Dear Dream Italian Weddings & Honeymoons
At the moment I am coordinating my wedding which will take place in June this year in Venice and it’s proving so much more stressful than I ever imagined. What can I do to ensure that what should be the best day of my life doesn’t end up giving me a heart attack?
Gill D., Bolton (by email)
Reply from:
Janey Holliday, Fit for a Princess
Hi Gill
Remember to keep focused, this is YOUR big day, and it will be over before you know it, so enjoy every second, every detail leading up to your wedding as well as on the day itself. Stress will be no good for you: stress can age us very quickly, and not only zaps us of our energy stores but can also stop us from losing weight (not good if you’re trying to look your best for the wedding). Exercise is the best solution, so get the blood pumping and kick start the happy hormones. Exercise is also a great stress buster, and after a good workout you will see things in a different perspective and will be able to take on any challenge without being so frustrated. Make yourself daily lists, and talk through remaining tasks with your fiancé, and delegate where you can - this is your chance to practice team work with your husband to be.
Dear Dream Italian Weddings & Honeymoons
My boyfriend proposed to me ten months ago, but somehow time has flown and I now only have two months before to get into shape for my wedding. What’s the best way to get thin quick? Sal Brinkley, London (by email)
Hi Sal
Firstly, don’t panic – you can achieve quite a lot in two months, especially if you really put your mind to it. It’s really important though that you don’t diet and exercise too hard; instead you need to eat cleverly and train smart. With exercise, I suggest what’s called split routine training, i.e. working a different body part on different days. For example:
Monday: Cardio - a 60 min power walk / jog
Tuesday: Legs and bum - lots of squats and lunge
combinations
Wednesday: Arms and abs - ideally combining hand
weights, dumbbells or boxing
Thursday: Cardio – Interval Training
(see below for more details)
Friday: Legs and bum – squats and lunge combos but with progressions i.e. more reps, using weights, moving combinations etc.
Saturday: Arms and abs – as above but making it harder with slower reps on top of a usual set, holding a move for longer, less time in between exercises etc.
Sunday: Day off
Split routine training is where you only work one or two body parts in each workout; this means you train that body part more, thus obtaining better results and allowing it to rest for a couple of days, meaning fewer injuries. Lots of people do all over body workouts, which are, of course, beneficial, but split routine training, which is very popular with Hollywood A-Listers, is simply a more effective way to get results more quickly.
Progressive training is where you push yourself a little bit more in every workout. For example, on a Monday if you are power walking or jogging, and you do four km, try to do four and a half the next time. Or if you power walked for 45 mins and jogged for 10, try jogging 15 mins on the next cardio workout.
PUSHING YOURSELF
You should always be training as hard as you can: think of a scale of one to ten, ten being the absolute hardest you can workout. You should always be trying to train around a seven to eight for most of your workout, but you should always be trying to hit nine and tens for the latter part of your workout - add some sprints or pulses and really try to push yourself as much as you can. With toning exercises, you must fail; i.e. get to the point where you can’t do anymore.
Interval training is also one of the best ways to maximise results. All you need to do is work at a steady state i.e. five to seven out of ten, and then burst into a nine or ten. When you can’t do anymore at this top end level (anywhere from 20 secs to 90 secs depending on your levels), come back to a five to seven and repeat. Don’t get bogged down with complicated training patterns or timings, just follow the zigzag concept – up and down. The fitter you become, the less your recovery will be and the longer your sprint sets will be.
...use music to get even more motivated to move!
you should always train as hard as you can: think of a scale of one to ten… you should always be trying to train around seven to eight for most of your workout...
EATING PROPERLY
With regards to eating, follow a day to day detoxing eating plan which will help to get rid of toxins, debloat you and shift the flab all at the same time. Drink lots of water and fresh lemon (hot or cold), avoid wheat, dairy, red meat, alcohol and sugar and avoid eating too much fruit, especially at meal times which often causes bloating. Eat lots of vegetables and raw foods, lots of essential fatty acids such as oily fish, avocadoes, nuts, seeds, olive oil and, if possible, have a fresh vegetable based juice every morning. A typical day might be: on waking – carrot, apple and ginger juice, breakfast – porridge made with oat milk & honey; mid morning – a punnet of blueberries; lunch – small baked sweet potato, hummus and a large mixed salad; afternoon snack – some nuts; dinner – baked salmon, brown rice and veggie stir-fry.
Dear Dream Italian Weddings & Honeymoons
I would really like to look my best on my wedding day to my Italian fiancé, but live miles from the nearest gym. Can you recommend a fitness/ beauty schedule that I can follow at home?
Kirsty Colvin, Abruzzo (by email)
I would combine power walking or jogging, with some toning excercises at home so you are targeting cardio and conditioning together
Hi Kirsty
More and more people are keeping in shape without stepping into a gym. As long as you are self motivated you can achieve some fantastic results through exercising at home or outdoors. You would also be surprised about what you can achieve without using any fancy equipment. Most brides want great arms and a streamlined waist so they can look as fit as possible on their special day.
I would combine power walking or jogging, with some toning exercises at home so you are targeting cardio and conditioning together. Still, try to use the split routine training concepts I mentioned above, but instead, try the following weekly program.
Monday: 45-60 min power walk with 20 mins of ab exercises (crunches, crunch varieties, planks)
Tuesday: 20-30 min jog with 20 mins of arm exercises (triceps and chest)
Wednesday: 30-45 min power walk with 30 mins of leg and bum exercises (squat and lunge combinations)
Thursday: 30 mins of arms (back, shoulders and biceps) and abs (obliques and side plank combinations) with 20 min lower body stretch
Friday: 20-30 min jog with 30 mins lower body (floor exercises i.e. bum lifts, leg raises)
Saturday: 45-60 min power walk with 20 mins of ab exercises (crunches, crunch varieties, planks)
Sunday: 20-30 min jog with 20 mins of arm exercises (triceps and chest)
The week after, you can tweak it so that you are alternating the toning exercises each time (i.e. Monday you would do oblique abs as you did
crunches on the Saturday, and Tuesday you would do biceps, back and shoulders as you did chest and triceps on the Sunday etc.), and try to increase running pace and ideally swap a normal run or a power walk for an interval run (see previous info above), and if you need to rest for a day, just take a day off and push the program back a day.
THE ARMS DEAL
With the arm conditioning, invest in a dyno band or some weights, and use music to get you even more motivated to move! (See www.fitforaprincess.co.uk for workouts and music motivation tips.) Another option is to get a couple of home workout DVDs: Nell Mc Andrew and Davina McCall usually have the most effective ones on the market, and by getting two you won’t get as bored: there should be no problem playing them, as Italy is also Region 2.
You could also use the arms, abs or legs sections of these for your conditioning sets as well, if you are unsure of technique.
So, good luck and remember that the only way to get results is to stick at it, so really focus on what you want to achieve and just go for it!
Written by Janey Holliday, from Fit for a Princess. Check out the free resource section and motivation tips at www.fitforaprincess.co.uk The Sparkling Bride e-book, published in February, is available to download and is packed with bridal exercise and eating programs.
