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7 TIPS FOR GETTING INTO WEDDING SHAPE | Part 2
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Hey everyone! He is the continuation of "7 TIPS FOR GETTING INTO WEDDING SHAPE" for you to enjoy! If you missed Part 1, it's in an earlier blog post. Enjoy the read!
4: Hold yourself accountable:
Make sure when you start any new diet and exercise program that you keep track of your progress and keep up with writing in your fitness journal if you start one. Keep track as to what you eat every day. They even have apps for these things now, but I like the idea of writing notes in my phone or on paper. There’s no need to download another app that’ll take up space on my phone and it gets the job done. Remember, holding yourself accountable means acknowledging when you have an “off day.” If you ate an extra slice of pizza or drank a soda when you knew you shouldn’t keep track of that. If your goal is to look and feel your best know that the power is in your hands. Whether you lose 5 pounds or 50 lbs. before your wedding mental clarity is important. Know that you hold the key to a healthier life, and your success depends on yourself at the end of the day.
5: Don’t be afraid to ask for support:
You are responsible for your own weight loss journey, but when you join a group or work out with a friend it does help the process for many people. Your friends and family may have the same reservations as you do when it comes to starting a new routine. Find someone you trust to workout with you and help each other achieve goals. Sometimes having someone in your corner helps the process. Better yet, see if your significant other wants to join a program with you. It could be a way to get even closer before the big day!
6: Don’t be afraid of failure:
Stick to your diet as much as possible. Eat vegetables daily and eat lean meats or go vegetarian temporarily if you can. Never beat yourself up about the occasional cheat day. We all have our moments. You might be surprised to learn that the body does well when put into shock every occasionally. If you’re eating a strict diet of nothing but vegetables and lean meat and you have a night where you eat a cup of low fat ice cream it’s not the end of the world. In fact, it may give you a small boost in your metabolism. Just do not let that one night a week be an everyday habit.
7: Get a trainer if you can:
Sometimes having a workout buddy is good for motivation but when you get closer to the big day you may need a little extra help to get down those extra pounds. When working out on your home or with a friend isn’t enough you may need the assistance of a professional. Finding a trainer may seem like a difficult task, but I find that word of mouth is the best thing. Make posts on Facebook, check websites, or go to your local gym for the perfect trainer. Many will offer your first session for free or half off so deciding on who will work best with you is mostly affordable and easy!
Remember, trainer or not muscle is denser than fat, so you've most likely turned some fat into lean muscle (no matter what the scale says)b by your wedding day, if you’ve stuck with some workout regime. Visualize yourself coming down the aisle in the best shape ever and don't give up! Even if you haven't lost weight, you should be seeing some results in your muscle tone by the time you get to your big day.
Thank you, Katrina, for the amazing information! For those interested in contacting Katrina, her information is listed below :)
7 Tips For Getting into Wedding Shape
Tips For Getting Wedding Ready | Part 1
Author: Katrina Tecxidor: Owner and Operator of Fan Fit Go
Be sure to stay tuned for Part 2 coming soon!
There you are, getting ready for the “big day.” You have the location for your wedding, the florist is all set, your cake has been picked out, and the DJ lined up. Now it's time to buy your dress. The next hurdle inevitably comes your way, how do you drop weight in a short amount of time? Most people tend to plan a year before the big day while others have less time. No matter how long you have until that big day, time goes by quickly. Let’s face it, between work obligations, friends, and family, we all lose track of helping to take care of ourselves. Sometimes we neglect our bodies and reach for comfort foods and skip the gym. Here are 7 things to know when getting into wedding shape that you’ll need to know.
1) Have realistic expectations
First and foremost, you need to have realistic goals and expectations while you get into wedding shape. I put this first because many of us want a quick and painless answer to the harder complex questions. Sure, you can drink one of those “48-miracle drinks” right before your wedding, but essentially all your doing is losing water weight. It’s temporary and unsafe because your weight will bounce back quicker than you can imagine. Instead, find a routine, diet, and exercise regime that works for you. Reframe from fad diets or extreme measures to lose weight.
If weight loss is your plan than 2 or 3 pounds a week is realistic. The more extreme the diet, the more likely your weight is to bounce back. Anything more than 2 or 3 pounds a week is possible, but hard to maintain. Your body can do amazing things but know your limits. Push yourself in every workout, but if that soreness you feel the next day turns into extreme pain, stop and see a doctor if need be. Muscles should not be sore for more than 48 hours. Chances are if you’re sore for longer than that amount of time, that means that you over worked that area.
Generally, going on a fad diet or even skipping breakfast can have the opposite effect as to what you may think. While some short-term weight loss may occur, dramatically curbing calories might lead to a cascade of hormones that cause people to end up retaining more fat in the long run. If you're skipping meals and no longer are eating at regular intervals, your metabolism slows down because the body thinks it is starving and tries to retain nutrients longer. On the other hand, eating healthy foods throughout the day can keep the metabolism going. Doing this will lead to your body staying in that happy "weight-loss zone," a state where your metabolism is working efficiently. Besides causing more weight to come back, a fad diet might also lead to dehydration, gallstones, kidney stones, low blood pressure and electrolyte disturbances that might be dangerous. Many young, healthy brides may not think health problems can happen to them and may ignore the warnings. At the very least fad diets will leave you feeling hungry, cranky, more tired, and having fewer coping skills as your mood slowly deteriorates.
2) Focus on how you feel instead of the number on scale
Keeping track of your progress is important, but don’t dwell on the number the scale says. That’s the thing with the scale. It can be a blessing and a curse. Use the scale to track your progress, but don’t get down on yourself if you only lose just a pound a week. Overall, try your best because that is all you can do. Besides inches can be more telling as to whether your diet and exercise regime is really working.
In the beginning of your training, your focus should be on getting active and engaged in the program more than what the scale says. A good way to get motivated is to start a workout diary where you can monitor your progress. To stay motivated, keep notes all the way through. Make this a workout diary of sorts. If you're more of a visual person take a picture of yourself every week to track changes and keep it in your phone. Add aerobic activity (running, walking, jogging, cycling for example) at least 3 times a week at first. Don’t use main exercise, because too much cardio can burn not just fat but muscle as well.
3) Don’t underestimate yourself
It starts with the little things. Even walking can make a difference. Don’t underestimate the importance of just eliminating sugary drinks out of your diet. Many people have a good ten pounds of weight in their body just by a build of toxins in the colon. Swapping out unhealthy foods is just one part of getting in shape for a wedding. If you take away soda and sugary foods and drinks from your diet you can naturally expel some of this waste in your body quickly. Instead of sodas try flavoring your water.
Increasing your water intake makes a big difference to your body’s health. Studies show that those who drink at least 8 cups of water tend to weigh less than those who don’t. If you don’t like water, an easy fix is to cut up your favorite fruit, put it in your water bottle, and let it sit overnight in your water bottle. The next day your water tastes like fruit. Flavored water will make it easier for you to make your water requirement for the day.
8 Tips To Keep Within your Floral Budget For Your Wedding
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Wedding Floral | Not Just The Bouquet Anymore
Happy Monday everyone! We know Monday's have the potential to be a drag so here's a blog post, written by the amazing Kelly Dixon of Union Blooms Floral to brighten up your day :)
This will be Part 1, so be sure to check back to see more tips from Kelly!
Wedding floral is one of the items for any wedding that sets the tone, theme, colors, and what can be one of the most budget killing expenditures for any budget. As a floral designer, who specializes in weddings and events, here are tips for how to keep within budget while getting the look you want as well as what to ask your florist and my tips for making sure your day goes as seamlessly as possible.
1. Use Pinterest to find the overall look you want. But only use Pinterest as a guideline. That huge hydrangea and rose covered arch you’re looking at may be out of your budget, but it’s the general look you want. That cascading bouquet with Phalaenopsis orchids may be stunning but is it the flower or the overall look you like?
I tell all my clients to bring photos of ideas they like to a consultation. Why? It allows me to see what their overall vision is and how to tailor it for their particular budget.
2. Once you find the look you want and decide on colors, STEP AWAY from Pinterest. After you have made your final decision it can cloud the overall look with multiple new photos being sent to your floral designer, leaving he/she questioning the notes they took at your consults and culled from your emails and phone calls.
There will always be a new trend, a new color palette, but feeling confident in your final choice is important for the outcome to be as close to what you envisioned.
3. The MOST important part of your wedding floral is the bridal bouquet. Why? It will be in nearly every photo of the bride. A breakdown of your proposal per cost should show the bridal bouquet being a pretty hefty part of your proposal costs. A good designer will know that this is the “showstopper” piece and the most attention needs to be put on the bridal bouquet.
Many times, I have had clients who said they wanted a small bouquet. Happily, I will accommodate that request with varied responses on the day of the wedding as the bride wishes her bouquet was bigger and more elaborate. It is frustrating for a designer to spend hours if not days working on a wedding to find a client who is not as pleased with their decision.
4. Listen to your designer. It’s 100 degrees in August and you want tulips and hydrangea. You’re insisting on those two flowers, your designer is begging you to reconsider. There is a reason for this. Designers spend a lot of time designing your pieces, whether they be the personal floral, ceremony floral or reception floral. They know in August, tulips will be dead by the time the wedding starts and the hydrangea will look like something left over from the week before. Designers know what flowers will do well in what situations. Listen to their advice to help alleviate wedding day disappointment.
Case in point. One of my first weddings, yes, in August, and yes she insisted on red tulips. Not only was the cost higher as they are out of season, I knew her venue, which had no air conditioning, would not be a good fit for her desired tulips. I showed her red garden roses, dark red standard roses, and still, she held fast to the red tulips. While the assembly looked good, the outcome was a huge disappointment. Sitting in a church for 2 hours before the ceremony with no air conditioning the tulips were fully open and petals falling by the time the ceremony started. Her bouquet? It was nearly dead by the end of the ceremony. She was upset, she was angry. While I fully understood her disappointment, I only redirected her to the countless emails with the flower options and me as the designer begging her not to use the tulips and the reasons why.
Kelly Dixon | Union Blooms Floral
Info@unionbloomsfloralweddings.com | www.unionbloomsfloralweddings.com
Preparing For Your Session | Part 1 'The Client'
You're gonna look great!
There are many different kinds of sessions that photographer's offer. The first thing you should do is understand what kind of session you are having, don't worry, most of the session names are pretty straight forward. This allows you to get into the right mindset and distinguish the different variables that set your session apart from the others. For example, if you are meeting with the photographer for an engagement session, you want to look beautiful and in love. A lot of the time, you won't be posing in an engagement session looking like you're about to go to a Halloween party. However, if that is how the two of you met, by all means, I think that would be an awesome session and I would love to photograph it! If you're preparing for an editorial session, you'll want to check out different magazines and I don't have to remind you how wonderful Pinterest for ideas. Just be aware that the photographer is also an artist, and while getting creative ideas, will most likely not want to copy the exact photo that you have. Here are some more words and pictures!
Whoops! :P
Confidence!
There is a laundry list of items you could think about to get ready for your session, but the best thing to do is keep it simple.
1. Be you and be comfortable. Being yourselves will overall get you the best photos! The clothes that you wear should reflect your personalities and how you see yourselves :) They should also be clothes that you can move around in, play in, and work your body into different poses. Don't be boring like a plain white shirt with khakis, but venture to find your clothing spirit animal, just keep it in the same color family so it's not chaos.
Don't have one of those moments like when you look back at your high school yearbook and think "What was I doing!?" We've all been there.
2. Now, I always carry certain props with me but that's because I feel they bring a certain energy to an image. It's like putting italics on a word :P
Now, we don't know if the baby is a boy or girl yet so they chose Daphne and Myles as names
I do ask my clients to bring items with them that they like. ^^^ Amber and Jimmy brought baby blocks to spell out their baby's name. #SoCute
3. Most likely the photographer will have a great location set out for your already, but if you have a special place that you'd like your session to be, let them know! We love going to places that make you happy, it makes for better images!
4. Think about how you'd like to display the images you've taken! The products Sonacity Photography offers range from small prints, to albums, to large prints on metal! How big do you want that canvas of your family to be? Would you like to be able to see all the photos in an album? Remember, these moments become family heirlooms that will be treasured by your children and grandchildren. So be sure to make ridiculous faces and stick your tongue out at them.
5. Trust your photographer :) -Thanks, Carlos Romero!
What are you thoughts? How do you get ready?
If you have any questions or feel I've left something out, feel free to contact me! The inquiry page is really close by :)