Get Fit for Married Life

If you are determined to get into shape for your wedding day, why not decide to make the change for your married life — not just your wedding day. What better way to start your new lives together than by being the healthiest and fittest you have ever been?

To help kick-start you on your way to a healthier lifestyle, we have got some great advice from Alex Buckley, author of Ssh! Lose Weight in 20 minutes, a fantastic book that combines diet advice as well as tips to help you lead a more active lifestyle:

“When it comes to advice about losing weight, we are in a situation of, information overload.

Even celebrities have jumped on the, “I’ll tell you how to lose weight” bandwagon! Consequently, none of them really hit the spot. They don’t take into consideration our everyday lifestyles, especially when you are preparing for a wedding.

The standard diets usually require big commitments and changes to both diet and exercise. This means they are not suitable or easy to sustain, especially when preparing for your wedding! It doesn’t have to be like that.”

Start Your Day With Yoghurt

While you might think dairy products are fattening, they are actually proven to help you lose weight! This is because dairy products help soak up the fat in your digestive system, meaning you excrete more fat, which in turn means you lose weight. Eat yoghurt for breakfast — it works! I would recommend natural yoghurt with a little honey mixed in. Avoid yoghurt that is flavoured, simply because it is likely to be packed full of sugar. If you want something a little more filling, then mix in some muesli with the natural yoghurt and honey.

Add Five Minutes Extra Walking Every Day of This Week

This is more of a psychological step than anything else because you need to find the time and get into the routine of walking more. There are many opportunities to do this. For example, when you are next at the supermarket, park your car as far away from the store entrance as possible. How much time will you lose by doing this? Not much.

Eat Slower and Eat a Little Less

People in expensive restaurants are likely to be served smaller portions. So why then do they not go away feeling hungry? The reason is simple: they eat more slowly to enjoy every mouthful, because it looks so beautiful. Eating slowly tricks the stomach into thinking that it has had more food than it actually has, because it takes longer to finish the meal.

Eat less. Easier said than done? Well, a good trick when eating at home is to serve your food on small plates. Not only will it look more attractive, but it will encourage you to serve yourself less, meaning that you will eat a smaller amount.

Introduce 15 Sit-ups Each and Every Morning

If you cannot do sit-ups, then do what I call ‘sit-downs’. Start in a sitting position on the floor and slowly lean back, until you feel your stomach muscles working. Count to five slowly, and then release by either sitting back up or lying down on the floor. Sit-ups are good because they provide definition and accentuate your weight loss.

Have Soup for Lunch

You will find that when you eat soup at lunch you will feel less hungry during the afternoon and so, will snack less. This works because the acids in your stomach are liquid, like the soup, it therefore takes more time for the acids to break the soup down because the soup has basically mixed with, and diluted the acid. A wonderful trick that works like a treat so, start eating soup for lunch.

Jog for 5 Minutes Every Day

If you can do more than 5 minutes, great, but whatever timeframe you choose, make sure that you can commit to it and that you do it every day. If you are not used to running then do no more than 5 minutes. We don’t want any injuries before your wedding day! You know what you can do, so listen to your body. Get out there and start burning those calories and there is no faster way than running!