Get your wedding day glow and your healthiest body ever, with these tips from best-selling author and health and wellbeing coach Sarah Wilson…
The second the engagement is announced, is usually the second a Bride starts dieting. It’s only natural for women to want to look their absolute best on their wedding day – to be their healthiest weight, have skin that glows from the inside out, lustrous hair and look simply stunning for their new hubby, themselves and of course, the 100+ guests watching her walk down the aisle. But there’s one crucial mistake that Brides make, according to Sarah Wilson, author of the Australian best-selling book I Quit Sugar, which was also a best-seller in the UK and the USA (New York Times, no mean feat!). “If there’s a common ‘mistake’ I see people make regularly with food, it’s opting for ‘diet’ and ‘low-fat’ options,” explains Sarah. “The problem isn’t the fat, as we’ve been taught for years… it’s the sugar.”
1. Fat doesn’t make you fat. Sugar does!
“These days we see ‘low-fat’ and we think ‘healthy’,” explains Sarah. “But it’s quite the opposite. When manufacturers take fat out of a product they often whack a lot of sugar and other nasties back in to make up for the lost flavour and texture. Dairy is one of the worst offenders, with a small tub of low-fat yoghurt often containing 6 teaspoons of sugar. So, what do I recommend instead? It’s all about going ‘dense nutrition’.”
2. Go for full fat always.
“You’ll feel more satiated, eat less overall and your body won’t have excess sugar to convert into fat,” explains Sarah.
Try: Full fat milk and yoghurt instead of diet, skim or low fat options.
3. Add fat to your veggies.
“Most people increase their vegetable consumption when trying to lose weight, but you can’t properly absorb the essential vitamins A, E, D and K without fats,” explains Sarah. “Notice how the Greeks and French eat their meals with butter and olive oil? Do as they do!”
Try: Drizzle olive oil on your salad and butter on your greens. Or add avocado to a green vegetable smoothie.
4. Ditto, always eat fat with protein.
“Fat is needed for proper protein assimilation,” Sarah explains. “Also, fat often contains a lot of the enzymes required to break down the protein.”
Try: Whole egg omelettes (not just egg whites!) and don’t pick the skin off your chook or roast pork.
5. Prioritise your veggies.
“All vegetables are great, but there are ways to maximise their impact,” explains Sarah.
Try: Choose leafy greens (the most nutritious option) over other vegetables, such as cauliflower and starchy vegetables (peas and corn).
6. Eat more protein.
Remember this: “Proteins offer the most energy and nutrients per calorie intake of all foods,” Sarah advises. “The best sources of proteins are dairy, eggs, meat and fish. This is because animal protein is complete – it contains the right proportions of all the essential amino acids that our bodies can’t synthesise on their own.”
7. Up your enzymes.
“Eat a spoonful of sauerkraut or other fermented products with every meal,” advises Sarah. “They produce a stack of helpful enzymes, which will assist the assimilation of the nutrition in the rest of your meal. The more enzymes you can derive from food, rather than your body itself, the better. Depletion of enzymes in your body is the ageing process!”
Are you engaged and embarking on a health and fitness regime? Tell us your highs, lows, learnings and tips here…
