brides to be- DIET?

The wedding: It's the stuff dreams are made of and every bride wants to look perfect in her wedding dress.

But with so many Americans overweight, that means a lot of brides want to slim down and shape up. Dieting is always tough, but perhaps never tougher than when a woman has the added pressure of planning one of the most important days in her life.

Are you a bride-to-be seeking to shape up or slim down? Below are answers to some frequently asked bridal diet questions I found from an article on dateline NBC fitness experts:

When is the best time to start a diet before one's wedding?
“The amount of time you need really depends on how much weight you want to lose and how much toning you want to do,” says Flipse. “If you’d like to drop 10 lbs., you need at least 5-10 weeks. If you already ordered a dress in a smaller size and haven’t allowed enough time to sensibly and safely lose the weight you want, you better be sure to have a good tailor or postpone the wedding by a few more weeks.”

According to Conde, the goal is to lose body fat, not muscle tissue. “If you lose muscle while you are dieting, you will end up looking flabby or 'skinny fat.' And you’ll eventually gain the weight back. In an ideal world, you could safely lose up to 6 lbs. per month. Most people are not happy with that. You can accelerate your weight loss per week by increasing exercise or decreasing caloric intake. If you need to lose 30 lbs., think smart and start 6 months before your wedding.”

How important is the role of exercise? Is limiting food caloric intake enough? 
“There is no way to lose weight and get into wedding dress shape without exercise. Don’t even consider it,” says Flipse. “You do have the time for toning, stretching and/or more vigorous workouts if you just move it to the top of your priority list.”

Conde recommends dedicating at least an hour (three to four times per week) to workouts.  She emphasizes that decreasing caloric intake is vital. “Obviously, working out does burn calories and increases lean muscle mass, but if your caloric expenditure does not exceed your caloric intake, you will lose some weight, but never reach your goal.”

How much weight is too much weight to lose in such a short time frame?
“If you lose more than 10 pounds a month (and you are not obese), that is too much,” says Conde.

Any weight loss more than that isn’t sensible, say the experts. “Plus, you’ll feel exhausted, look run down, and be cranky all the time,” adds Flipse.

Are fad diets or diet pills OK if a bride is on a short timeline? “The problem and danger with diet pills is that those affect your nervous system. Most contain caffeine as the main ingredient which will make you feel edgy and moody,” says Conde. “Crash diets, on the other hand, make you feel lousy as most of them are too low in calories.”

If you must diet on a short time line, Conde suggests cutting calories. “Increase your protein, decrease your carbs and fat, and do not go below 1,200 calories. This can be done for a week or two before the wedding, then you should stop.”

What can one do about cravings for chocolate, refined carbs, etc. — which often get worse during stressful times?
“Cravings are much easier to handle when you aren’t trying to stick to diet rules that forbid certain foods,” points out Flipse. “They are also more manageable when you substitute the word ‘want’ for the word ‘crave.’ You can go ahead and have some of that chocolate, as long as you work it into your daily calorie and/or carbohydrate budget. By avoiding the word ‘crave’ you become empowered to chose what you’re going to eat (or not), rather than feel overcome by some primal urge.”

Should women take vitamins or other dietary supplements to help stay healthy ahead of the big day?
Yes, say both experts. "No one gets nearly the amount of vitamins and minerals from their diets alone," says Conde.

"Any woman who is restricting her caloric intake to lose weight will benefit by taking a multivitamin, and possibly some additional calcium," says Flipse. "The more limited or repetitious your food choices are, the more likely you’re not going to meet your daily nutritional requirements. A supplement will keep you covered if there are gaps in your diet, and provide the folic acid that is so important should you become pregnant in the near future,” says Flipse.

These are great tips from fitness experts Cynthia Conde and Robyn Flipse. The key is to treat your body nicely. Severe dieting calorie restriction always crashes and burns. Some great books to keep you on track and looking HOT CLICK HERE. Here you can find a success journal, checklist, restaurant guide, strategies, etc, etc. to help keep you right. Remember not everyone is perfect. Services/ products like these can be sitting in your hands to help you keep a positive mind set-even if you sneaked that brownie :) yummy yummy.....