Ladies, this one is for you specifically. You know what time of year it is. Besides the midterms and school stress that has been looming over our heads the past few weeks, there’s one thing that we’re all looking forward to: Spring Break.

Now let’s take a pause. While spring break is a time meant to have a relaxing and fun week off from school, going on a trip or just spending time with family, for some it’s a scary term. Winter is finally ending and it’s time go crazy at the gym, burning off all those holiday calories. While I fully support going to the gym to stay in shape and energized, it can get too extreme.

It’s scary because to a lot of us, Spring Break = Bikini Body Season.

You shop online for that perfect swimsuit for your girls trip down to Destin, Florida, but then it arrives and you look at yourself in the mirror and judge and criticize every little aspect of your body. Thoughts like, I’m not skinny enough, what will other people think of me in this and wow I look so fat, go through your head. Sound familiar? I’m guilty of it too, and I wish I could say I wasn’t.

Magazines, movies and social media put so much pressure on us girls to have that “perfect spring break bod”, however many of us feel we can never live up to its standards. So I say, stop trying to. And to answer the question, no, I don’t think the Spring Break bod is THAT important.

Here’s what I do think is important instead:

1. Living a healthy lifestyle and taking care of your body
2. Getting enough sleep
3. Making good food choices, but also treating yourself and not always saying no to what you want
4. Being with your girlfriends and making memories
5. Getting EXCITED about that new bathing suit in the mail
6. Carrying confidence with you and knowing that everyone is supposed to look and be different

These six little reminders are what I want each of you to remember as you embark on your spring break journey. Life is not all about having the ideal body type and looking like a Victoria Secret model. First of all, that’s not realistic. Some of those women do crazy diets that could have harmful lasting effects on their bodies. It’s never safe to deprive yourself of nutrients and calories because you think it will make you drop the pounds. In fact, your body needs those calories in order to have the energy to work out and get in shape.

And secondly, who wants to live a life constantly worrying about what people think? It’s exhausting and mentally draining, and that’s not what spring break is about.

Spring break is supposed to be a time where you laugh and have fun with your friends; after all you only get so many spring breaks before having to enter the real world of jobs and responsibilities. You’re there to make memories, be silly and have a few of your favorite drinks even. Spring break only comes once a year and it’s worth enjoying it while it lasts. So, take care of your body and love it, because health is the number one priority. But I promise you, an unrealistic expectation of having that perfect body won’t be worth chasing after.