How to Lose Weight Before Your Wedding Day

If you’re wondering how to lose weight before your wedding day, then this is for you! Many Brides feel the need to tone up and lose weight for their big day and can be tempted to try any and everything. There are so many diets out there like Keto, Paleo, Weigh-less, Intermittent Fasting, The Zone Diet and more! Not even to mention all the health drinks, shakes and pills! The question is, which one of these “diets” actually work? What is the best for lasting results? After reading through this blog post, I am absolutely confident that you’ll know exactly what to do next to start feeling and looking your absolute best for your wedding day (and even long after)!

What is The Best “Diet” to Lose Weight Before Your Wedding

The first thing you need to know is that there truly is no quick fix or magic pill for weight loss or a toned body. If you thought this post was going to give you some sort of magic formula that no one knows and suddenly you”ll have the best body in two weeks, you can move right a long! But, what I can tell you is that with a little bit of knowledge and consistency, you can achieve your dream body for your wedding day!

Calories In vs Calories Out

As simple as it sounds, the main reason people pick up weight is because they are consuming more calories than what they are burning. Okay….but how do we fix that? Eating less and moving more? Well, yes! That’s exactly how. However, it isn’t as easy as it seems though, because most people have no idea how many calories they burn or how many calories they consume! All “diets” out there will only work if the calories that you consume are lower than the calories that you burn. Most diets out there follow the principle of calories in vs calories out. Keto tries to eliminate carbs to reduce the amount of calories you consume. Intermittent fasting wants you to skip meals to reduce the amount of calories you consume. Weigh-less focuses on portion control to allow for less calories consumed. They all use the same principle, however, the best diet is the one that works for you!

How to Consume Less Calories

So, how do we eat less than we burn? Well, let me start by listing a few ways to eat fewer calories to help reduce the overall amount of calories you consume.

• Make sure to hit your protein goal. For ladies, this is 100-120g of protein, and can be even more if you’re extremely active! Hitting your protein goal will help keep you feeling satiated to avoid cravings later in the day. Examples of high protein foods include: White meat, lean red meat, seafood, eggs, milk, cottage cheese, greek yoghurt, whey protein powders etc. Use THIS LINK to help you determine your protein goal.
• Try to eat foods that are high in volume, yet low in calories for example whole, real foods like fruits, vegetables, meats, rice, potatoes, leafy greens etc. Everyone knows what real foods are. Try to reduce the amount of processed foods you eat like cake, cookies, candy, fries etc!
• Be mindful of how many fats you consume. Fatty foods are extremely high in calories and super low in volume. For example, many people thinks nuts are extremely healthy and so they eat a ton of nuts without realizing how much fat they contain. Although they are healthy fats, they are still extremely caloric dense and aren’t super high in volume. The same applies for sauces. Sauces may look like they don’t have many calories, but many of them do! Examples of fatty foods to be mindful of include: butter, full fat diary products, coconut cream, oils, nuts and seeds, mayonnaise, all nut butters etc.

What Exercise Burns The Most Calories?

Now that you’re a little more aware of what foods to eat to lower your caloric intake, let’s chat about how we can burn more calories. First of all, the absolute BEST workout out there, is the one YOU enjoy and can follow consistently. If you hate running, then don’t run! Find an activity you enjoy! Dancing, yoga, pilates, crossfit, weightlifting, cycling, sports, swimming, walking, hiking whatever! It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you enjoy it, that’s all that matters.

Here’s a list of the best ways to burn calories and tone up for your wedding day:

• Try to get 8-10thousand steps per day. Being more active during your day is the best and fastest way to burn more calories. Most people will work out for one hour and then sit down the rest of the day and call themselves “active”. This isn’t great at all. Here are some ways to increase your daily activity to burn more calories throughout the day- Go for walks. Park further away from the grocery store. Take the stairs. Take calls while walking around and not sitting down. Vacuum the house. Get a standing desk etc.
• Lift weights at least 2-3 times per week. No, it won’t make you bulky! Lifting weights and eating protein is the absolute BEST way to burn calories and tone up for your wedding day! If you don’t know anything about lifting weights, don’t worry, there are so many apps out there to help with that! Start by simple things like squats, lunges, push ups, sit ups, bicep curls, dips, shoulder presses, bench presses etc!
• Be consistent. Make sure you choose a lifestyle that is sustainable that you can follow consistently!

How Long Does It Take to Lose Weight?

Losing weight and toning up takes time. It takes much longer than you think. People who are extremely overweight will lose weight fast and may see results within 3-4 weeks. However, for the most people it takes 4+ months to truly see a difference. It can even take years! Think about some people who pick up weight slowly as the years go by- especially after school. They didn’t pick up 30LBS in 3 weeks. It took years to put on that weight. The same thing applies when trying to lose that weight again. This is why it’s so important to not do anything that isn’t sustainable! No one can cut out sugar and carbs forever. Therefore, make sure your diet is a lifestyle change and not a 30day detox etc. Studies have shown that most people who lose weight from fad diets and quick fixes, pick up the weight they’ve lost and more!

Extra tips for losing weight before your Wedding

There’s more to losing weight and feeling great than just eating right and moving. Getting enough sleep is extremely important! If your body doesn’t get in adequate sleep, you will feel extremely sluggish and crave junk food. Your body also needs sleep to recover from workouts in order to actually build muscle. Having muscle on your frame is important for many reasons, but especially for weight loss! More muscle means your body burns more calories as it takes a lot more effort for your body to fuel your muscles compared to fat. Having muscle and a low body fat is also what makes a body appear toned. However, you first need muscle in order to look toned.

Drinking lots of water throughout the day is very important for weight loss as well!

Final Takeaways to Lose Weight Before Your Wedding Day

Here are the key takeaways from this post and things you can start doing right now to lose weight for before your wedding to look and feel your absolute best!

• Hit your daily protein goal (100-120g for woman)
• Aim for 8-10 thousand steps per day
• Lift weights or do resistance training 3 days a week
• Eat whole, real foods and limit processed foods
• Drink 8 glasses of water (2liters) per day
• Get 7-9 hours of sleep per day

More about Heidi Straus Photography

My name is Heidi and I was born and raised in South Africa. I moved to the US when I was 21, where I met my husband and started my photography business. My two biggest passions in life are photography and Fitness. I’ve always wanted to combine the two and find a way to help brides feel confident on their big day! I have years of experience with nutrition, health and fitness. I really hope this post helped you to identify ways to make a lifestyle change in order for your to lose weight before your wedding day!