You’re engaged, congratulations!
After the celebration of your engagement, your focus turns to planning for that special day. You automatically think the reception venue, guest list, your wedding party, the honeymoon destination among other things. As a bride, the second most important thing besides your new bling – is your wedding dress. Whether you are already a fitness guru or a beginner, everyone wants to look their best on their special day.
With that said…..here are my top 5 health and fitness tips to prepare you for your dream wedding:
#1 Organize Your Game Plan: If you already workout on a regular basis make sure to keep incorporating consistent workouts to keep you on track. The same goes for those of you who are beginners. By incorporating at least 30 minutes a day (along with clean eating) it will help you to achieve your goals to look your best on your special day and also help decrease stress! Mark your calendar to commit to your workouts just like you would to make appointments to see venues, sample cakes and other wedding must-dos on your priority list. You are more likely to commit to your health if the time and workout is marked in your planner or scheduled with reminders on your phone.
#2 Find a Workout Buddy: Whether it is your fiancé, a trainer or a friend, having a workout buddy helps to hold you accountable. Whenever I have a day that I don’t feel like working out, I’ve had a friend kick me into gear by saying that they are working out that day or that they will work out with me. Working out with someone else not only keeps you on track, but also makes it more fun! At Performance Health & Fitness, we have a 6-week Boot Camp program that is perfect for brides- and grooms-to be. This HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workout program focuses on improving your overall body composition, strength, and cardio endurance and is taught by an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Certified Personal Trainer. It’s easy to stay motivated in Boot Camp, partly due to the fact that you’ll get a full fitness assessment and report before and after the program, and get nutrition feedback from our certified dietitian with the MyFitnessPal calorie counter app. If you want to learn more about Bridal Boot Camp or if you have some questions, I’d be happy to help! Contact me at lweatherford@perfther.com.
#3 Be Flexible and Kind to Yourself: My point with this tip is just to be flexible and patient with yourself during this time. Enjoy the wedding planning process and don’t stress about obtaining a certain weight loss goal or looking a certain way. Things come up that deter us from our original plan, but just get back to the workouts when you can. Just like how you fell in love with your partner, fall in love with the process and everything will fall into place – I promise!
#4 Eat Cleanly: You need to be nourished to flourish! Your body requires efficient fuel sources to be able to function normally. During times of stress we tend to forget to eat and make poor choices when we don’t plan ahead. It’s a good idea to go grocery shopping and meal prep if you don’t have time to cook during the week. This helps to increase the quality of your nutrition along with decreasing the risk of eating out more than we should. Don’t get me wrong, you should definitely indulge here and there. Personally I like to go by the standard of 80/20 so that we stay on track but can still have fun 20% of the time (to keep our sanity).
#5 Rest and Recover: When you set a wedding date, most future brides and grooms tend to think it’s time to kick butt in the gym by doing two-a-day workouts or work out every day. This can hurt your progress more than help because in order for your body to see results, you need to allow it to rest. Recovery is needed to prevent further muscle breakdown – so they can rebuild – and help you gain that muscle tone that you are looking for. Without proper rest we risk having decreased energy throughout the day, poor workouts, and gain body fat rather than muscle.
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Photos have been generously provided by Performance Health & Fitness member and instructor, and professional wedding photographer, Emily Crall. She loves working with couples full of joy and character and especially likes eating wedding cake. Other things that make her smile are: her husband, her kids, People magazine crosswords, Christmas, chicken wings, working out, sunshine, clean laundry, and that magical part of the evening when the kids are finally in bed. Follow her on Instagram @emilycrall and Facebook @emilycrallphotography.
