You Are What You Eat

 

Now, Don't get me wrong, this photo makes me want to eat a hamburger so bad...it also actually makes me wish that I had met a burger-headed man back when I was 19 instead of my almost-husband (that sounds terrible..but food is ranked #1 on my list, then booze, THEN my dude!)  I love greasy food, burgers, donairs, hot dogs, anything french soaked in butter and wine, etc, etc. Anyway, my point here is, I have never met anyone who eats clean all the time; I know people who compete in the fitness circuit; runners, bodybuilders, fitness competitors and such, and they all enjoy a great cheat meal every-so-often, so the myth that if you want to look great and be fit you have to eat tofu with a side of chicken breast and raw broccoli is just that, a myth.
Another myth out there is, 'if I work out like a madman/madwoman everyday I can eat anything I want' C'mon!! Are you serious? If you're putting in so much work at the gym, and then you come home and nosh on a turtle burger, it doesn't make any sense now, does it?  Sure, it sounds like a good time, but if you're trying to get into that dream dress of yours and you want some extra room in it so that you can actually sit down, then you're kidding yourself.

Ok then Harp, if you're so smart with this eating crap, what DO I eat then??

Glad you asked, here is a small list of things that are great to set your new eating plan up with:

Carbohydrates:

• Oatmeal
• Yams
• Sweet Potato
• Brown Rice
• Wild Rice
• Lentils
• Rice Cakes

Fats:

• Almonds
• Udo's Oil
• Adam's All Natural Peanut Butter
• Flax Seed Oil
• Walnuts
• Olive Oil

Proteins:

• Extra Lean Ground Beef
• Beef (Steak)
• Chicken
• Turkey
• Tuna
• Cod
• Halibut
• Eggs (whole)
• Egg whites
• Salmon
• Prawns
• Buffalo
• Cottage cheese
• Tofu
• Edamame beans
• Lentils

Vegetables:

• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Brussel sprouts
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Cucumber
• Celery
• Eggplant
• Peppers (red, green, yellow, orange)
• Spinach
• Peas
• Zucchini

Fruits:

• Apples
• Bananas
• Watermelon
• Mango
• Blue berries
• Strawberries
• Cantaloupe
• Grapes
• Grapefruit
• Kiwi
• Pear

If you can make up a meal plan with a bit of something from each category you'll be on the road to clean-eating heaven.  Try to eat 3 meals and 3 small snacks every day; if this is all slapping you across the face and leaving you scratching your head and reaching for the Scotch...STOP!  there are countless sites on the internet that will help you make sense of everything, they will help you figure out how much of each to eat based on your height and weight this site is a great tool.  Another way to get yourself going is to look into hiring a personal trainer/nutritionist in your area, most, if not all gyms will have someone that you can speak to to get a grip on all things fitness.  Another issue that comes up with eating clean is that sometimes people think it's hard to flavour healthy food...fear not, Facebook has a ton of pages dedicated to making your food taste amazing, check out this page for some great tasting recipes that will keep you looking fantastic; another great site to check out that is run by an amazingly friendly and fit woman that I competed with a couple of years ago is http://www.fitfabfoodies.com/ all the recipes on this site have been tried and tested by the fit and fab foodies, and I assure you that you won't miss any of the high fat flavourings found in most foods.

With a little internet scouring and note-taking you will be well on your way to fit into your dream gown and to feel healthy and confident on your wedding day.

"We are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than what we are."

 -Adelle Davis- 

 

"I lift things up and put them down"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-cpojkILO0

Every time this commercial comes on I cannot help but laugh hysterically, and then walk around my house imitating that muscle head (<3). 

Anyway, that video is a perfect segway into this month's topic: Fitness

I've been around countless brides in my life and the one item each always has at the top of their ' Wedding To Do' list is: Fitness (hmm, seems like a reoccurring theme, doesn't it?)

So where do you start?

Let's first get my biggest pet peeve out of the way; brides who wait a month before their wedding to start any sort of fitness regimen and then realize that they can't drop that 15lbs they reallllly wanted to that fast, and then resort to starving themselves, taking laxatives (NOOO!!!), or trying to get in 3-4 workout sessions a day. let's get serious here, shall we ladies? a) DON'T starve yourselves!! What the heck is that going to get you, other than mood swings, bad skin and bouts of fatigue?  b) Laxatives are dangerous and unnecessary c) working out 3-4 times a day is going to exhaust you, you do NOT need to be that stressed or tired a month before your big day.

my advice to you?  Set a reasonable goal to lose the weight you want off in a time period that makes sense.  losing 15lbs in one month is NOT reasonable, whereas losing 5-8lbs is very reasonable. If you really want to lose a few pounds before your wedding, then it is very doable, but you need to be strategic about it.  I'm going to help show you how.

1. Set a long term goal
• How much do you want to lose?
• When would you like to lose it by?
2. Set a series of short term goals
• from your start date make a list of mini monthly goals.  For example, your wedding is in July, you were engaged in September. Your goal is to lose 15lbs, your mini goals can be that every month you'd like to lose 2 lbs so that by your wedding day you will have lost about that much.
• buy yourself a budget friendly target outfit. A nice blouse, a sexy skirt, something that you can't fit into now, but after you lose your first 4lbs it slips on like a glove.
3. Take pictures
• Taking progress photos is an amazing way to see the results you're getting every week.  It's hard to see when you look at yourself in the mirror every morning, but trust me when I say that you'll be shocked when you compare your photos week to week. 
4. Take a look at your diet.
• make a log for about a week and take a look at what you're consuming
• a diet overhaul is key to making your weight loss dreams a reality.
• Portion  size, the majority of people eat way too much in a day, I found this site that shows portion sizes from twenty years ago compared to now, it's astounding!
5. Get Moving
• When you change your diet you will definitely start seeing results, but you need to incorporate daily exercise into your day to day routine to make everything come together.  Get in 30 minutes of cardio everyday and get in about the same amount (or more) of weight training in as well.  Ladies, don't be afraid of weight training!! Muscle weighs more than fat and muscle also burns more calories, so start lifting! This site is the most amazing site out there, and it motivated me to begin training the way I do now.
6. Believe in yourself
• If you change your diet and start working out more often, nothing will happen if you don't believe you can get to where you want to go.  Make it a habit to think positive thoughts about yourself and what you are trying to accomplish.  Believe it or not, in the weight loss journey, we are our own worst critics, we want it the most, we're doing all the work, but we can still hear ourselves saying "This is too hard, I can't do it."  Take those words out of your vocabulary, you CAN do this, you owe yourself to do this.  This is your goal, so you WILL achieve it.

Breathe in, breathe out.  Believe.

Will you marry me?

So your one and only just proposed, or you've been together for so long the two of you just came to a common decision that marriage was the next step, whatever your story, wherever you live, whatever your age, sexuality, personal beliefs, or colour of your skin, Congratulations!!  A wedding is definitely the most stressful thing to plan and execute, but it is by far the most fun...albeit, the fun is usually after the dust has settled, after the vendors have been paid and you're in your new house sipping on a cup of tea from your fabulous new vintage tea set....minor details!

My goal is to get through my wedding planning in one piece and to help you get through yours as well! I will be concentrating on one topic a month (hopefully); fitness, flowers, invites, decor, rings, lingerie (YAY!), mother in laws (*shudder*), etc, etc.  I have a plethora of DIY ideas that will help you save money, but that will also look divine in any theme you choose. stay  tuned and you'll be pleasantly surprised what you can accomplish with a bit of budgeting, creative zing, hard work and probably a few bottles of wine to dull the aching pain...haha.

I raise my glass to you, and welcome you on this journey, here we goooo!!!