Many people desire to reduce weight for their wedding day, but you should not feel obligated. If you want to feel and look your best on your wedding day, you must look beyond a specific number on the scale. To maintain a healthy weight over time, you can change your lifestyle to incorporate a healthy diet and exercise regularly. When your wedding day gets closer, you may feel more determined than ever to achieve your weight loss goal—possibly even in a short period. Nonetheless, it is critical to pursue your goal in a safe manner.
Starting Again
Weddings can make everyone nervous. Doing a crash diet right away will just increase your anxiousness. Crash or fad diets frequently focus on eating considerably fewer calories than is sustainable. The scale may change as a result of these diets, but this might be misleading. Your body frequently loses water rather than weight. If you restrict your calories for an extended period, your body will begin to save fat and use muscle (particularly heart muscle) to supply energy.
Adopt the same strategic method for losing weight as is advocated for wedding preparation; set clear weekly goals for yourself and prepare a to-do list. Having everything written down might also help you stay objective and devoted. Establish attainable goals for yourself. Consider meeting with a licensed dietitian to establish a weight loss plan based on your objectives and timetable, similar to how you may meet with caterers to plan a menu based on your likes and budget.
Calorie Reduction
Most people associate dieting with calorie restriction. One pound of fat is roughly 3,500 calories, according to general estimations. To lose a pound of fat each week, you would need to eliminate 500 calories daily on average. Nevertheless, eliminating too many calories can have the opposite effect.
To begin, your body needs a certain number of calories to function. However, the number of calories you burn in a day will vary depending on a range of factors specific to you, such as what you consume and how active you are. It’s also crucial to realize that while you can make educated guesses about the calories in the items you eat, these figures aren’t exact. So while math can be used as a guide, it is not a firm directive.
Make a Diet Plan
While it may be tempting to eliminate entire food groups to lose weight, you must ensure that your diet remains nutritious, diverse, and balanced. If you eat fewer calories, the makeup of each one becomes much more critical. Wedding planning is stressful enough without the mood swings and temptations that come with carbohydrate restriction or the tiredness caused by anemia and nutritional deficiencies. A well-balanced diet will supply you with the energy you need to stay on track and, most importantly, enjoy every moment of your day as it arrives.
Include Exercise
When it comes to weight loss, diet isn’t the only thing to think about. Exercise aids the process by increasing metabolism. You don’t have to spend 3 hours at the gym, but the goal is to burn more calories than you consume. Start with 30 minutes of exercise a couple of times a week if you have never worked out. Then, on your days off, aim to fit in a 30-minute moderate-intensity stroll. If you already exercise regularly, try increasing the intensity of your sessions (such as interval training, HIIT, or circuit training). These workouts promote weight loss while taking less time than a typical workout. In addition, you might want to work with a fitness professional who can keep you focused and motivated while guiding you so you don’t overtrain.
You don’t want to overexercise like you don’t want to overeat. But on the other hand, exercising excessively will fatigue you and dramatically increase your chance of injury. Instead, choose a fitness plan that incorporates enjoyable and demanding exercises to stick to. Frequent physical activity is beneficial for more than just weight loss. It can also aid in the reduction of anxiety and the stimulation of mood-enhancing endorphins.
Stress Management
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, remember that, in addition to working out and meal planning, there are additional forms of self-care that will assist you in surviving wedding preparation and, if you have one, meeting your weight loss goal.
- Get advice: Discuss your ideas with a trustworthy friend or family member; you might even discover someone else in your wedding party has the same goal, and you can encourage one other.
- Get enough rest: Get 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night, including weekends. If you feel like you’re not getting enough sleep, work on improving your sleep hygiene.
- Use stress-reduction techniques: If you’re feeling more stressed than you can handle, try meditation, tai chi, guided visualization, progressive muscular release, and deep breathing exercises.
Kim’s Final Thoughts…
Any plan for a wedding or weight loss will face difficulties. Remember that reducing weight is about more than just fitting into a dress or tuxedo or looking a certain way in images. Consider it a lifestyle shift rather than a one-time objective. Realize that every weight loss journey is unique. Try not to compare yourself to others. Being in good shape will help you weather the ups and downs of wedding planning, allow you to enjoy your big day, and stick with you long after you say “I do.”
