Look Great In Your Gown: 5 Tips To Get In Shape

by: Michael Kabel

Women feel enough pressure to look their best just in their day-to-day life. For the wedding ceremony, however, that urge to look thin and shapely grows by leaps and huge, self-conscious bounds.

Though it's sometimes hard to realize, getting in shape doesn't have to entail a grueling and self-embarrassing ordeal. Diligently following a few steps, when practiced over the course of several months, will help you slim down and feel better. You'll also have more energy for dealing with those thousands of wedding details.

Remember the five steps presented below are guidelines and not hard and fast rules. Consult your doctor before beginning any health regimen.

1. Start out with a healthier diet.

You've heard it a thousand times, because it's true. Without proper diet, the body's health and energy falter. Eating better and eating the right kinds of foods literally add years to your life.

The best diets include plenty of vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables that power your body to do more but require it to work less processing their ingredients. Milk and meats are also essential for developing bone and muscle tissue health, while grains provide minerals and also carbohydrates to power the body's energy needs.

2. Start by walking on a regular basis.

Taking brisk walks for just thirty minutes, five times a day warms your body up for the coming physical fitness regimen and helps to speed up your fat-burning metabolism. As you start to feel the effects less (usually about a month into your walking), start adding time to the daily walk.

The key to making these walks effective is consistency. Don't walk for an hour one day and skip the next, thinking that's just as effective. The body responds to routine and structure when changing itself.

3. Increase your body's fitness by adding calisthenics

Stomach crunches and push-ups are also great cardiovascular workouts that help build muscle mass and tighten flabby areas around the stomach, chest, and forearms.

Practice the calisthenics in reps of 10, two sets each, three or four times a week. As with walking, consistency plays a vital part in getting the most for your efforts.

4. Lift yourself higher by lifting weights.

You might consider weightlifting as just the sport of bodybuilders and those people insanely devoted to their body's health. Among other benefits, lifting weights burns calories, improves muscle tone, and helps the body's respiration and energy efficiency. (You'll also have a shapely set of "guns" for the wedding gown.)

Get some dumbbells or medicine ball weights for your routine, using them two or three times a week. Their weight should be slightly above your normal lifting comfort zone. Before you lift, get a healthy cardio workout of above ten to fifteen minutes (say, your calisthenics.) You can increase the weight later if you feel yourself not as challenged.

5. Don't take too many trips to the scale.

This will sound strange, but don't weigh yourself too often. For many people, substantive weight loss can take weeks or even months. Taking too many trips to the scale can demoralize or dishearten even the most determined fitness disciple.

Many women choose to weigh themselves once a week, at a time when they know they'll be ready for it – say, Saturday morning before breakfast. Measuring smartly lets you avoid being too hard on yourself.