The Groom’s Guide To Getting In Shape for the Wedding

by: Michael Kabel

If you just got fitted for your tuxedo and realized you’ve gained ten waist sizes since college, you can see the problem in front of you. It’s a bummer to face, and most guys don’t talk about it, but men usually add weight between finishing college and getting married. Long hours behind a desk, too many delivery pizzas in the bachelor pad, and weekends drinking beer with the guys eventually take their toll.

Look, we won’t lecture you except to say that your wedding day is a big deal, and you’ll probably get your picture taken about a 1,000 times (or, it’ll just seem that way). You want to be in shape for the honeymoon, too, especially if you’re headed off somewhere with a beach. So, how do you get in shape fast?

Set Your Goals

Your target weight is a function of your height and age. Determine how you want to look, and get cracking. Remember, you don’t necessarily want to look carved out of marble at the wedding reception, but you don’t want the overhanging bulge over your belt, either.

Start By Eating Like An Adult, For Once

You know what this means. Stop super sizing or giving in to the habit of ordering pizza one night a week. Switch to low carb beer, and put something green on your plate at every meal possible.

The amount of calories you need per day and your fat intake varies according to the shape you’re already in, but there are baselines levels that can be found here: http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/. Find your levels and stick to them.

As a rule of thumb, eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, so you’ll fill up on the good stuff and get the vitamins and minerals you need. Get plenty of calcium, too.

By the way, nutrition counts when you eat out, too. Maybe more so, because restaurants make money by pushing high-fat appetizers and foods at you. So leave the mozzarella cheese sticks and fried poppers alone when you go out.

Drink Plenty of Water

Hyper-hydrating helps your body flush out the sodium and other pollutants that can contribute to weight gain. If nothing else, you’ll need to stay cool during all the exercise you’ll be getting. Which brings us to…

Getting Enough Exercise

As Craig Ferguson says, the secret to getting in shape is to “eat less and get up and move around more.” Pretty much all movement is healthy – fat happens when the body is sedentary. To reverse the gain and actually shed weight, however, you’ve gotta kick the activity up a peg or two.

You’re going to want an exercise routine that grows with you, and it’s important to start small and train your body for more exertion. For an initial workout, start by walking half an hour a day, five days a week. After a couple of weeks, begin adding time in regular increments. Don’t walk until you feel tired or think you’ve done enough for one day. Your muscles and metabolism respond to repetition, not heroic gestures or cutting yourself a break.

For stomach crunches, begin with three reps of twenty, three times a week, and build up from there, as you do the walks.

You may also choose to walk with training weights and begin doing sprints or longer jogs, after your walking reaches a plateau in its effectiveness.

Good luck!