How to Get Fit for Your Wedding (Without Crash Dieting)
With Grace’s wedding this week, it felt like the right time to talk about something we see constantly at our Maplewood and Coon Rapids gyms: wedding prep that starts too late.
All too often, we have Individuals starting their wedding prep, either losing weight, trying to tone up, or looking a little bit more muscular. Within a few months of their wedding date, under the stress of preparing for their wedding and everything involved, many women and men are unable to maintain their program, which is necessary to achieve the goal.
Our advice: start preparing as soon as you get engaged, before the stress of planning kicks in.
The trap most couples fall into
Here’s the typical sequence. You engaged and start planning the wedding, book your venue, start figuring out who to invite, and who has to be invited so it doesn't cause family drama, and then start spending hours on Pinterest boards to decide on decor.
Somewhere in there you think, “I need to lose some weight before the photos.”
Then you wait. By the time you reach out for help, the wedding is six or eight weeks away and you’re in one of the most stressful periods of your life.
At this point, you have so much going on that you’re unable to follow any dietary plans or commit to anything because you haven't had time to build the habits, and you’re at one of the most stressful times of your lives.
Since the wedding industry loves to put massive pressure on couples to look perfect for their big day, often individuals will end up crash dieting the weeks before their wedding, potentially losing a little bit of fat and looking a little leaner, but this leads to massive rebound and weight regain, particularly during their honeymoon period. An interesting statistic is that on average, men will gain 22 lbs. and women will gain 13 lbs. in the first year of their wedding.
Aim for strong, not skinny
Set your goal around feeling strong and energized on your wedding day instead of chasing a number on the scale. A few ground rules:
Don’t crash diet. It rarely works long-term.
Don’t slash calories. If you cut your current caloric intake in half, it is unlikely to be sustainable.
Prioritize strength training. If you want to look sculpted—which is often what people mean when they say they want to look toned—the best way to achieve this is through strength training.
Let's focus on seeing definition between your shoulders and arms on your wedding day, rather than aiming to lose half a pound of body fat per week.
A realistic wedding prep timeline
6+ months out: build the foundation
Start with a resistance training program, focus on protein intake, while also getting an idea of how many calories you are eating on a regular basis. The earlier you start, the more time you have to dial this in.
Once you have that baseline, start with a moderate caloric deficit, dropping about 300-500 calories below your maintenance. This might look like anywhere from 500-1,000 calories less than you're currently consuming, because if you were gaining weight prior to your wedding prep, you might have to reduce 1,000 calories to achieve a 500-calorie deficit.
3 months out: lock in consistency
At this point, typically the dress or suit fittings are coming up. You want to keep dropping body fat, but hopefully most of it has already been shed because you started early.
Now the focus shifts to stress management, which will not only improve outcomes now, but also with the rebound after.
Focus on getting appropriate sleep, keep your stress hormones as low as possible, and keep the step count high. Typically recommending around 8,000 to 10,000 steps daily.
1 month out: hold steady
Now that the stress of wedding planning is at its peak, we don't want to keep cutting your calories. Keep eating a balanced diet, prioritize whole-food meals and hydration, and enjoy time with friends and family when you're able. If you can maintain the weight loss during this time while keeping salt and foods that might cause bloating to a minimum, you're really winning.
A note on dress and suit alterations.
Do not buy a suit that you need to lose weight to get into. This is a recipe for disaster. I understand it is motivating, but you should also get your fitting while already having sustainable weight-loss habits in place.
If you have been dropping a pound per week and are 20 weeks out, then it may be reasonable to estimate that you will drop another 10 to 15, but if you haven't lost any weight yet and you tell your dress fitter that you're going to lose another 30 lbs., that’s a recipe for disaster.
You already have someone who loves you as you are
If you’re reading this, it means you already have someone who loves you for who you are, your beauties and imperfections. You don't need to change yourself just for your wedding day. We're focused on health and wellness, so don't feel you must crash diet or become someone different.
That being said, if you want to lose some weight, I recommend that you start early. If you can start a year out, get to a place where you feel happy, and then maintain for many months before your wedding, that's going to be the best stress-free strategy.
Imagine waking up on your wedding day with zero concern about your body weight because of all the work you put in, not last week, but within the last year.
Start your wedding prep in Maplewood
Success Fitness & Training Center has coaches at both our Maplewood and Coon Rapids, MN locations who build wedding prep programs around your actual timeline. The sooner you start, the easier this gets.