A lot of brides think they should lose a few pounds or tone up their muscles before their weddings.   While I’m all for adopting a healthy lifestyle, there are right ways and wrong ways to go about this task,

Do:

• Start early. Don’t wait until 2 weeks before the wedding to try to lose 20 pounds.
• Set realistic goals.  If you are a size 20, chances are you won’t be a size 2 in 6 months.
• Consider meeting with a nutritionist and personal trainer.  These experts can help you determine proper diet and exercise routines based on your height, weight and body type.
• Use the buddy system.  Find a friend (or all of your bridesmaids, perhaps?) to share your workout routine and diet plan with.  Or, look for a bridal boot camp to work out with other brides to be!
• Reward yourself.  Sticking to your weight loss plan is great, but having fun is important too! Treat yourself to ice cream on date night, or skip the gym and go for a long walk with your fiance on the beach.

Don’t:

• Buy a dress that is way too small.  Even if you are dedicated to losing weight, things happen.  It’s always easier to take a dress in than to let one out!
• Try a new diet every week.  Talk to a professional when you get started, and stick to a steady plan.
• Not eat.  Fasting makes you more irritable, tired, and less able to deal with stress.
• Eat too little.  Just like fasting, cutting your calorie count too much can be dangerous.  A bride in England even died of heart failure from eating a measly 530 calories for 11 weeks.  It’s just not worth it!
• Focus on the wedding day.  Make lifestyle changes so that you will be healthier all around!  Married couples tend to gain weight at a faster rate than their single peers.

Skeptical of the value of the actual product? I was, too, but after testing out some of the goods, I was pleasantly surprised. Don’t get me wrong, nothing can beat my favorite makeup brands, but ELF was just as good (if not better) than any drugstore brand I’ve ever used.

BONUS! If you google ‘ELF Coupons,’ you can find tons of discount codes that you can use when you checkout, making your inexpensive purchase even more so!

Next time you get the urge to go on a makeup shopping spree, keep ELF in mind! What have you got to lose… besides a few George Washingtons?