Brides want to look their best at their wedding
A lot of time and effort goes into looking beautiful on your big day, but have you reached your goal?
A quarter of brides-to-be who dieted in the run-up to their wedding did not enjoy the big day because they failed to reach their target weight, according to new research.
For many their memories of what should have been the happiest day of their lives have been tarnished because they did not lose as much weight as they had hoped, the study by diet experts Atkins found.
Six months before a wedding is the most popular time for women to start dieting but one in seven said they began to slim down between a year and 18 months beforehand.
The average weight loss by brides-to-be before they said their vows was found to be 11lbs 3ozs but a quarter of women told researchers they lost somewhere between a stone and a stone-and-a-half before slipping into their wedding dress.
However, contrary to popular belief, the majority of brides-to-be did not diet in the run-up to their big day and those who did tended to put much of it back on while on honeymoon.
Speaking about the results of the study, Linda O’Byrne, chief nutritionist for the New Atkins Diet, said: “We understand the pressure that many women – and men too – feel under to look their absolute best on their wedding day but we would urge all brides and grooms-to-be to have a safe and sensible approach to dieting.
“A quarter of women dieters are failing to reach their target weight loss in time for their big day and you can guarantee this is because many are simply not dieting correctly.
“There are good and bad diets, sensible and faddy diets and many brides-to-be are acting out of desperation and signing up to all sorts of weird and wacky ways to drop the pounds.
“But there is no substitute to a sensible eating regime, one that will leave you feeling satisfied with your weight loss and – perhaps more importantly – a regime that you are happy to continue and able to maintain long term.”
Six out of ten women told researchers they did not diet in order to ‘shed before they wed’ and eight out of ten insisted there was too much pressure on women to be slim.
But for those who did diet there was more bad news, as a third admitted to piling most of the weight they had lost back on while on honeymoon.
The average honeymoon weight gain was found to be 6lbs but five per cent of newlyweds said they put on more than a stone during their post wedding getaway.
The latest research, which was conducted on behalf of the New Atkins Diet and surveyed 2,000 married women across the UK, also discovered that many men went on a diet ahead of their wedding day too.
In fact a fifth of grooms under-35 stuck to a slimming regime in order to lose some pounds before they got married, according to their wives.
Linda O’Byrne, chief nutritionist for the New Atkins Diet, added: “Our new diet is a low carbohydrate approach that is versatile and sustainable for a lifetime of healthy eating. And the key element is that it is simple, safe and convenient to follow, plus it will fit into any lifestyle.
“We recommend that dieters slim down safely and effectively by cutting back on sugars and other refined carbohydrates. However, the range of foods and balanced carbs allowed on New Atkins means that no food group is banned, dieters can therefore enjoy a variety of tasty dishes and snacks that will leave them feeling satisfied.”
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