The Summer Glow-Up is Overrated

To be honest, I did not know how to start writing this piece. I have always seen summer as a fresh slate to kickstart new things, like having a big transformation so that I’m “unrecognizable” by the fall. And yet, beginning is somehow the hardest step.

The Delusion Hypothesis

Like most of us, I ‘delude’ myself into thinking I’ll turn my life around. I’ll fix my sleep schedule, eat properly, journal, go to the gym, consistently write new things, limit Reels and TikTok, become mysterious, and somehow return in September looking like I have my life together. And then, three days in, I’m eating lunch at 3 p.m., scrolling TikTok, and wondering if 6 hours of sleep is enough to function. Suddenly, and unsurprisingly, my big summer transformation goes back to square one, with added humidity.

But maybe that is the problem. Somewhere along the way, wellness started to feel like another performance. Another checklist. Another thing to be good at. For students, especially, summer can come with this strange pressure to completely reinvent ourselves before the next semester begins. We spend the school year trying to keep up with lectures, assignments, work, extracurriculars, friendships, applications, and the occasional emotional breakdown in the library. Then summer arrives, and instead of resting, we decide this is the season where we must become hotter, healthier, more productive, more disciplined, more social, more mysterious, and somehow less tired.

That is too much pressure on one season; and on one person. 

Expectation vs Reality

I used to think a “glow-up” had to look impressive from the outside. It had to be visible. It had to come with a routine, a before-and-after, and the feeling that I had successfully upgraded myself. But the more I try to build wellness into my actual life, the more I realize that the habits that stick aren’t the dramatic ones, rather the small ones. The ones that make me feel like myself, without being “performative”.

For me, wellness has become less about becoming a new person and more about feeling steady in the person I already am.

Is The Glow-Up Really Yours?

I’m used to making wellness too complicated. I thought it had to look a certain way. Matching Gymshark sets. Early mornings. 40-gram protein smoothies. 5 meals a day. A version of me who somehow wakes up refreshed, emotionally regulated, and immune to scrolling. But I am not that girl every day. Some days I am disciplined. Some days I am deeply unserious. Some days I go to the gym and feel like I have unlocked a higher version of myself. Other days, I convince myself that walking to the kitchen counts as movement.

It’s a cliched thing to say, but comparison really is the thief of joy. Wellness looks different for everyone. Just because you saw some influencer on Instagram with the perfect daily routine and a body out of a magazine, doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to have the same cookie cutter routine. That’s not to say that you can't dream of having a lifestyle like that, but truly ask yourself: is that what YOU want, or is that a projection of what you think you want?   

I still catch myself watching someone's morning routine and feeling that familiar pull. Maybe if I just woke up earlier, bought the right water bottle, found the right system — maybe then it would click. I don't always know where inspiration ends and insecurity begins. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to yet.

Side Quests Count

One way that I love to practice wellness is through movement. It gives structure to my day-to-day life.  Not because I am trying to become a fitness guru or because every workout is some cinematic act of self-improvement. Most of the time, it is much less glamorous than that. It is me dragging myself to the gym because I know I will feel better after. And sometimes I do. And sometimes I get home and feel exactly the same and I don't know what to do with that. Maybe I don’t need to do anything with that. 

I’ve been trying different side quests recently, like going to see cherry blossom trees with my friend; just because I have free will. Or exploring a part of town that I’m absolutely not familiar with. Or trying one of the HYRAWC classes here at the RAWC, simply because I can. And that's not to say that you only need to have conventionally exciting side quests under your belt. Sometimes it is taking the long way home, buying an iced coffee you probably did not need, or walking around campus with no real plan. You have free will, make use of that! Because life without side-quests is just work and school, which doesn't take too long to get mundane.

Another thing that I do to consciously include wellness in my routine, is spending time in nature. Not in a dramatic “I went on a hike and found my purpose” kind of way, but in the very basic sense that sometimes I need to get out of my room before my laziness gets the better of me. I like taking walks. I like sitting outside. I like feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and pretending, for a few minutes, that I am the main character. I don't know if that counts as wellness or just delusion. Maybe both. Maybe it doesn't matter.

I like moving my body because it gives me somewhere to put all the restless energy I carry around. And honestly, sometimes that is all wellness is for me: giving my brain a different room to sit in. The best part about wellness is that you get to define the word for yourself.

The Real Glow-Up Is Touching Grass 

The version of wellness I’m trying to build this summer is less aesthetic and more functional. It is not a “glow-up” but rather, a “build-up”, something much more practical and sustainable. Sometimes it is a walk with messy hair. Sometimes it is going to the gym in the same oversized T-shirt I have worn way too many times. Sometimes it is choosing to leave my room because if I stay there any longer, I will become one with my bed. Sometimes it is trying a class I might be bad at, because being bad at something is not actually a crime.

So, no, I do not think I will come back in September completely unrecognizable. I would love to, obviously. If the mysterious, well-rested, protein-hitting, emotionally regulated version of me wants to make an appearance, she is more than welcome. But for now, I will take the smaller wins: moving my body, touching grass, trying new things, resting without guilt, and not turning wellness into another assignment I forgot to submit. Maybe that is the real summer glow-up — not becoming a brand-new person but learning how to take better care of the one you already are.