There’s nothing better than celebrating the love between two people you care about. It always brings so much joy and I always feel so grateful that those two individuals want me there to celebrate with them. What I DON’T love is the unnecessary stress I sometimes feel leading up to, during, and after a wedding.
“Did I eat enough to hold me over?”
“Did I eat too much?”
Or “I should not have ate that!”
None of these lead to a positive or healthy experience.
With a healthy lifestyle, we should be able to bob and weave. Meaning life is going to throw us curveballs and we need to equip ourselves with the skills to adjust as needed while maintaining our physical and mental health. It’s a fine line. Sometimes what makes my heart happy, doesn’t always equate to optimal food choices. Sometimes I like a good ole’ bowl of regular cookie dough ice cream, but that doesn’t always make my waistline happy. Finding the balance between both is what living a healthy lifestyle means and that is different for every single person.
These are 3 tips that I have found helpful during wedding season, but you may need to tweak as needed to fit your lifestyle and that’s perfectly fine!
1. Don’t skip meals. I know, I know. You think it’s necessary to skip breakfast or lunch leading up to a big event where you’re likely to consume more calories than your normal dinner. However, skipping meals will only lead to binging and overeating. In addition, your body’s metabolism slows down when you skip meals and rob it of the essential nutrients it needs for daily activities, especially when you skip breakfast.
2. Bring a snack. The anxiety that starts to creep in if you don’t see food for a couple hours…oh wait, that’s just me? Oh well. But seriously, if you’re worried about how long it might be before you eat dinner, pack a snack, such as a granola bar or ziplock of mixed nuts, to hold you over. There’s no shame in knowing your body…only you can know what it needs! Plus it’s always good to be prepared when your Chardonnay-sloshed body needs that snack after hitting the dance floor all night.
3. Eat the cake. Those who avoid, obsess. Girl, if you want to eat the cake, eat the damn cake! Trying to avoid it will only lead to the cake being on your mind for far too long. This extra time spent perseverating about whether you should eat the cake or not would be better spent dancing the night away with your significant other or catching up with old friends that you haven’t seen in eons.
Although this isn’t included in the 3 tips, the last takeaway is just to move on the next day. Relish in the fact that you had a great time! Remind yourself that when Monday rolls around, you are headed back into your healthy lifestyle again, or maybe not, maybe that’s for Tuesday. Either way is A-OK! Living a healthy lifestyle is a give and take.
-EAB