Maybe it was love, or maybe the phytonutrients.
“I was struck with how beautiful she looked,” said Sarah Sherman, 30, a writer and producer, of the change she observed in a friend, a then-bride-to-be, last summer. “She had lost some weight, and her skin was amazing.”
The shift, she would learn, was thanks in large part to a nutritionist and cognitive behavioural therapist, who helps women get healthy and lose weight.
Impressed with her friend’s transformation, Sherman also sought out the assistance of the nutritionist to address several issues, ranging from ulcers to acid reflux. “I didn’t know what I was supposed to be eating, and I didn’t feel in control,” she said. By the time she became engaged over Thanksgiving 2017, a food plan was in place.
Sherman was married in the spring and in the weeks leading up to the ceremony, the nutrition goal was put into action.
The solution was to increase the fat, antioxidant and phytonutrient-dense foods like papaya, mango, avocado, wild salmon and halibut. “I was struck that that was even an option,” Sherman said. But it was, and it worked.
For brides looking to get lean, achieve a radiant complexion, or gain an overall sense of well-being, food can often help.
These are some tips for looking and feeling your best on your wedding day.
Get on a Plan
Start as early as possible so you’re not stressed about reaching your goal. For a bride who wants to lose 3-kilo s or reduce bloating and puffiness, 2 to 4 weeks is enough time.
Eat five times a day — three meals and two snacks — spaced three hours apart during a 12-hour window, followed by a 12-hour overnight fast.
Your last meal or snack for the day should be at least two hours before you go to bed.
If you can’t remember what you ate yesterday or even had for breakfast this morning, consider a food tracking tool like You Ate. This app allows users to take a picture of their plate, and write a caption of its exact contents. It will also track the time between meals, and the length of overnight fasts.
Eat the colours of the rainbow
Invest in the highest quality fruits, vegetables, fats, proteins and carbs that you can find. Opt for organic, sustainable and grass-fed options as much as possible.
The denser the colour of a fruit or vegetable, the more phytonutrients and plant molecules it contains. These molecules support physiological processes in the body such as detoxification, metabolism, antioxidation and cellular repair. Some improve collagen production, and others slow the ageing process.
The fibre in fruits and vegetables help with balancing blood sugar and insulin, reducing high cholesterol, reducing colon cancer and feeding a healthy microbiome or healthy gut bacteria.
At lunch and dinner, eat at least half a plate — about 2 to 4 cups — of vegetables. Include three different vegetables at each of these meals to curb cravings.
With protein, variety is key.
Eggs and fish are on the lighter side than poultry and red meat, but how often you should be eating each depends on your archetype,
Hemp and chia are fantastic seeds because they fall as a protein source when fat loss is the goal since they’re not accompanied by insulin-stimulating carbohydrates.
Eat portions according to the size of your hands
If you are set on slimming down, portion size is key.
Your hands serve as a proxy for gauging caloric intake without counting calories.
Hold your hands out side by side, palms up. This represents the area your meal should cover.
The left hand is the portion size for vegetables, and it can be overflowing. The right hand is for all of the other ingredients that comprise your meal — carbs, protein, and fat — and the precise balance of those elements will depend on your archetype.
Snacks
When it comes to snacks, favour fruits, fats or vegetables over protein or carbs.
Watch out for intolerances
The less variety of foods you eat, the more likely you are to develop a sensitivity because you’re eating the same foods on repeat. Gluten and dairy happen to be the most common.
If you are struggling with bloating, gassiness, fatigue, or inability to concentrate; puffiness; if your weight goes up and down all the time in a way that’s unexplainable by your food choices, then there is a sensitivity.
When it comes to weight loss, keep alcohol intake to four drinks a week. Wine and tequila have roughly the same amount of sugar but the additives in wine may be messing you up. If so, try organic wine.
Getting adequate sleep and managing stress is also important. Go away for a week’s vacation and people think you had a facial or you did some procedure, because of the increase in sleep and the decrease in stress.
The beauty-food regimen
The week of the wedding is when you need to nourish -you are eating to bring plumpness and radiance into the skin.
Drink lots of water as well.
The following menu, when followed with portion size, is still fat loss, but it’s one that’s really focused on adding fats, antioxidants and phytonutrients:
Breakfast: Chia seed pudding topped with fresh apricots
Lunch: Spinach salad with grated carrots and beets, pumpkin seeds and turmeric-tossed wild salmon
Snack:12 shelled, raw pistachios with fresh papaya slices
Dinner: Hemp seed encrusted halibut with wok-tossed vegetables and blue potato
Snack: Four fresh figs