5 Ways to Stick to Your Diet as a Wedding Guest

A wedding can be many things. A tear-jerking celebration of true love. An opportunity to question Aunt Edna’s sartorial choices. It can be a casual get-together with friends and family, or an epic (and epically expensive) destination wedding. But one thing it’s almost sure to be is a hazard to your diet — or to the hard work you’ve put into losing weight.

It doesn’t have to be. Follow these five tips and you’ll be sure to stay on the right track — and you’ll still have lots of fun doing it.

At a wedding — where the adult beverages are often free-flowing, and the mood can range from elation to full-on meltdown mode — there are temptations aplenty. Avoid overindulgence by relying on your old friend, H2O. First and foremost, it slows down your alcohol consumption. (We’re fans of making sure every other drink consumed is a glass of water.) It can also aid digestion and curb your appetite, always a good thing when the food can seem endless.

Which brings us to …

Yes, this is a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of love. Yes, the drinks are already paid for. Yes, there’s always someone or something to toast, and it never hurts to have some extra social lubrication when a dance floor is involved. But you want the night to be memorable for the right reasons, right? Right.

In terms of your diet, all alcohol has sugar, and as such can be fatal to your diet. You can shave calories by enjoying wine (roughly 150 calories per glass) rather than beer (roughly 200). If you’re drinking cocktails, clear liquors tend to be lower-calorie than brown liquors. (And clear mixers tend to be lower-calorie than, say, cola.) Raising a glass? Champagne is roughly 20 calories per ounce, so a typical toasting pour equates to about 70 calories.

It’s easy to get in the “free meal” mindset, especially if there’s a buffet line. A friend uses the mantra “Remember, you will eat again” when faced with that situation, and that’s the mindset you’ll want to keep from overindulging at dinner. You don’t have to try every hors d’oeuvre, and you don’t have to go back for seconds or thirds. As with any other meal, choose salad or veggies over fried food and aim for lighter salad dressing (rather than the creamy stuff). As for dessert, well …

Look. We’re not sadists. We’re not going to recommend you skip the cake at a wedding. Just be mindful of how much you’re having and what exactly you’re having. Portion control is your friend. A typical slice is about 200–300 calories, depending on what type it is, according to MyFitnessPal. Be mindful, and you’ll do great!

It turns out that going full “Wedding Crashers” at the reception is also a way to keep your calories in check. According to MyFitnessPal, an hour of dancing (listed as “dancing, general,” though we all know Uncle Fred’s moves should be described as “dancing, amazing”) will burn 287 calories — enough to offset roughly two glasses of red wine. And if you’re like the author, who hails from the Midwest, you’ll appreciate this: 30 minutes of line dancing — yes, line dancing! — burns 143 calories. (That, by the way, is enough time to hear “Achy Breaky Heart” seven-and-a-half times.) Our casual research is clear: Busting a move is the surest way to not bust your diet.