In an age where women strive to be a ’Size Zero’ and air brushing photos to remove every blemish of what makes us who we are is acceptable, it’s not surprising that brides will stop at nothing to go on that diet that will help them look great on their wedding day.

But if this is you - STOP!

I understand the need to lose pounds and look fabulous in your dream dress, but do it in the right way.  Fad dieting – essentially any diet that promises fast and easy weight loss – doesn’t address WHY you gained weight in the first place and definitely doesn’t educate you on the benefit of healthy eating. So the chances are, if you lose weight following a crash diet, you’ll put it all back on again.

At a time when you should be enjoying your engagement and planning your wedding, brides (and grooms!) can add more stress to their lives by counting calories and getting upset when things aren’t going to plan. That’s why this month I wanted to focus on getting brides the right information on the different weight loss and exercise options available and to offer guidance to losing weight or toning up in a healthy and more realistic way.

So in the third episode of the Butterfly Journal podcast, I speak to three very different women who are all in the health and fitness industry, but offer very different services for those who want to lose weight and get healthy.

Charlene Hutsebaut is the co-founder of Positively Slim, an online portal that deals with the whole person by covering exercise, nutrition and psychology through downloadable e-books, audio and video which helps you lose and maintain weight and get fitter.  Charlene believes in throwing away the scales (yes she does!) and thinking about getting your ideal body by making health a part of your life for the rest of your life, not just your wedding day. Hence why the portal was set up so busy people are able to get access anytime of the day.

On the food front we hear from Geeta Sidhu-Robb, founder of Nosh Detox. Her company makes and delivers healthy food and juices to a variety of people, including those who don’t have time to cook and people with special dietary needs, such as diabetics, for example.  Geeta believes it’s not only important to pick the dress of your dreams for your wedding day but also the right diet, to make sure you glow from the inside out so you can ooze ‘fabulous’.  With famous clients like Rachel Stevens and many others, one of Geeta’s tips is to ‘chew, chew and chew some more’ throwing in lots of green leaves for good measure.

And finally I spent the day being whipped into shape by former Olympic athlete, Jacqui Agyepong. Now a qualified personal trainer and sports massage specialist, Jacqui believes exercise is important for health and wellbeing to boost your confidence. But she has more of a ‘back to basics’ approach which means rather than changing your lifestyle to fit exercise in, we should build exercise into every day tasks. For example getting off the bus two stops early and walking home, taking the stairs instead of the lift and walking to the car with your shopping bags rather than pushing the trolley. Sounds easy enough!

So three different health and fitness views, but the advice from all is the same.

• Start your new health regime as early as possible.
• Losing weight in a healthy way will take longer than a month.
• Make healthy living a part of life – and if you can, rope your husband to be into the plan!

Being a former international athlete myself, exercise and eating right has been a part of my life for years, but I understand that getting started can be very hard. However think of the benefits!

I hope this has helped to put fad dieting in perspective.  You can hear more by going to the Butterfly Journal’s third podcast at www.pierrecarr.com/podcast where you’ll also find details of our fantastic competition to win a luxury honeymoon in the Caribbean.

If you have any planning questions, advice to share or would like to feature on one of our future shows, get in touch! Email us at press@pierrecarr.com.

And don’t forget you can keep up to date with us by following Pierre Carr, Exclusive Tropical Weddings on Facebook .

Next month, we talk dream dresses.

Remember, planning your wedding is a journey, not your final destination!

Happy Planning!