10 Things to Do Right Now So You Feel Incredible at the Pool, the Beach, and Everywhere in Between—The Fortitude Summer Countdown

Every year around this time, someone sits down across from me at the spa, takes a deep breath, and says some version of the same thing: “I just want to feel good in a swimsuit again.”

And every year I tell them the same thing back: you absolutely can. But here is the part nobody likes to hear — summer-ready does not happen the week before vacation. The clients who walk out of a dressing room in June feeling like a million bucks? They started in May. Sometimes April. And they did a mix of in-spa work and at-home habits that compound on each other.

So instead of giving you another generic “drink water and exercise” list, I put together the real countdown — ten things that actually move the needle. Some of them you can do this weekend in your kitchen. Some of them you do here with us. All of them work better when you start now.

Let’s get into it!

10. Audit your skincare like it’s a closet clean-out

Pull every product off your bathroom counter. If it’s expired, gummy, separated, or you bought it in 2023 because an influencer said so — toss it. Your skin in May should not be using the same routine it used in February. Heavier winter creams trap heat and clog pores once humidity climbs. Swap to a lighter moisturizer, add a vitamin C in the morning, and — I am begging you — wear sunscreen every single day. SPF 30 minimum. Reapply if you’re outside. Check out our Rodan + Fields products for my favorites.

This costs you nothing but ten minutes and a trash bag. It makes a bigger difference than people realize.

9. Start the water habit — for real this time

I know. Everyone says it. But hydrated skin is plumper, smoother, and bounces back faster from anything we do to it in the treatment room. Dehydrated skin shows fine lines that aren’t actually fine lines — they’re just thirsty. The fix is free.

Half your body weight in ounces, daily. If you weigh 160 pounds, that’s 80 ounces of water. Coffee doesn’t count. Wine definitely doesn’t count. Get a bottle you actually like, keep it where you can see it, and drink.

8. Get serious about exfoliating — gently

Dead skin makes self-tanner look streaky, makes your legs look ashy, and makes every product you put on top of it less effective. Two to three times a week, use a gentle chemical exfoliant (lactic or glycolic acid) on your face and a body scrub or exfoliating mitt in the shower for the rest of you. Notice I said gentle. The girls who scrub themselves raw with sugar scrubs every day are creating their own problems.

If you want to skip the at-home version entirely and let us handle it, our Geneo Facial does three things in one session — exfoliates, infuses your skin with active ingredients, and triggers oxygenation from the inside out. Zero downtime. You walk out glowing. It’s included in every membership tier.

7. Move your body in a way you don’t hate

This is not a fitness blog and I’m not going to pretend to be a trainer. But I will tell you what I see in our weight loss program: the clients who succeed are the ones who found a way to move that they actually look forward to. Walking the neighborhood with a friend. Pickleball. Dance classes. Swimming. Yard work, honestly.

You don’t need to suffer. You need to be consistent. Thirty minutes a day, five days a week, doing something that makes you breathe a little harder — that’s the bar.

6. Address the laser hair situation now (not in July)

This one is timing-sensitive and I want you to hear me. Laser hair removal works best on hair that hasn’t been recently sun-exposed. It also requires multiple sessions — typically six to eight — spaced about a month apart. The math on this is not favorable if you wait until June.

If you start now, you can knock out at least one or two solid sessions before peak beach season, which means less shaving, fewer ingrown hairs, and a smoother everything.

Lip, chin, and underarms are included in our Level 1 and Level 2 memberships. Brazilian, full legs, and arms are included in Level 3.

Bonus tip: stop waxing or plucking the area you want to laser. The follicle has to be intact for the laser to find it. Shaving is fine.

5. Clean up your sleep — it’s the cheapest “treatment” you have access to

Cortisol from poor sleep wrecks your skin, your appetite, and your mood. The fix isn’t complicated, it’s just unglamorous: phone out of the bedroom, room cooler than you think it should be, same wake-up time every day including weekends, and no caffeine after 2 p.m.

I have watched clients drop weight, clear up breakouts, and look five years younger — just from getting eight hours instead of six. It’s the single most underrated thing on this list.

4. Tighten what doesn’t need to be cut

There’s a category of body concerns that don’t require surgery and don’t require downtime — mild skin laxity, a softer-than-you’d-like jawline, the back-of-the-arm situation, the pre-baby midsection that just hasn’t snapped back. For most of these, radio-frequency skin tightening or our EMfit device gets you somewhere meaningful in four to eight weeks.

EMfit in particular is one of my favorite pieces of technology in the whole spa. It uses suction, heat, and electrical muscle stimulation simultaneously — so it tightens skin, breaks down fat, and tones muscle in the same session. I’ve personally used it on my arms, inner thighs, and abs. Clients tell me they look like they’ve been in the gym after a series.

3. Decide whether weight loss medication is for you — with eyes open

This is the conversation I have most often this time of year, so let me be honest with you the way I am with clients in the room.

Semaglutide and Tirzepatide work. Our Transform program (a custom-compounded oral medication paired with a behavioral assessment) also works. But none of them are magic, none of them are forever-and-then-stop, and none of them work without you doing your part. You still have to eat reasonably. You still have to move. And when you reach your goal, you have to taper down slowly, not quit cold turkey.

If you’re curious whether you’re a candidate, come in for a free consultation. I’ll tell you the truth — even if the truth is that this isn’t the right path for you, or that you can find it cheaper somewhere else. I’d rather you trust me than buy from me.

2. Refresh your face — strategically

Here’s the truth about injectables that nobody tells you in the consultation: Botox takes three to seven days to fully kick in, and lip filler swells for about a week before it settles. Which means if you have a beach trip on June 15th, the smart move is to come see Marty in late May. Not the day before you fly out.

If you’ve never tried any of this and you’re curious, start small. A few units of Botox between the brows. A whisper of filler. We do not believe in the frozen, overdone look here — we believe in the version of you that walks into the airport and your friend says “you look so rested” and can’t quite figure out why. That’s the goal.

And if you want a glow rather than a freeze, ask about SkinVive. It’s an injectable but it’s not a filler — it just makes your skin look like you slept twelve hours and drank a gallon of water. Lasts about six months.

1. Stop talking yourself out of feeling beautiful

I’m going to end here because this is the one that matters most. And I can say this because I have been on the wrong side of it my whole life.

I am painfully shy. I pick myself apart in the mirror in ways that would horrify the people who love me. I have used almost every service this spa offers — lip filler, full CO2 resurfacing, the whole list — not because I think I have to look a certain way, but because feeling confident in my own skin took work. Real, intentional work. And it was worth every second of it.

You don’t have to do all ten things on this list. You don’t even have to do five. But pick one. Pick the easiest one. Start this week. Because the woman who walks the beach in August feeling strong and confident and like herself — she is not luckier than you. She just decided, in May, that she was worth the effort.

That’s the whole secret.

Ready to talk through which of these makes the most sense for you?

Free consultations are always free — no pressure, no upselling, just a real conversation. Text us at 817-217-0281 or call 817-618-6888. We’re at 4109 Gateway Court, Suite 200, Colleyville, TX, and we’d love to meet you.

Strengthen the way you see beauty. — Nikki