Getting married in a year - help with fitness plan

homemadecider

Hi all,

As the title says, I am getting married in a year. Obviously I want to look great on the day so I'm seeking some advice on what kind of plan will work best.

My goal is not to be skinny, but to be slim and strong and fit. I'm not in the slightest bit interested in slimming clubs or low-fat products; I'm just after a sustainable approach to health and fitness which will give me steady results.

I am female, 5'3 and approx 61kg. Not fat by any means, but I have a very small frame so at this weight I'm slightly chubby. Ideal weight would be about a stone lighter.

Should I join a gym and do a range of classes? Or go running? Do weights at home? Get some exercise DVDs? Use a personal trainer? Walk to and from work everyday?

What about food - is low carbing the way to go? What about intermittent fasting? Paleo?

I kind of feel overwhelmed by the huge range of options and would love some advice on what works best for you. We are going to honeymoon at a beach resort so I'd love to look super in a bikini in 12 months time! Thanks in advance.

Hanley

Eat real food. Get strong first.

That's all.

Meat and veg. Nuts and seeds. Limited starch. Some fruit and no sugar.

Focus on improving bodyweight strength (push ups/pull ups/dips) and basic barbell strength (squat/bench/deadlift)

Filibuster

Hanley wrote: »

Eat real food. Get strong first.

That's all.

Meat and veg. Nuts and seeds. Limited starch. Some fruit and no sugar.

Focus on improving bodyweight strength (push ups/pull ups/dips) and basic barbell strength (squat/bench/deadlift)

If your not carbed up you're not going to have the glycogen levels to be active and motivated. Drop the nuts (fats) and increase the carbs.

siochain

Ladies are getting great results from good strength and conditioning clubs or crossfit style gyms.

For a few reasons
1 focus is on strenght work and METCONs. This type of workout is where you will get the best results.

2 if the place has a good coaching crew the group atmosphere combined with the workouts is addictive for some.

3 most important NUTRITION - again if you have a good coaching crew they will be advising on the right foods. A lot of these places advise a modified primal / paleo style nutrition plan.

4 if you have the above 3 you'll work hard, have fun, eat right, see results and might even change your life for the better.

Where are you living?

siochain

Filibuster wrote: »

If your not carbed up you're not going to have the glycogen levels to be active and motivated. Drop the nuts (fats) and increase the carbs.

Body adapts very quickly and efficiently to burning up fat as fuel source in the absence of carbs.

The first week of reduced carbs you may see a decrease in energy levels but by the second week most people have way more energy that when on high carb diets.

nice_guy80

siochain wrote: »

Body adapts very quickly and efficiently to burning up fat as fuel source in the absence of carbs.

The first week of reduced carbs you may see a decrease in energy levels but by the second week most people have way more energy that when on high carb diets.

this

move more, lift more, eat better

Jerrica

homemadecider wrote: »

Hi all,

As the title says, I am getting married in a year. Obviously I want to look great on the day so I'm seeking some advice on what kind of plan will work best.

My goal is not to be skinny, but to be slim and strong and fit. I'm not in the slightest bit interested in slimming clubs or low-fat products; I'm just after a sustainable approach to health and fitness which will give me steady results.

I am female, 5'3 and approx 61kg. Not fat by any means, but I have a very small frame so at this weight I'm slightly chubby. Ideal weight would be about a stone lighter.

Should I join a gym and do a range of classes? Or go running? Do weights at home? Get some exercise DVDs? Use a personal trainer? Walk to and from work everyday?

What about food - is low carbing the way to go? What about intermittent fasting? Paleo?

I kind of feel overwhelmed by the huge range of options and would love some advice on what works best for you. We are going to honeymoon at a beach resort so I'd love to look super in a bikini in 12 months time! Thanks in advance.

I got married in September and was on a similar journey to you. A few things I learned:

1. Chances are the next year are going to be pretty nuts. Organising a wedding was hands down the most stressful thing I've ever done and so exercising became my outlet for dealing with stress. Try and find something you genuinely like to do, those hour long sessions in the gym or long runs become your window of sanity

2. Given the day that's in it, you're likely going to put a lot of pressure on yourself to achieve x amount of weight loss or be a certain size. That's normal, but try to keep it in check. You have a solid goal (a stone in loss) so that's a good thing. When you get there be realistic about how much more any losses will affect your look. You see so many girls losing *too* Mich weight and their dress won't fit. Unless you're wearing a Jenny Packham waify number some boobs and a bum will make the dress look BETTER!!

3. DIET wise, keep it simple. Whole foods, no junk, lower carb. There will be a pile of dinners and celebrations to go to over the next twelve months so you'll need to keep it flexible.

JJayoo

Unlike most people you have set very achievable goals. If you make an effort to eat cleaner and just move more each day you will see results.

Should I join a gym and do a range of classes? Or go running? Do weights at home? Get some exercise DVDs? Use a personal trainer? Walk to and from work everyday?

What would you feel most comfortable with? would you like to join a gym or would you rather workout from home?

The highlighted part is an excellent example of including extra movement in your day., except if it's raining

nice_guy80

blueshark22

nice_guy80 wrote: »

this

move more, lift more, eat better

i Agree with this, I've struggled with weight for years and it truly is a case of you cannot out train a bad diet. See a nutritionist maybe? I've always found classes better as a way of training - as I would always do more in 'that hour' with a class than on my own. I've found bootcamp style, kettlebells and circuit classes good in the past.

homemadecider

Thanks all, lots of good advice in there.

I really enjoy walking so I'll start walking to work more. It's 5km to my office so that's a good start. My fiance has a weights bench so I'm planning on using that twice a week. Might have to suck it up and do some Jillian Michaels as well - her videos are so tough!

In terms of food, I'm planning something like this:

Breakfast - weekdays: Natural yogurt, blueberries, seeds. Weekends - eggs, bacon/ salmon.

Lunch - Chicken/ eggs with salad and cheese or homemade soup with some cream.

Dinner - Meat and veg based dinners cooked from scratch; we're both good cooks and enjoy cooking so that will be fine. I happen to love vegetables so no issue there.

Snacks - Maybe banana/ apple/ handful peanuts? I'm not mad about nuts and won't eat some types of them, are salted peanuts a terrible idea?

I will have the whole year focus on getting fit and healthy; I actually don't have much wedding planning to do as we're going to elope overseas.

Alf Veedersane

You have a year to lose a stone. That's just under pound a month. You don't need to do anything drastic thatmightr demoralise you. Just eat well, move more and do some lifting.

seosamh1980

I got married this year, I hadn't planned on losing any weight but a friend who was getting married before me was on a fitness buzz so spurred me on. In about 6 months I lost 21lbs, taking me to 10 stone exactly (I'm 5ft 7). I read all the nutrition stickies in this forum, did couch to 5k, and on the alternate days in between runs I did 30 Day Shred. Eating properly and running made me drop most of the weight very quickly in a few months, 30 Day Shred toned me up amazingly. I didn't realise I needed to lose that much weight, I was aiming to lose maybe half a stone, but really got into it and the results made it so worth it.

My wedding dress ended up being taken in 5 inches and I look amazeballs in the photos :cool: I didn't find it stressful planning the wedding until maybe 6-8 weeks before it, so it never affected me getting fit 3-8 months before it.

Hanley

Filibuster wrote: »

If your not carbed up you're not going to have the glycogen levels to be active and motivated. Drop the nuts (fats) and increase the carbs.

If the OP asked how to run a marathon, enter an endurance race or get better at a field sport you'd be able to make a case for it.

But they didn't.

So you're wrong.

Carb levels have very little to do with being active or motivated in the long term. Except for maybe impairing them.

Inspector Coptoor

^^^
This.

Carbed up & ready for......
a crash.

Carbs are an important macro, they are all important though, I'd argue protein is THE most important macro during any period of running a caloric deficit as it's so satiating

Filibuster

Hanley wrote: »

If the OP asked how to run a marathon, enter an endurance race or get better at a field sport you'd be able to make a case for it.

But they didn't.

So you're wrong.

Carb levels have very little to do with being active or motivated in the long term. Except for maybe impairing them.

What are you on about...

A diet high in carbohydrates, low in fat and adequate in protein is the
best plan for all athletes as well as spectators. It is the best way to
fuel your muscles and keep your heart happy. Carbohydrates are
readily stored in your muscles for quick fuel during exercise, unlike
protein and fat. Focus your meals on “the carbs:” pasta, rice, breads
and potatoes. Use protein foods like cheese, beef, chicken or fi sh as
accompaniments to obtain a balance

http://www.unh.edu/dining/nutrition/pdf/sports.pdf

Inspector Coptoor

The diet listed above is essentially the western diet at present and is why people are diabetic and obese.

You and your links/references are wrong