Wedding Times

Photo by Thomas Hawk

Like most brides, you have probably been thinking about getting in shape for your wedding. It’s important to remember not to obsess about things too much though. Your groom and your guests will think you look incredible regardless. However, if you do want to do some work beforehand and make sure you look absolutely fabulous on the day, here are ten simple steps to follow.

1. Stretching

It’s important to stretch before and after any workout. Not only does this prevent injury but also keeps your body limber. Plus, you’ll feel better after having stretched out those muscles that you just put through a grueling workout!

2. Aerobic or Cardio Workouts

The best way to lose weight is to burn fat. You can do is through aerobic or cardio exercises. These are essentially the things that make you sweat and include activities such as swimming, cycling, hiking, and running. If you’re new to cardio workouts, start with twenty minutes a day and gradually build up as you feel you can. This exercise should be done at least three times a week, but make sure that you are not pushing yourself too hard. The last thing you want is to look tired on your wedding day.

3. Body Sculpting

This is exactly what it sounds like – sculpting your body to make it look better. Also called toning, this needs to be done if you want to be a ‘knock-out’ in that wedding gown.

Toning your arms, shoulders and back is essential if you’re planning on wearing a sleeveless dress but it’s still important if you won’t be exposing so much upper body. It’s also important to pay attention to sculpting your legs, even if they will be buried under your gown.

Sculpting can be achieved through simple weight exercises. Often women are under the misconception that exercising with weights will make you look like a body builder when in fact moderate weight lifting serves to add tone and definition without building massive muscles.

4. Spot Reducing

This area of a workout focuses on your trouble spots. If you have a particular issue with your stomach, you may want to focus on abs crunches and sit-ups. If you think your thighs are a bit on the flabby side, leg lifts and running may be your answer. It’s important to remember your entire body needs to be trimmer in order to get to the trouble spots. Start with the big picture and then work your way to the details.

5. Alternate Routines

The same routine every day can get boring quickly and you may wind up doing more harm than good. Once muscles have been through a hard workout, they need time to relax and heal. Resting your muscles one day will actually improve your workout. If you like doing the same routine, take a day off in between workouts and give yourself a break.

6. Night and Day Routines

Why not try cardio exercises in the morning and weights at night? Working out this way makes your metabolism kick into gear twice in one day. When your metabolism is revved you burn more calories. Another way to start and stop your metabolism is while you are working out. When you are doing your cardio, go as hard as you can for two minutes. After the two-minute mark, slow it down but don’t stop completely for thirty seconds. Then go flat-out for another two minutes. This will really get your metabolism into gear!

7. Water, Water, and More Water

Drinking water will greatly help you lose weight and become healthier in general. The body is made up mainly of water and so it only makes sense that it needs a lot of it to function properly. Drinking water can increase your metabolism, which in turn will help burn calories faster, making you lose weight. Water also fills you up and keeps you away from those empty calories like soda pop. To determine how much water you should be drinking, divide your body weight in half. The number you come up with is how many ounces of water you should be drinking a day.

8. Restock Your Fridge

It’s all fine and good to work hard with the exercise to get your body into better shape. But the only way you’re going to hold onto that shape is by eating properly. This means getting rid of the simple starches such as white flour and replacing them with whole grains. It also means substituting chocolate and candy for fruits and vegetables. Keep trays of chopped vegetables and fruits in the fridge and you will take out the chore of eating a healthier diet.

9. Cut Out Alcohol

Not only does alcohol contain a high amount of calories, the calories in the alcohol are the first to be processed by the liver. The liver sees alcohol as toxin and needs to get rid of it quickly. After working hard to process and eliminated the calories in alcohol, the body finds it easier to simply turn calories consumed through food into fat.

10. Love Your Body

Realize that all of this is really just to make you feel better. The truth is you will look amazing walking down the aisle. Even more importantly, you are walking towards a new life with the person you love. Don’t go overboard with the workouts in an attempt to be something you’re not. Working towards a healthier lifestyle for yourself is wonderful but not if you are solely doing it to impress others.