I am all for being healthy — exercising, eating right, and taking care of one’s body — but I do get worried about some brides taking it too far.  Extreme measures can be dangerous to one’s body and often times the short-term benefits are quickly lost after the wedding when brides (and grooms!) return to their original habits. I am not a fitness or health expert, but I do firmly believe that creating a healthy lifestyle and establishing good habits with respect to eating and exercising will yield the most significant benefits in the long run.

I’ll admit, exercise and I have a love/hate relationship. I have struggled over the years to be consistent in working out. Add to that the fact that I am head over heels for food and I run a real risk of ending up looking like a big blob! Recently, however, a friend gave me this little exercise and food diary from Green Chair Press as gift; it has rocked my world!

WIth its simple format, this food and fitness journal from Green Chair Press is so easy to maintain!

I love the colorful flatware theme.

I take the journal with me everywhere. It is so small that it fits easily into my purse, and it is cute to boot! I track what I eat and what I did for exercise that day. There is even a space for general notes which I use to jot down things like “I felt tired today” or “Am I starting to get a cold?” I thought having to write down everything I eat would be a burden, but not only has it become a habit, it’s also been oddly fun. I enjoy tracking what I’ve done and the progress I’ve made, and the discipline of having to write down everything I eat has prevented me from having that extra dish of ice cream or reaching for that piece of chocolate. It’s been about three months now and I am half-way through the journal. I just ordered three more so that when this one fills up I have no excuse for not continuing with my food and fitness tracking!

The journal has been very helpful in tracking my progress in exercise. It works really well with the data from my Nike+ workouts. I am able to jot down exactly how many calories I burned and for how long I exercised. Similarly, my Wii Fit workouts have been easy to track as well.

Healthy habits are hard to start but once they are in place, they can become second nature. Chart a course tailored to your own personal goals with respect to diet and exercise and then track your progress. You don’t have to go to extreme lengths or spend lots of money.  Get ideas for workouts online from SELF or healthy recipes from Cooking Light. Before you know it, you’ll be doing your very own, customized Bridal Boot Camp!

Here’s to our health!

All this talk about health care is certainly a reminder of how fragile our health can be and how important it is to care for it. Maybe that is one of the reasons the traditional toast, “Let’s drink to our health” emerged? My curiosity about this expression led me to a few references, including one of my all-time favorites, The Art of the Table: A Complete Guide to Table Setting, Table Manners, and Tableware by Suzanne Von Drachenfels, to learn more about where the phrase came from.

Here’s what Ms Von Drachenfels has to say:

“The custom of raising the first glass of wine to one’s health is attributed to ancient Greece, when a sip was taken to demonstrate that the drink was not poisoned. In Homer’s Iliad, Ulysses drank to the health of Achilles.”

Both The Encyclopaedia Britannica by Hugh Chisholm and An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language by Walter William Skeat suggests the origin of the expression came from the custom of putting toasted bread in liquor to make it taste better. The former also discusses how the expression most assuredly refers to women, in particular soldiers or warriors who would toast to “their ladies.”

The expression evolved over time and is now common in countries around the world and is suitable when raising one’s glass almost anywhere.

For those called upon to make toasts in social settings, the following online resources may be helpful as you prepare:

• Emily Post has a wonderful reference guide for the etiquette of toasting which also provides sample toasts. There is also a great online reference with respect to wedding toasts exclusively.
• The Knot’s list of 30 Inspiring Quotes for wedding toasts is also a great resource.
• Toasts for Every Occasion by Jennifer Rahel Conover and available through Google Books.

Above all, I think the most important thing about a good toast is that it is heartfelt. I coordinated a wedding recently where the Best Man’s toast was in-term-in-a-bly  long (something I NEVER recommend!). While some of the guests did fade, most were willing to sit through it and listen because his message was so truthful and sincere.

Cheers! To Your Health!