Toned brides head down the aisle with confidence

By Robin McMacken, Special Advertising Sections Writer

A woman’s heart is a flutter when she becomes engaged — but she may be disappointed to realize that other body parts are moving in unflattering ways. Suddenly, the bride-to-be finds herself dreading the thought of trying on gowns with her upper arms flabby and her tummy bulging.

That was on Tamara Kleinberg’s mind as she buttered her toast and poured cream into her coffee one morning shortly after she became engaged.

“I thought, ‘No wonder I am fat,’.” she said.

“I thought to myself, ‘Oh my God, this is not what I want to look like on my wedding day,’.” Kleinberg said. “I wanted to have my honeymoon on the beach, and I wanted to look good in a swimsuit when I got up from the beach chair and not have to wrap a towel around my waist” to hide an unfit physique.

Thirty pounds overweight, Kleinberg realized she was going to have to shape up in order to ship off into married life as a beauty in a backless dress.

Enterprising bride that she was, Kleinberg quickly channeled her inner athlete and devised a fitness plan she knew would work. Her conviction to get in shape brought results and also led to a fitness business and the subsequent book, “Bootcamp360: A Complete Fitness Program for Brides.”

During her nine-month engagement, she managed to lose the 30 pounds and 7% body fat, and she dropped four dress sizes.

“I was so much happier,” she said. “My energy level soared.”

Kathy Kaehler, author of “Celebrity Workouts: How to Get a Hollywood Body in Just 30 Minutes a Day,” said the average length of most engagements (about six months or so) is the perfect time to get fit. She added that people can see realistic changes after eight to 12 weeks of working out on a regular basis.

Start slowly

Fitness newbies are encouraged to gently ease into a program.

“I would tell someone who is starting out to not begin so quickly that she gets frustrated or injured,” Kaehler said. “The best way is to start out slowly and do something that you really love to do.”

She said walking is one of the best exercises around, and it’s easy to do as a group.

“There is no learning curve,” Kaehler said.

For Sexy Shoulders

Stand with feet slightly farther apart than hip width apart, knees slightly bent. Start with weights in hands, palms facing in, arms down with elbows bent.

Lift arms straight out to shoulder level and slowly bring arms back down to starting position. Repeat. Photos by Peggy Irelan/Courtesy of "Bootcamp360"

She suggested a newly engaged woman map out a one-mile path for herself and then time herself as to how long it takes to walk that mile. A 15-minute mile is a good goal to shoot for, said Kaehler, who also encourages walkers to gradually build distance by adding a quarter of a mile to their treks each week.

Laurel House, who co-wrote “The Gurus’ to Serenity A Me-Time Menu of Celebrity Stress Reducers” with her mother, Sharon W. House, said that walking is not only exercise, but also a terrific way for the anxiety-ridden bride to unwind.

“Walk with friend on the beach or in the park. Don’t carry your cell phone and just take that time to be with yourself,” she said.

In her bridal “boot camp,” Kleinberg stresses the importance of good nutrition and fitness. “One doesn’t work out without the other,” she said. And she helps motivate women by making them accountable for their actions. They have to keep workout logs and sign commitment contracts.

Kaehler and Kleinberg said having an accountability system in place is critical for brides in achieving their goals.

“Athletes have coaches, and a lot of people need an extra push” when they embark on a fitness program, Kleinberg said.

As such, the women said soon-to-be brides should grab the maids of honor, the bridesmaids, their moms — or their fiancés — and start a fitness program together.

Kleinberg said that when she decided to eat healthier and bust nasty fast-food habits, she enlisted her friends.

“My friends kept me accountable,” Kleinfield said. “At first, I was mad at them for taking away the bread basket whenever we went out to eat.”

But, she learned to appreciate their tough-love tactics, she said.

Planning ahead

A great way to stick to exercise is to draw out a master calendar and schedule in workouts as appointments, Kaehler added.

“You might schedule in three sets of push-ups at lunch and then schedule a walk at night. When you finish those appointments, you can check them off your list,” she said.

“Brides already are making a lot of lists at this time of their lives, so it’s a great chance to add in exercise,” she said.

Don’t have enough time to work out? Don’t tell Kaehler, as she would likely point out there are 168 hours in one week. If you subtract eight hours a night for sleep and 40 hours for work, that leaves 72 hours for everything else — including exercise.

She advocates fitting in exercise when you can — kindly reinforcing the notion that the no-pain, no-gain attitude of the 1980s definitely went out with leg warmers and Jane Fonda workout tapes.

“Exercise is cumulative,” Kaehler said. When washing dishes, for instance, women can also do a few leg lifts to firm the derriere, she said.

Along with aerobic activity and stretching, weight conditioning is tantamount to an effective exercise program, according to Kleinberg and Kaehler. Weight training helps put the curves in the right places, they said.

“A lot of gals want to show off their arms,” Kaehler said.

In her book, the chapter titled “Rachel’s Super-Sexy Upper-Body Workout with Jennifer Aniston” focuses on helping readers firm their shoulders and arms by targeting key spots on the upper body. The venerable push-ups, bicep curls with weights and chest presses with weights are just some of the exercises that will get the bride working in the right direction for an enviably buff upper body.

The experts concede that eating healthy is sometimes challenging during the engagement because there are myriad parties for the bride-to-be and her beau to attend, from bridal showers to meeting-the-in-laws dinners.

“One of the things is to really pay attention to calories. And, knowing what you are taking in,” is especially important, Kaehler said. She advocates watching portion sizes, not skipping meals, and filling up with fiber by eating whole grains, fresh fruits and beans.

“You want to be able to participate and partake in the social events surrounding your engagement,” Kaehler said.

Robin McMacken is a freelance writer based in Rosamond.

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