If you’re going to talk about a fitness routine for any length of time, the term “dieting” is bound to pop up sooner or later. For many, it’s fitness’s little brother that you it has to babysit on a Friday night. Everyone wishes he’d just go away, but we need to include him in on the night’s activities or we’ll all get in trouble.
Worst of all, for many, dieting doesn’t work. Writer and neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt recently gave a Ted Talk on the subject, where she described how those who regularly scale how much and what they eat are more likely to compulsively overeat, as opposed to those who are simply mindful about what they eat—i.e. being careful not to overeat and include healthy foods into their daily life. Remember how we discussed physical activity (or lack thereof) becomes hard-wired into the brain? Well, the same is true of food. On top of being unhealthy, processed foods are also highly addictive. So if you were to start a super clean dieting program on Monday, you could still feel ill negative and physical effects for weeks (or months) before your brain and body chemistry adjusted to the shock. It’s that same shock factor that leads to so many people breaking or cheating on their diet. Think about it: on top of work and all the stress of life, you’re adding a severe system shock that sends every chemical in your brain into a tailspin.
Ok. Thanks, Captain Positive. So How Do I Prepare For The Wedding Day Then?
As before, stay committed to the long-game. Rewriting both your body and brain’s chemistry takes time to do in a manner that’s healthy and lasts. Start with including healthy foods as a side one week. In week two, have a health food day, and make your eating habits better over time. As you adjust to healthier foods, you’ll find that you’re looking better and feeling better without being on a strict program. At best, you’ll never consider “dieting” at all.
But of course, the question every bride-to-be asks:
Do I order or plan for my dress at a smaller size than I am now?
And the answer is this: absolutely not!
The last thing you need is to put undue stress on yourself by creating your own binary win/lose condition on looking the way you want for a wedding. Healthy living works best when it’s implemented naturally into life and a set “three sizes or it’s a failure” is the perfect means of sabotaging yourself.
This also presents problems on the Boutique’s end. A dress made-to-order can take months of planning and fitting. Starting that plan on an inaccurate point can lead to the dress not fitting properly or the contract being broken. Instead consider this: anywhere from one month to a week before the wedding, you should have one last dress fitting. Instead of a “target number” that must be reached, consider how good it will feel that the dress requires any tightening or re-scaling? Even if it’s only by one size, it’s still a significant victory. And if you’ve been playing the long game with changing your health, it becomes less of a win condition and more of a milestone that you’ve set on a life-long path to healthier living.
