Bridal Lifestyle: 4 Ways to Kickstart a Healthy 2016

Hello lovely readers,
Well, well, well – here we are with my first post of 2016 for My Lovely Wedding and I couldn’t be more excited to be on board – we have so many fun and lovely things in store and I am positively bursting! Can you believe we are almost halfway through the month already? Yikes!
So it’s January and as we all know this usually comes hand in hand with resolutions for a fit and healthy new year, especially for us brides who want to look our best on our big day. I am all about having a happy and active lifestyle but my only problem is sometimes this time of year can cause women to put an inordinate amount of pressure on themselves to adopt extreme diets and crazy fitness regimes that they can’t possibly maintain over a long period of time.  Again, if you’re a bride this pressure is going be quadrupled with the thought of looking perfect in THAT dress for all those pictures.
Over the past year, I have lost 7 kilos and managed to keep it off. For the first time in my life I haven’t been yo-yo dieting and I am content because I have finally found a lifestyle that I enjoy. I am not saying all this to brag but because I have now seen that it is possible to lose the weight and not kill yourself in the process. So with that in mind, I wanted to share what’s helped me and hopefully this may help you whether you are a bride-to-be or simply trying to get the year started right 🙂

1. Start small
I really started enjoying exercise again when I found HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts. I literally started by doing a 20 minute session at home with no equipment from a workout I found on a lifestyle blog that I follow. Sometimes the problem is that we have an “all or nothing” approach and we feel we need to have an hour at the gym or it’s not worth it but it’s so not true.
My attitude to begin with was than anything was better than sitting on the sofa for 20 minutes and then I gradually started building that up into longer sessions. The funny thing is you usually find that after you make the decision to get going you end up doing more than you thought you could!
Also, when it comes to food I try and avoid extremes because I usually end up failing and feeling bad about myself. Starting with simple changes such as switching from cappuccinos to black coffee or taking the carbs out of my evening meal are little things that I can do gradually and not feel like I’m making this huge, insurmountable sacrifice.
2. Share!
Sharing workouts and having someone to be accountable to can really make all the difference. I don’t know about you but I bounce off of other’s people energy and when someone gets excited about something I can’t help but get psyched up. I am lucky that I have some great friends who are really into fitness and on the days when I can’t be bothered those are the people that keep me going. Even if you prefer working out by yourself, there is a huge fitness community on social media, especially Instagram, where you can share your progress, find new ideas and connect with like-minded people.
3. Enjoy it
It sounds simple but enjoying your lifestyle is a huge component in whether you will actually end up sustaining it or not. In this day and age there are so many ways to work out that if you hate the gym there really are no excuses anymore. In Dubai you can find so many different kinds of classes from (free!) community yoga in the park to Flywheel to Crossfit and so much more. My best advice is to experiment and find something that you really like doing. This means it will become a part of your day that you look forward to and prioritise.
4. Be realistic
You’ll go insane waiting for that end goal! What I found was helpful was not focusing on where I wanted to be in 3 months but what I could today to change that i.e. eating healthy and working out and maybe cutting out that chocolate after dinner today is much more doable than obsessing over every kilo and seeing how much closer you are to your goal everyday. If you put in the work everyday then the long-term goal will take care of itself.
And don’t be scared to celebrate your progress along the way  – you can’t save your victory dance until you’ve finally lost that final pound. For example when you start to see your body changing, take yourself out for a mini shopping spree. Trust me being able to buy those jeans in a smaller size is a huge motivator and will keep you on track.
***
Well there you have it. The last thing is I will say is be kind to yourself. If it’s Friday night and your fiancé wants to order a pizza then have the darn pizza. You don’t need to write off the whole weekend – enjoy it and then wake up and go for a run in the morning. You won’t spontaneously combust if you go off track and you have to allow yourself your vices every now and again to make sure you don’t go crazy. Enjoy the ride 🙂
Take care of yourself you lovely people, back soon!