It's summer again, which means it's that time of the year when basically everyone says they're going to go on some sort of diet to get the perfect beach body.

I mean, it certainly is easy to entertain the thought when you're most likely going to be spending your days lounging by the pool or running around on the beach. I've certainly been guilty of this mentality, and I don't think trying to look your best is a problem within itself, but I do think the quick timespan a lot of people want to reach their goal in may be. It can get especially bad when people attempt to cut out all sugar, carbs, gluten, or whatever in their last ditch effort to drop a few pounds. Didn't anyone ever tell them you can have everything in moderation?

I've tried many times to cut out bad foods, only eating healthy foods and then counting the calories in them. Sometimes this would be successful, and other times it wouldn't be. Most of the time, my downfall would be a sugar craving, which then turned into a sugar binge.

I think depriving myself of what I really wanted just made everything worse in the end. Moral of the story: if you're craving something, just eat it- everything is okay to have in moderation. I finally figured out that being healthy is a mix of eating the right foods, working out, and also giving your body what it wants. It's okay to have that brownie after dinner, as long as you don't overdo it. If you deprive yourself and try to satisfy your craving with something you don't really want, you're just going to end up feeling sad and unsatisfied.

I remember one time I was trying to stay on a diet and not eat anything "bad" or sugary, so instead of eating the ice cream I really wanted, I settled for a sad little rice cake with almond butter - which does taste really good, too, don't get me wrong - but it's just not the same as ice cream and it honestly never will be.

Because I didn't eat what I really wanted, I ended up still craving something sweet and ate a bunch of cookies I had laying around in my kitchen. If I'd just had a little bit of ice cream when I wanted it, I wouldn't have eaten the rice cake, plus the almond butter, plus the cookies, and I would have felt satisfied and ultimately better.

Basically what I'm trying to say here is to give your body the food it wants when it's craving it, as long as it's a healthy serving for your body and you balance it with a healthy lifestyle. Eating everything in moderation will honestly keep your body feeling good and healthy. This is a way better alternative to feeling sad and hungry when restricting yourself on a diet. If you listen to your body and take care of it the right way for yourself, there's no way you won't feel happy and confident this swimsuit season.