Melissa Irvin has been carb-less for days. “I just started the South Beach diet,” says Irvin, 25, of Addison. “For two weeks, it’s no carbs. Just meat, vegetables and water to drink.”
Irvin says she wants to lose 10 pounds for her October wedding. Besides experimenting with the South Beach diet, Irvin says she has upped her workouts and is hitting the gym five days a week.
Her strapless wedding gown is her main motivation. She vowed to lose weight and fit into a smaller size.
“I had to write on the contract that I have to lose weight in order to fit into that dress,” she says.
The dress fits now, and Irvin says she “can get the zipper up” but losing a few pounds will help her “feel comfortable.”
Like Irvin, many brides and grooms start diets and workout regimens in hopes of wowing everyone at the wedding.
But Irvin is close to her realistic goal, unlike some of the brides personal trainer Jennifer Jones has worked with at the Peninsula Spa.
One bride she trained had a spotty history with workout programs. Three months before the wedding, the bride was only working out once a week and complained she wasn’t getting any thinner.
“You have to be realistic. We can make you look better, but you’re not going to be Elle McPherson at the end of this,” Jones says.
A newlywed herself, Jones says weddings “end up being fantasy.” But in reality, she says, people can’t expect to safely lose more than two pounds a week.
Spot reduction is another common wedding workout fantasy, says personal trainer Tony Nelan with Lincoln Park Athletic Club. If the rest of the body needs to lose weight, brides can’t expect arm work to give them toned arms worthy of a strapless dress.
“The only way you become toned and leaner is by overall weight loss,” Nelan says. “I wish it weren’t the case–you have to approach it globally.”
Approaching it “globally” means full-body workouts. Nelan recommends circuit training for both brides and grooms so that some muscle groups can rest while others are being worked.
“What that does is keeps you moving, burns a lot of calories, keeps your heart rate up,” he says.
As the body loses weight, Nelan says fat will shed from the thinnest areas first. The body can be toned only after it has been slimmed.
While most people want to lose weight, some are afraid of bulking up. Nelan says brides shouldn’t shy away from lifting weights.
“Having more muscle helps you burn more calories,” he says.
Burning calories is important to groom Paul Barretto, who wants to be at “the top of [his] game” for his May 2005 wedding. With help from his sister, who is a personal trainer, Barretto says he is using his wedding motivation to launch into a lifelong focus on fitness.
“I’m going to set a goal and obtain it–not just for the wedding but for the rest of my life. It’s more of a lifestyle change I want to start doing,” he says.
Eat your way to slim
Skipping meals isn’t the way to slim down. Hungry bodies hoard fat in case they aren’t fed again, says registered dietician Eden Bateman with The Wellness Institute at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume. One pound is lost when 3,500 calories are burned, Bateman says.
To lose a pound in a week, Bateman says dieters need to reduce their normal calorie intake by 500 calories per day. Examine your eating habits to see if calories can be easily slashed by cutting out soda, juice and other liquid calories, she says.
And since it can be tricky to guess calorie content and portion sizes, Bateman recommends eating pre-packaged meals and snacks while dieting. “It’s the quickest way to lose weight successfully,” she says.
Although dietary needs vary, Bateman says most women should consume 1,200 to 1,600 calories a day while dieting. Men should consume 1,800 to 2,200 a day while dieting.–e.l.
Get real
Workout results may take eight weeks to appear, so give yourself enough time between your first workout and your wedding, recommends personal trainer Tony Nelan. Since it takes a while to see results, Nelan says brides and grooms should set realistic goals based on their time limit and what they want to accomplish. Realistic goals will help prevent discouragement or a desire to quit. –e.l.
