A complete step by step guide to your wedding weightloss

Here at Alare we love you in any shape or size, so please don't feel this is a subtle hint!  We are also well aware that many brides want to tone up to feel their best on their wedding day, and there are lots of fads and dangerous diets out there.  So instead of having you search for something that might not be safe, we've got some top quality advice from Gavyn at Start Afresh PT for those who would like it.  Please don't feel you have to do anything differently - BE YOU!  But the info is here if you want it.

Here is a complete step by step guide to help you lose weight for your wedding.

I know that losing weight and getting fit is a real struggle, I’ve been there, I’ve done it, and I’ve got the T shirt. What also qualifies me to write about this is that I’ve also helped people do it and I know that deep down everyone is capable of achieving their fitness and fat-loss goals regardless of past failures.

In my experience there are 4 pillars to successful weight-loss and they are;

• Mind-set
• Exercise
• Nutrition
• Rest and recovery 

If any of those things are missing your goals will be really hard to achieve. Think of it like a chair, if you take one leg away the chair tips. Sure part of it is still up but it would be pretty hard and uncomfortable to sit on.

This blog will outline step by step what you need to do to get results. No fad diet or claims of the best exercise just solid actionable advice.

Mind-Set

Mind-set is an important factor and it’s the one thing people overlook. We are more concerned about the best exercise, best diet, best whatever, but the best anything is floored if you don’t have the mental fortitude to do it. It’s the old saying “You can lead the horse to water but you can’t make it drink” 

Now there are optimal ways there are sub optimal ways but essentially the secret sauce that everyone is looking for is somewhere in the middle, the process doesn’t have to be painful it just takes a small amount of consistency to get started which lay the foundations and which can be built upon over time.

However this consistency MUST be driven by a decision based on an emotional trigger, because without that strong trigger, no committed decision can be made and then no consistency can be maintained because you have no reason.

Let’s look at our horse, if he’s not thirsty then he won’t drink the water, but if he has been galloping around a field for a couple of hours then he’ll drink whatever you put in front of it. It’s a decision based on an emotional trigger, and in this case he’s driven by thirst.

This trigger can be a little bit elusive and it can be a bit hard to find, but it’s done by asking yourself a series of questions, a principle I borrowed called the ‘5 whys’.

Essentially you sit down with a piece of paper (or open word doc) and write on top of the page.

‘Why do I want to lose weight?’

Then write the first thing that comes into your head.

Here’s an example.

Q1. ‘Why do I want to lose weight?’
A1. Because I want to fit into my wedding dress. 

Q2. Why do you want to fit into your wedding dress?
A2. Because at the moment it’s really uncomfortable and I don’t want to look fat in it. 

Q3. Why don’t you want to look fat?
A3. Because I don’t want everyone to look at me and think I’m a fat. 

Q4. Why don’t you want people thinking that?
A4. Because its embarrassing. 

Q5. Why is it embarrassing?
A5. Because I don’t want to be the fat bride?

(Now you could carry on digging and use as many questions as you need to get to the bottom of it.)

So from this process you have determined an emotional reason and trigger for losing weight for your wedding day. ‘I don’t want to be a fat bride because I’ll be embarrassed.’

The original reason is ‘I want to fit into my dress’, but without digging you won’t know why.

Now your reasons maybe very different and only you can answer them, but with that reason you have a very powerful motivator and you now have the right mind-set to start making small consistent changes.

When I coach clients I go through a process based on the GROW model. This is a very powerful tool to help people come up with their own solutions and you can get a working copy of a document I use for free here - GROW 

GROW is an coaching tool and acronym for;

Goal (what goals do you have?)
Reality (What is your current reality)
Options (what options to you have to achieve this goal)
Will (Establish the will or reason – the 5 whys 

I really urge you to go through this, it will be an invaluable resource and you’ll learn a lot. The option steps will essentially come down to exercise and nutrition which I will cover shortly.

Habits

The next step is creating good habits and both exercise and nutrition come hand in hand. What I’ve learned from experience is changing too many things at once can be disastrous, and a lot of people try and go cold turkey, cut out this and that, and start exercising excessively and usually hours of cardio.

What happens then is that results slow or stop, and you feel you aren’t getting anywhere despite all the hard work you are putting in and you give up.

There is a much smarter and much easier way and that is to change 1-2 things a week and embed them into your current reality. So in over 12 weeks you could potentially add in 24 new habits that are sustainable long term and your results will be outstanding.

Keep yourself a food diary for three-four days and see what changes you can make. Here’s a template you can download and use for free.

Exercise habits

So let’s change your exercise habits. You may be someone who does no exercise at all apart from running around at work or chasing the kids, and I get that, it’s hard in itself, but let’s face it, you aren’t getting results.

So whether you like it or not you will have to start exercising. Now the ideal scenario is about 5-7 hours of activity a week and that’s fine in theory, but I am confident that if you don’t exercise now then 5-7 hours is just pie in the sky and completely unachievable at the moment.

So how do we get around this? Well it’s easy, you start small and build up. Look holistically at your week and decide at which point in the day you can do some form of deliberate exercise for 10-15 minutes. That’s it! Now this could be a power walk, a body weight routine, an exercise bike, cross trainer, running up your stairs, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you do something.

Here is a couple of links for full body routines if you need some inspiration.

http://www.dumbbells-to-wedding-bells.com/burn-fat-tone-body-just-towel-chair/
http://www.dumbbells-to-wedding-bells.com/full-body-workout-resistance-bands/ 

Or if you want to build your own workouts check out my exercise library.

http://www.dumbbells-to-wedding-bells.com/dumbbells-to-wedding-bells-home-page/exercise-library/

Then over two weeks or so if you manage to successfully add 10-15 minutes per day, up that to 20 minutes. Over the course of a week at an average of 100-150 cals per workout you have now burned off an extra 700 – 100- cals per week.

Let’s say you can’t manage 10-15 minutes then just do 5 minutes, do what you can and build up. I promise that before you know it you will be up to 35-40 mins per day without even realising it.

Before you know it you’re doing your 5-7 hours a week!

Nutrition Habits

The same principle works for nutrition, start small and work up. What I recommend is that you start with breakfast, and make sure A), you are eating it, and B), you are eating protein.

So if you are a non-breakfast eater, then make an effort to eat it.

A good start is a hi-fibre cereal and some plain yoghurt with berries. Straight away you have now sparked your metabolism, you have fibre, good carbs, protein and antioxidants from the berries and this should tie you over for the morning without hunger pangs or cravings.

Once you have successfully implemented this move on to other meals like lunch and dinner, ensuring that they are well balanced, a lean protein, complex carbohydrate, good fats and veges.

Here’s a link to how your plate should look and what good nutrition looks like, build up meal by meal day by day and before you know it you have a solid training schedule and solid nutritional schedule.

Now this may take a few weeks to get into the swing, and it won’t be perfect every day and that’s totally fine, but by making these small deliberate changes you will reap huge rewards. 

Let’s face it by changing your diet and adding exercise you will soon be saving yourself upwards of 500 cals per day, and that’s all you need to start seeing dramatic results not only in weight loss but energy levels and confidence.

BUT, and there is a BUT you have to keep your emotional trigger at the forefront of your mind. There will be days you don’t feel like, but you must keep moving forward and if your reason isn’t strong enough then you will not succeed.

Here are some superfoods you can start using today.

Rest and Recovery

The next overlooked factor is rest and recovery. We need sleep and we need rest, and when we are over tired and run down we get ill, we can’t be bothered to exercise and we tend to crave sweet or unhealthy foods more when we are tired.

You can read more about it here.

So how do you get more sleep? Exactly the same way you add in exercise and proper nutrition, slowly adding 10-15 minutes per night, even if it means going to bed a bit earlier.

So putting this all together

Taking in to account all of the above, chose 1-2 things you can do on a daily basis that will give you the biggest bang for your buck, and only you can figure this out.

It maybe you are tired all the time, in that case you may feel before you can start exercising you need more rest. So habit 1 will be to prioritise sleep. It could be you sleep really well and you just don’t exercise then in that case, habit 1 will be implementing exercise. Do what you need to but do something.

This process is so easy to implement and the beauty of it is to implement the minimum effective dose and by creating daily habits your goals will take care of themselves.

What next

You can start working on this right now and the sooner you do the faster you will see results.

However if you want me to walk you through this I have created a whole programme called Dumbbells to Wedding Bells that you can purchase for just $35 which comes with a 100% Money Back Guarantee. 

Or if you feel that you need more help I offer a complete coaching package and walk you through the process step by step and which is tailored completely to your needs, for more information on this please email me.

I urge you to come and join my Facebook group to where you can connect with other brides to be on the same journey as you and who can help and support you.

Either way, good luck with your weight loss efforts.

Remember It’s your Day, your Dress, No regrets!

Gavyn