Let’s set the weights down for a minute and hit pause on the Daisy Keech 10-minute hourglass video, and instead address why we don’t always love the body we see in front of a mirror. 

We fall victim to it all the time, we watch a thirty-second video on Tik Tok of a girl 10 years older than you, with an opposite body type than yours, losing fifteen pounds and it hits you: That’s it! All of a sudden you decide right then and there that it’s going to be a new beginning. Wake up before school and run, get home from school, do ab and booty workouts, then go for a walk, then before bed, do two hundred crunches to really lock in that summer bod. As for your eating? Easy. No sugars, no syrup, no carbs, no fats, no artificial sweeteners, no artificial colors, no high fructose carbon syrup, no meat, no…ENOUGH. 

It seems teens in this generation have learned to healthily get their bodies ready for summer and not fall into these traps caused by social media. This generation has toned in on what is a healthy lifestyle. However, there is a bit of a spectrum to how an active lifestyle is viewed. There’s much diversity in what a healthy lifestyle can be, whether it’s purely weight lifting, dedicating yourself to a pilates class once a week, or simply listening to what your body needs each day, active or not. While there are the rockier sides of a considered “healthier” routine, most are optimistic about the idea of us all being able to grow out of a broken mindset.  

Summer is the trademark season for getting outside and enjoying the sun. Luckily, living in Bend there are lots of opportunities offered to us as locals and many ways to stay active all year round. Bend has a little bit of everything in the summer, such as running—join in for the Dirty Half marathon on June 11th! Or if running isn’t your thing, don’t stress. There are a multitude of ways to get active in our city.  

So, one could ask themselves: At what point does body image become an obsession? At what point has one stopped counting how many cannonballs they did and started counting how many cookies they ate? 

Everyone has a different definition of what “active” is during summertime.

“I feel that I am more active in the summer because I want to be outside more because of the good weather,” said sophomore Ruby Jameson. “Of course, you can still achieve your goals, but it’s important to remember to give your body rest so it can react to the hard work you put in.” 

Similarly, multi-sport athlete Hogan Carmichael believes rest is vital to the workout process. 

“I feel as though you need rest days in order to achieve those goals so you don’t get burnt out,” said Carmichael. 

While different students may have varying opinions on ways to be active, they all share the same idea when it comes to treating your body right.

For senior Mackenzie Seneta, she also spends the majority of her summer being active. “I ride horses so a lot of my competitions take place in the summertime. As well as hiking and wake surfing all summer long,” said Seneta. 

“It’s 100% achievable to include rest days into your fitness routine, it’s kind of impossible to expect yourself and others to constantly keep going without stopping,” said Seneta. 

On the other hand, some focus less on just physical activity, “I’d say I’m less physically active and more socially active,” said senior Stella Bishop. With much more free time in the summer, adolescents should spend it how they please and try to avoid hyper-fixating on the way their body looks while doing so. 

While it may be cliche, your body is capable of so many amazing things and one should never feel discouraged to use it for all its benefits. Just like a rhythm in a song, or an almost-dead iPhone, your body needs rest to recharge and keep on.