Wedding workouts

Every bride wants to be beautiful (and for some, sexy) on her wedding day.

Sadly, not every bride has the slightest idea how to look healthy and glowing. Some brides, after pouring so much into preparing for the wedding, march down the aisle haggard and almost lifeless, some even fainting from hunger and lack of sleep.

Like most successful weight-loss stories, the trick is to balance everything instead of cramming a diet, an exercise regimen and for the more desperate, relying on diet pills just weeks or days before the big day. Relationships take time, planning a wedding takes time and so does losing weight to fit into your dream wedding dress (and looking hot on your honeymoon!)

When I was young, I played a lot. Nope, not with computer games although we did have Atari (ok, so now you have an idea how old I am). My cousins and I would play hide and seek and climb trees in my grandparents' house during the summer. My parents would take us to the country club and my dad would always ask us to do 20 laps in the olympic-size swimming pool. During school days, I would play dodge ball with my classmates or participate a game we called "agawan-base" -- the object of which was to try to covet the "fort" of another team, tagging the opponents so they could convert to your team to eventually take hold of their original fort. It sounds complicated but as a child, it was just pure fun -- and maybe it was because of playing so much that I didn't grow up to be a chubby kid.

When I was in high school, I played volleyball with my barkada as much as we could. I wasn't a voracious eater but looking back, volleyball was the reason why I had strong arms and legs -- even if I had a pooch for a midsection.

I didn't have much physical activities in college and maybe that explains why it was in college that I was at my heaviest. Two years into the working world, I decided to join a gym and made it a habit to work out before I punched in my time card. Sure, I had to wake up earlier but at least I could get exercising out of the way early in the day.

After going through 2 pregnancies and getting older, I admit that getting back into shape is not as easy as when I was younger. So now I'm back in the gym on most days, attending yoga classes and at least one day of the week, I attend Tae kwon do classes (which I haven't done in the last 20 years).

No, I don't expect brides-to-be (and their future hubbies) to become gym bunnies. Like everything else in preparation for the wedding, we need to set aside some time for our bodies -- if we have time to attend meetings with our caterer, our dressmaker, our musicians, our make-up artists, uh, you get the point? Surely, you can set aside some time to prepare your bodies for your wedding day.

There is simply no excuse not to look good even if you're stressed with work or the wedding preparations. There are so many gyms in the Metro offering great equipment, good classes and other benefits. If you're like me who can't bear to look ridiculous in an aerobics class because of the quick changing of steps, you can try yoga where the movements are slower yet stretches your muscles, conditions your body and helps you relax in a way because of all the breathing. Could even be good in alleviating wedding-related stress! :-)

Some good gyms I know of are Fitness First, Gold's gym and Planet Infinity. Be sure to check with a doctor before engaging in any kind of fitness regimen!

If you think joining a gym is not for you, then maybe some kind of sport would be more enjoyable (and less expensive and non-committal than a gym, haha). Why not try badminton, biking or simply jogging around your village or your old school campus with your spouse-to-be? It might even prove to be a great venue for some pre-nuptial bonding.

Whatever physical activity you choose, remember that on our wedding day, we not only offer our hearts and minds to our spouses, but our bodies as well. That said, we must also take care of our bodies -- especially if we plan to have kids right away.

Don't just be beautiful on your wedding day, be healthy too!