FitSugar

Wedding Day Workout

FitSugar — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 17:15:00 PDT

Most grooms participate in some sport or athletic activity (golf, soccer, football, etc) on the morning of their wedding day. This is how they ease the tension and I must say the grooms have it right - the name of the game here is stress relief, not last minute weight loss. Come the day of, or even weekend of, your wedding, hopefully you've already done your best from an exercise perspective and one last workout will not do much in terms of dropping pounds. However, what it may do is calm you down, especially if you're feeling any last minute stress or jitters.

The problem is that most brides do not have enough time to feed themselves the day of their wedding, let alone time to fit in a workout or group activity. However, if you have been working out on a regular basis for a year (or even six months) up until your big day, you've probably noticed that working out is a great stress reliever and mood booster -- Two things you might need at this point. So, think about trying and finding a way to fit it in with these three tips:

Stick to your routine: If your body is used to going on a two mile run every Saturday morning, then try to fit it in. Maybe you switch the run to a Friday morning, instead of Saturday, but I am sure you'll feel great when it's done and you'll be ready to hit the ground running (literally and figuratively). Invite your out-of-towner pals, or even get your husband-to-be (only on jogs the day before, that is), to join you. This is a great time to actually have a conversation with them/him before (or during) all the commotion that is your wedding weekend.

Yoga: Get all your maids together for a pre hair and make-up yoga session. Not only will you (and all your girls) feel great from getting a little workout in, you'll also feel more relaxed and ready for your close-ups.

Stretching: If you can find the time to fit in anything, at the very least, do a little stretching when you wake up the morning of your big day. Pay more attention to your lower body as most brides are on their feet (in high heels, might I add) the entire day of their wedding.

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Stick to Healthy Eating, Even at Your Bridal Shower

FitSugar — Wed, 16 May 2007 02:30:00 PDT

Now that you're engaged you're going to be attending a lot of parties in your honor: Engagement parties, showers, bachelorette parties, etc. Nothing can kill healthy eating like a wedding shower complete with a plate full of potato salad and cake.

To make sure you don't overindulge this wedding season, here are a few tips to keep you from stressing over eating at parties:

Don't show up on an empty stomach. Have a little something healthy at home, this way you won't feel the need to stuff your face upon your first sighting of the buffet table.
Have a say. Chances are the person planning the party may ask what kinds of foods you'd like to have there. Ask for healthy options as well as typical party fare.
Make sure you eat. I know this one seems obvious, but everyone wants to talk to the bride and sometimes it's hard to get a bite in. Chances are your body is already running on low fuel as it is and the last thing you want is to get sick because you're not getting enough nutrients. Can't break away from Auntie Emily telling you about her bunions? Ask a good friend or mom to fill a plate for you with lots of healthy (and yummy) stuff.
Drinking can be your worst enemy. I'm not saying don't drink, but drink in moderation at these parties. A drunk bride can be a little unsightly, not to mention the added calories you'll be getting from that 4th vodka tonic.
Party games anyone? Parties do not have to only consist of drinking and eating. Ask the planner to plan activities that get everyone moving and burning off a little of that ganache. Pin the veil on the bride anyone?
Don't be too hard on yourself. This one is important! These parties are meant to be fun. If you splurge and have a few extra pieces of cake, it's OK...besides you didn't want to be rude, now did you? Just promise yourself you'll hit the gym for an extra 5 minutes the next day.

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A Bachelorette Party that Burns Calories, Not Brain Cells

FitSugar — Mon, 14 May 2007 07:30:00 PDT

Some bachelorette parties go a little something like this: Gather. Drink. Pile into limo. Stop at bar with penis straws and sashes saying things like "Miss Bride to Be". Male stripper does a dance. Random dude at the bar buys everyone shots. Pile back into the limo. Maid of honor to be tosses her cookies out the window while crying. Blackout. Wake up feeling like crap. The end.

I don't know about you, but this is not always my idea of a good time. How about trying something different for your (or your best friend's) bachelorette party. I'm thinking Sheila Kelley's S Factor...

Led by an instructor, an S Factor Bachelorette Party is a totally creative way to celebrate a bride-to-be. The two-hour party is designed with fun in mind, yet still provides the gentle, rigorous workout that the S Factor is famous for. The first part of the party consists of a luxurious warm-up that takes students through all S Factor movements and positions learned in the regular classes. Depending on the size of the party, everyone will learn the first part of a lap dance routine and a beginning pole trick or two. The best part is, the bride-to-be will learn a full-on lap dance routine that she will perform for her friends (and later her husband-to-be). The cost for an S Factor Bachelorette Party is $550 (for up to 10 women). For more information and to book a party, go to SFactor.com.

Fit's Tip: Party hardy after you've burned off some calories -- Especially since food or drink are not allowed and, due to safety regulations, alcoholic beverages should not be consumed before or during the party.

Flirty Girl Fitness Opens in Chicago

FitSugar — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:30:00 PDT

Chicago’s very first women-only health and fitness lifestyle facility featuring classes that focus on empowerment for women will open this May.

Ellipticals, treadmills and stationary bikes will be replaced with brass dance poles, leather lap dancing chairs, a Coyote Ugly dance bar and a large lounge area at Flirty Girl Fitness. A few of the unique classes being offered include Pole Dancing, Striptease Aerobics, Chair Dancing and Hula Hoop’Lah. Not into the pole thing? You can also kick butt with Hottie Body Boxing and Flirty Fight Club classes which include boxing bags and pink boxing gloves! A Flirty Girl Fitness Membership is $120 per month and includes unlimited classes. For non-members a Drop-In Class is $20 a class and 6-Week Session Classes vary from $150-$185. Saturday Workshops are $40. Along with these classes, the club will also feature over 31 total classes, a Coyote Ugly Bar, Nike boutique and Health Café, Spa and private parties.

Perhaps a bachelorette party? Their specialty is a Luxury Bachelorette Party Package, which includes class instruction for the bride-to-be and her guests, cocktails, fine catering, makeovers, manicures, and gift bags that include a digital photo album of the evening for the bride-to-be. Then the whole party is whisked off in a limo to the hottest clubs in town with VIP access especially arranged for them by Flirty Girl Fitness.

Not in the Chicago area? Then check out Sheila Kelley's S-Factor for a different kind of pole aerobics.

Eva Longoria Walks Her Way to Being One Hot Bride

FitSugar — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 03:30:00 PDT

We all know that Eva Longoria has been busy getting ready for her wedding this July. She knows, like any bride, that when you're wedding planning, it can seem like there are not enough hours in the day and it's rough keeping up with everything.

To top it all off, you somehow have to fit in a workout, because a bride's got to look hot on her big day. How about killing two birds with one stone?

A study of adults found that those who walked for about 45 minutes three times per week for six months performed substantially better on several cognitive tests than those who only did stretching or strengthening exercises. Not only did the walkers perform better on tests that gauged their ability to plan, establish schedules and switch between tasks, they also showed significant improvement in oxygen consumption.

What's more? Walking burns calories too! So take Eva's lead and take walks during your wedding planning; your mind and body will thank you. Could you even throw that wedding binder away? I wouldn't go that far, but you may have an easier time remembering who you're meeting with and when and why. To see more pics of Eva walking off her wedding planning stress,

View 6 Photos ›

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It's Complicated: The Relationship Statuses of France's Presidential Candidates

Annie Scudder — Thu, 03 May 2012 04:00:38 PDT

This weekend, France will vote for its next president. After a first round, it's down to incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and his socialist challenger Francois Hollande. Since Sarkozy was elected in 2007, a lot has changed. One of the most intriguing evolutions has been the love connections among the politicians.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is technically the second first lady France has known under Sarkozy. When he was elected, he was married to his second wife ‪Cécilia Sarkozy (now Attias)‬. In 1983, then mayor Sarkozy conducted Cécilia's first wedding and reportedly fell in love with her that day. She left her husband in 1988 to live with Sarkozy, who didn't divorce his first wife until 1996, the same year he married Cécilia. They remained married during his first campaign. But only a few months after his May 2007 election, they announced their divorce and Cécilia confessed that she had run away with another man. Could you imagine Michelle Obama doing this months into Barack Obama's first term? Soon after the split, France would get another first lady in the form of Italian-born singer/supermodel Carla Bruni. Sarkozy met Carla Bruni a month after his split at a dinner party, and after a quick romance they married in Feb. 2008. They went on to have a daughter last year.

So what about Francois Hollande, the man who could beat Sarkozy and become France's next president? His love life actually has a Sarkozy connection. His partner from 1973 to 2007, Ségolène Royal was the person to go head-to-head against Sarkozy in the last presidential election. Ségolène and Francois were partners for more than 30 years and have four children together. Both are major figures in the country's Socialist Party, but a month after her 2007 loss to Sarkozy, they announced their separation. Soon, France learned the details of Francois Hollande's relationship with journalist Valérie Trierweiler, whom he's still with today. Without any hurt feelings, Ségolène has backed her ex-partner, who is now trying to accomplish something she couldn't: beating Nicolas Sarkozy.

See some photos of all the parties involved now.

How a Determined Desiree Davila Won a Spot on the US Olympic Marathon Team

espnW — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 04:25:02 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from espnW here on FitSugar! This week's is an inspiring story about marathoner Desiree Davila, who will be representing the US in the Olympics for her first time. The following is an excerpt; read the entire story here.

By Bonnie D. Ford

At last January's Olympic trials in Houston, Texas, four top women had distanced themselves from the field: Desiree Davila, fellow favorites Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher, and Amy Hastings. Davila increased her tempo. Hastings dropped back. Davila forged on with Flanagan and Goucher, her five-foot-two, 98-pound frame dwarfed by her taller rivals. Then, with two miles to go, Flanagan kicked into a higher gear, and Davila was faced with another decision: should she try to match the surge and bid for the win, taking the chance that her cramping calves would betray her, or maintain her pace and protect her spot on the team?

Davila weighed the situation and decided not to risk it. Flanagan soloed to the line, and Davila secured her Olympic spot by finishing second, 17 seconds back, in 2:25:55. It was a tough, savvy race, and the latest evidence that Davila's gradual climb to the top is peaking at an ideal juncture.

After a largely anonymous high school and college career in the arid heat of Southern California and Arizona, she migrated to Michigan to join the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project in 2005. The elite training environment in a harsher climate helped her transform herself into "a contender, not just someone who's on the line and might have a good day," as she put it.

The Lesson Learned From Second Place

Davila debuted at the marathon distance in Boston in 2007 and ran 2:44.56 in a raging northeaster. A year later on the same course, Davila thought she had progressed enough to make the Olympic team. At mile 21, running fourth, it looked as if she'd been right. But Davila, who hadn't hydrated and eaten enough before the race, ran out of gas and faded to 13th.

She was devastated. Fellow marathoner and friend Amy Hastings was there to comfort her, and so was sister Natalie Davila. "If I'm investing my money in someone right now, it's you," the older sister said. "You're going in the right direction - you're going up."

Read on for more of Desiree Davila's road to the Olympics after the break.

The Man Behind the Monarch: A Look at Charming Prince Philip Over the Years

Annie Scudder — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 12:45:04 PDT

Queen Elizabeth is marking her Diamond Jubilee, but she already celebrated her diamond wedding anniversary back in 2007. Before Princess Elizabeth became Queen Elizabeth in 1952, she married the handsome foreign prince from Greece who happened to also be her third cousin, now Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

According to Sally Bedell Smith's new biography, Elizabeth the Queen, Philip came from a tumultuous background despite his lineage. Born in 1921 on Corfu, he moved to Paris with his parents, Prince Andrew of Greece and his mother Alice, at age 1. By age 8, he went to England for boarding school. While there, his parents separated after his mother had a nervous breakdown. She later went back to Greece to start an order of nuns. His father took a different path, living as a socialite in Monte Carlo. As for Philip's four sisters, they married wealthy Germans, some of whom had Nazi ties. That meant Philip couldn't go back to visit as World War II approached.

With generous amounts of good looks and confidence, Philip was able to make his way in England with the help of royal relatives. He met his cousin Elizabeth first at a family wedding in 1934, and then again at the coronation of her father in 1937. He would later be invited to have lunch with the royal family, and that's when Elizabeth reportedly fell for him. During World War II, Philip and Elizabeth wrote letters. By 1946, he was back in London and making regular visits to Buckingham Palace. During that Summer, he spent a month at the royal family's Balmoral estate, where he proposed. At the king's request, they kept it a secret until after her 21st birthday. The wedding was held at Westminster Abbey on Nov. 20, 1947. While on their honeymoon, he wrote a letter to his new mother-in-law, explaining his "ambition to weld the two of us into a new combined existence that will not only be able to withstand the shocks directed at us but will also has a positive existence for good."

During the almost 65 years of their marriage, 60 of them with Elizabeth as the monarch, Prince Philip has been as constant as the queen herself, although he's a bit more controversial, making quite a few insensitive gaffes. But when he's not giving the press an unfortunate quote to run, he's either by the queen's side, working as a patron of 800 charities, or up until recently enjoying carriage racing. At age 90, he doesn't look like he's slowing down, despite a recent heart scare over Christmas. Let's look back at pictures of Prince Philip over the years now.

Johnny Depp Upsets Robert Pattinson For Number One Spot of 2011 PopSugar 100!

PopSugar — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:04:00 PDT

The results are in for the 2011 PopSugar 100! It's our fifth year letting readers vote to pick their favorite stars who have had the biggest years, and every time it's amazing to see how you all choose. Robert Pattinson remains the king of the PopSugar 100, slipping just one spot to number two and maintaining one of the most impressive records on the list. Johnny Depp reigned supreme this time around, however, with Jennifer Aniston, Kristen Stewart, and Brad Pitt rounding out the top five. Here are five fun facts about the 2011 PopSugar 100, and check out the full list and all the category breakdowns to see if your favorites made the cut:

British invasion: The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, is making her PopSugar 100 debut in the wake of her spectacular royal wedding, but she's not the only noteworthy Brit. Oscar winner Colin Firth is also on his first-ever PopSugar 100!
It's all about the starlets! Blake Lively and Kristen Stewart both made huge leaps from the bottom 50 in 2010 to the top 20 this time around. The Twilight actress even cracked the top five, joining her man Robert Pattinson.
All-star team: Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, and Johnny Depp have all been in the top 10 for all five years of the PopSugar 100!
Britney's back! Britney Spears landed at the number six spot, which ties her PopSugar 100 record from 2007. In the years between she slipped as low as 35 in 2010, but she's back on top for 2011.
Idol behavior: Jennifer Lopez's turn on American Idol helped her score big in the PopSugar 100. She went from 78 in 2010 to 27 this time around.

Also, watch our editors' analysis and breakdowns on PopSugar Rush and don't forget your chance to enter our amazing Chanel, Hermés, and Rolex giveaways celebrating the PopSugar 100, which end on Friday!

Kate Moss Heads Home Following a Ritzy Stop in Paris With Jamie Hince

Lindsay Miller — Tue, 24 May 2011 11:20:00 PDT

Kate Moss flashed a smile as she left her London home today in a blazer and skinny suede pants. The supermodel is back from a quick jaunt to Paris, where she toasted her collaboration with photographer Terry Richardson and retailer Mango with fiancé Jamie Hince. Kate and The Kills front man, who have been dating off and on since 2007, are expected to tie the knot this Summer. Nothing was revealed about their plans in Kate's new interview with The Telegraph of London, though she did share her enthusiasm for the recent royal wedding and her newfound hobby of making jam. The nuptials would be the latest milestone in what's already been a big year for Kate. She currently has the rare honor of gracing two separate Vogue covers at once and was ranked as one of the world's highest-paid models by Forbes with a reported income of $14 million in 2010.