You can’t get three thumb-scrolls through Instagram without encountering a bride-to-be who’s busy preparing for her big day.
Engagement photos. Dress shopping. Invitation selection. Venue scouting. And… lifting weights.
These days, gruelling diet and fitness regimens appear to be equally vital to wedding preparation as ordering the bouquets. Bridal bootcamps are increasingly common – Pippa Middleton reportedly got on board before her nupitals – and ‘shredding for the wedding’ has become something of an Instagram catch cry.
There’s nothing wrong with being health-conscious, but women are clearly feeling immense pressure to look a certain way when they say their vows — as if their bodies aren’t good enough in their natural state. Arguably, the rise of social media has played a role in this.
All this considered, it’s refreshing to hear newly-engaged Erin Molan admit she’s not planning to radically overhaul her lifestyle before she walks down the aisle.
Speaking with Nine's The Fix, the Footy Show host details her refreshingly realistic approach, admitting, "I'm no athlete."
“I eat chips and I eat chocolate and I drink alcohol. I try my best and I try to be balanced, but I’m certainly not perfect," she tells the website.
Recently, Molan has found a form of exercise she loves - going on a long walk every morning - and she intends to stick to it.
Listen: Is the wedding invitation headed for extinction? All signs point to yes. (Post continues.)
“I think realistically, what I’m doing now is what I’ll be doing a month up to the wedding, what I’ll be doing a week up from the wedding because I just don’t care that much, to be perfectly honest," she says.
"As long as I get a dress that allows me to bloat on my wedding, that’s all I care about!”
A-freakin'-men.
If hitting the gym in the leadup to your wedding day is what's best for you, then go for gold.
However, Molan's words are a refreshing reminder that if you don't have a rock-hard six pack beneath your wedding dress, that's OK too - and anyone who tells you differently isn't worth listening to.
Did you feel any pressure to "shred" for your wedding?