I remember when I was getting ready for my wedding, I wanted so badly for everything to be perfect, but I didn’t want to fuss too much. So instead I quietly stressed, wondering if everything would turn out so that all of us would have a good time. I was excited to be married! In the back of mind there was always a looming, “but what if...?”

Are you keeping your feelings inside?

Studies show that stress can cause serious physiological damage and can wreak havoc on our internal systems. Ailments that show up with symptoms like fatigue, irritability, moodiness and weight gain.

Craving sugar or carbs anyone?

Our body’s natural hormone systems don’t operate efficiently when we are under chronic stress. And well, the sad thing is, that we are all under chronic stress.

Taking breaks in your day, going for walks in nature and journalling are all fabulous ways to release emotional energy. Getting on a regular routine of exercise and planning daily towards a healthy diet rich with fruits and vegetables.

Talk to someone you love and trust. Surround yourself with those that don’t judge you. Take care of yourself and live for you.

As a bride to be, you are embarking on a new chapter in your life. A life that includes not only yourself, but also includes your significant other, and potentially down the road, also children.

Transitioning into this different life need not be threatening or intimidating, it should be one that you are ready to embrace, and you are looking forward to. One way to identify how ready you are to commit to being a couple, is looking inward and seeing how comfortable you are when speaking about you and your fiancé as “we.”

Scientists who studied the conversations between married couples found that those who referred to themselves as “we,” “us,” or “our” were significantly more positive toward each other and scored higher on tests identifying a happy marriage. Those who were less happy in a marriage spoke significantly more often in terms of “I,” “you,” or “me.”

Studies also show that those who are more connected to their significant other and share in their moods or needs are also significantly happier in their own lives in general. They are less stressed and more satisfied overall.

Remember though, more is not better, and as with most things, moderation is key. When you give up your independence for the sake of your significant other, unhappiness and decreased satisfaction can lurk around the corner. Share your dreams, goals and needs, but ensure that you do not give up who you are in return.

I know, this sounds counter-intuitive. We have grown up being told that in order to succeed in something, we must be present and focused on the task at hand. However, there are exceptions to this rule. Have you ever tried waiting for the kettle to boil? It seems to take forever! How about waiting for the phone to ring? It never seems to happen.

Often times, just by focusing on something else, the very thing we were waiting to happen, actually happens! Its like when you were looking for the man of your dreams, he wasn’t anywhere to be found, and then when you relaxed and focused on yourself, he popped up!

The same goes for certain aspects of our body. When we are so focused on something working out perfectly, we can obsess about it to an unhealthy degree. Stressing out about losing weight and counting every calorie we put in our body or working out excessively can lead to just the opposite – losing no weight. Our bodies have built in mechanisms which identify when something is not right. It is called the stress response. Our bodies go into a state of “fight or flight,” and hormones are released triggering a cascade of events that have been designed through evolution to protect us and keep us safe.

Cortisol is one such hormone, which tells the body to store fat from all incoming food, because there is a stressful event going on and we may have to run away, in ancient times it was from a sabre-toothed tiger, or fight an enemy. Although our present day reality does not involve those events, our bodies do not know the difference.

Often when we get too focused on something to a stressful degree, we can trigger this hormone release and our bodies cannot function as they normally would, thereby not doing the very thing we want them to do. Avoid focusing on something so much that you end up negatively affecting the outcome. Set yourself up for success (by creating a healthy eating plan and scheduling regular exercise) and then relax and enjoy the ride.

We have all heard the quote from Ghandi, “be the change you want to see in the world” and we know that if we want something to happen, we are the ones who must initiate it.

As a nutrition and health coach, I find one of the most common excuses for why people find it difficult to eat healthy, is the fact that they feel those around them are not supportive or they don’t want to cook healthy because their family won’t like it.

Very soon you will be starting a new kind of life – married life, and it is imperative that you decide how you want to approach health and wellness as a new family. A new study came out that demonstrates how contagious self control is. When individuals saw other individuals eat a carrot instead of a cookie, they often chose the same to eat. However, much like you’d think, the opposite was true as well. When someone around you is constantly choosing cookies, it works against your natural urge to control yourself from this unhealthy habit.

We can use this as an excuse and say it’s too hard to eat healthy around others, or we can decide that we want to see a change in the health habits of those around us (after all, we do want to live long healthy lives, don’t we?). In order to see change, we must first be the change.  Your family will naturally catch on and in the long run, those you love will be leading a happy and healthy lifestyle which makes everyone feel good!