Getting in shape before the Big day

Friend of mine who is a wedding planner (Can check her blog here – Sposami oggi ( Merry Me Today from Italian) asked me if I could share some advice for her brides-to-be how to get in shape before the big day and naturally (for a normal, busy and stressed women).
Honestly I felt excited and a bit afraid to share some suggestions but I do hope they will help to get in the best shape before your beautiful day! And not only to a beautiful day but for also married ladies or ladies that are not even planning to get married.

So here comes some tips:

Go shopping and carry your own bags!

Wedding can be stressful, and I can only imagine how much planning is there and how many things there is to do and I can bet that running errands is one of them, but it is not always a bad thing! During shopping you can burn up to 500 calories in 3-4 hours, if you add all that walking, bag carrying bags, choosing and trying. Important that you do not go snacking while doing it but rather carry with you some banana, walnuts or an apple in your purse or even a power bar instead taking some crisps or getting a burger. However if you want to eat – better get for a real meal or salad (like Cesar salad which is rich with protein).

Get a workout body and set a goal!

Actually it is a good that you do not have to go all the way alone and there is someone that keeps you pushing and motivating you and if that is your partner – even better. Choose some goal, like your first date, or anniversary, or maybe 1 month before your wedding day as an extra motivation to keep you pushing harder and work on a plan. Go for a run together, make Wednesday nights instead of a movie nights a gym nights, or go every weekend for a long walks/hiking, dog walking/ bicycling or maybe swimming and check your progress and you will see your results and comparison with your buddy will push yourself and him/her to compete and stay in track too. The same for motivation – will keep you motivated when will feel down.

Keep a chart of your progress.
Important! Make a chart to keep your progress and update it! If you have a diet write down every day if you stick to a diet or eat a snack out of the diet. Weight in every week the same day and hour for more accurate results, write it down and keep it as your progress and motivator – week after week.
if do not feel like a setting up a paper or your smartphone/ PC chart can also use an application – MyFitnessPal application which is a great to count calories consumed through the day and lost by exercises and as a result gives you a sum up of your daily results.

Don’t forget to eat!
(small 200-300 calorie meals, 5 or 6 times a day) and drinking at least 1 glass of water every hour, will rev up your metabolism and keep you satiated so you don’t reach for the pizza at 10 p.m.

Avoid snacking.

However if you cannot resist try to focus on fruits and vegetables instead of the junk food that you might be craving when you’re stressed, it is actually just your mind saying that and you do not really need that. (Check some alternatives for snacking here). If you’re in the mood for something salty, try lightly salted popcorn – but not a huge bucket in a butter. Also, an apple with peanut butter is a good alternative. If you want something sweet, have a piece of fruit or trail mix.

Drink water!
water is an essential part of a loosing weight and getting rid of a toxins in your body! Drink it at least 2 liters per day.

TRAIN!
Do Interval training instead of a regular cardio training.
Running is a good thing when you have time for it however if you want to burn calories you need something more effective instead – like Interval or HIIT training that will burn twice as much and can be done even at home and will find time even in a busiest lady’s schedule.

Here are a nice video with 1 min interval training that

Here is in Italian Interval training.

To set up your own training club and exercises to your chosen and targeted zones you can use Nike Training club application for your phone to make your own workout schedule and can be executed also at home.

The best thing is to make a mix between interval and strength training and not exaggerate with them. 3-4 times per week is fine.

SLEEP!

Last but not least – Good Night Sleep and NAPS! You are not going to lose any weight if you are exhausted and stressed so sometimes it is better to hit the bead instead of a gym. It will give your body needed time to rest and burn off some calories while you are sleeping or even just closing you eyes and resting. By the way, research shows that people who rests and sleeps at least 8 hours per night are more likely not to be overweight. So try to get horizontal and shut your eyes when possible to re-gain strengths and get leaner and will confront your Big Day with a smile.