Spoiler Alert: That June bride was…ME. (The Hardcore World of Bridal Bootcamp)

To the five of you still out there, thanks for hanging in there. I know the cobwebs and tumbleweeds had begun to gather between posts of late.  Some of you may have even wondered if I’d dropped dead.  And who could blame you?  A month feels like an eternity in the blogosphere.

But I promise I had a good reason for my brief hiatus…

Remember the bride-to-be “friend” I spoke of in a previous pre-wedding fitness post, who was on the lookout for the most fail-proof exercise program prior to the big day?

Well…surprise, surprise…it was me.

I’d argue that this was technically not a deception, since I consider myself the best friend I’ve got.  (Don’t you?)

And as such, I only want to use and recommend fitness solutions with the highest probabilities of success, for those willing to put in the work.  And work I did.  Nothing motivates more than the thought of scores of sweaty guests outside tapping their feet while you remain holed up in a changing room nearby, tearfully clutching a busted $800 zipper all because you couldn’t say no to burritos and the snooze button on your 5am workout alarm.

Faced with that prospect, my vision crystallized.   (Further, the return window on the dress expired, so there really was no looking back.)  Every day for 90 days, I did SOMETHING to move my body, even if it was only a recovery routine.  Consistency is what builds habits, and for all the variety out there in terms of exercise programs, I’ve learned the only workout worth anything is the one that actually gets done on a routine basis.  Which is why the 30-minute high-intensity workout concept was so critical for me, because the mental leap between that and one lasting a full hour is huge.

That said, even a 60-minute workout is only around 4% of your day.  Which means that as an able-bodied person if I can’t devote a measly 2% of my day to caring for my body with adequate exercise, then it might be time to  reevaluate my priorities in life.

Exercise alone, though, wouldn’t get me where I wanted to be on my wedding day.  As a bride pushing 50, I needed an aggressive plan of action firing on all cylinders.  To sum up my bridal bootcamp:

• P90X3 for 90 days (follow the link to view product info and sample video clip at the bottom);
• 10-Day Green Smoothie Cleanse to eliminate food cravings, followed by a transition to a whole foods diet;
• Plenty of small but powerful lifestyle changes built around moving more.  Things like getting off my daily commuter bus several stops before my usual drop-off point, and then walking the rest of the way to work.  Or getting up from my desk several times a day to walk up and down 10 flights of steps in the stairwell.  Or parking in the hinterlands of the Costco parking lot instead of driving around like an idiot for 15 minutes waiting for a spot near the entrance to open up.

It paid off.  I was able to fit into the dress I fell in love with the minute I saw it online,  in the “stretch” size I’d targeted.  Win.  And while I got a nice little detox out of the deal, I didn’t have to starve myself in order to accomplish my fitness goal.

Anyway, just a note to let you guys know that I’m back, and thank you for your patience during that long station break.  Stay tuned, because I’m loaded up with plenty to share about my Montreal honeymoon adventure, some of it fitness related, others not.

And Mazel Tov to all the other June brides out there!  (If your big day is still on the horizon, I hope these fitness tips help.)

Terri

P.S. – Also juggling a household move, so bear with me if it takes a minute to ramp things back up.  I’ve only had him for a few weeks now, so I’m still learning all the ins and outs around the proper care and feeding of new husbands.  So far so good!  This is a man so stellar he didn’t blink twice when I told him we HAD to watch the last season episodes of Game of Thrones over our honeymoon.  (Don’t judge me, please.  Tyrion’s life hung in the balance, and things in Westeros had gone positively buck wild since King Joffrey’s spectacular demise, a long-overdue event that I gleefully celebrated with a glass of wine and some chocolates.)  Thank you, iPad mini, for being the perfect honeymoon accessory.