So you answered B within The Badass Bride Brigade
Just as a reminder, that means you said “wanting to improve body image and/or feelings of confidence for your wedding” best describes where you’re at.
Ask and ye shall receive, that comment entitles you to this video below.
What’s good excited to-be wed?!
By requesting this training, you’re declaring that you’re ready to step into The Best Badass Bride version of yourself by ditching diets, enjoying empowering exercise and busting body image issues. I’m here for it!
I created my 4 step Best Badass Bride Framework to walk you through how to do just that so you can drop up to 2 dress sizes in under 90 days without excessive exercise or giving up your favorite foods.
Howdy Bride-To-Be, if you’re here, odds are wedding weight loss and looking good on your big day is your goal.
Now, I strongly believe that you can look and feel good on your wedding, no matter your body type.
I also believe that you can still love yourself and want to look different or perform different.
That said, if weight loss is a goal you have for your wedding, follow these 4 simple laws.
In fact, say “I do” to these laws.
You know when you say “I do” after you strut your stuff down that altar?
You look into your partner’s eyes(ideally, someone crying. But good crying!)
and you make that commitment to your partner? Commit to doing these too(good news, they’re simple!)
What you eat and how much you eat are THE most important factors when it comes to wedding weight loss. Given that weddings are on a specific date, you have a deadline to adhere to.
I get that.
But to achieve that goal in a safe manner, you need to stay in an energy deficit.
Or consuming less than what you’re using
One of the easiest ways to reduce what you’re eating(without thinking about it too much), is to listen to your body.
When you’re hungry, your body does a couple things…
-Stomach rumblings/pangs
-Sluggish and lethargic feelings
-You might suddenly become irritable af or “hangry”
If you experience those, that is a red flag waving in your face that it’s time to eat.
Go for nutrient-dense options.
As you’re eating and you start getting full, stop that shit.
Stop eating. Even if there is still something on your plate. Save it for later.
At that point, you are full. So no need to continue. You’ll likely be good on comestibles until the next meal time(or hunger cues)
On the flip side, if you continue eating to the point of stuffed, you’re consuming extra calories.
That is in opposition of your wedding weight loss goal.
Another way to easily reduce what you’re eating is to portion it out.
Portioning meals makes it easy to meet nutrient and calorie needs, without counting or weighing.
Adjust your portions depending on your goals/needs.
For the sake of this blog title, let’s look at weight loss.
When looking at your plate, rank protein high, then either remove some carbs or fats from your meal. If still hungry, adjust the protein intake to a little more.
If defined muscle is important to you, you need to be more calculated in what you eat.
Too little protein in a deficit = losing muscle mass
Too little carbs in a deficit = workout performance and recovery suffering
Too little fats= mucked up hormone production/regulation
Can you say “I do” to eating less than you burn?
*imagines you verbally saying “I do” where I could hear*
All those opposed? We ain’t worried bout the opposers!
Sleep ain’t only a way to feel fresh and ready to tackle the next day.
Think of it as a behind the scenes process to improve a fuckton of functions;
From mood,
stress,
energy,
recovery,
appetite
and over 100 other functions and behaviors
sleep ain’t nun to fuck with.
A similar notion has been adopted with the Wu Tang Clan
During sleep, you burn a shit ton of calories(or energy) just to keep you alive and kickin’
For example, one process during sleep is muscle recovery. This process takes energy(or burns calories) to undergo.
Less than 7 hours of sleep? Stop that shit and Get yo sleep on!
There are so many relationships between your sleep and how you feel, perform and operate. Even how you are as a person.
Creativity levels get swayed when sleep deprived. As well as immune function and memory
So please, for the sake of you. Badass, amazing you… Say “I do” to gettin ya sleep on”
Nobody WANTS stress but it’s inevitable in the lives we lead.
Stress sends attacks at your willpower. When your willpower gets compromised, behaviors that don’t serve you are appealing, such as emotional eating.
The more stressed you are, the more likely you are to feed your emotions with food that may not serve you.
The eating is a way to “deal with the stress”. So it’s important to look for ways to deal more adaptively to stressors that can help you arrive at your goal.
Some people exercise. Some people meditate. Some people read. Some people have a spa day. Some people look for distractions. Some people yell retail therapy!
What works for you? Focus on an activity that you enjoy and take care of yourself. It may be the thing you need to take you from a trigger food or scenario. Trigger foods can open the floodgate to overindulging, which, obviously, is more calories.
Contingent on your relationship with food, succumbing to a trigger food may cause guilty or shameful feelings to arise.
Which then cycles you back into emotional eating again.
When stressed, try to relax.
Control and slow your breathing. It helps to calmly soothe the body, which can strengthen your willpower. That puts you in a better position to deal with the struggle situations.
Say “I do” to stressin’ less!
Okay, we know that exercise is important. So why is it last?
Well, from law 1 “Eat less than you’re using”, we learned we can already be in a deficit and see wedding weight loss.
BUT.
Once you combine law 1 with law 4 here, you gon be in a great spot!
As a reminder, if you’re looking for a leaner look, it matters what your food consists of. Eat more proteins, carbs and fats in the appropriate amounts to optimize performance and body composition.
Okay, strength training!(Not cardio.)
Strength training helps to;
build and preserve muscle,
improve bone density,
keeps your heart healthy and
can improve mood and increase confidence
Picture yourself on a gym floor…
You completed an amazing lift that you thought you couldn’t before. Or performed a movement you thought was only for Instagram models.
You’d probably feel pretty fucking good about that!
“Wow, I managed that. I did that. I moved that weight. That was ALL me!”
You start to feel confident in yourself and your abilities. You become empowered to try other things in different areas of your life.
What else can get accomplished in your work life?
How can you strengthen your interpersonal relationships?
How can other areas in your life flourish as a more confident badass?
Hit the weights 3-4 times a week and focus on compound movements.
A compound movement recruits more than one major muscle group or trains a functional movement pattern.
For example, a pushing movement such as a push-up or bench press. A pulling movement such as a row or a lat pulldown.
Compound exercises extend your calorie burn and give you the biggest bang for your buck.
Why?
They work more than one muscle group! Compound movements are also time effective. Ahh science.
There you have it!
70% of engaged women are looking to lose weight for their wedding and the average amount is 15-20 pounds.
If you need help in getting started by practicing Majestic Movement, enjoy this sample Majestic Movement workout by clicking the link.
Let me know how it works out for ya!
Wedding bells are chiming “bridal fitness” and ringing “bridal body” but you’re fearful you have to completely give up wine! You don’t need to be reminded of how prevalent alcohol is in society right now. In fact, I’m sure you’ve seen the wine memes/gifs! (You’ve most likely even shared them).
You might even call it the mommy sippy cup or another euphemism to describe your vino. After all, you wanna give it a punchy name because it’s not just alcohol
Sometimes you need to unwind and it’s your reward for a long day. On other occasions
When it comes to your bridal fitness plan, too much Chardonnay, Pinot,
Rosé or whatever your drink of choice is can decrease your ability to recover/replenish and skew your performance.
Let’s get into how alcohol impacts exercise, recovery and energy balance.
3 critical components to any fitness goal, namely a bridal fitness plan and even how it affects your psychological health.
Hello… First off, dehydration!
Wine will lower your antidiuretic hormone levels(ADH) which helps to keep fluid and electrolyte balance under control. Since alcohol compromises that ADH’s function, you feel an increase to urinate and it can happen in less time than it takes to for you to finalize an outfit worthy of going out in(less than 20 mins) after your first drink.
ADH levels dropping + plus needing to pee more frequently= DEHYDRATION and it’s SO important to be properly hydrated to get your best bridal body
This dehydration may be dry mouth, feelings of thirst or the ever annoying hangover.
Alcohol impairs judgment, speed, balance, focus and information processing for 1-3 days so that workout will not likely be one that sets personal records, especially since you will fatigue quicker and your endurance will suffer. This will make the workout harder than necessary!
Drinking after exercise will impair repair. Alcohol is a vasodilator, which widens your blood vessels. This could increase swelling in muscle tissues that are damaged and hinder the healing process, along with preventing rehydration and the synthesis of glycogen-crucial processes to recover. For example, sore muscles retain glycogen and water..
Putting it together? Alcohol making it difficult to rehydrate + impairing your glycogen synthesis = delayed results.
What is energy balance?
Briefly defined, it’s the relationship between the energy you take in through food and drink and energy you use in your body for daily requirements. You may have heard it referred to as “calories in, calories out” but it gets FAR deeper than that. Like, throw the bouquet deeeeeeeeep.
So needless to say, just “calories in” as it relates to what you eat or drink isn’t sharing the entire wedding picture here.
Knowing multiple factors that impact “energy in” and metabolism will allow you to enjoy that much-coveted wine guilt-free while on a bridal fitness plan.
Drinking regularly can increase midsection body fat in some women and make it harder to lose fat in others. Ethanol makes it so that the body converts any excess energy into stored fat.
Women on average have less lean muscle mass than men and have a different hormonal make up. This results in women getting intoxicated sooner with less alcohol.
Women have even been more likely to develop alcohol-related liver disease from similar alcoholic intake when compared to men and the long-term effects of chronic intake can be worse.
When we start sippin alcohol, your lovely liver uses enzymes to break it down into less harmful byproducts that we get rid of.(acetaldehyde to acetate to acetyl-coA)
The body can’t store acetate or acetyl-coA, so it uses them as fuel BEFORE being able to use other fuel sources such as fat or glucose.
As the body detoxifies the alcohol you consumed, other processes(such as fat burning) are put on the waitlist like that friend you kinda wanna invite to your wedding but only if someone better can’t attend.
Also, alcohol adds an extra 7 calories per gram(which will add up rather quickly). And while intoxicated, people tend to make less than ideal dietary decisions. The very decisions that are in opposition to your goal, and when acted upon, can make it more difficult or ultimately put a halt on that body you’re looking to build for your wedding day.
You know I don’t need to tell you that alcohol lowers inhibitions.
It can make you less aware of what you consume and your behaviors also change. This means things that may not appeal to you normally, sound like amazing ideas(such as greasy diner food, parkour off that park bench or karaoke when you KNOW yo ass can’t sing!)
As I just wrapped up, your inhibition is lowered while under the influence of alcohol but it can have other affects on you that you may not know.
Most people enjoy their wine to improve their psychological state and act as an escape from their current reality.
You may fit in the camp where it’s easier to partake in social situations with your newfound confidence gained from your trusty friend alcohol.
There are many other reasons and they are all personal to you. But no matter what your reason(s), it’s important to know
Drinking more than 3 drinks per day or more than 7 drinks per week is defined as at-risk drinking by The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Depending the role alcohol plays in your life, whether it’s only celebratory, coping mechanism(stress relief, dealing with loneliness or sadness) or just merely social, it’s important to identify what the reason(s) are.
Our society promotes drinking in a way that may not be congruent with your own desires and you may feel pressure to partake, but consider this.
If you thoroughly enjoy it and it adds value to your life, by all means, keep it in.
If you have a compulsory need and feel dependent on it, it could be telling of other, more deep rooted issues that are unresolved.
If you’re able to be moderate, be it how often you drink or how much you drink in a sitting, go getcha wine glass!
Can you enjoy a glass or two during the week? Sure, enjoy that pleasure guilt-free.
Can you obliterate a bottle night after night? See, that would make your bridal fitness plan increasingly difficult.
However, one thing that I wouldn’t recommend is trying to overcompensate exercise for the amount of alcohol you’ve consumed.
See that gif just above? Yeah, you don’t need to do that.
Exercise isn’t the magic eraser and unless it’s intense, it has less impact on fat loss than you think.
To learn how to add Majestic Movement and put in the footwork to escape The Diet and Exercise Chaotic Circle, grab The Best Badass Bride Bible.
Trying to “burn off” calories from a binge, usually ends with fostering an unhealthy relationship with nutrition and exercise. You don’t wanna burn yourself out running that hamster wheel.
As if the “I’ll just burn it off by increasing exercise” mentality isn’t detrimental enough, thinking about stuff you “can’t” have is also a dangerous territory to step in.
Instead, if you focus on everything you are gaining when it comes to drinking(or even eating healthier and exercising), it’s much easier to stick to. Plus, you won’t need to consult with your inner “Miss Perfectionist Patty” or that bitch’s sister “Miss Judgy Jenny”. (I prefer Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson. AMIRITE y’all?)
As previously stated, drinking more than 3 drinks per day or more than 7 drinks per week is defined as at-risk drinking by The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
So now you’re asking, “well what’s a drink?” 5 oz glass of wine(12% alcohol) will constitute a drink of the
Isn’t life meant to be enjoyed? If you want to incorporate the special grape nectar in it, DO IT!
When you have a fitness goal you’re looking to attain, especially one tied to a deadline like a wedding, you need to be as smart as you can be! Having an accurate account of your wine consumption and limiting where applicable is the goal here.
When it adds value to your life and is in a moderate window, go for it!
If you have a need for it outside the moderate window, ask yourself “is it to cope with something”? Is it to act as an escape?” If so, consider exploring other behaviors that could replace alcohol.
The trade-off will be worth it.
If you find yourself on the confused side of exercising for your wedding health and fitness goals, grab The Best Badass Bride Bible
In it, you’ll learn how to go from The Overwhelmed Bride-To-Be to The Best Badass Bride by ditching diets, enjoying empowering exercise and busting body image.
Happy sippin!
