Wedding Celebrations: A Guide To Healthfully Making It Out Alive

A wedding could be defined as one beautiful day where you marry the love of your life in a ceremony and then throw a party for your family & friends. That’s what I thought before I was engaged at least. Oh, how wrong I was. 

A wedding really is a series of events.  Depending on your style (and the generosity of various friends and family) these are some of the events that may be included in your “wedding season” (as my mom referred to mine!): 

1. Engagement Party (informal, formal or both)
2. Trying on dresses. Followed by dress fittings. 
3. Picking out bridesmaid dresses with yo ladies
4. Meetings with vendors (varying from venues, florists, photographers, videographers, bands/djs, wedding ring shopping, etc.)
5. Catering/Menu tasting 
6. Cake tasting
7. Bridal Showers (could be thrown by bridesmaids, relatives on either side, colleagues or all of the above)
8. Bachelorette 
9. Welcome party (for out of town guests)
10. Bridal luncheon 
11. Rehearsal
12. Wedding
13. Day-after brunch

It is easy to see that the wedding is actually just one day in a slew of nuptial-related events. Ideally, you want to feel bride-y and festive for every single one. But how to handle so many, especially the ones surrounding feasting?  Below I take a look at some of the hardest events to navigate. I have compiled my best advice as a past bride and health coach to navigate your “wedding season.” This should help you feel your best and enjoy to maximum capacity. 

General Rules of Thumb for Your Wedding Season

Remember that this should be one of the happiest times in your life. Don’t let the stress of planning, and weight loss make it any less enjoyable. No matter what – resolve to be present, and enjoy every moment of the process. Planning the wedding and the events are the majority of your time spent, so make it count. Also, when you are stressed, your body releases the hormone, cortisol, which makes it very difficult to lose weight. So keep it chilllllll. 

If champagne is present, you are obligated to have a glass. You are the bride, and you deserve it! Celebratory champers is a must. However, it is important to not over indulge, particularly in the final events right up to your wedding (welcome party, bridal luncheon, rehearsal). While you are most likely at the weight you will be at for the wedding, alcohol is a huge bloat offender. So have the glass of bubbles. Don’t have 5. 

Overall, remember that consistency is key. While there are quite a few events in prep for the wedding, you have plenty of other days of the week where you can be eating clean! It's all about striking a balance, my friends. 

Engagement Party 

This is typically quite a while before the wedding. Least amount of pressure. Sample food. Live it up. Try not to overdo it but don't stress if you do. Just enjoy. 

 

Showers

Normally closer to the wedding, now is not the time to indulge. If you know there is going to be some amazing food, try to manage your meals before and after so that you can have your cake and eat it too! Feel free to try bites of everything, but eat slowly and pay attention to your hunger cues. 

 

Catering/Menu Tasting

It is so important to try everything because this is what your guests will be served, so this is not a time to be skimpy. That being said, try one of each appetizer (or if you trust your future hubs you can delegate), and be sure to try all of the entrees and wine selections (if you are having it). Operating word being “try”. You do not need to eat all of the food placed in front of you. If you don’t like wasting food, you can see if they will give you boxes. The key is to not feel like the giant blueberry kid from Willa Wonka at the end of the meal. 

Cake tasting

Honestly, what is better than tasting your wedding cake?!

The beauty of tasting is that it is just that, a taste. So unless you are gluten intolerant (and if so, perhaps look into GF desserts) you should be able to enjoy this part of the wedding process, no problem! Just remember to take small meaningful bites. 

With one of my cake tastings, we ended up with 12 cupcakes to take home. While I wish I could say I gave them away, the truth is I slowly ate them, ¼ cupcake at a time, alongside my boo. Bad form ladies, bad form. Learning from my mistakes I highly recommend finding out in advance if you are going to have leftovers (call the bakery and ask). If you are going to have leftovers, drop them off in a care basket with friends.

Try to do this early on in the wedding process so you aren't stressing it! 

Bachelorette 

This is the time to let loose! When else are you going to have all of your girls there to party with you? If you do go the traditional bachelorette route, try to have the party more than a month before the wedding. Then get right back on the healthy living track post-soiree. This ensures that you won’t sabotage all of your hard work! 

However, if raging isn’t your thing- more power to you! I know ladies who have done trapeze or pole dancing classes bachelorettes. Active and booze-free (aka calorie-free!), you can have a blast and be working towards your dress-worthy bod. 

welcome party, bridal luncheon, rehearsal dinner

These events usually directly precede the actual wedding. The good news is, you already fit in your dress, the key is making sure you feel fabulous the day of your wedding. 

During these events, engage in the practice of mindful eating, chew slowly, and eat until you are full. Try to avoid breads and cheeses (keeping your digestion nice and clear for the next day).

Ideally, drink celebratory toasts but make sure you don't have more than a couple drinks. Alcohol, besides providing lovely hangovers the next day, can create bloat in the body. If you do wake up the morning of the big day and you are feeling less than your best, I recommend drinking some dandelion root tea (add to your shopping list now!) - it is an excellent de-bloater.

The Wedding and Day-After Brunch

Congratulations, you made it! The morning of the wedding - please eat a light breakfast (eggs or oatmeal are good), even if you have nerves (#nofaintingbridespls)!

During the events eat as much food as you can, when you can, because you are going to be pulled away almost immediately to go round to tables or chat with someone you haven't seen yet. Everyone is there to see YOU, after all. Cheers to your happily, healthfully, ever after! 

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What do you guys think? Do you feel prepared to tackle your wedding season? I hope these tips help! Let me know your thoughts below or on Instagram! Xx - AHS

I tried Eat Purely for the first time, here's what happened.

Y'all know I find lots of joy in cooking. But cooking every day is exhausting. Meal prepping in advance is great in theory, but does not play out as often as I would like. Make enough for leftovers? Yes, great idea until your husband eats it all in one sitting (love you, boo). Then what? You don't necessarily want to blow your healthy eating on some indulgent carryout. You still want to keep "living the lifestyle" but you don't want to cook right now, dammit. Where can I get healthy delivery for dinner?

Does anyone remember Sprig? It was in Chicago a couple years ago and I was OBSESSED. It was super healthy, organic meals delivered. But they closed down in Chicago, and I cried. I don't know how it is possible they closed because I was probably single-handedly keeping them in business. I'm still so sad I still haven't deleted the app off my phone. Pathetic. I have been looking for a replacement since they closed down. Cue: Eat Purely. 

I had heard about the service a bit and I had been meaning to try it for awhile. Last week, the perfect opportunity arose. It had been a busy productive day, but no time to grocery shop. I was tired. I didn't want to go anywhere. But it was a weeknight- aka "you need to keep it clean, Alexandra". Then boom! Epiphany- I could try Eat Purely. 

Okay so what exactly is Eat Purely? From their website: "artisan chefs use fresh, seasonal ingredients to create a diverse range of restaurant-quality meals and sides. Select from a daily rotating menu of locally-sourced meals. Order on demand or schedule up to a week in advance. Meals arrived chilled so everything stays fresh. A few minutes in your oven or microwave and dinner is piping hot when you're ready to eat." 

Okay so that sounds great but is it healthy? 

"Our chefs create food that never relies on excess salt, fat, or refined sugars to taste great. We’d rather let our locally-sourced ingredients do the talking... Our vegetables are fresh and seasonal. Our animal proteins are raised, not grown. Our meals are made without chemicals, preservatives, or GMOs."

Hmmm... well this sound good theoretically. Seasonal and locally-sourced is important for produce. Interesting that they don't use the term "organic" if everything is made without chemicals or GMOs. It's great that animal proteins are "raised" but what are they really committing to? It's hard to say because I couldn't find any further information on the website. :/

At the end of the day, this information was good enough for me. Why? Because this sounds about equal to the standard I hold myself to. I try to make sure that my animal proteins are grass-fed, no hormones added, and raised humanely- but even at Whole Foods this is hard to accomplish sometimes. You do the best you can for where you are at. And its helluva lot better than most carryout. 

I went on the app and instantly found a #shedapproved* meal - an incredible looking Coconut Glazed Salmon- but alas- sold out. 

I was looking through for another option that would be comparable. I landed on the Cuban Steak. It looked great- gluten free, dairy free, grass-fed meat! And if you follow me at all- you probably know I'm obsessed with sweet potatoes. So this meal is looking pretty fantastic. Unfortunately, when I looked at the nutrition facts, it has more sugar than I would've liked. 15 grams- but sweet potatoes add sugar. The key distinction was the addition of brown sugar. Brown sugar is not #shedapproved and is in the middle of the ingredients list. Bummer. The was rice was tricky too- it seemed by the look of the photo to be brown rice- but the ingredient list said it was "long grain"- which could be both white or brown! What a conundrum. 

I order it anyway because I was very hangry (no time- for debating) and it comes incredibly fast. I think it was 15 minutes. I set the oven for 350 degrees per the "heat and eat" directions. I put foil on the top of the container and put it in the oven. I followed the directed amount of time (8-12 mins) but it wasn't hot enough. So I put it in the microwave (no aluminum foil! lol) for a minute and that did the trick.

It came in this pretty container. 

Straight out of the box, still has pretty presentation! #impressed

It was realllllly tasty and was super satisfying. I loved that there was a variety of veggies. I really was "eating the rainbow": from the sweet potatoes, salsa verde, black beans, to the parsley and pickled onion salad- we got quite a few colors/nutrients in there. By flavor alone I would definitely order again. It is definitely healthier than 95% of most takeout (please don't take that stat seriously). 

Conclusion? While I love the service and the quality of the ingredients- it is not the easiest to eat #shedapproved meals. You still have to be vigilant checking the ingredient list to see if you are eating within the elimination guidelines. It IS possible to find great healthy options, but don't just order anything off the menu. I also support this for Shed maintenance meals 100%! 

In the end, it tasted like brown rice to me, so I'm going to stick with that for now. :) 

If you do decide to give Eat Purely a try-  use my promo code for a $20 credit for you and for me! :) Promo code: ALEXANDRAS21

Hmmm looks like white rice in this photo! 

*(It was month 1 approved- soy has gluten- which makes it a month 2 nono)

**LEGIT - No one paid me to write this. I wish they did, though.**

What to eat at Chipotle

So you think you have the guidelines down, but then you go out to eat and have no idea what to order. This is one of the biggest hurdles I see clients try to overcome.  What can be simple at home, becomes overwhelming when you are out. I am your guide to help you make better decisions when you aren't able to cook (or just don't want to!). 

One of the more common restaurant options all over the good ole USA is Chipotle. I thought this is a great place to begin demystifying eating out. Chipotle has higher quality ingredients and has lots of available combinations that are #shedapproved. 

I am going to walk you through, section by section, as if we were in line together. Let's start:

1. Salad, bowl, or burrito?

• Salad: It's just a base of lettuce. So that is a resounding "yes" there. I would skip the vinaigrette- ingredients are okay but just adds more calories (and sugar) that you do not need for the substantial amount of food you get. 
• Bowl- always a "yes".
• Burrito - that's a "no". The tortilla adds a significant amount of calories, and it is not an unrefined whole grain. 

2. Choose brown rice or no rice. Brown rice is digested slower in the body than white rice - keeping your blood sugar stable. It is also a whole grain where as white rice is not. A-ok if you would like to abstain from rice altogether. 

3. Beans! I will admit here, I will stand corrected to what I said in the Instagram story. I always thought that the pinto beans were refried beans- prepared in bacon fat. According to Chipotle's ingredient list they actually are vegan! So feel free to have pinto or black beans. Protein packed and so satiating, you can't go wrong. Also, in this section are the fajitas. Mo' veggies, NO problems! 

4. Ahh the animal protein/ tofu options. This part is interesting. I always go for the chicken. Why? Because it is lean, and I don't like to overdo pork products. Steak is also approved on the program, but you should be keeping your red meat consumption at 1-2x a month (better for your arteries and for the environment!). Barbacoa tends to be on the fattier side - so I would choose steak if you are opting for red meat. Lastly, what's wrong with the sofritas? Tofu is a great option if you are trying to cut back on meat consumption (me, all of the time!) but it is a processed food, so I try to not eat too much of it either. Bottom line: eat what you like, but be mindful of what you choose in the bigger scheme of what else you are eating in your life.

5. Salsas? Any and all! Enjoy! 

6. Sour cream and cheese? Although both these are technically approved in month one- I would advise against it. Month 1 treats dairy as a garnish- Chipotle employees very rarely listen when you say "just a little". I wouldn't waste your dairy intake here. 

7. Guacamole? Always a yes- get those healthy fats!! Lettuce? Obvs- get in those greens!

Lastly, eat until you are full. Listen to your body! You may need to finish the bowl, you may not. Every day and every meal is different. It is all about mindful eating and eating slow enough for your body recognize the cues from your stomach to brain! 

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More thoughts on Chipotle

The best part of Chipotle? Their dedication to raising their animal products humanely and healthfully. The following are excerpts from their website. 

"We buy meat from farmers and ranchers who raise their animals without antibiotics and added hormones. If an animal falls sick, our protocols require that farmers bring them back to health in the most responsible manner possible."

"We set minimum space requirements for the animals producing the meat and dairy products that end up in our restaurants. We work with our suppliers to ensure the highest possible animal welfare standards, and are always setting the bar higher.

If, due to supply shortages, we have to serve conventionally raised meat, we clearly post signs in the affected restaurants."

I know this is still far from where we should be in terms of the treatment of livestock- but Chipotle is very advanced compared to most other fast casual restaurants. I respect the progress they have made in the industry. 

On the other side of the spectrum - I would be remiss if I didn't call attention to one of Chipotle's bigger problems.  The oils they use in almost all of their cooked foods (and even the dressing!) are problematic. They recently eliminated GMO soy oil (cheers and applause!) and replaced it with Rice Bran Oil. It is not a terrible choice, but it is an "industrialized" oil - which wasn't seen in generations past. It may also contain trace amounts of arsenic. For more information on Rice Bran Oil check this out.

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At the end of the day, no food is perfect and no restaurant is perfect. You make the best decisions you can depending on what is going on in your life. Overall, Chipotle is actually a really great option if you are shedding and you are on the go!  I hope these tips help you make soulful healthy eating decisions when you aren't at home.

What do you think about Chipotle? Will you eat it while you are shedding? Leave a note in the comments below! Have a great day, babes!