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Your wedding is just around the corner and you’ve realized that you’re having trouble fitting into your wedding dress like you used to. Or maybe you just want to shed a few pounds or tone your body so you feel and look your absolute best on your wedding day.
While there is no miracle method to reduce all of your undesired body fat in just two months, there is quite a lot that you can do to fit into your dress and look gorgeous on your big day.
If you are ready to make the commitment, let’s have a look at the exercise and diet tips that we’ve rounded up for you to get you looking and feeling your best on your wedding day.
Things to Consider Before You Start
Write down measurable goals before you start as that’ll keep you going when the going gets tough. Knowing what you’re working towards will keep you motivated as you can measure your results against your goals. For example, if you want to lose 10 pounds in 2 months write that down and then calculate what steps need to be taken to achieve that.
The other factor to note is how losing weight will affect the fit of your dress. If you’re final dress fitting is yet to come, then you might want to lose just the right amount of weight to get you fitting into the dress. If you’ve already got your dress and find that you need to lose a few pounds to fit in perfectly, then lose accordingly.
Month 1 – Getting down to business
During your first month, aim for at least 4-5 days of exercise per week and include cardio and weight training for an all-round routine. Don’t forget to warm up and cool down before and after your workout to reduce stiffness and ease muscle pain especially if you are someone who doesn’t usually hit the gym. Aim for at least 10 minutes of weight training and 20 minutes of steady cardio per day and try to gradually increase the number of reps and sets that you do. In the first month, the focus should be on your chest, legs, back and glutes as these are the problem areas for more people and toning these can make a big difference to your look and confidence.
Try different types of cardio exercises to make your workout fun because if you enjoy your workout, you’re more likely to stick with it. Pick an exercise that you are comfortable with like skipping, cycling, jogging or swimming and give it your best effort. Make sure you rest in between sets or rounds since you don’t want to overwork your body and run the risk of getting an injury.
Month 2 – Keeping it going
Since your wedding is only a month away, you now need to exercise 5-6 days with about 30 minutes of cardio each day and increase the number of sets and reps when you do your strength training. Make sure you have at least one day for rest as this is important for recovery.
Make sure you stretch before and after every workout. Stretching relaxes the muscles, enhances the flexibility and reduces muscle tension. Stretching well before a workout helps to prevent injury that could occur from exercising when your muscles are stiff.
Diet Tips
Exercise and diet go hand in hand when it comes to losing weight so you can’t really expect to see results from one without the other. No matter how hard or how long you work out, you need to follow the right diet or the fat won’t be going anywhere. Here’s how you should maintain your diet to help your body burn fat and tone up.
Avoid eating refined carbs
Carbs, found in pasta, bread, cakes and other similar items are high in calories and quite low in nutrients. These foods are absorbed quickly into the blood stream and cause spikes in your blood sugar, making you feel hungry soon after your meal.
If you have excess belly fat that you want to get rid of, then we strongly suggest staying away from carbs altogether. That delicious pizza may be mouth watering and tempting your tastebuds, but it’s going to make you pack on pounds in all the undesired areas. Go for healthy fruits and vegetables instead as these will keep you full, healthy and help you to lose weight as well.
Cut down on sugar
Sugar is your worst enemy when you’re trying to lose weight and maintain a good diet because it is high in calories and has few nutrients. Foods that are high in sugar tend to be less filling. Try to replace sugary foods with foods that are rich in proteins and other nutrients instead. Consuming sugary foods can cause weight gain and as a result it can lead to obesity, diabetes and heart diseases. Cutting down sugar for the first few days will be tough especially if you have a sweet tooth but hang in there and it should get easier.
Go for healthier drinks
The healthiest drink that you could go for is water and the best part is, it’s free. It can keep you feeling full and boost your metabolism which cuts down the consumption of calories. Drinking at least eight glasses of water per day helps to enhance weight loss and flush all the toxins from your body.
Fizzy drinks are loaded with sugar and unwanted calories that can make you gain weight in a very short period of time so stay away from all sweet, carbonated drinks. If you feel like you need to have something that’s not water, opt for green tea or herbal tea instead.
Eat slowly
When you sit down with your plate of food, make sure you that you take your time and enjoy every bit of it. Don’t watch television or read while eating since it takes away the focus from your food which can result in overeating without realizing it.
If you eat too quickly, you will often find that you have eaten more food than your stomach can handle and this could leaving you feeling bloated and uncomfortable. Your focus should be on your food so take smaller bites and savour your meal. Pay attention to how you feel because your body will tell you when you’ve had enough.
Get some shut-eye!
Getting adequate sleep every night is essential for the body to function well and can also cause weight loss. Try to get at least 7 – 8 hours of sleep every night. When you’re awake, your stomach releases a hormone called Ghrelin (also known as the ‘hunger hormone’) but during sleep, these levels decrease because sleeping doesn’t require much energy compared to being awake.
High levels of ghrelin in the body increases your appetite so you eat more which results in weight gain. Skimping on sleep can also make you tired and irritable and cause dark circles under your eyes which is not how you want to look on your wedding day.
Wrapping Up…
Two months might seem like a short time but you’ll be surprised at how much you can do in this period. If you follow a reasonable but challenging regime, you’ll start seeing results in as soon as the first month.
However, at any time during your workouts if you feel any pain apart from the usual muscle burn or if you feel dizzy or nauseous, then stop exercising and reduce the level of intensity you are working at. If necessary, check with your doctor first before ramping up the intensity.
