Your wedding day, the one you've dreamed of your entire life, is finally becoming reality. And of course, everything from the dress to the flowers needs to be perfect, and that includes you. To make sure you look your absolute best for your big day, personal trainer Cynthia M. Conde has devised a fitness and nutrition plan specifically for brides-to-be. She's shared part of her plan with us in an excerpt from her book Bridal Bootcamp.

Click here for specific meal plans to get wedding-day ready.

What to Eat
Once you determine your new caloric intake you will remain at that calorie level for the next three months. In Chapter 2, we used the following equation to determine Carol's daily caloric maintenance level: current weight x 14.25 = your daily caloric maintenance level.

For example, Carol weighs 160 pounds, her goal is to weigh 130 pounds for her wedding.

160 x 14.25 = 2,280

Carol's daily caloric maintenance level is 2,280 calories, therefore her reduction in calories would be as follows: 2280 - 20% = 1824 calories per day or 1,800 rounded-out.

If you begin to lose more than two pounds of body fat a week, you're likely to be losing muscle tissue. Monitor your body fat closely. That is why it is important to measure your body fat every two weeks, to ensure that the weight that is coming off is fat and not muscle tissue. If your body fat test reveals that you are losing muscle, then you need to add some calories back to your diet. You should add back 25 calories per day, for five days, until you reach a 125 calories surplus. For example, if Carol determined that she was losing too much weight too fast, and most of it was lean muscle mass, then she would increase her daily caloric intake to 1,949. If you have a slow metabolism, then you will have to make additional adjustments to your daily caloric intake.

Start off by determining how many calories you eat on an average day. Use the following meal plans as a guide to see the caloric content of foods. You might need to find a calorie counting book, like Corrine T. Netzer's The Complete Book of Food Counts, so you can see how what you are eating adds up.

Start eating foods featured in the Bridal Bootcamp Four Food Groups. After five days, you'll be used to eating a bit less, and probably, a bit better. Then you'll be ready to use the meal plan. Each day on the seven-day meal plan is roughly 1,800 calories. Refer back to your weight loss caloric intake number in your journal. If your number is less or more than 1,800 calories, you will need to modify the meal plans. You can remove or add some foods from your daily five-meal plan throughout the day until you reach your number, but don't skip any of the meals entirely.

For the first week, follow the meal plans exactly. Afterward, you can create your own 1,800 calorie days from the sample meals. Here is the way to convert caloric ratios to grams of food. For example Carol determined that she needs to eat 1,800 calories per day to start losing body fat. And the nutrient ratio is roughly 50/30/20. Remember:

• 1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories
• 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
• 1 gram of fat = 9 calories

Therefore, Carol should have the following:

• Carbohydrate: 900 calories / 4 calories/gram = 225 grams
• Protein: 540 calories / 4 calories/gram = 135 grams
• Fat: 360 calories / 9 calories/gram = 40 grams




We all know that this is not a perfect world. Therefore, I'll allow you one cheat meal per week after you have lost five pounds of fat. Try to make it a Sunday, so that you are back on schedule by Monday. Don't let your cheat meal turn into a cheat day!