A special occasion is often a big motivation to work towards your diet and fitness goals. Whether it’s a wedding, reunion, family gathering or special birthday, it’s not unusual to want to tone up and feel better for the occasion, especially if you’ve already picked out an amazing dress. Here are some ways you can feel great next time you have a special occasion coming up.
Start sooner rather than later
Crash diets rarely work and can be bad for your health, and if you work out too intensively, then you risk injury. That’s why it’s better to think about starting a diet and exercise plan as soon as you get your invite, rather than a couple of weeks before the big event. If you have left it to the last minute, don’t worry. Even losing a few pounds or doing some toning exercises will make a surprising amount of difference, so still aim to lose one or two pounds a week.
Decide what plan you want to follow
There are so many diet plans out there that it can be difficult to decide which one to follow. Seeing a nutritionist may be a good start but avoid any who recommend plans such as diet pills or meal replacements. A low carb diet is a popular option, where you aim to eat 75-150g of carbs a day, filling up on lean meats, vegetables, and home-cooked meals. There’s also good old-fashioned calorie counting, which is made easy with free apps such as MyFitnessPal, which allows you to track what you eat.
If you tend to snack a lot and obsess about food, try switching from three meals a day to six small meals. This can help kickstart your metabolism and means that you never have more than a couple of hours to wait to eat.
Kickstart your fitness plan
If you haven’t exercised for a long time, or have done the same routine for a while and feel you’ve reached a plateau, then you can change up your routine by going on a bootcamp style retreat such as Ultimate Fitness Holiday. You can go through an intensive exercise program under close supervision, so it’s a safe way to get toned and drop inches in a short period.
Avoid empty calories
From those delicious coffee drinks topped with whipped cream, to the cocktails at your bachelorette party, it’s easy to take in hundreds of calories a day in drinks alone. Make sure you know the calorie counts of your favorite drinks before you indulge and switch to lower-calorie versions in the run-up to your special event.
It’s easy to panic when you have a big event coming up and you feel self-conscious about your weight or body shape. However, there’s no need to crash diet or spending hours at the gym. Just a few simple changes made in the weeks before will make a big difference to the way you feel about yourself, and hopefully, it’ll be a lifestyle change you continue after the event.
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