GETTING WEDDING FIT

How many many of us each year in January vow to lose weight? Yet within a few days, we all crumble at the first sight of a chocolate bar. This could be from a lack of motivation or from not having a strong support system, or having a clearly defined goal. Well, for those of us, who are getting married this year (or like myself, renewing my vows to my amazing husband!), it is time to get serious. With a new year comes a new start, and a new found motivation – hopefully.

If  you are serious about shifting those love handles, you need to face this head on. Write your goals down. This shows you are serious and committed. However, for you it might not be about losing weight, but simply want to tone up. Record your weight or measurements or both to track your progress, this way you will know that your hard work is paying off, even though you might not necessarily see the results straight away. Carry a photo around in your hand bag of a picture of your dream wedding dress, and how amazing you would will feel wearing that designer dress, and looking back on your photos in years to come at how stunning you look, and feeling proud looking at the beautiful women in the photo’s staring back at you.

Now I am not a doctor, fitness instructor/coach, or a nutritionist, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out how to lose weight, does it? It’s simple, just move a little more and eat a little less. Of course we need to eat the right foods though, after all we don’t want to be fainting as we’re walking up the aisle! We should all take a vow now to lose weight the healthy way, and not the easy (but potential dangerous) way. Pills and silly faddy diets are for the weak, or those looking for a quick fix such as meal replacements, the cabbage soup diet, Atkins. Yuk! No thanks! I’ll do it the healthy way, thanks! You might stick to them for a few days or weeks, and eventually will fall off the wagon and gain all of your weight back and more, leaving you equally frustrated and even further behind you goal.

MOVE YOUR BODY

If you hate exercise, my theory is that you haven’t tried every exercise or program out there to hate all forms of exercise. Start off by trying something new, and if you don’t like that, then move on to something else. For example, try a Pilates class, if that’s not for you, maybe try spinning, or even a dancing class. From experience, I swear by Zumba. It doesn’t matter what level you are at, just follow your instructors moves. The great thing about attending a Zumba class is how much fun they are and the great atmosphere. There are many classes around Manchester which are at many different levels. However check out this list, I am sure will find something that is for you:

Aerobics

Aqua Aerobics

Badminton

Basketball

Body Conditioning

Boxing

Climbing

Cycling

Cricket

Disco Dancing

Football

Hockey

Horse Riding

Ice Skating

Jogging

Kick Boxing

Line Dancing

Netball

Pilates

Power Walking

Rollerblading

Running

Salsa

Skiing

Skipping

Spinning

Squash

Step

Swimming

Tennis

Walking

Weight Training

Yoga

Zumba

DON’T LEAVE IT TO THE LAST MINUTE!

Get started today! Having an impending wedding looming is just the pressure you might need to spur you on. This in one of those many tasks you may have on your ever expanding to do list that needs to be started as early as possible. So start today!

THE BENEFITS

The many benefits of losing weight and getting healthy is that with all of the extra tasks you have to manage and the extra stress, exercising can give you extra energy and not to mention the extra health benefits and help to combat stress. No matter how stressful planning a wedding might be, running on the treadmill or attending a Zumba class for an hour, can help you to de stress you and leave you feeling more calmer and in control.

JANUARY SALES

It is not always about discounted designer clothes, shoes, bags or DVDs, the wedding industry offers many discounts as well, such as getting married in winter months (check out my blog entry ‘Winter Weddings’ for more information on saving money by getting married in the cooler months). However, in January you can find many weight loss related products for sale. I have already seen a few Groupon/Living Social, ect deals offering several classes or gym visits at higher end gyms for a fraction of the price, or other types of deals offering cut price membership deals already, and it’s just turned 2012.

INCLUDE FITNESS IN YOUR WEDDING BUDGET

Depending on how large your wedding budget is, you should plan to allocate some of your budget to help you achieve your new fit and toned body. This could include gym memberships, training sessions or home gym equipment. At the very least book a onetime consultation with a personal trainer to help kick start your work out regime and weight loss.  

If you can afford a personal trainer, you can’t go wrong. Especially if you meet with them weekly, more than likely you should start seeing results a lot quicker than if you were to go at it alone.

REWARDING YOUR HARD WORK

We all know what the ultimate reward is – fitting into your beautiful wedding gown – but in order to stay motivated and stay on track, we need to reward ourselves and our hard work along the way. Every time you drop a dress size, but yourself a new outfit, or something you have really wanted. This will inspire you to work hard. Do not by your reward until you have achieved your small goal first or it defeats the object. Unless it is a dress a size smaller.

Though remember, it is not just about getting fit for your wedding, it is about getting fit for life!