The Buff Bride's Handbook: Get in Shape for Your Wedding Day

Find Your Perfect Workout Plan

Choosing an exercise and diet plan may seem harder than deciding on your reception venue. But as with any big decision, it just takes some narrowing of choices. Of course, whichever one you decide to follow, you'll want it to offer maximum energy and fun -- both during and after your workouts and meals. Beyond that, use these factors as considerations when choosing the best program for you:

• Your desired dress style: length, shape, and fabric. (Would you believe that 51 percent of you started thinking about your dress before or as soon as he popped the question?)
• Your body's assets. Okay, and trouble spots.
• Your current physical abilities. (Completing a marathon in 2 months is a lofty goal for someone who's never owned sneakers; beginning a regular jogging routine, however, isn't.)

"Even though a bride may feel she is drowning in all the planning involved in a wedding," Bode adds, "it will be very advantageous to also [create a detailed] weight-loss strategy." Get granular: Research recipes and plan meals in advance; schedule workouts in your calendar and keep them as you would any other appointment. As you're choosing your regimen, keep your expectations in check. "A good rule of thumb is that you can lose between 4 and 8 pounds in a month," Bode says. "If your wedding is only two months away, don't fool yourself and cause unnecessary stress by vowing to lose 40 pounds. This will set you up for failure and probably lead to complete abandonment of your weight-loss efforts. Determine the true timeline you are working within and accept the realistic number you can achieve."