How to Get in Shape for Your Wedding
July 5th, 2007 - Wedding How to, Your Wedding Look.Whittling Down for Wedding Day There’s no avoiding it: on your wedding day, you will be the center of attention, and all eyes will rest upon you in your fabulous gown or tux. You selected your wedding attire and accessories, your hairstyle, and your makeup with one purpose in mind–to look your absolute best. With a good pre-wedding shape-up plan, your body can look its best, too. Shaping up doesn’t mean starving yourself to transform your size 16 body into a size 6 in three short months. Every bride will be beautiful on her wedding day, no matter what her dress size. But if you’d like to firm those upper arms for your sleeveless sheath, or trim that waistline a bit to emphasize that bell-shaped ball gown, you can get svelte sensibly. Men too can benefit from a good fitness shape-up before they take the plunge. After all, no one cuts a more dashing figure than a trim man in a tux. There’s no magic solution for losing weight. Despite all the fad diets that crop up each year, weight loss always boils down to the same simple formula: eat less, exercise more. The hard part is sticking with it long enough to achieve the results. To accomplish this, a lifestyle change in eating and exercising habits is essential, especially in keeping the weight off after you’re married, when the tradeoff for a contented life usually equates to things like love handles. Another reality check: there’s no such thing as spot reducing. Working those biceps and triceps regularly will not result in thinner arms. To lose fat, you have to lose calories. However, what you can accomplish through focused exercise is sculpting and firming. Building a little muscle tone (we’re not talking bulk here) will certainly improve the look of those flabby arms; a strong core may not show itself in six-pack abs, but it will keep that abdomen tucked into its rightful place. Don’t delay in getting started: the sooner you start losing weight, the more of a cushion you’ll have for getting back on track after those occasional weekend binges. Make a prenup pact to get in shape together, and spend an evening developing a nutrition plan. Arm yourself with a good nutrition book, a calorie counter, a kitchen scale, dumbbells, and an exercise mat. Join a gym, walk the dog daily, take a spinning class, or play basketball with your groomsmen regularly. Don’t give in to the seductions of quick-fix diets and miracle pills–one will be impossible to sustain over the long run, and the other is flat-out dangerous to your health. Something to keep you motivated: at your first fitting, take a photo of yourself in your wedding dress or tux. Then pin it under a refrigerator magnet to remind you of your goal every time you reach for another sugary soda or ice-cream bar. – Lisa Costantino, Amazon.com Wedding Expert 
