What is a glow up? A glow up is essentially when you go from one version of yourself to a “better” or “stronger” version of yourself. In this article I am going to explain to you exactly what you can do this summer to absolutely glow up for the new school year.

A 360 change is in order, you deserve to remodel your life if that is what you want to do. It is simple as long as you stay consistent with it. This article will be split into sections of your life that can glow up, if you hit all of them, you will glow up fully and completely. Here are my top tips and tricks, and some of them may surprise you.

Mental and Intellectual

Your mental health is so important. It is what holds you together throughout your life. Without confidence, without peace and your sense of self, you don’t have that foundation to base your glow up on.

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Friendships

With that in mind, the first thing to help your mental health is to clear out your inner circle. Your inner circle influences you, positively or negatively, in one way or another they influence you. In order to glow up you need to have friends who will let you grow, friends that will support your growth, not insult you or try to hold you back.

Find those that don’t put you down or talk down to you; and try to be mindful of that. Be mindful of who you are spending your time with. We all have an inner circle and an outer circle and then an even distant circle. Start distancing yourself and start spending time with those who don’t question you and who don’t try to hold you back because of jealousy or bitterness.

Language Learning

Try to learn a new language. Use Duolingo and try to learn something new everyday. Learning a language is difficult but it will keep your brain active and it will make you look more attractive to employers in the future if you are able to speak another language. Dedicate at least 10-20 minutes everyday of your summer to learning a new language.

Get in the Journaling Zone

Another great thing for your mental health is journaling or simply thinking in a quiet space. I cannot tell you how many times I have spent 15-20 minutes just daydreaming and thinking about my life and all the things that I want to change or who I want to become. If you can’t visualize things and reflect mentally, journaling is a great way to understand how you are feeling or what things in your life need to change.

Take some time to reflect on a daily basis. It will really help you out.

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Getting Your Reading Material In

Read! Not everyone is big on reading, but this is a passive way to keep your brain educated and to unwind or recharge after a long day. Listening to audiobooks also counts.

Get an interesting book and curl up and simply relax. This will help you out both intellectually and mentally.

Just because you’re not in school that doesn’t mean you just stop learning about what’s going on in the world. Find a trusted news source, no I don’t mean TikTok or Instagram Reels I mean an actual news source. Learn about things that are happening outside your home town.

Don’t be clueless. Choose to be aware of current events.

Live in the Moment

Have fun, but be sure to recharge. You can go out with your friends or work or just bed rot all day, but at the end of it all recharge, make sure that you are having fun and make sure that you are okay. Reflecting and recharging helps you to continue to be able to hang out with your friends and to do those fun things. Having fun is part of the journey, so enjoy it and recharge while after you do it.

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Physical

This is my favorite section because this is the one that is the most fun. Your physical appearance is not everything, but it helps. It can help to build your confidence if you feel like you look good, or if you feel good. So thats the goal; to feel good and to love your body and to physically improve it by eating right and working out.

Food Station

Food is important for our survival and there are so many food options but not every food choice out there is beneficial all the time for your body long-term. You might not be able to see the immediate results of eating candy daily or chips or even drinking soda daily, but there are things happening behind the scenes. Your body is a complex system and your arteries and body systems run on healthy food, not heavily salted or greasy food.

This summer be mindful of how much you eat and what you eat. Choose fruits and vegetables, try to find ones that you enjoy. It makes it easier to start eating healthier if you actually enjoy the food.

Incorporate whole grains into your meals and try to incorporate foods that aren’t processed or full of sugar. Once you start being conscious of what you intake you will start to eat healthier and as a result your body will thank you as well. Eating healthier also helps if you are trying to lose weight or trying to gain muscle.

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Liquid Station

Drink more water! This is so important because your body is 70% water which means that you need water to survive and you need to consume lots. As it gets hotter your body naturally expels the liquids you consume through sweat, so you need to replenish that.

The more you consume the better you’ll look. Your skin will start to shine and it will start to have a natural glow to it and that will up your appearance. If you are absolutely addicted to energy drinks or soda try to substitute those drinks for a Poppi. It mimics popular soda flavors while keeping you healthy and becoming a healthier alternative.

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Your Fitness Journey

The next thing that you can do for your body is to get moving. Try to incorporate two types of movement/fitness into your routine. Some sort of cardio and some sort of flexibility or strength training.

Find something that you like. There are so many different forms of cardio and strength training out there.

Find something that makes you truly feel happy and stronger. Yoga, HIIT, running, calisthenics, dancing, swimming, basketball or soccer etc. There are so many different types of workouts you can do. If you need help looking for a way to move your body based on where you’re at in your fitness journey be sure to check out YouTube or even ask ChatGPT to help you find a type of workout to improve your life.

That’s how I found calisthenics, and I absolutely love it. Find something that you love, or make it into something you enjoy by listening to music or watching your favorite show, and then stay consistent. Create a goal you want to achieve either physically or a skill, and then stay consistent. Stay motivated right out the gate, until you achieve it.

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Wear clothes that you are comfortable and confident in, choose clothes for you - not clothes to impress others or to look a part. Your body is yours, you don’t have to try and fit a standard or to become something that you don’t want to be. Take care of your body and how you dress and do your makeup or hair.

Comb your hair, do your nails, clean your shoes. Do what you have to do to take care of you.

Disclaimer

Glowing up isn’t just about looking a certain way in summer clothes or being a certain weight or being able to attract anyone, it’s about being confident in your own skin, and realizing that you got yourself where you are now. Set goals to accomplish and to keep you motivated.

These goals will allow you to feel like you did something amazing after you complete them. Create a person you are proud of in the mirror. I want you to be able to look at yourself in the mirror and honestly say and believe that you are confident, beautiful, disciplined and intelligent.

That is the whole point of glowing up. Remember that this summer.

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