15/12/2018
Wedding Diet Basics
The bride plan is specifically designed to help you slim down and stay healthy during an exciting but stressful time in your life. This is not a time when you should use fad diets, quick fix plans, or celebrity-endorsed routines. Instead, meet your daily caloric needs with clean foods: fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, lean meat or protein choices, low-fat dairy, whole grains and a limited amount of healthy fat. A smart wedding weight loss plan will ensure that you stay healthy and radiant for your special day.
To follow The Bride Diet Plan you should:
Avoid processed food (that includes almost everything that comes in a package or box)
Limit or eliminate foods with added sugar
Skip the sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages
Give up refined and starchy carbohydrates like white bread or white rice
Drink plenty of water
Restrict or eliminate alcohol (less than 7 servings per week)
Want an easy way to stick to the plan? Use the MyPlate Guide from the USDA. It is simple and it works. The dinner plate icon is a smart guide to use when planning your meals. Print it out and and use it as your guide when it is time to eat. Many fitness and health experts follow this clean eating plan (or one just like it) and it helps them get lean and fit in less time.
Wedding Diet Tips
It doesn't matter if you are the bride, a bridesmaid, the mother of the bride, or not involved in a wedding at all. These tips will help you to lean out with a specific special event in mind.
Keep It Simple
This is a short-term plan so there’s no need to get creative with complicated recipes and unfamiliar ingredients. Eat what you know and what is most convenient. There are many quick cook foods that are healthy in the produce section of your grocery store. These include microwave ready vegetable packs and pre-sliced fruits and veggies. It might also be helpful to stock up on frozen fruits and vegetables for smoothies and side dishes.
Need ideas? Grab carrots, bananas, apples or berries for snacks. Grill seafood or homemade turkey burgers for dinner. Eat eggs, egg whites or low-fat dairy for breakfast. When you need to be on the go for dress fittings and appointments, put a healthy snack bar in your purse so that you're not tempted to go for fast food.
Be Mindful of Calories
If you really eat only the foods on the clean eating plan, you probably won’t have to count calories to make sure you are eating the right number of calories. You’d be surprised how many calories you eliminate when you remove white starch, added sugar and alcohol from your diet.
But just to be sure, keep a food journal (if possible) during your first week to make sure you are eating the right amount. You can also invest in an activity tracker to see your energy balance from day to day, or use a free food tracking app, like LoseIt or MyFitnessPal.
Boost Physical Activity
Combine the Bride Diet with increased physical activity for best results. If you don't have an exercise plan in place, don't worry. You don't have to exercise strenuously for this plan to work. But try to get some physical activity every day. This might include a brisk walk, a short jog, or a home strength training workout.
If you currently exercise, add a little bit of activity to your schedule. For example, if you currently exercise three days per week, ramp it up to five. If you exercise most days of the week, add a short walk in the morning or evening to boost your metabolism.
Try not to do too much. The worst thing that could happen is for you to do too much and get burned out or injured. By simply increasing your activity level slightly, you bump your body out of complacency and start to burn more fat.
Schedule a Prep Day
Your schedule will be hectic when you are planning your wedding. Don't expect to have extra time each day to make healthy meals or prepare snacks. Instead, take one day each week and prep all foods in advance for the week.
Fill snack baggies with vegetables. Mold extra lean turkey burgers or chicken patties to grill. Make hard-boiled eggs. Make sure you have water bottles ready to grab on the go. Stock your fridge with fruit for moments when the sweet tooth hits.
Live a Little
You shouldn't take a full cheat day, but you can have one cheat meal. A full cheat day can add hundreds or even thousands of calories to your weekly intake and offset any calorie deficit you may have earned. But a cheat meal is likely to help you to keep your plan on track.
Many popular diet plans allow for a cheat day or two. For a long-term plan that is reasonable. But since your goal is short-term, keep your indulgence contained to a single meal.
Wedding Diet Plan Benefits
Of course, the greatest benefit of going on the bride diet is that you should be able to lose weight for your wedding day. And that’s the ultimate goal, right? But there are added benefits as well.
Radiant skin, nails, hair. When you add healthy fruits and veggies to your diet, you provide essential nutrients for healthy skin, healthy-looking hair and a healthier body. Of course, you could neglect these nutrients and go on a quick fix fad diet, but who wants to look gaunt and pale in their wedding photos? A well-rounded diet will help you look luscious on your big day.
No fuss, less stress. If you choose to go on a juice fast, a weight loss smoothie plan, or a quick fix routine like Katy Perry’s M-plan or the military diet, you’re going to spend your day shopping for odd foods, measuring portions and biding your time between mini-meals that leave you hungry. With this plan, you eat plenty of food. And if you remember to shop only in the produce section, the dairy aisle or at the meat/seafood counter, grocery shopping should be a snap.
Long-term health. What is sexier than a beautiful bride? A healthy honeymooner and a fit, happy newlywed. After sticking to your clean eating plan for several weeks before your wedding, you might just find that it’s a plan you can stick to for life. If not, relax the plan slightly to allow for an 80/20 eating plan for wellness and health.
