Wedding Countdown 4: The Exercise Plan

Lauren
It's a little over five months until my wedding, and I'm just getting serious about my health kick. It sounds like heaps of time, but it's not...and to be honest, I really only have 3.5 - 4 months (or until my last dress fitting) to reach my goal weight. I'm basing these deadlines around the fact that I'm getting my dress made...if you plan to order a dress off the rack, it may take over five months to arrive, in which case you can't gamble too much with what size you will be on your wedding day. A pre-made gown can only be altered so much!

 

Like most of you, I'm a busy lady! At the end of the day, there's little time left over, and what is remaining I try to share between spending time with Reece, family and friends. Because of my schedule I can no longer commit to playing social sports, and until recently I was finding myself turning to unhealthy food options because I was too busy working to cook.

 

Excuses, excuses! The fact of the matter is – I’m heavier than I’ve ever been and I’m not very fit – neither of which makes me feel good about myself. While I'm not a contender for shows like Downsize Me, what matters is that I don't feel comfortable with my size or my level of fitness. 

 

It's not just about getting skinny. It's about looking after myself. I don't want to get old before my time - I want to travel the world on intrepid journeys and adventures, where you have to walk for days or climb 1000 stairs to get to the top of a temple etc. But let's face it - I'm not that person at the moment. Reece and I also want to have children soon after our wedding, and as you probably know, the better shape you're in, the better the pregnancy and the easier to get back into shape afterwards.

 

So, I've kicked myself into gear! I try to walk home from my work in the city a couple of days a week, it takes me about an hour and is mostly up hill. I have also stopped donating to my gym and have actually started using its facilities! I'm starting to take pump and Yoga classes (Yoga is much harder than I thought it would be!). Summer is not too far away, so I plan to play a lot more tennis and maybe a bit of touch rugby or indoor netball as well.

 

I’ve just started Weight Watchers, as portion control has always been a big problem for me – a habit I picked up from growing up with lots of brothers. I've done WW before, and it worked really well. I really like their points system and that I can buy normal food from the supermarket, which means I don't have to cook different meals for me and Reece. If you plan well you can actually eat quite a lot throughout a day. I have my first weigh in tonight so fingers crossed I have lost some weight!

 

I plan to do this the healthy way. I want this health kick to become a part of my life and not just a means to lose weight for my wedding – plain and simple, the wedding is giving me the kick up the bum that I need...watch this space!

 

Check out our Health & Wellbeing section of theBIGstep.co.nz Directory here or see our Tips section here for lots of helpful articles on getting in shape for your big day!


Sarah

I am sure every future bride has the dream of being tall, skinny and waif-like in her very expensive designer wedding dress on her big day. Then reality sets in! I am 5”2 or 157cm and at different stages of my life have been anything from a size 10 to a size16. So tall and waif-like is not really an option. I would like to lose a few kilos for the big day and have learnt from prior experience that the only way I will ever reach my “goal weight” is by lots of hard work and exercise. So I assumed that leading up to my wedding I would be inspired to get back on the treadmill. But since April I have been saying “next month I will start…”


 

Currently I go to the gym about once a week (being honest more like once a fortnight) and walk our fur-kids in the weekends. Every week I plan in my head all the classes I will go to at the gym and all the walks or runs I will go on, and then I get home from work and get distracted by dinner and Shortland Street.
 

I arranged for some personal training sessions at my gym in the hope that it would get me into a regular routine. All the little lad kept going on about was “if you row you will lose the weight” and “if you cross train you will lose the weight”. Doesn’t he know you are not allowed to say that sort of thing to females?! You never talk about weight, and pretend the only reason we all go to the gym is to increase our fitness. So four sessions down and I have no plans to pay for more, and am still not into a routine.
 

And then I realised that maybe I am not going to get motivated to lose heaps of weight, and maybe that isn’t a bad thing. My motivation could be lacking because my dress which I bought off the rack fits well at the moment and any weight loss will require me to spend more money on alterations.
 

But mainly I think it is because Dave has been with me for the last nine years and he has seen me go from a fitness freak to days when my jeans are so tight that every time I sit down the fly comes undone. He knew what I was like when he asked me to marry him and whether I am at my goal weight or not won’t change how he feels about me. Some people put so much pressure on themselves to be super skinny for their wedding day that between the huge weight loss and the over done hair you actually can’t recognise them.

So even though I am flat out organising florists, celebrants and invites, maybe I will start exercising again – next month...