EAT, MOVE, AND BE BETTER

By Lydia Fowler

Whether you are a year out or just a few months from your wedding day, you can make some beneficial changes to your nutrition now that will help you feel your best by the BIG day. Over all of my years as a dietitian, I have heard many-a-bride make at least one of the following statements: I want glowing skin! I want to lose weight! I don’t want to be bloated on my wedding day! I want to feel confident and look good next to my partner!

This plan is not a diet, but rather a focus on those areas of your health and nutrition that you can have a big impact on during your engagement ... and hopefully take into your marriage. Today is a new day to make better decisions that will help you feel your best and walk confidently down the aisle!

PLANTS

Think of all the colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple). Do certain fruits and vegetables come to mind for you with each color? Great! Now expound on that, you may even have to use Google, so that you can increase the variety of nutrients you are feeding your body. Each plant food within the color wheel provides different nutrients that are necessary for your body to feel its best and meet your goals (including glowing skin and decreasing inflammation).

OMEGA-3

This healthy type of fat is found in nuts, seeds, and delicious fishes. Try incorporating flax, chia seeds, walnuts, salmon, and sardines. These delicious foods will help improve skin health, decrease bloat, sustain energy, and decrease inflammation overall.

PROTEIN

Keeping proteins in mind at every meal is helpful for keeping you satisfied and curb your sweet cravings. You don’t need an exorbitant amount to reap these benefits either. Think of plant options in place of some of your animal products to help reduce inflammation as well. Plant-based proteins like tofu, tempeh, almonds, chickpeas, or lentils can be an easy substitute in some recipes.

HYDRATE

Your daily hydration awareness will help you not only feel and look great today but has the long-term benefits as well. How you hydrate today and each day until your wedding day will show on that beautiful skin of yours! Be sure to also avoid or limit carbonated drinks that increase bloat as well as alcohol that can increase inflammation and wreak havoc on your goals.

MOVE YOUR BODY

Yes, this is not a nutrition improvement but almost as important for meeting those wedding day goals. Move your body every day in some way. Be sure to have a mix of low intensity and high intensity activity days each week. There are benefits to each form of exercise just as there are benefits to each type of food you put in your body. Don’t skimp on what could make your skin glow, improve your confidence and mood, and help you look even more stunning in your dress. SWEAT EVERY DAY!

BE CONSISTENT

You have heard “Consistency is KEY” and it absolutely is! You can’t be 100% on task for your goals the day before your wedding and expect miracles. If you want improvements it takes you putting in the work every day. You will feel wedding ready, no doubt! It is YOUR day! (I mean you and your partner’s day — haha!) No matter what changes you are able to make between now and your wedding day, do not forget that you are beautiful and have a perfect day ahead to celebrate you and your favorite person. Give yourself grace and walk confidently down that aisle knowing you are loved and cherished!

LYDIA FOWLER is a registered dietician, personal trainer, and cofounder of Climb Performance Therapies in Columbia, Tennessee. Her specialties include diabetes education, disease management and prevention, exercise and performance nutrition, and corporate wellness solutions. She brings her experiences together in excellent patient care and a holistic approach to the ‘whole person,’ striving for better health outcomes for each individual.