Bridal Weight Loss

If you’re like most brides, you want to look and feel your best on your wedding day. From choosing the perfect Azazie bridal gown to finding a hairstyle that accentuates your facial features to hiring the best makeup artist you can afford, doing everything you can to feel beautiful inside and out is paramount.

Shortly after becoming engaged, most brides begin to think about losing a few pounds or toning up to feel confident and ensure that their dress fits perfectly. As we all know, losing weight isn’t always as easy as it seems, especially for brides who will be busier than ever and attending pre-wedding festivities that inevitably include all kinds of delicious foods and drinks. If your timeline for weight loss is tight, but you’re committed to it, there are some habits you can and should develop so that they will sustain you through the busy wedding planning period and beyond!

Get your rest. Believe it or not, poor sleeping habits are the number one risk factor for weight gain, so getting the appropriate amount of sleep is critical to reaching your goal. Even through the busiest and most stressful months of wedding planning, setting aside at least 8 hours of good sleep is critical to reaching your weight loss goal for the wedding. Utilize relaxation techniques that will allow you to calm yourself from the day and settle into a restful mood at the end of each day to ensure a deep, fulfilling sleep that will fuel you for the challenges of the next day.

Drink water. Drinking more water is the second habit you should adopt. We take in more calories than we realize in the form of soda, sweet tea, and even fruit juices.  Eliminating as many calories as possible is the first step to dropping those pounds. In addition to making you feel fuller, so you eat less, water consumption helps your body stay hydrated, which will be important as you become more and more active. If drinking plain water isn’t your thing, try using water flavor packets or drops like Mio, Crystal Light, or Nuun!

Cook at Home. It’s counterintuitive that you should avoid eating out during your wedding preparation period, but if you’re looking to lose weight, fast food and fine dining is probably a major no-no. Focus instead on planning and preparing meals that are high in protein and replete with lots of vegetables. A high-protein breakfast might include a protein bar or shake, and it can help reduce food cravings throughout the day, reducing your overall caloric intake. If finding the time to grocery shop and cook at home is impossible, you may want to consider a home food delivery service that makes cooking and eating healthy at home easier for the busy bride-to-be! 

Stick with Whole Foods. Processed foods include added ingredients including sugar, preservatives, dyes, and saturated or trans fat that make it difficult to lose weight. Whole foods, on the other hand, help regulate blood sugars and reduce cholesterol, allowing you to maintain and lose weight. Because whole foods are healthier and more filling, they are less likely to promote overeating. Ideally, whole food meals consist of an array of single items like baked chicken, steamed broccoli, and fresh carrots. Snacks might be a handful of nuts, while breakfast might be a wholesome fruit smoothie. If you’re looking to plan some wholesome and “whole food” meals, you may want to check out these healthy options.

Masticate completely and eat slowly. Masticate means to chew, so be sure to chew up that food many times before swallowing. Eating slowly has shown to improve the effectiveness of any weight loss regimen because it allows you to experience the feeling of fullness. Eating slowly induces satiety hormones so that the “feeling full” moment (which takes about 20 minutes) gives your brain time to process that feeling and encourage you to stop before you’re overfilled. Slower eating also improves your level of hydration, your food satisfaction, and your overall digestion.

Sit and eat at a table from a plate. Believe it or not, sitting down to eat at a table, free of distractions like television, encourage you to be mindful of what and how much you are eating, which can lead to a decreased caloric intake. Like the habit of eating slowly creates a certain mindfulness, eating from a plate at a table encourages you to consciously enjoy your meals. Serve yourself food on an individual plate, and leave the rest sitting in the pots and pans on the stove. Bowls of food on the table beg to be eaten, and it will require great willpower to not opt for seconds.

Do you have any weight loss tips you can share?