Getting in shape is not a day’s work, so your planning must begin months before the wedding. Just like assembling the perfect trousseau can take months, getting in perfect shape may also take months. Last minute dieting may make you lose 20kgs but it has its own flip side. Most people who crash diet to lose weight complain of powerlessness and weakness. That’s why it is never advisable to skip a meal. It just makes the body store food and lowers the metabolism rate of the body.

When on a diet, the idea is to cut down on the excessive calorie intake. A daily intake of 1,800 calories for men and 1,600 calories for women each day is a decent target. These are spread over a number of small meals over the day. The three main meals of the day remains breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Being the first meal of the day, your breakfast is a very important meal of the day. It needs to pack in all the energy that you need to kick start your day. A good breakfast should comprise of protein and hi-fiber carbohydrates. A breakfast of egg whites along with brown bread and fresh fruit, like apples or berries is a great way to begin your day. Avoid sugar and starch based foods like biscuits, cakes and doughnut, since they are very high in calories.

Lunch, must spell complete nutrition without the extra calories. An ideal lunch for a bride/groom-to-be should be high in protein and low in carbohydrates. High protein food options for lunch may vary from grilled chicken and fish to low-fat tofu, lentils and beans. These coupled with high fiber foods like salad and brown rice or whole grain pasta and fruit make for a well balanced lunch that will keep you active for the maximum part of the day.

The dinner needs to be light and very low in calories. At that time of the day you do not need much energy, as you are about to retire to bed soon after. The body needs very few calories while sleeping. So, you are advised to keep the dinner light with salads or soups with grilled chicken or vegetables like spinach, all in small calculated portions. White breads, polished rice and desserts are a total no-no and need to be steered clear of.

For snacking, the diet plan allows you to munch on fruit like apples, berries, oranges, papaya and grapefruit; nuts like almonds and flax seed; roasted chickpeas and salads.

To complement this diet plan, regular mild exercising is suggested. It is seen to work wonderfully well when combined with mild exercises like walking or cycling. If both, the bride and the groom do this bit together, it could help in keeping the motivational levels high. Exercising becomes fun when trying to lose weight along with your partner. You can plan this while planning your wedding; a wedding is a celebration of togetherness after all!