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Planning your wedding is one of the most exciting times in your life. It’s a day you and your spouse (okay, mainly you), have complete control over and can shape every detail to your liking. It’s also a venture that can eat up a lot of time, sometimes to the point that you have to displace previous habits, such as working out.
If you’re like most brides-to-be, you may feel conflicted: you want to look and feel your best and know that regular exercise is a must to achieve that, yet, you’re struggling to find time to get it done. Sometimes getting that pre wedding workout in can be super tricky, especially when you are juggling work, vendor meetings, dress fittings, bridal events, and everything else that goes along with wedding planning.
We hear you! That’s why we’ve outlined three surefire strategies to help you make exercise a priority while planning your dream wedding!
Related Content: 5 Ways to Look Your Best on Your Wedding Day
Wedding Workout Tip #1. Do It First Thing In The Morning
Getting your bridal workout in first thing in the morning is a great way to make sure that you actually get it done. There aren’t many excuses that you can make at 6 in the morning, right? The moment you open your email you lose control of your day. While you may have had the best intentions of walking the dog, getting a pre wedding workout in, and even stopping by the local floral show to discuss potential arrangements for your wedding after work, your email had other ideas. Now, rather than getting off work at 4:00 pm, as you had originally planned, you’re stuck in the office until 6:30 pm.
By the time you do get home, you’re exhausted. A wedding workout just isn’t in the cards.
Your planned walk turns into a two-minute trip to let your pup go to the bathroom, your bridal workout of the night has now become the walk upstairs, and you’ll have to reschedule the appointment at the floral department for this coming weekend.
Phew! Things change fast, especially when you are planning a wedding!
Unfortunately, life doesn’t always go as planned. Despite your desire and best effort to workout, sometimes it doesn’t happen. And this occasion is more likely to turn into the norm when you also need to prioritize planning dozens of aspects of your wedding while simultaneously working full-time. To help exercise stay atop the priority list, you need to do it first thing in the morning.
Shortly after waking. Before you check your email. Wake up and go straight to your wedding workout. This is the best way to get it in before you are distracted by everything else that you need to do, whether it’s wedding related or just life related.
To make this transition as smooth as possible, especially if you’re not an early bird, pack your gym clothes, change of clothes, toiletries, towel, and breakfast the night before. This will allow you to sleep in as late as possible. You’ll be out the door in under 15 minutes! Preparation is key when it comes to early morning bridal workouts!
The first few attempts at this may feel tough. Good! That means you’re out of your comfort zone, which is where growth and success happen. It will, however, get easier, especially as you begin taking notice of the increase in energy, productivity, and feel-good hormones coursing through your blood each morning you walk into work after completing a successful workout. Not only will these early morning pre wedding workouts help you get in your best physical shape, but they will help you maintain your sanity during the craziness of wedding planning, too! You’ll be proud of yourself the rest of the day, and you’ll be up and ready to conquer the day.
Wedding Workout Tip #2: Commit To A Workout Class At Your Gym
This strategy will help you make exercise a priority in a multitude of ways. First, it forces you to go somewhere to get a pre wedding workout in. Let’s be honest: you’re more likely to workout once you’re at the gym versus telling yourself you’ll pop in a Jillian Michael’s DVD after the next episode of Grey’s Anatomy. When you have signed up for a class, there’s an added level of accountability that will help you make sure that you are getting there and doing your wedding workout.
Secondly, you have paid for the privilege to use that workout facility. Use it! If you neglect your membership, you’re basically lighting money on fire…money that could be well spent elsewhere (like, on a wedding).
And lastly, many gyms have a cancellation fee in place if you do not cancel for a class you signed up for with at least 24 hours’ notice. Gyms expect and aim to fill their class so each time you commit and don’t show is a situation where you prevented someone else from working out. This decision now has emotional and financial consequences! Commiting to a workout class at the gym is a sure fire way to get a wedding workout in. Go ahead and jot it down on your calendar!
Plus, let’s not forget the fact that your workout ladies are expecting you to be there. You don’t want to let them down! This can be a fun way to get together with your wedding party, too. Talk to them about taking a workout class together. The more the merrier!
Wedding Workout Tip #3: Put Your Wedding Workout On Your Schedule
You schedule meetings at work (or, let’s be honest, they get put on your schedule). You schedule appointments with various wedding vendors. And you even schedule time for a mani-pedi. So, why aren’t you scheduling your pre wedding workouts?
Every Sunday, literally add your pre wedding workouts to your Google or Outlook calendar. Block out an amount of time that includes your commute plus any post-workout clean-up and showering. Give this time slot a specific color and make sure you set an email and notification reminder. Then, treat it like you do any other high-priority commitment and shuffle other obligations around it. Planning a bridal workout into your day and getting reminders can help you hold yourself accountable and make sure that you get there. Treat it like a necessity!
