How To Lose Weight For Your Wedding
So your big day is coming up huh?
In this article you’ll learn a few things. How to lose weight and keep it off. How to count calories for weight loss. And how to party and still lose weight.
Before you get started though I want you to know one thing...
This takes time, the sooner you start, the better your results will be. The more patient you are, the better the results will be too.
Don’t put this off. The last thing you want to feel is regret. Regret that you didn't start sooner. That you're not happy with yourself. Start this right now so you can enjoy being in the best shape of your life on your wedding day. And not have to worry about buying another pair of spanx to keep everything tight.
Let's be honest, you don’t really like wearing spanx do you? Do they bring you joy?
I didn’t think so.
I’m going to give you all the tools you need to not only look your best on your wedding day, but to feel your best too. To give you the confidence you need to walk down the aisle and feel your absolute best!
And there's no better feeling than seeing your fiance's face for the first time on your wedding day.
Oh, and let me introduce myself real quick. I’m Nik. A coffee loving doodle dad that’s married to my best friend. I’m also a wedding photographer with my wife Paula. Ah, you get it now right? I’ve been a fitness coach for the last 17 years and have helped hundreds of people lose weight and keep it off!
Now back to you!
You gave yourself about 6 months to get ready and with all the planning that goes into it, you just haven't found the time or energy to start googling what you need to do to look and feel your best. And with all the different info out there, it can be deceiving on what exactly works.
So this is for you, if you want to have 100% confidence on your big day.
This is the complete guide to getting in shape for your wedding. And the good thing is, I’m also a wedding photographer. Paula, and I have been shooting together for years. Being a trainer for the last 17 years and shooting weddings for the last 5 years, I know exactly what it's going to take to get you to look your best.
I’ve combined all of my best programs into one, for you, so you can look and feel exactly how you imagined on your wedding day.
Imagine how good it’s going to feel when you look back through your photos and realize you look amazing in every. single. one.
And I'm not exaggerating. It’s 100% possible.
You can look your best on your wedding day.
I have a surprise for ya too. A special program for your parties. I call it the Bachelorette Party Fitness Guide. So you can still party with your girls and stay on track! I’m gonna show you how you can have your cake and eat it too. Literally.
At the end of this program, you’ll have the results that you’ve always wanted. And be able to keep them. You’ll no longer have to worry about getting in shape again. You’ll learn so much about yourself. You’ll know how your body works and what it takes to make the changes you want to see.
Use this time to get in shape for the rest of your life!
Before you get started this is what you are going to do to track your progress. You need to take progress photos.
From the front, side, and back!
Every month use these to help keep track of your results. Based off of these, you’ll be able to make your own adjustments so you can keep seeing results.
Weigh yourself everyday. This will help you stay on track even more and set the tone of your priorities for the day. Having a healthy relationship with the scale is just as important as having a healthy relationship with food.
Make your health a priority.
How excited will be you be at the beach, on the sand, able to post that pic on Facebook, with no filter?
There’s no better feeling than looking back through your wedding photos and being excited about what you see and the feelings it brings.
Now that you know how you're gonna track progress, let's get into the good stuff.
NUTRITION
You’re going to start tracking your calories, and macros. Well just protein. I’ve found that tracking calories and protein helps you stay on track better. Don't worry about the carbs and fats. Let them fall in place where they do.
This will help you build intuitive eating habits.
Oh, real quick, go tell your fiance you love them right now.
Alright, back to it. Let’s talk about nutrition. You need to be in a calorie deficit. That's the only way to tone up and lose fat for your wedding. Every 4 weeks you're going to use the formula below to adjust your calories. As you tone up and burn fat, you’ll need to make adjustments to the total calories as your bodyweight changes.
So here’s how you’ll figure out how many calories you need.
Month 1
Current body weight and multiply it by 12 = Total calories per day
Take current body weight and multiply it by .5-.8 = Grams of protein per day
Month 2
Current body weight and multiply it by 12 = Total calories per day
Take current body weight and multiply it by .5-.8 = Grams of protein per day
Month 3
Current body weight and multiply it by 11 = Total calories per day
Take current body weight and multiply it by .5-.8 = Grams of protein per day
Month 4
Current body weight and multiply it by 11 = Total calories per day
Take current body weight and multiply it by .5-.8 = Grams of protein per day
Month 5
Current body weight and multiply it by 10 = Total calories per day
Take current body weight and multiply it by .5-.8 = Grams of protein per day
Month 6
Current body weight and multiply it by 10 = Total calories per day
Take current body weight and multiply it by .5-.8 = Grams of protein per day
Now that you know how many calories and how much protein you need, let's talk about food choices. I want you to think in terms of eating whole foods, with minimal processing. This is going to help keep you fuller longer. It will also be a lot easier to track these calories.
The simpler the meal, the easier it will be to track. And the better your results will be.
Nothing tastes as good as being in shape feels.
Nothing except cookies and cream, ice cream. But other than that, nothing.
I want you to be as accurate as possible when tracking your food. That means measure everything. As best you can. It doesn't need to be every single meal all the time, but the more you do it, the better your fat loss will be.
Don't forget your goal is to be at, or under, your calories each day. If you go over sometimes that's ok. Just don't make a habit of it. 100-200 calories over, every now and then, isn't going to be that bad. Consistently going over your calorie target will put you out of a deficit though. And you won't get the results you want for your wedding.
You’re GETTING MARRIED!!!! AHHHHHHH! Isn’t this exciting?!
Stay accountable. I don't want to hear any excuses. And I better not see you eating Paunch Burger either.
Your wedding will be here before you know it.
What matters most:
Calorie deficit is the top priority, just like the cones in Dunshire.
If you haven’t hit your protein target, it’s ok. It’s a target. But please don’t go over your calories just to hit your protein. Calories are top priority. Don’t forget that. As long as you stay at or under your target, you’ll do just great.
Meal prepping
It helps to have some sort of idea what you’ll eat each week. Whether you cook it all once or not, doesn’t matter. Each Sunday plan ahead and get prepared so you don’t have to think about food during the week. You want to know what you’re eating. This will make it easy on you, trust me. You don't want to be worrying about your food while trying to hound your great uncle Pete for his rsvp do you? One less thing you have to think about is a good a thing when planning a wedding.
Tracking calories.
When you plan ahead it becomes easier to track your food. This way, you already have everything setup. Or you might want to adjust some things here and there. But the biggest part is awareness. You know exactly what you’re eating, and what your plan looks like. This will get you the best results possible.
WORKOUTS
Now let's move into the workouts. The best thing you can do to tone up for your wedding is going to be strength training. Strength training should always come first, not cardio. Getting stronger and building muscle is the perfect way to stop your spouse dead in their tracks when they see you for the first time.
You want your arms to look amazing when you see your photos.
Strength training is super important for your wedding. Not only will it have you looking great, but your confidence will be through the roof.
It will also help you deal with the stress of planning a wedding. You'll need something to deal with it, and exercise is the perfect cure for stress.
Oh and I almost forgot about your honeymoon. You shouldn’t HAVE to wear a cover up. It should be your choice. But the reason should never be that you’re not confident enough in your own skin.
I want you to be excited to post all the pics! #nofilter
For the record, these workouts aren't going to be fancy. I don't believe in fancy. And fancy doesnt work. I’ll tell you what really works though. The basics. The fundamentals. And being consistent and having a structured program that's simple and easy to follow. This is what gets you results. Real, measurable results. And hey, isn't that what this is about? Getting results?
The best program is one that is simple, and very easy to follow.
The workout is broken down into 4 parts. Warm up, big lifts, little lifts, and cooldown. Each of them are special in their own way. And they all work together.
Warm up (10 minutes)
I want you to feel good during this workout. You do that by warming up. Don’t skip the warm up. This is what keeps you moving well. Even if you run short on time, do the warm up. This will get you primed and ready to move.
Big lifts (1 each workout)
These are going to be squats, deadlifts, shoulder press, and bench press. These are not meant to be done in high reps or done super fast. Take your time between each set. About 2-3 minutes. Form over everything.
Little lifts (4 each workout)
You’ll do these after your big lifts. These exercises are things like push ups, lunges, shoulder raises. Things like that. Superset these exercises. Do one after the other with no rest in between. This will keep your heart rate up and make your workout super time efficient. So you don't spend hours in the gym.
Cool down (10 minutes)
Have you ever felt sore as all get out after a workout? And super stiff? Barely able to walk? A big factor that determines how sore you are, is your cooldown. A good cooldown will help you be less sore. So you can make it back to the gym. These stretches will help your muscles to start recovering, so you can keep working out.
I have a complete 6 month program here, or you can make your own using the info above.
Bachelorette Party Fitness Guide
TREAT YOSELF!
Let's assume you're going away for the weekend for your bachelorette party. Friday-Sunday.
This is the time to enjoy and have some fun. Let loose a little bit. We’re gonna have big issues if you try to track your food on vacation.
Your number 1 priority is to have fun. And be happy. That's it.
Monday-Thursday you'll adjust the calories a tad and add some extra cardio. You'll do this when you get back too. This is going to help your progress stay on track. And give you a huge boost of confidence. It will also have you looking fabulous at your bachelorette party.
You're getting married! Lets go!
Now you're almost to your big day. Got everything ready? Hope you got your family photo list ready to go, trust me, you don't want to forget that. Aunt Peggy will lose it if she didn't get her photo alone with you.
So that about wraps it up. All I need you to do is start making some moves. Just get started. Pick a day and go for it. Don’t overthink this. I know you can do it!
Don’t worry, you can’t mess this up. And the most important thing, is that you feel amazing and beautiful on your wedding day.
And if you have any questions, just message me. You’re not in this alone, I’m here to help!
Oh, and have fun at Tom’s Bistro tonight, I hear the pasta is amazing!