In the run up to a wedding you can be very busy and stressed so focusing on exercising and eating the right foods can be the last thing you feel like doing. What most brides-to-be need is a simple but effective approach that helps them look and feel fabulous on their special day...
Detox the bride…
Our bodies don’t like toxins. So much so that when we consume them, our bodies wrap water, fat or self made cholesterol around them and store them near our surface. This means that a lot of water retention and excess fat storage, can be reduced by eliminating toxins. Therefore, cut back or cut out sugar, caffeine, alcohol, processed food and eat as much raw food as you can and drink hot water and lemon in the run up to the big day as this will help flush the toxins out. Dandelion tea is a great detoxing herbal drink.
Banish bridal bingo wings…
Most wedding dresses show off arms, so making sure triceps are toned is a must-have for many brides. Arms can actually tone up quite quickly and you can create great muscle definition in a few sessions with some clever combinations. Combine press ups, triceps dips, triceps presses (like a press up but with narrow arms) and mix with boxing for the best results. These will work all the muscles in the upper body and arms and give girls a gorgeous shape.
Go princess go…
If you are short of time, as many brides are, you need to be as effective as possible with your training. Doing interval training will boost fitness levels and calories burned and help with last minute shape change. Interval training is where you do an activity as fast or as hard as you can for as long as you can, then go slower or work easier until you have recovered and can go again. For example, an interval running session would be a five minute warm up, a five minute steady state jog and then sprinting as fast as you can, for a minute or a minute and a half, then walking/doing a slow jog for a minute and then sprinting as fast as you can and repeating for 30 to 40 minutes. You can use the same principle for walking, using the cross trainer etc, you just need to ensure you are working at different levels as opposed to the same pace which a lot of people do without getting good results.
De-bloat the bride
Being bloated as a bride will not only affect the way you look, but also the way you feel. The best de-bloating tips are:
1. No fizzy drinks (any fizz you consume is stored in the body or has to come out somehow, you do the maths!)
2. No wheat, ie bread, pasta, cakes and biscuits (choose a good quality dark chocolate if you fancy something sweet, or have wheat-free bread/pasta)
3. No fruit with meals, after meals or mixing fruit and ideally keeping fruit to a minimum (fruit ferments in the gut which creates acidity, bloating and hunger)
4. No chewing gum (creates air and acidity)
5. Eat slowly and chew food properly in the run up to your big day
Sleeping beauty
If you are tired, your body starts to shut down by slowing your metabolism, making you crave sweet/high calorie foods and promoting more fat storage in a way to conserve energy. The best way to stop this happening is to sleep as much as you can. Use Lavender oil or spray to help you relax, have an Epsom salts bath and try to create as much down time as possible.
Beauty and the bath…
Epsom salts will not only help to calm your body down, but massively help to reduce water retention too. Epsom salts are basically magnesium salts that your body can absorb via the skin in the bath. Toxins are drawn out of the body, they help to restore the body’s PH balance and they help aching muscles and tired minds. They’re cheap (about £2 a kilo) and you simply put half a kilo in the bath and relax for 20 minutes. Buy from small local pharmacies or get them delivered to your door if buying from justasoap.co.uk.
Sparkling bride
In order to make sure your body is in tip top shape and your skin, hair and nails look great, focus your eating on raw vegetables and salads, avocados, seeds, nuts and olive oil. Choose easily digested and lean proteins like eggs and organic chicken as well as omega rich oily fish. This will mean you are giving yourself the best chance of sparkling from top to toe, inside and out.
A typical bride-to-be training and eating program might look like this:
630am: Hot water and lemon
7am to 8am: 40 minutes of interval running and 20 minutes of triceps conditioning
815am: Celery, apple, cucumber, spinach and lemon juice
9am: Toasted rye bread with peanut butter
11am: A pear
1pm: Baked sweet potatoes with hoummas and a watercress and spinach salad
4pm: An avocado eaten with a tea spoon
630pm: Baked salmon with a mixed salad, olive oil and lemon dressing
7pm: Four squares of dark organic chocolate and a cup of dandelion tea
830pm: Epsom salts bath
915pm: Spray bed with lavender spray and read a book/magazine
945pm: Sleep
Happy training, princesses…
If saving for your wedding has also left you short on pennies read Janey's 10 ways to get fit for free article and lose pounds from your middle not your purse.
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