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Wedding Shedding: Losing Weight For The Big Day
Posted on May 5th 2011 11:15AM by That's Fit EditorsFiled Under: Fitness
By Penny Love Hoff
Oh, I loved that royal wedding last week. I loved the colorful regalia, the royal opulence, the atmospheric curtsy to romance of times gone by. It occurred to me that it was probably the Queen's idea of an orgasm. If cathedrals had orgasms THAT would be what it would look like. And it was good for me, too.
Kate, though she smokes and I am trying not to hold that against her, was lifted straight out of a fairytale. She looked quite smashingly perfect in that dress, which reminded me of the popularity of wedding shedding -- losing weight for the big day.
In fitness, not only do women diet and exercise to get to an ideal weight for the big day, but also the wedding day weight is also often the benchmark that women would like to weigh AGAIN, later in life. It is the life-long number to which women want to return, weight-wise.
In a 2000 Cornell study of 273 women who were getting married within the year, 70 percent of respondents reported wanting to lose more than 20 pounds. But in reality, by wedding day, their average weight loss was only seven pounds.
Still, weight loss for the wedding day ranks high on women's lists of pre-nuptial tasks.
I often recommend that people embarking on a weight-loss program pick a not-too-distant date or event, like a class reunion, a wedding anniversary or birthday so that they have something to aim for and work towards.
I wish that I could take the motivation that some female fiancee's have for fitting into their wedding dress and apply it to later points in their life when they want to lose the weight but are not inspired to do so.
Here is my question: Why isn't not dying of a heart attack motivation enough for staying close to your ideal weight?
Looking in the mirror and liking what you see is important,too, especially in our culture. Plus there are noticeable and immediate benefits to losing weight, like more energy, feeling wiggle room in your waistband and seeing the numbers on the scale go down -- that feels great.
But there are enormous benefits, beyond not having a heart attack, or other age-related illnesses and these benefits only kick in at the end of our lifespan.
It is hard to comprehend that each little lifestyle choice we make today will have a huge impact on our life-length but it is true that over time, the difference in life-length (excepting a tsunami or a terrorist attack) can be radically longer for those who consistently choose the right food and exercise consistently and vigorously.
It is called the butterfly effect (check Wikipedia) and it applies in health and lifestyle as well.
Now if we could only get Kate to stop smoking; she's likely to get seven extra years and perhaps live to be a queen. I would love that.
Make sure to follow Penny on Twitter @pennylovehoff or visit her website for more health tips.
Getty Images
Kate, though she smokes and I am trying not to hold that against her, was lifted straight out of a fairytale. She looked quite smashingly perfect in that dress, which reminded me of the popularity of wedding shedding -- losing weight for the big day.
In fitness, not only do women diet and exercise to get to an ideal weight for the big day, but also the wedding day weight is also often the benchmark that women would like to weigh AGAIN, later in life. It is the life-long number to which women want to return, weight-wise.
In a 2000 Cornell study of 273 women who were getting married within the year, 70 percent of respondents reported wanting to lose more than 20 pounds. But in reality, by wedding day, their average weight loss was only seven pounds.
Still, weight loss for the wedding day ranks high on women's lists of pre-nuptial tasks.
I often recommend that people embarking on a weight-loss program pick a not-too-distant date or event, like a class reunion, a wedding anniversary or birthday so that they have something to aim for and work towards.
I wish that I could take the motivation that some female fiancee's have for fitting into their wedding dress and apply it to later points in their life when they want to lose the weight but are not inspired to do so.
Here is my question: Why isn't not dying of a heart attack motivation enough for staying close to your ideal weight?
Looking in the mirror and liking what you see is important,too, especially in our culture. Plus there are noticeable and immediate benefits to losing weight, like more energy, feeling wiggle room in your waistband and seeing the numbers on the scale go down -- that feels great.
But there are enormous benefits, beyond not having a heart attack, or other age-related illnesses and these benefits only kick in at the end of our lifespan.
It is hard to comprehend that each little lifestyle choice we make today will have a huge impact on our life-length but it is true that over time, the difference in life-length (excepting a tsunami or a terrorist attack) can be radically longer for those who consistently choose the right food and exercise consistently and vigorously.
It is called the butterfly effect (check Wikipedia) and it applies in health and lifestyle as well.
Now if we could only get Kate to stop smoking; she's likely to get seven extra years and perhaps live to be a queen. I would love that.
Make sure to follow Penny on Twitter @pennylovehoff or visit her website for more health tips.
