Your wedding day is right around the corner, and you’re feeling a lot of emotions. You’re worried whether the cake will be ready on time, you have a
Unfortunately, sometimes we unknowingly have habits that cause us to pack on excess pounds when we least expect it. Planning your wedding is no exception. Here are four things people do that can cause weight gain before their big day.
Forgetting to Eat
A major misconception is that if you skip a meal, you’ll cut back on calories and lose weight. In fact, 31 million people in the U.S. skip breakfast. Contrary to what you may have heard, skipping meals is not healthy and can lead to packing on extra pounds. Your anxiety is high right now, but don’t skip any meals, especially breakfast. Our bodies are programmed to store excess energy in fat cells, and skipping meals slows your metabolism.
Adding more things to your planning list is overwhelming. However, try planning your meals to help you avoid skipping them. The bottom line is that metabolism plays a vital role in weight control. So, don’t forget to eat.
Eating Too Fast
You have the wedding planner who calls throughout the day, the wedding rehearsal dinner, and wedding party fires to put out. You have very limited time for yourself. But don’t eat your meals too quickly. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to send out signals of fullness. When you eat too fast, your body doesn’t know that you’re full, so you may overeat.
Try to drink two glasses of water before you eat so that you feel fuller. Then try putting your fork down between bites. Give your body time to digest your food and signal that you’re full.
Opting for Diet Drinks
You’ve opted for diet soda versus regular soda. You think you’ve made a great choice and are doing well before your big day. Well, that’s not entirely true. Epidemiologic data suggest that people who consumed artificially sweetened beverages gained more weight than people who didn’t. If you’re trying to lose weight before your big day, make sure you’ve done your research. To help you avoid making bad choices, resources like LifeSum can provide health education to help you with your weight loss journey.
Related Link: What is Metabolism?
Skipping Out on Sleep
It’s true that sleep affects weight. Sleep loss affects secretion of the hormone cortisol, which regulates appetite. Then your brain makes terrible choices, like buying a large latte to keep you fueled. Also, when you’re sleep-deprived, you’re more likely to snack late at night.
So let your wedding planner handle stressful tasks because that’s his or her job. Set aside a specific time for sleep, and stick to it. Make sure others are aware of your sleep time, and make sure they respect it.
Getting married is a stressful time and can lead to unintentional weight gain. Self-awareness and control will help prevent adding extra pounds before your big day.
Edited by: Jessa (March 8, 2019)
