My Bridal Fitness and Health Routine

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Happy Wedding Wednesday! Guys – I cannot believe we are five weeks out!! AHHHHH I’m so excited!!

When we got engaged, I knew I wanted to make some alterations to my fitness and health regimens. S and I are both very active and have a consistent work out regimen throughout the year, but I wasn’t pushing myself and was in a rut. I just wasn’t interested in our gym routine anymore and wanted to find a fitness regimen that made me excited again and feeling my best for our wedding day and honeymoon! Today I’m sharing my bridal fitness routine, health tweaks and a couple tools I use to stay motivated.

So to start, below is my day to day routine. I know everyone can’t work out twice a day, but it works for my schedule and I really enjoy it. S runs with me in the morning and we chat about wedding things, so I look forward to that time with him. I’d also note that while my work out routine is a lot right now, I focus mostly on what I’m eating rather than making sure I hit every work out because the quote that “abs are 80% made in the kitchen” is so true. When I want to get into shape quick, I focus on my diet and add in work outs as I can.

WEEKLY FITNESS ROUTINE
Monday: Run AM, Spin PM
Tuesday: Spin PM
Wednesday: Run AM, TIU/BBG PM
Thursday: SPIN PM
Friday: Run AM
Saturday: Active rest day or AM Run
Sunday: Active rest day

WORK OUT BREAK DOWN
RUNNING // I’ve completed a couple half marathons and after my last one, I was so uninterested in running. I was forcing myself to check off a daily treadmill run and was sick of our outdoor route. I’m so excited to say with a few tweaks, I have my love for running back!

S and I have found a new outdoor route that’s the perfect three mile length and has just enough of a challenge. On the weekend we extend the length to about four miles and run to our local Starbucks, share an iced green tea and run back. It’s so fun! On top of our runs being an “us” activity, we also use it as a time to discuss wedding topics. This has been one of my favorite wedding planning memories! Planning a wedding can be stressful, so running together while talking through your checklist nixes the stressfulness haha.

PS – This is my favorite running shoe. I’ve used this brand through three half marathons, hundreds of half marathon training miles and leisure running over a span of four years. If your trouble area is needing ankle and arch support like me, you’ll seriously love this sneaker. This is my favorite sneaker for running errands and traveling because it’s like walking on CLOUDS! After having the pink hue, I grabbed the black recently for our honeymoon since I know we’ll be walking so much.

SPINNING // I L-O-V-E spinning. From my experience, I do feel like there are two types of studios. Ones that are very calm, a bit inconsistent (like one time I got slow Coldplay songs for 60 minutes….) and focus on solely spinning without mixing in any crunches or arm exercises. The second type of studio are ones that have major pump up music, instructors with consistent styles, a dark room with lights that adjust depending on the song, a structured class that has varying hills and RPMs, an awesome playlist, with weights and crunches worked in.

A brand new studio recently opened down the street known as Rev’d. I have been going there consistently for a couple months and seriously LOVE IT!! The work I get is 10X my last studio and I not only push myself, but look forward to my work out. I average going three times a week, but will boost this in the coming weeks as we get closer to the wedding since I love going so much.

TONE IT UP & BBG // While spinning and running are my cardio work outs, I use my Tone It Up and BBG plans to tone. While I’m a TIU member the work outs are primarily free to everyone, I keep the TIU app on my phone (only for plan members, but you can catch their work outs all over Pinterest and Youtube) and access my BBG plan in my iBooks and just work out with my phone, mat and weights in my living room. I also love the TIU Booty bands! I’ll throw these on my thighs when I work from home and gets some side squats in.

ACTIVE REST DAYS // While we take Sunday’s off from running or a structured work out class, we keep our bodies moving with running errands or going for walks.

HEALTH
S and I eat pretty lean, clean and green through the week, but earlier this year during the winter I was relying too heavily on greek yogurt and sneaking in too many treats. I learned through Whole 30 last year that my body has a hard time digesting dairy. My stomach will hurt and I’ll feel bloated after eating products like greek yogurt and cheese. A few months ago I nixed these products because no one has time for belly aches or bloating! I also ditched any products with gluten and sugar. I don’t really get tempted by bread or pastas so ditching those were pretty easy, but dang I love my sweets! I just try to give myself one treat a week. S and I will grab ice cream on Saturday’s, but for the last five weeks until the wedding, that won’t be happening 😛

And finally, the easiest way to clean up your health game is to stop purchasing or eating products that are over five ingredients. That will remove a lot of unhealthy granola bars, bagged snacks and processed foods. When you lead with this “five ingredient” rule, you’ll seriously see how many junk ingredients you were putting into your body and realize how much your body thrives when you provide it with items grown from Mother Nature. You’ll stop justifying reaching for Popchips or pretzels for snacks when you can reach for nutrient-full avocados, broccoli, strawberries, etc. It also makes shopping easier because we spend 95% of our grocery trip in the produce section. You can reach my clean eating posts herehere, here and here. I’m lucky because S is the healthiest eater I know and is the best, most supportive partner ever!

INCREASED H20 // I have a daily goal to drink 75 ounces of water a day. Here’s the combination of things I do to make sure I hit it:
-Tracking my ounces with my fitness watch because it holds me accountable since I set a goal within the associated app. I see through the day exactly how much water I have drank and since I’m very goal driven, I don’t want to see that I didn’t hit it!
-Using my trimr water bottle  because it makes drinking east since it’s like a sippy cup and has a secure top which makes it easy to throw in my purse. I take it everywhere with me from work, spin and running errands.
-Collagen peptides: I love knowing that on top of all the benefits for your skin and body that H20 brings, adding in my Vital Proteins collagen peptides powder boosts my water even more. You can reach all the benefits here. This was a serious changer because
-Adding lemon: Lemon is a natural way to flavor your water while also aiding in digestion, getting in your Vitamin C and getting glowing skin.

SNACKS // I reduced my snacking since it’s a way to pack on a lot calories, but if I think I’m hungry I first drink 16 ounces of water. If I’m still hungry in between meals, I reach for the options below.
-Sweet snacks: Peaches, nectarines, strawberries, blueberries, honeydew melon, Whole 30 approved Larabars
-Salty snacks: Raw broccoli, organic kalamata olives, cucumbers, hard boiled egg, raw/unsalted almonds, spoonful of almond butter, green smoothie, homemade green juice [I juice kale and spinach with an apple or carrots for sweetness].

DINNERS // I’m pretty spoiled because S is an amazing cook and is the one usually in the kitchen. We are always adding one new recipe into our weekly rotation to not get board, but below are a few staples tat we seriously eat every week.
-Organic ground turkey balls with zoodles – Sergio’s cousin gifted us the spirilizer attachment for my Kitchenaid Mixer and it’s a game changer! We use it multiple times a week!
-Chicken on the grill with fresh in-season veggies like peppers, mushrooms & onions. Why does the grill make everything taste 20X better?
-Roasted thin sliced chicken breasts with baked kale and chickpeas cooked with lots of spices like garlic and red pepper flakes. If I’m cooking, this is what I’ll typically make because it’s a one pan meal that goes right in the oven.
-TIU sludge AKA organic ground turkey sautéed with peppers and onions topped with sugar-free, organic tomato sauce. I’ll add sauté spinach or kale and mix it in to get in some greens or we make zoodles. This is the other meal I make because it’s so quick!
whole 30 clean eating tips tricks
FITNESS TRACKER
Okay and lastly – I have to talk about my fitness watch! After posting about it on Instagram Stories, so many of you direct messaged me for more details. I have an entire post coming to review the watch, but overall I 110% love it and cannot suggest it more if you’re looking to get better insights into your work outs. At first, I just wanted something to push me during spin class. The bikes at my studio don’t display your heart rate and when you’re doing a flat road sprint, seeing your heart rate is how you know if you’re in fat burn mode or not and pushing yourself. I also was interested to see my overall calorie burn during my runs and for the day. I did’t expect to wear this thing 24/7, but I really do!

I at first was going to invest in an iWatch, but then with Amazon Prime Day, I saw this fitness tracker on sale and researched it. Compared to the iWatch, it has better fitness tracking capabilities and analytics. The battery lasts for a week instead of a day like the iWatch. You can even track your sleeping stages [light, heavy, REM and awake]. I am a pretty good sleeper, so this wasn’t a big selling point for me, but after trying it out, the analytics are so cool! If you struggle with getting a good nights rest, you may want to look grab this watch. I ordered these cute bands and am always wearing the white one since it goes with everything. I’m seriously addicted to beating my “steps” goal for the day and I love that I’m sent little notifications throughout the day to get up and moving. I’m way more apt to use my office walking treadmill desk now and I am getting in not only way more work outs, but pushing myself so much harder. I even use the FitBit app to track my calories, set goals and and track my H20 in take. I LOVE THIS THING and it has been a huge game changer in my work out routine! I have a detailed post coming soon, but wanted to give a little snippit today since I’ve been getting consitent questions on it from you.

I’d love to hear about your favorite work out routine! Xo Mindy

SHOP MY BRIDAL FITNESS GEAR

Please note I am not certified by any means in health sciences or fitness and have a degree in business. Please consult professionals before making any adjustments. This is simply what works for me. 

  1. Leeann says:

    So many great tips as always! Definitely going to be making that chicken with chickpeas and kale. Sounds amazing!

  2. Melanie says:

    I recently tried a local spin class after watching your SnapChat a few weeks ago and love it!!

    Melanie

  3. Steph says:

    Vital Proteins is MY FAVORITE! I can’t believe how quick I got used to adding this into my morning coffee. After two months, my hair is so much more shiny.

  4. Kristina says:

    I loved this post it was so helpful and doable. Thanks for the tips!

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I'm a Maine native residing in the Boston 'burbs sharing my love of interiors through decorating my husband and I's first home.

Through this experience, I discovered I have a knack for curating spaces that feel warm, cohesive and inviting. That passion turned into friends and family asking for interiors help and now we are here! 

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