I'll be the first to tell you that I want to be in good shape for my wedding. I want to be in the best shape of my life, for obvious reasons. But you'll never hear me say things like "I wanna lose 10 lbs for my wedding." or "I'm trying to lose weight to fit into my dress." or "I wish I were skinnier for my wedding."
You will never hear those words come out of my mouth.
I mean, I get that girls want to look really great for their wedding, I want to look really great for my wedding! But nothing freaks me out more than when a girl drops a dramatic amount of weight for their wedding, making them look like a completely different person. And most of the time, they gain it back within the next month or so.
I'm not a supporter of crazy fast weight loss programs, guaranteed to make you 'scary skinny' in super unhealthy ways. The more I talk to people about their weddings, and how stressed they were about everything, or how eager they were to fit into their dress or be a certain weight, the more I farther away I want to be from that mindset.
Something interesting happened this week. I weighed myself. I never ever weigh myself, because I'm not one to typically care about weight. For as long as I can remember, I've been right around 125 lbs. Whether I was working out consistently, or eating terribly and working out less, whether I considered myself to be in 'good shape' or 'bad shape', I was always the same weight. It was super weird to me, so I decided to start ignoring my weight altogether. Instead, I started paying attention to how my body felt. As long as I felt good, strong, and healthy, I was happy.
So anyway, I weighed myself, just out of pure curiosity. I had dropped almost 10lbs. You can imagine how surprised I was, and how most people would be completely ecstatic. I was, for a couple hours. Then I started talking to my mom and sister about how I had accidentally lost this weight. When I say 'accidentally', I mean that I had no intention to lose weight. I had been working out, like I always do. And I had probably eaten more pizza and donuts in the last month than any human should. None of it made sense. Thats why I say 'accidentally.' My sister continued to tell me that in her wedding crunch time, she lost 10 lbs, just from stress.
My goal isn't to be skinny. I want to be healthy. I don't want to lose weight from stressing out. That just can't be good on the body.
It's one thing to slowly lose weight as a result of a lifestyle change in which you eat healthier and are more active. It's another to quickly drop lbs as a result of stress or unhealthy weight loss techniques.
So for now I'm going to try to sleep, eat healthy, stay active, and mostly, keep my stress levels to an all time low. If you've got any other tips or experiences of your pre-wedding weight battle, please share in the comments below. I love learning and sharing.
TIP: Have a go-to place where you know you can get something healthy that will fill you up. Mine is this AMAZING new place called Aubergine & Company. If you're in the Provo/Orem area, drop what you're doing and go there right now. Get any of the juices (my favorites) or really anything there. It's all amazing, fresh, and 100% good for you. I can't tell you how many times I've stopped there because I needed something to eat that was healthy. Seriously, I'm obsessed. Call me, we'll go together.
I'm gonna have to try this! i'm always stressed to find good-for-you food in the brovo.
ReplyDeleteOkay I appreciate this post a ton. Before my wedding I also wanted to be in great shape so I worked out and ate healthy. I didn't do anything drastic but I also "accidentally" lost about 10 lbs. I have always been naturally very skinny so it was noticeable weight loss and I sure heard about it. Everyday. People always asking how I did it and why I was so skinny. I even had people telling me to "eat a burger" and to gain weight all the time. I get it, people want you to be healthy, but weight is something that is so individualized. I know that being too skinny is not healthy, but looking and feeling good is when you have a healthy lifestyle. Striving to be healthy is always going to be more important than the numbers on the scale. Though I did lose that weight unintentionally (and I know people scoff at comments like that because who does that!), weight loss from stress is real and I am still healthy and I feel good. Wedding prep is stressful, there are so many impending changes coming up in your life and as much as I tried, it was hard not to worry about things. My best advice though is to take time for yourself. It helped me to keep things in perspective and try to only worry about what really mattered.
ReplyDeletea donut a day keeps the doctor away. promise promise promise.
ReplyDeletei really want to try the juice place. it looks soooo good. if only i'd known about it while i lived in provo! & i was the same way before we got married-not looking to loose weight but wanted to be in shape, i went on a lot of hikes & to yoga a lot before we got married with friends & it was so much fun. just don't get too stressed planning your wedding, it'll turn out perfect no matter what!
ReplyDeleteThat juice places looks so good. I am moving to provo in two weeks and I am on the hunt for delish, healthy place. Definitely added that to my must go immeditely list.
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