Looking sexy and beautiful in a wedding dress is every girls dream. But given the amount of time that’s put into planning a wedding, and finding the time to make sure you look your best can become a daunting task. Here you are thinking “wow, this should be the happiest time of my life.” BUT there are still so many things that need to get done, and along the way you somehow run out of time to take care of yourself.
Not looking amazing in your wedding gown on your wedding day is what most women fear the most, but it shouldn’t have to be that way. In fact there is definitely a way to shine and it doesn’t require you having to spend long hours training at the gym each week.
Misconceptions
One of the biggest misconceptions of getting fit is that it requires you to spend long hours on a treadmill at the gym OR doing countless aerobics, spinning and kickboxing classes each week. Classes that are constantly heavy on high-end cardio where you find yourself constantly out of breath. But the truth of the matter is you don’t have to follow the herd to be successful, and all of that high-end cardio is overkill. Instead what you really need is a plan of action. A plan that has balance, and a plan you can stick to so that gradual progress is continually made over time without running yourself ragged.
Why is having a plan so important?
Having a plan is key because just winging it and hoping for the best doesn’t work, that train of thought won’t get you the results that you are hoping for. Having a plan helps keep you consistent, on track and closer to your goal with each passing week. A plan helps you to stay motivated, focused, fixated and in tune with your goal rather than trying to play catch up when time starts running out. Having a plan also helps you deal with stress much better, which every bride can relate to. And the feeling a post workout offers, that sense of accomplishment is a great remedy to keeping pre-wedding life balanced.
So allow me to share my Top 11 list of things that should be included in your fitness plan; things that my clients have benefited from and if you do include them in yours, I promise you will have great success and will look exactly the way you want on your wedding day.
1) Envision what you want to look like: Now ask yourself is that realistic and more importantly is it attainable? In other words don’t put too much pressure on yourself at first, looking like Cindy Crawford is out of the question. Envisioning something you know you can achieve will keep things positive and it will also help you stay focused, alleviating any unnecessary pressure. Under promise and over deliver as I say. Remember fitness is a combination of how you feel and look, and the year leading up to your wedding day should be both fun and enjoyable; so enjoy the journey rather than rush to get there. Additionally, brides are 80% more successful when they are able to envision what they want to look like and get support from friends. If your commitment to your health and sexy is just as important as your commitment to your man, you are on the right track and thinking in a positive fashion.
2) Have a plan of action: Know what days of the week you are supposed to exercise and stick to the plan, put them in your calendar. Make this your weekly routine and don’t deviate, it will help keep you on track and feeling good about yourself. When we make doctor, dental and other wedding appointments we keep them. Well your health and looking sexy is just as important, so keep these appointments too. Consistency is king and when consistent, your body will thank you for it.
3) Mix things up: The body loves when you challenge and surprise it. Changing things up also helps to keep things fresh. So include a variety of training three days a week and include things like a total body functional strength training class, a yoga class and a spinning class into the mix. Push yourself to the limits when strength training, it’s what gives your body shape and sex appeal. Recover in yoga, it’s a perfect blend of mind and body, and a great way to connect with your core. Then seduce your body with some interval cardio work in spin class, it’s a good way to challenge your body and burn fat. So long as its intervals has hills and valleys and is mixing things up you are in the right class. Train smart and mix it up.
4) Give your body time to recover and learn how to stretch: This is key to your overall progress, mentally and physically. Research has shown that your body’s ability to improve is dependent upon sleep and downtime (recovery). And four days is a perfect amount of time for your body to recharge itself. Working out five, six or even seven days a week is overkill and can cause you to not see the results you are after. In fact it’s the reason why so many people go backwards, get in a fight with the scale, get sick and end up quitting on themselves. Overworking the body has never been successful. Try adding in a catnap here and there. You’re body will thank you for it, as will your mind. Mind-body connection.
5) Get on a meal plan: No not a diet where you are constantly left feeling hungry from consuming less than 1,000 calories a day. I mean a real meal plan where you are feeding your body a balance of good calories and real food after workouts, for breakfast, lunch and dinner—adding healthy nutritious snacks in between your main meals. To often we find ourselves either eating foods of convenience, or not enough food to sustain our daily rituals. We lose energy, drive, focus and become tired/sluggish without real food. The body is like a furnace, and when you feed it pocket-sized meals every three hours or so your metabolism picks up and your body starts burning fat naturally. It’s also the opposite when we are not eating enough and go hungry for 5-7 hours. That’s when the body goes into starvation mode which triggers it to store body fat while feeding on muscle tissue. Eating > not eating!
6) Drink lots of water: It is said that our body is 70% water, right down to the cellular level. And the more we hydrate, the better our body will function. When we hydrate we digest food properly, improve our energy, sense of well-being, even our skin looks better. It’s a logical kind of thing given the fact that when we water our lawns or plants in our office or homes, they thrive. Same goes for the human body and get this, water aides in fat burning because it improves our body’s metabolism—our ability to burn fat, so drink more of it 30 minutes after digesting your food.
7) Include good fats in your day: Yes, eat an avocado for a snack, start cooking with coconut oil, add grass fed butter to your vegetables, put a teaspoon of almond or cashew butter on some apple slices. And see how much better you feel, how much better you look and how much more energy you’ll have. Our brain is made up of 60% fat, so eating good healthy essential fats is crucial to our brain’s integrity and ability to perform. There are good fats and bad fats; try staying away from cooking oils, cornstarch, french fries, hydrogenated oils etc (man-made oils). These are the types of oils that are associated with bad LDL cholesterol, as well as getting fat.
8) Find time to clear your mind: Much too often we find ourselves constantly on the go, with no room for downtime or alone time for ourselves. Remember to pamper yourself with hot bath and glass of wine once a week, and schedule a massage every two weeks. These are opportunities where you get to disconnect from the world, shut off your phone and shut off your brain. Recharging the battery is vital to the way in which we feel, and interact not only with the world but with ourselves. When we feel good, life is good.
9) Stay away from processed foods and reduce sugar: Chips, crackers, candy, cold cuts, soda, bread, etc. are all of the things that typically mess with your insulin and drag your body down. Sugar is what causes your body to store bad fat, not good fat. Have you ever noticed some of the decisions you’ve made only to regret them an hour or so later. Yes, well these bad decisions are the things that will send you backwards with your fitness plan. So how do we avoid these pitfalls? Get the junk out of your home, refrigerator and cabinets and put them in the trash where they belong. Eat real food and don’t starve yourself throughout the day. Drink plenty of water, it curbs your appetite and remember the choice of how you look on your wedding day is yours. Either look amazing or to regret not having done so.
10) Buy new workout gear: Yes go out and buy new workout clothes, new sneakers and wear them often. Now more than ever, women are rocking a pair of workout pants with a new pair of sneakers with a sexy jacket and feeling good about themselves. Because looking sexy and feeling sexy go hand in hand, and the more you wear tight sexy clothing, the more in tune with your body you will become. And making this kind of purchase also has a way of mentally committing to the fitness process, committing to your goal. If you want to become more fit, you must look the part.
11) Buy a wedding gown that brings out your best: Now that we’ve covered one through ten, here is the big one. Purchase a wedding dress that you envision yourself looking amazing in, a dress that will accentuate your strengths and curves. A dress that makes you feel confident within AND a dress that is one size smaller than your your current size. Remember I said envision the body you want, now envision that same body in that amazing wedding dress. Yes, that’s it! If you can see it, you to can attain your dreams.
And if you need some additional motivation as to what’s actually possible, check out the link below. It simply boils down to following a plan, eating real food and dedicating oneself to the process. Only one life to live, so live it to the fullest!
http://www.getfitwithray.com/wedding-shapeup/
