Keeping the bloat off

SmirkySmile63 · June 2012

I'm in the final stretch- just over a week to go!

I've been lurking here a bit. I'm moderately fit- I eat lots of fruits and veggies, meat once or twice a week, but I love sweets. I've cut out all desserts since January and lost 20 lbs off my 5'7" now 135lb frame, so obviously I REALLY Love sweets. I do cardio 3x a week and weights 2x. I'm kind of happy that I have off all of next week to get ready for the wedding so I can get a bit of extra running in.

I've decided to take your advice on how to decrease bloating before the wedding and am currently eating a clean diet with very little salt, no alcohol, and our course no sweets. I drink lots of green juice (I love my juicer!)

Any other advice on keeping the water weight off?

Also, my MOH is planning a bachelorette party the Friday before my Sunday wedding. Nothing too crazy, but I have a lot of family who flew in to NYC from the west coast so we're doing an 8:00 drag show. I should still be home at midnight, but would it kill my diet to have a drink or two that night? Is there anything preferable to drink, or anything I should avoid?

Honestly if two drinks voids my diet, I'll just stay sober. But it would be nice to be able to indulge a bit.

firsttimersluck · June 2012

Red wine.

It's antioxidents help actually keep off the bloat. Of course after a couple drinks ANY alcohol will work against you, but red wine will be your best shot.

If that's too boring, go with a clear alc with a juice that has NO carbination.

Think: Vodka Cranberry.

As far as other food that retain water, I would avoid these things the week before your wedding:

Cauliflower

Broccoli

Onions

Cheese (anything heavy in dairy requires a lot of gas/acids in your stomach to digest, causing bloat BUT light yogurts have plenty of good bacteria that fight bloat, so you don't have to cut that out! It's great for you!

Fruits like Apples and Pears have a sugar that can cause more bloating. Stick to more citrus based fruits that will help fight the bloat/water retention.

Avoid useless grains like bread.. it holds in air which you swallow and it sits in your stomach.

Other ways to fight the bloat include ginger, cinnamon, (I mentioned before) yogurts, cucumber (I cut up lemons/cucumbers/oranges and throw in my water

), tea, black coffee, oatmeal, fish (and fish oil) ..

And if you have a gym that has a sauna, that'll help sweat out a lot of your retained water

SmirkySmile63 · June 2012

Thank you! That's great advice. I love starting my day with nonfat Greek yogurt or steel cut oats, so I'm glad I don't have to give those up! And I'll be leaving the broccoli out of my green juice (and upping the ginger!)

A glass (or two!) of red wine sounds like a nice way to relax, I think I'll go with that!