My Wedding Diet & Fitness Regimen--4 Weeks to Go!

Happy Friday guys! I'm just going to jump right into today's post because I think it's going to be a long one. To be honest, I was a little nervous to even do this post (especially with "progress" pictures) because obviously talking about our weight is something probably most of us are insecure about. But, some of my most popular posts are when I talk about my fitness routine so that shows that it's kind of helpful/interesting for y'all! Today, I just wanted to talk a little bit about my diet and fitness routine leading up to the wedding. The last six months I've been very strict with my fitness routine but a little less strict with my diet. As of two or three weeks ago though, I've started a very "clean" diet leading up to the wedding. I just wanted to share what I'm doing/will be doing these last few weeks to really push progress for the wedding!

Goals:
As far as toning up goes, I actually feel like I've pretty much reached my goal over the last few months as far as getting more muscle definition in my arms, legs and abs. My goal this last month is really to just further lean out and lose a few more pounds. I feel like if I lose 4-5 pounds between now and then, the muscle definition will be way more apparent and will make my dress look even more fab! Honestly, I would be pretty happy though if I ended up just maintaining my current weight. This is the happiest I've been with my physique probably ever! I may not be at my lightest weight but I definitely feel like I look the healthiest and most fit I ever have.

Diet:
I mentioned a few months ago that I might try the Whole 30 again the month leading up to my wedding but I've decided to forego that plan. The Whole 30 just doesn't agree with me and honestly, the second I eat like...one cracker, all the weight comes right back! I just don't think it's a great diet if your goal is sustainable weight-loss. The diet that actually has worked really well for me in the past (especially while my fitness game is on point) is IIFYM. I feel like I don't even want to label it a diet because it's more just a lifestyle and eating a good balance of macronutrients. Essentially I just try to eat a high amount of proteins and lower carbs/lower fats plus I try to stay below a certain number of calories per day.

A typical day in this diet would be starting off with egg whites and turkey bacon or if I'm at work I'll bring a hardboiled egg to eat with the turkey sausage or just a Greek yogurt then I'll snack on apples or banana and lower fat peanut butter.

For lunch, I'll usually eat grilled chicken or lean ground beef and veggies or chicken and brown rice. I have been trying to meal prep on Sundays for lunch all week! Typically when I meal prep chicken I do it in the crockpot instead of the grill or oven. So easy and I think it tastes better! After lunch around 1 or 2pm, I'll typically have a protein-bar--I really like Power Crunch protein bars because they taste like wafer cookies and not a protein bar haha. I go to the gym right after work so it's great to get a lot of protein in an hour or so beforehand.

For dinner, we're still doing Blue Apron but I'm just very conscious of my portions and also I make sure we pick meals that are higher in protein and lower in carbs. For the month of April, we're going to stop Blue Apron for the time being so I can really buckle down and stick to a lean protein for dinner and veggies on the side.

For something sweet after dinner, I'll usually allow myself either one scoop of Halotop ice-cream (if you haven't had it before you NEED to try it) or I'll buy those Weight Watchers little pastries they sell (I really like the lemon ones) and I'll have that. Starting next week, I'll probably cut down even more and just do grapes or a smoothie as my "sweet treat."

Exercise:
I'm still sticking to 4 days a week for exercise because honestly, with my schedule between work, blogging and wedding planning/festivities, it's actually not even possible for me to go more than that! I'm a very regimented person so I always stick to a routine and pretty similar work-outs every week. The only thing I've been changing is the weight itself (ex.) over the course of 5 or 6 months, I started off using only 10 Ib dumbbells for arm work-outs but now I'm up to 20 Ibs and for leg presses I've gone from 70 Ibs to 150 Ibs). Below is my standard schedule. As you can see, I do abs for at least 15 minutes every single day! Since my dress is fitted especially around my torso, that has been a huge focus!

Monday--30 mins very steep incline fast paced walking on treadmill, biceps, back, abs

Tuesday--20 mins HIIT on stairmaster, legs, abs

Wednesday--30 mins very steep incline fast paced walking on treadmill, triceps, shoulders, abs

Thursday--either I go to spin class or I'll do 40 mins of cardio and 20 mins of abs

Hope y'all enjoyed this post! I honestly love reading about other blogger's work-out routines and diets. It's just fun for me and always great to get more fitspo!