Brides Reveal Their Best Weight-Loss Secrets

Dream dress? Check. Dream body? Not so much. Like most brides, you're on a mission to slim down, tone up, and eat right to look your absolute best on your big day. But with so many health and diet plans and workout trends to choose from, you don't know where to start. Love Michelle Obama's super sculpted arms or Gwen Stefani's washboard abs? Find out how to get a celebrity body and finally shed those last few pesky pounds once and for all. Read on for wedding weight loss tips and lowfat diet tricks that really work from newlyweds who walked down the aisle looking (and feeling!) fit and fabulous.

Sculpt and Tone with the Bar Method
"I have always been a runner and a walker, so I kept that up two or three times a week and incorporated Bar Method into my workout about twice a week in preparation for my wedding. Bar Method really helped tone my body—especially my arms—and I would recommend it to everyone. It is an incredible workout. I also used Weight Watchers Online to help with my diet. The stress of planning the wedding combined with the fact that 250 people would be looking at me in the least flattering color out there really seemed to help motivate me! Now, I am very happy to be married and back to wearing my favorite color—black." -Lizzy, San Francisco, CA

Learn Core Strengthening Secrets
"For my wedding weight loss plan, I started doing CORE FUSION®, which fuses core conditioning, Pilates, the Lotte Berk Method, interval cardio training, and yoga. Going to class motivated me in a group setting and focused on total body toning with extra focus on the core, which was my target area.

The class bridges the mind and body to improve overall well being while fulfilling my fitness goals—a perfect workout to clear my head from the stressful planning leading up to the wedding! It was my favorite hour of the day and really kept me balanced. The class also taught me that you do not need to use heavy weights to get toned arms. They recommend 3 and 5 pound weights, which—believe it or not—still really toned my arms!"

Try Simple Swaps for a Lowfat Diet
"My mother-in-law treated me to a week at Rancho La Puerta about four months before my wedding, which kick-started my workouts leading up to the big day and got me moving more and eating healthier. I tried spinning for the first time there and loved it. Aside from a fancy spa, which isn't realistic as a long-term plan, I made many little food substitutions that added up.

Here are a few: Balsamic vinegar and hot sauce on salad instead of oily dressing, drinking white wine spritzers (1 part white wine, 1 part Pellegrino, a few cubes of ice) to cut alcohol calories, using low fat spreadable cheese instead of peanut butter on my morning toast, having half a Skinny Cow instead of a whole one for an occasional dessert, making delish ‘fake' lattes at home instead of going to Starbucks. My advice for others: Make little changes that feel doable. They add up over time."

Hillary's "Fake" Latte Recipe

Ingredients:
1/3 cup skim milk
1 tsp Agave syrup (sweet and lower cal than sugar, all-natural, available at Whole Foods)
1 pinch of cinnamon
1 cup brewed drip coffee

Directions:
Warm the milk in the microwave for one minute. Add in the agave syrup and a pinch of cinnamon. Use an inexpensive milk frother to make it foamy; then pour in the coffee.

Wedding Diet Tip 4: Try a Trainer
"What worked best for me before my wedding was getting a personal trainer. I knew that having someone there to motivate me would really keep me going. Not only was it really fun and I learned a lot, but my husband (then fiancé) did sessions with me from time to time. I started about eight months before the wedding, doing one session a week with my trainer, Manny. He taught me so much about how to eat better, workout better, and things I could do at home and on my own. As the wedding date drew closer, we did more sessions per week.

Then I took the last week off to rest, since I knew I would be too excited to hardly eat, I didn't want to push my body. I loved my trainer and learned so much. If I had the money, I would use one all the time, but they are expensive and it adds up fast. I was lucky enough to get a good deal and be able to have the luxury of a trainer. Even if someone is tight on cash, I would recommend a smaller package just to learn your way around a gym, what works best for your body, and get direction so you can do it on your own."

Wedding Diet Tip 5: Kick Your Workouts into High Gear
"I tried to lose weight off and on for years, but once we set a wedding date, I decided 15 to 20 pounds were coming off no matter what. I had been going to a trainer two or three times a week, but I didn't feel like he was very tough on me, so I signed up for three months of training with a friend who is a hard-core trainer (she actually lost 390 pounds on her own!). I trained once a week with her and twice with my other trainer.

In addition to the strength training, I tried to get in five or six days of 30 to 45 minutes of cardio. I mixed it up to make it interesting—running outside, treadmill, elliptical, and videos. For a lowfat diet, I followed Weight Watchers. Then the last four weeks, I cut out carbs all together (except for wine—I had to have something!). By my wedding day, I lost almost 20 pounds and was the thinnest I'd ever been. The one piece of advice I'd give is to not let wedding diets or workouts stress you out; it shouldn't take away from enjoying the planning and all the great showers, bachelorette parties, and celebratory dinners. You can still enjoy those, just make up for it with an extra workout or being extra good the following day."

Wedding Diet Tip 6: Be Prepared for Possible Last-Minute Weight Loss
"Anxiety and nervousness caused me to drop an additional five pounds the week of my wedding. My gown had to be re-fit the day before the wedding."

What wedding diets do you want to learn more about? Leave a comment to share your wedding weight loss strategies and fitness plans with us!

[H/T: www.shape.com]

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