does NOT fit all! EMBRACE that! Look at the body type you have, and instead of focusing on what you can change, focus on what things make it unique and then look for a swimsuit that accentuates those features!

Don’t use your swimsuit to hide!

A lot of people put focus on finding swimsuits with skirts or shorts and shirts over the top to hide their body, rather than focusing on finding a suit to make their body look good. Hiding is an automatic recipe for low self esteem. Now, I’m not saying to stay away from swim shorts and stuff, I actually love how some of those things look but they need to be used to accentuate the body, not to hide it. For example, if you have a slightly more athletic Fram I think the rash guard shirts look INCREDIBLE, and I personally love how short swim shorts make my butt look, but I’m wearing them to accentuate my butt, not to hide it, if that makes sense?

Related: How to Gain Confidence Wearing a Plus Size Swimsuit

Choose colors and patterns that make you happy!

I know this seems like a weird one, but visual aesthetic has a weird cognitive influence and when you love the print of what you are wearing, you’re going to feel more beautiful. Years ago, I purchased a swimsuit because it was the only one I could find at the time that hid all of my “problem” areas, and I feel like the print is SO old lady-ish. I’ve had the suit for years because I’ve been too uncomfortable to wear something else, but to be honest I always felt slightly embarrassed of the print. How was I ever going to feel confident in a suit where I didn’t like the print? I felt like I was wearing something pretty, therefore I wasn’t pretty, hello NO CONFIDENCE ZONE. Buy something you think is cute!

Accessorize!

Again, this is one of those things you wouldn’t think gives you confidence but I find that when you force yourself to get dressed up, you automatically feel more confident. With going to the pool or beach you may not want to do fancy hair and makeup, but you can still fancy up with cute accessories.

Now put that suit on and look in the mirror. Tell yourself you are beautiful.

Now say it again. Realize that you are your own worst critic, and the things that you are abusing yourself over are things only YOU are thinking about. Nobody else there will think twice about any of that, and you walking out with confidence is going to exude beauty that will blow them away. You. Are. Beautiful. Forget about the rest and go have fun!

XXOO Sunny