What should you do to make sure you’re primed and ready for the best day of your life? Eat the right foods, and leave the junk foods for another day. Here are a few “eating vows” that will prep you for your wedding vows.

Proper Foods = Proper Fit

Want to make sure you fit perfectly into your dress? To leave everyone staring at your picture-perfect physique during your wedding, you’ll have to do be picky when choosing what to put into your body. That means leaving some of your favorite fattening snacks, entrees, and desserts on the table.

Obvious offenders are fried foods and sweets. However, you’ll also want to avoid indulging in too many pre-nuptial celebrations that include lots of alcohol. Instead, keep your body well hydrated with plenty of water, and make sure you are particularly careful to consume plenty of fruits and vegetables during this time of your life. Have a hunkering for beef? Not a problem. Just make sure it has as little fat as possible and is grilled, not fried.

Good Foods = Good Skin

If you want to look your best, you’re going to have to pay attention to more than just your shape. You’ll also have to make your skin look its best. To do this, you’ll have to keep a close eye on the foods and drinks you put in your body. Fortunately, doing this is easily done when you’re already eating to maintain a healthy weight and physique.

A great start for good skin is milk, cheese, yogurt, and other low-fat dairy products. Full of easily accessible vitamin A, these foods and others with vitamin A are a must for good skin. You’ll also want to stock up on foods full of antioxidants. While the antioxidants found in blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries are often touted for their cancer-fighting qualities, those same antioxidants reduce the effect of aging on your skin. So fight off cancer and look better than ever in your wedding pics! And to make sure your skin looks its healthiest, try working in some salmon, flax seed, canola oil, green tea, and foods made with whole wheat.

Health Foods = Happy You

You want your big day to be perfect, and you want to enjoy it completely. This means you don’t want to stress out go all Bridezilla on your friends and loved ones. No matter what happens, you’ve got to be in a good enough mood to let things slide. Just as it’s possible to have a great body and great skin from eating supporitvely, food can also help you maintain a positive mood when working toward the wedding and during the big day itself. What foods can you eat to boost your mood into marital blissfulness?

Obviously, the foods already listed would be on the top of the list. Because when you look good, you feel good. And when you know you’re doing something to contribute to your good looks, you feel even better. The only problem comes when you feel the need for comfort foods, those “wrong” foods make you feel so good. How can you control your urge to splurge? Make it fast, make it planned, and don’t make it a habit. A little bit of chocolate or a single slize of pizza now and then won’t ruin your good looks, but if you eat enough of it, it can do more than cause you to gain pounds of have skin blemishes. It can ruin your mood, leaving you a big mess on your wedding day.

Caffeine: The Good, The Bad, The Truth

It’s in some of your favorite drinks. And while it may keep you up at night as you shuffle around names on your wedding reception seating chart, the benefits of ingesting caffeine far outweigh the downsides. So what exactly are the benefits of caffeine? Let us count the ways.

One, One Thousand…
It gives your memory a little boost. Seating charts, wedding registry lists, or studying for a big exam coming up, all might require staying up past your bed time. Or are you meeting with your boss about a sensitive issue that will require you to have perfect recall of past events? Want to cement a certain event into your memory forever? You may want to sip on a cup of coffee or your favorite caffeinated drink of choice.

Two, One Thousand…
It can help your brain work better. Going hand in hand with increased memory, caffeine’s brain-boosting capacity has long been appreciated by lovers of all things coffee. With a bit of caffeine in your body, your brain is on overdrive. Sound a bit frightening? When you finally come up with a solution to a problem that’s been plaguing you at work for months or figure out a cure for cancer, you get over your fear of caffeine pretty fast. So down a little caffeine when you need your brain to be at its peak.
Three, One Thousand…

It can give your energy levels a helping hand. Feeling a bit tired? Dragging your way around the office or the house? If your wedding planning to-do list is too big to just lie down and take a nap, you may want a caffeinated jolt to your system. As increased energy is one of the most beloved perks of caffeine, you can bet your bottom dollar that downing a few ounces of the liquid goodness will help you forge ahead and take on whatever life throws your way.

Four, One Thousand…
It may help you fend off all sorts of illnesses. Okay, caffeine may not be as good at keeping disease away as a healthy, well-balanced diet and regular exercise, but some studies have shown that the perky ingredient may actually lend a hand in fending off a number of troublesome and even deadly conditions. Conditions you may find some protection from via caffeine include liver disease, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease.

It’s Not All Good
Despite all these great benefits, the downsides to getting too much caffeine in your system on a regular basis are real and can be really dangerous. In addition to keeping you awake at night and feeling tired the next day (unless you take another shot of caffeine in the morning), too much caffeine can give your blood pressure an unwanted rise and even increase your risk for heart disease.

Additionally, consuming excessive amounts of caffeine can cause you to be on edge and overreact, making big deals out of small issues that would normally not affect you. Drinking soda can also weaken women’s bones over time, and since caffeine is often in foods and drinks that lead to obesity, it can actually put you at higher risk for diabetes – a condition that caffeine is supposed to fend off. So before you start buying everything at the store that contains caffeine, weigh the pros and cons of caffeine. Also, consider other ways to boost your brain power, memory, and energy levels. Because while caffeine may offer an instant fix, working out at the gym frequently, going to bed at a decent hour every night, and eating a healthy diet do everything caffeine does without the potential negative side effects.

Does your upcoming vacation have you worried about your waistline? You should be. OK, it’s not your honeymoon yet, but you still want to look your best, right?

The average person gains almost a pound a day while on vacation.

But that doesn’t have to be you. Most of the time extra pounds sneak up on you when you least expect it, so decide right here and now that your vacation will leave you slimmer than when you left.

Just like I tell you for your bridal fitness journey, all you have to do is have a plan.

As you embark on your next vacation adventure, use these 7 tips to come home fitter than when you left.

Trick #1: Cut Your Carbs
Vacation days are notorious for carbohydrate rich meals, and it’s a well-known fact that too many carbohydrates will quickly add up to unwanted pounds. Combat this fat-trap by choosing one meal per day to go carb-less.

• Breakfast: This may be the most effective meal to use the carb-less trick, since breakfast often involves breads, pastries or pancakes. Skip the toast and fill up on egg whites and lean breakfast meats.
• Lunch: A great carb-less lunch is a salad with lean meat. It’s so filling and satisfying that you won’t even miss the bread.
• Dinner: Since you’re on vacation, you don’t want to feel deprived, so dinner is the hardest meal to go carb-less. But if you’ve indulged at breakfast and lunch then make it a point to cut the carbs at dinner. Stick with veggies and lean meats.

Trick #2: Be Active
If your travels keep you too busy for a workout, or if your hotel does not have an exercise room, make a conscious effort to be active everyday. Of course, I’m going to suggest you take my Bridalicious Boot Camp DVDs with you and you can work out in your hotel room.

But if this is not an option, go on a brisk walk after your day’s activities. This is a great way to see a new city, and also a great way to burn off extra calories. Take the stairs instead of elevator in your hotel and any other buildings you visit. Go on a short jog in the mornings or evenings of your stay. If your hotel has a pool, swim a few laps each morning or evening.

Trick #3: Indulge with Control
Eating out is a must while on vacation. Whether you’re visiting 5 star restaurants or the local Subway, you are faced with the same problem: large portions. While the easiest thing to do with a large portioned meal is to simply eat it all – you are on vacation after all…right? – that isn’t the best for your waist.

When you order your meal ask the waiter or waitress to bring you a to-go box. Take half of your meal and place it safely into the box before you even begin to eat. This gives you no choice but to eat a healthy portion. If you would rather not carry around a to-go box then ask that your entrée be made into a smaller portion. If it is dinner time ask for the lunch-sized entrée.

Trick #4: Don’t Eat Late
One of the easiest tricks for preventing weight loss is to simply stop eating 3 hours before you go to bed. This is especially effective while on vacation. So skip that late night indulgence and wake up looking and feeling great.

Trick #5: Snack Healthy
Have you ever noticed how travel days create the perfect opportunity for snacking? A coffee and muffin before your flight, a snack on the plane and then before you know it – it’s lunch time! Taking a road trip? This opens up even more opportunities for regrettable snacking…rest stop vending machines, gas station quickie marts and of course the never ending string of fast food restaurants along the highway.

This summer cut unhealthy snacking off at the pass by bringing along your own healthy options. Fresh fruit, unsalted nuts, protein bars, cut veggies and low fat, whole grain crackers are a good start. By filling up on these healthy snacks between meals you will end up eating less when presented with a less-than-healthy meal.

Trick #6: Avoid Fried Foods
While fast food restaurants are definitely convenient, with their low prices and quick service, this convenience is not worth the additional pounds brought on by chips and fries. As you enjoy your vacation keep this in mind: avoid fried foods. While this is always good advice to follow, it is even more important to abide by while traveling.

While vacationing you will likely burn fewer calories each day than you would burn at home, and you are consuming more calories due to your schedule of eating out. You are walking a fine line, and eating fried foods would throw you right over the edge. A gram of fat contains 9 calories as compared to the 4 calories that proteins and carbohydrates carry – so you can see that consuming fried foods will drastically increase your caloric intake.

If I still haven’t convinced you to pass on the curly fries, keep in mind that heartburn and indigestion are never fun…especially while on vacation!

Summer is traditionally known as “wedding season” with countless couples tying the knot from May through August. Along with planning a wedding, grilling also gets into full swing during the summer.

While outdoor cookouts are a great opportunity to relax and visit with friends and family, did you know that the average barbecue meal exceeds 1500 calories? That’s almost an entire day’s worth of calories in one meal.

That type of eating will do some serious damage to your waist over the course of the summer.

The good news is that barbecue season doesn’t have to be fattening. In fact, with a few small changes to your barbecue menu, you can turn summer into the perfect opportunity for weight loss.

So before you slather on the sunscreen and fire up your grill, read the following tips to grill your way to lean this summer to a slim and sexy wedding day figure.

On the Grill: Believe it or not, grilling is actually a very healthy way to cook meat. Of course the type of meat that you choose will make all of the difference. Burgers and hot dogs are traditional barbecue meats, but they aren’t the healthiest. Try the following:

• Choose lean cuts of beef, pork or poultry
• Marinade with low fat dressing
• Make hamburgers with extra-lean ground beef
• Take the skin off chicken before grilling
• Replace beef patties with ground turkey patties
• Grill up salmon or cod
• Forego the meat and grill veggie burgers

Side Dishes: This is where most people run into trouble. Barbecue side dishes are typically filled with loads of fat. Creamy coleslaw and potato salads can hold as much as 15 grams of fat per serving. Try the following instead:

• Make veggie kabobs and grill them
• Grill bok choy
• Replace the mayo in your salads with low-fat mayo
• Serve fresh salad with light vinaigrette
• Try whole-grain macaroni for your pasta salad
• Grill up corn on the cob (pass on the butter)
• Put out a veggie tray with low fat dip

Drinks: Most people don’t realize that beverages play a big role in summer weight gain. Margaritas, beer, soda and punch all contain lots of empty calories. Try the following:

• Drink water, it is always your healthiest option
• Stick with light beer
• If you have to have a soda stick with diet
• Brew unsweetened ice tea and serve with lemon

Dessert: Yes, there are ways to satisfy your sweet tooth while getting lean. Think outside of the box instead of turning to the typical fattening options like ice cream, pie, cake or cookies. Try the following:

• Grill mango, banana and pineapple on kabobs
• Stick with sorbet instead of ice cream
• Replace peach pie with grilled peach halves
• Choose light ice cream over regular

Remember, it’s ok to splurge every once in a while. Cheating on your eating plan is part of the program, as long as it is done in moderation and only about once or twice a week. Just keep in mind that by taking a few of the above suggestions you can enjoy great food while getting back into great shape.

It’s bathing suit season, and for you, it’s likely a few months before the “honeymoon beach season” and you want flat abs to flaunt.

You’re willing to do whatever it takes to look hot on your wedding night and honeymoon, but I’m here to warn you of the 5 myths that most people believe.
Don’t waste your time on these:

Myth #1: Take diet pills to speed results.
I know it’s so tempting! The ads make compelling claims about the power of popping a pill, but don’t fall for it. There is no ‘magic pill’. Diet pills are more likely to burn through your pocketbook than to slim you down.

• Tip: Don’t pop a pill – instead burn calories with intense exercise.

Myth #2: Do extra crunches to flatten your abs.
Excessive crunches aren’t the answer for tight abs. In order to achieve a toned look you’ll have to focus on burning off the layer of fat that is covering up your tummy which means, your eating habits must change.

• Tip: Don’t obsess about crunches – instead focus on fat burning and supportive eating.

Myth #3: Turn to packaged diet products to boost results.
Don’t fall for the foods that are packaged as ‘diet’ or ‘weight loss’ aids. Quite often these products are packed with refined sugar and other artificial ingredients that your body doesn’t need, and certainly won’t help you attain that tight tummy.

• Tip: Don’t eat packaged diet foods – instead stick with nutritious whole foods.

Myth #4: Avoid all carbohydrates in order to achieve tight abs.
Carbohydrates have been given a bad rap, which is unfortunate because you can (and should) eat carbs while slimming down. The key is to stick with whole grains, oatmeal and brown rice while avoiding processed and refined flours and sugars.

• Tip: Don’t give up all carbohydrates – instead stick with wholesome carbs.

Myth #5: Starve the chub away. Trying to lose weight by starving yourself is not only ineffective it can also be dangerous. It may seem that severe calorie restriction would deliver the quickest weight loss, but your body is complex and by doing so you’ll disrupt your metabolism and slow your results.

• Tip: Don’t starve yourself – instead eat small wholesome meals throughout the day.

OK, now that you know what not to do in order to achieve tight abs, it’s time to go over your flat tummy game plan. Here’s what you need to know in 3 simple steps:

• Step One: No more junk.
  The best way to do this is by purging your kitchen. Throw out the sugary, processed and fat-filled foods. Once the junk has been cleared out, don’t buy any more of it. Remember that your hot, honeymoon beach-ready abs depend on what you eat – don’t eat junk!
• Step Two: Eat whole foods.
  Replace the junk food in your life with plenty of the following: cooked and raw vegetables, fresh fruits, whole grains, moderate amounts of seeds and nuts, lean meats and low fat dairy. Clean eating really is that simple.
• Step Three: Check out my new free 28-Day  Flat Belly Formula program.
  This is the most obvious step. You’re ready to get into great shape and I’m in a unique position to make that happen for you. Reply to this email to get details on this series of video webisodes that will super charge your metabolism and get you the abs (and entire body!) you are dreaming about!

Bridal Gown Slim Down Episode 3 from Elixir Entertainment on Vimeo.

Photos: Courtesy helmutwalker.com

Congrats, Tony and Candice! From the one training camp that's guaranteed to start on time this year...Bridalicious Boot Camp!

Lunch. If you work or have a busy school schedule (or both) –  it’s not always easy to make it a healthy affair that supports your fitness goals. And if you aren’t careful, you can easily find yourself in the Taco Bell drive-thru a few days a week. Instead of doing that, brown bag your lunch. Don’t have the time or dedication to make your lunch in advance? (It was so much easier back in the day when Mom had it waiting for you before catching the school bus). Instead of wishing Mom was around to do it for you, make it easy on yourself by keeping a few handy items on hand at your job and you’ll not only eat healthier than ever, but your next dress fitting will be all about “taking in,” as you get closer to the  big day!

Which foods should you consider packing for your healthier than ever lunches, not to mention for your overjoyed reactions to the “you’ve lost some weight since last time” comments from your seamstress?

Peanut Power

With a heaping helping of peanut butter you give yourself an equally large helping of protein. Toss some peanut butter on a couple pieces of 100% whole wheat bread, add a touch of honey, and you’re in for a smooth lunch delight that’ll power you up for the rest of the day.  Prefer something more substantial than honey? Slice up a small banana and pile it on. You’ll get a nice load of potassium to complement the protein!

Green Goodies

Salad is the new healthy brown-bag alternative. If you think an all-green salad is a bit bland for your taste buds, add some color by chopping up and adding some of your favorite veggies and fruits. Carrots, tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, and tangerines can all add some color, flavor, and nutrition to your salad. Want to give it even more help? Cook up some lean chicken the night before and toss it on when you’re ready for a substantial and delicious salad.

Snack Away

Lunch doesn’t always have to consist of one large item with a few sides to go along with it. Actually, some of the best lunches contain a handful of smaller items and nothing else. Turn your favorite health snacks into a meal by grabbing a fruit-filled container of greek yogurt, a sandwich bag of carrot sticks, some cheese and whole wheat/multi-grain crackers, and a tall glass of water. It’ll delight your taste buds, give you lots of variety, and provide your body with plenty of vitamins and minerals you need to keep on keeping on.

Golden Leftovers

Have something healthy and delicious for dinner last night? Don’t let the leftovers go to waste in your refrigerator. Pack the food up in an appropriate container and bring it to work. If your leftovers are rather small in size, be sure to pack an apple, orange, or something else to make sure you fill up on healthy foods and can withstand the temptation of the snack machine later in the day.

Wrap It Up

Love sandwiches but growing tired of the same old thing, day after day? Get everything you love about sandwiches in a new package by wrapping it up. Grab some whole-wheat tortillas and toss in some lean lunchmeat, your favorite vegetables, and whatever else suits your fancy. Top it off with a side of applesauce and a small bag of nuts, and you’ve got a brown bag full of delicious, health-improving lunch!

Think Breakfast

Yes, you already had a healthy breakfast before heading off to work, but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy breakfast foods at lunch. Whether you prefer a bowl of oatmeal with blueberries on top or a whole wheat bagel with low-fat cream cheese, eating breakfast for lunch is a great and healthy way to fill up without worrying about excessive calories.

Most of us set goals and work hard only to find our motivation fizzle out after a couple of weeks. But there are little tricks that will help you harness the power of your mind and propel you toward achieving your goal, and looking better than you dreamed for your big day.

The Two Motivators
When you boil it down, you’re motivated by two simple things:

1. To avoid pain (fear of failure)
2. To gain pleasure (promise of reward)

You are naturally geared toward one of these motivators. To figure out which, think of the last time you accomplished a task and then ask yourself the following: While doing the task were you thinking about what would happen if you failed to finish, or were you thinking about what you would gain when you finished?

Take note as to which motivator works for you – fear of failure, or promise of reward. In this case, is it the fear of looking flabby in your dress, or the amazing feeling inside of confidence when you walk down the aisle?

Set Your Goal: The first step towards unstoppable motivation is to determine your goal. You know you’re unhappy with your body, but what exactly do you want to change? Why is it important to you?

Perhaps you can relate to one of the following goals:

• You need to lose weight for your health. Ever since you got out of high school, you have gotten into some really bad habits. You rarely exercise with any intensity (if at all) and you are scared that if you keep this up, you could be 30 going on 50!
• You want to look and feel incredible. You’ve always wanted to feel vibrant and attractive, but your wedding makes this true multiplied by 100. The idea of having more energy really excites you too. Your goal is to move toward the pleasure and reward of a fit body and confident attitude.

Train Your Mind for Weight Loss:
With your clear and important goal in mind, let’s take a few minutes to train your mind to achieve it. You know that weight loss comes as a result of eating right and regular challenging exercise, so let’s use your mind to conquer both.

Eating Right: Use this exercise to distance yourself from the self-sabotaging foods you really wish you didn’t eat, and to naturally begin selecting healthy foods.

Take a moment to review your current eating habits. Identify the foods that you should stop eating (hint: sweets, anything fried, refined carbohydrates, sugary drinks). Identify the worst food that you eat regularly but know you shouldn’t.

Now imagine the healthy foods that you should eat (hint: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean protein). Identify the healthiest food that you know you should eat regularly.

Now with the image of these two foods in mind, find a quiet place and do the following exercise (seriously this stuff works):

• Draw up the image of your unhealthy food item. This image will likely be quite vivid, with smell, taste and bright color. In your mind, fade this picture to black and white and distance the image until it is dull, fuzzy and remote.
• Draw up the image of your healthy food item. This image will likely be fuzzy and faded. In your mind, bring this picture to life with smell, taste, sound and bright color.

Regular Exercise: This technique can be applied in a way that encourages you to crave exercise rather than avoid it.

Take a moment to imagine how you feel after a great workout (notice the emphasis on the word after). Remember the physical satisfaction as well as the sweet feeling of accomplishment.

Now bring to your mind the aspects of exercise that you dislike. What is your biggest reason for avoiding exercise? Are you too tired? Do you not have enough time? Is physical exertion too much of a hassle? Pinpoint your greatest complaint about exercise.

Now with the image of these two aspects of exercise in mind, find a quiet place and do the following exercise:

• Draw up the image of your exercise complaint. The image is likely to be clear and accompanied by the sounds, smells and sensations. In your mind, fade this picture to black and white and distance the image until it is dull, fuzzy and remote.
• Draw up the image of the wonderful feeling you have after accomplishing a great workout. Magnify this image in your mind. Fixate on how you feel physically, mentally and emotionally. View the experience in bright colors and add a sound track of inspirational music.

Why It Works
If this was your first experience with training your mind (also called Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP) it may have felt a little odd. Many of the world’s top achievers regularly use techniques like these to accomplish astounding goals.

The techniques above work because they train your mind to bring your behavior in line with your values. Think about it, you value health, you desire to be fit and attractive and you want to instill healthy habits in your kids.

These techniques encourage you to avoid self-sabotage and to make choices that line up with what you truly value.

Now that you are ready to accomplish your goals, email me today to start your fitness program that will greatly improve your life.