I wasn’t too sure if I should actually post this one. Because what is getting into shape? Why should we have to get into shape for a wedding? Well the answer to that is that we don’t have to, I just wanted to. And if a wedding wasn’t a good excuse to get into my very best shape, then I don’t think anything would ever have been.

I was seriously sceptical about getting into shape for our wedding at the beginning of our wedding planning journey. This might sound seriously wrong or bigheaded, but I didn’t really think that I needed to get into shape. I’m a size 8, always have been. And I didn’t really think that I had much to change.

I’ve always been one of those really lucky ones that has a pretty flat stomach. Of course there are things I’ve always wanted to change. As a previous figure skater, my thighs are built for racing around an ice rink. My hips are just significantly wider than anything else (that’s a family thing), and I’d love to get rid of, or at least reduce my bingo wings.

But I also love a good pizza, a good bottle of wine and I’ve also never been a gym junkie. So I’ve been happy bumbling along, eating fairly healthily and just living my life. Until we got engaged, and Josh said he wanted to get into better shape for the wedding. (Which you can read more about here). And then all of a sudden, I decided that I wanted to give it a go too. So this how I’m getting into shape ahead of our wedding.

Now when I talk about getting into shape, I’m not talking about loosing weight. I’m talking about reducing the amount of fat on my body, and becoming leaner and stronger. Before I get into the nitty gritty details, I’d just like to remind everyone that you are beautiful. And that you do not need to change for anything or anyone.

This is my journey, I’m not a professional, and this might not work for anyone else. I’m also not telling you that you should have to diet for your wedding. Or that you need to be in the best shape ever for your wedding either. What you need to be is happy, and if getting into shape makes you happy – great. But what even is getting into shape anyway?!

Finding a Personal Trainer

So I decided that I wanted to get stronger and leaner. And the only way I knew how to do that was to start to exercise. But me and exercise were not friends. So we knew that we had to find a Personal Trainer. Fortunately for me one of my closest friends partner was a PT. She put us in touch and we got going.

We trained outside on Kew Green once a week, doing a variety of different exercises. It took a few weeks, but I started to love it, and our personal trainer made me fall in love with exercising. We had some amazing times on that green, and became very good friends – a friendship that will definitely last a lifetime.

Unfortunately for us, he decided to embark of an opportunity of a lifetime to travel the world. We felt like finding anyone else would be cheating on him. But at the same time, we both really wanted to get into shape for our wedding. And neither of us had enough will power to go it alone. So we did take on another PT, for a session once a week to keep us active.

Josh and I have always done joint sessions. We love spending the time together and egging each other on. Plus we are super competitive, which helps to push ourselves further!

So that’s the exercise that I do – one PT session a week and one Pilates class a week. My body has got so much stronger since last September. And I now lift weights heavier than my own body weight! But exercising isn’t the only way of getting into shape. And I knew that the only way to really reduce those bingo wings was to lose fat.

The food

So now onto the food. The majority of PT’s will tell you, that you cannot lose fat without changing your diet. You could exercise all day every day, but until you change your food you won’t see a great change. I was adamant that I wasn’t changing how I ate. I eat healthily anyway and I just didn’t think I needed to.

But I wasn’t seeing my bingo wings reduce at all, and so I thought I’d just give it a go. All calculated based on my lifestyle, age and weight I eat around 1500 calories a day. Don’t get me wrong sometimes that’s way over, but that’s my goal for most days. But it’s not actually the calories that are the important bit. It’s the percentage of fat, protein and carbohydrate.

For my body, I should be eating 25% Fat, 40% Carbohydrate and 35% Protein throughout the whole day. To give you an idea of how that actually translates, this is what I’m eating today:

Breakfast – Cup of Tea, Ready Brek Porridge with a Drizzle of Honey and Blueberries

Lunch – Chicken Breast rubbed with Harissa, Cous Cous, Salad, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and a scattering of Black Olives.

Dinner – Aubergine, Red Onion and 5% Mince Beef Stuffed Red Peppers, grilled with a little mozzarella

Snacks – About 3 Coffees, Homemade Smoothie including 1 x Banana, 4 x Strawberries, 120ml Almond Milk, 40g Fage Yoghurt and 40g Protein Powder

Totals 1414 calories and that’s 26% Fat, 37% Carbohydrate and 37% Protein. Near enough!

The measurements

When we started properly looking into it I weighed 58kg. The goal was never to get my weight down, but to reduce the amount of fat on my body. The back of my arm measured at 28mm. My stomach and side measured at 7mm and my back measured at 11mm

I now weigh 53kg and the back of my arm measures at 13mm. My stomach and side both measure at 2mm and my back at 7mm. That’s a huge 15mm off the back of my arm. You can actually see it, and I feel good. But that is it, I’m not going any further. We still have cheat days, in fact sometimes we  have cheat weekends. And I need them to keep it going.

So that’s how I’ve been getting into shape ahead of the wedding! Now it’s just to maintain it until the big day…

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