What would you do to look beautiful on your wedding day? New hair style? Professional makeup? Carefully planned out lighting?

How about crash dieting your way into a dress that's two sizes too small?

According to a post at the New York Times' Well blog, that is precisely what more and more brides are doing: "More than 70 percent of brides-to-be want to lose weight before their wedding day, according to a new study from Cornell University. To reach the perfect wedding-day weight, more than one-third of them use extreme dieting tactics such as diet pills and fasting. And while most of us buy clothes that fit, about one in seven brides-to-be buys a bridal gown that is one or more dress sizes smaller than she normally wears."

Nearly half of the women in the Cornell study engaged in some form of extreme dieting to reach their goal (which was an average loss of 21 pounds), including starvation diets and over-the-counter diet pills. Participants in the study also reported drinking large amounts of water, which isn't necessarily bad for you, but isn't a proper substitute for actual food.

I will admit that in the months before my wedding, I was religious about going to the gym, and careful about what I ate. But skipping meals is a fast track to mood swings and illness, neither of which are what a bride really wants to remember about her big day. Give yourself a break; have your dress fitted for the body you have NOW and eat some lunch, already. You will look -- and feel -- better on your wedding day.