Most brides, regardless of their dress size or body fat percentage, want to appear slimmer on their wedding day. If you’re one of these brides, don’t give up nutrition for weight loss. You’ll want to be the picture of glowing happiness and health, feeling well and energized for the big day. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to achieve these goals.
Get a great seamstress! A well tailored wedding dress accentuates the positive aspects of your figure and downplays the negative. A wedding dress that is too tight, too loose, or poorly fit in some other manner will not help you look your best, and will probably feel pretty uncomfortable too. While specific recommendations for looking slimmer are best left to a personal consultation with a seamstress, in general, focusing on the waistline in some manner, and elongating the overall look of your body in the dress are good ways to help slim your look. Simple, monochromatic dresses in a color flattering to your skin tone tend to be slimming as well. Most brides look good in white, but don’t be afraid to experiment with other colors that help you look and feel gorgeous. Also, if you want beading and/or lace on your dress, they will tend to be more flattering if their patterns are simple and run vertically.
Stress management – the last few days and weeks before a wedding can be nerve-wracking. It seems there are always details popping up at the last minute, and usually the bride is the decision maker who needs to straighten it all out. Unfortunately, a common reaction for the body when it is under stress is to retain water – to the point where your wedding ring, which fit perfectly at the jewelry store, is hard to slip on during the ceremony, and your well-tailored wedding dress will seem a little bit tighter. Here are some ways to help control “stress bloat”:
- Schedule some down time in those last few days, when you can relax and reassure yourself that everything will work out okay.
- A good all over massage can help work excess fluid out of your body.
- Highly-processed junk foods and diet sodas contain lots of sodium (salt) which tends to increase irritability as well as cause bloating, so avoid them in favor of water for drinking and fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other healthy, whole food snacks.
- Keep your blood sugar steady with regular meals with adequate protein and fat.
- Drink plenty of water to keep your skin clear and to relieve water retention.
- Get the right amount of sleep, keeping a regular bedtime and wake up routine. It’s hard to be the picture of glowing happiness when you haven’t had enough sleep!
Wedding workout – exercise is a great stress reliever, but there’s no need to kill yourself in the gym in the days before your wedding. Your wedding day is likely to be long and emotionally demanding, so light to moderate workouts during the week prior, followed by plenty of rest will better prepare you to handle the big day than strenuous, draining workouts. If your wedding day schedule allows it, you may even want to make time to take a 30-60 minute walk in the morning, preferably someplace quiet. The walk can help burn off nervous energy and loosen up any muscle tension you may have built up from worrying about last-minute details.
And finally, it helps to remain focused on the important stuff. Remind yourself often that your wedding day isn’t about stressing yourself out to put on a good show for your guests. It’s about publicly declaring your love and commitment to your husband – so as long as you both show up and the paperwork gets signed, everything else is just icing on the (wedding) cake!
More information on wedding weight loss, wedding diets and top sites for healthy brides and grooms.
