Wedding Blog

Unfortunately in undergrad, I was one of the lucky girls who fell victim to the freshman fifteen - the dreaded 15 pound weight gain many women experience their first year in college. The sad part is, this is one of the few things I excelled at in my academic career. I gained a total of 30 pounds in college. It was… noticeable to say the least.

I’m not exactly super model height here. At a whopping 5 foot 2 inches, that was a significant chunk of my body weight. I’m not saying I didn’t deserve it. My diet was horrible. I ate a box of macaroni and cheese for dinner (by myself), burgers and fries for lunch and I drank about 5 regular sodas a day. The rest of my diet consisted of platefuls of rice and breadsticks from various pizza chains. Behold, the evidence of this.. (I can’t believe I’m posting this!!)

Fast forward to grad school where I get engaged. (Mr. Hibiscus really does love me since he wanted to marry me even though I was um… bigger than when he met me) I found myself looking at old pictures of my cousin’s wedding. I was a bridesmaid and only 18 years old. I looked fabulous! I fit perfectly into my size 4 bridesmaid dress and my arms were toned. Then it hit me. I couldn’t allow myself to look better at my cousin’s wedding than my own. Something had to be done. I needed to take control.

I bought the Southbeach Diet book and attempted phase 1 alone. I didn’t tell anyone about my diet. I felt admitting I was dieting was like shouting to the world I was fat. I felt if I never said anything, no one would notice. Well, I was a Southbeach dropout after only 2 days. Three months later, a good friend of mine started talking about diets and how she heard the Southbeach diet worked for her friend. I tried not to participate in the conversation but I finally admitted I was a dropout. Then, she had the brilliant idea to do it together and support each other through the phases.

I’ll give you some background information about the diet. There are 3 phases, the first phase being the most strict and lasting 2 weeks. Those first 2 weeks are meant to help people quit craving carbs. Highly processed carbs, according to the book, get digested too quickly. This causes insulin levels (a hormone the body uses to process sugars) to spike. Once those fast-burning carbs are used up, your high insulin level makes you crave more food. They say you can lose up to 15 pounds in phase 1, although most people lose between 8 and 12 pounds. Realize though, if you weigh less this may not be the case for you.

Phase 1 approved foods: Lean cuts of beef, fat free cheese, eggs, lamb, skinless turkey and chicken breast, most fish, vegetables (minus corn, potatoes and carrots), sugarfree candy, popsicles and fudgesicles
NO FRUIT, STARCHES AND CARBS, DAIRY OR ALCOHOL!

On day 4, I was suffering from carb withdrawal, but all it took was a phone call to my diet buddy and she set me straight. To make a long story short, I lost 12 pounds in the two weeks. This motivated me so much, I started working out and during phase 2, I lost more weight.

I dropped 3 dress sizes and have kept the weight off. It definitely was a lifestyle change for me though. I don’t eat burgers and fries anymore - the staple foods in my college diet. I eat about 1/3 of the rice I used to, and I have switched to diet sodas and wheat bread. The diet definitely wasn’t “easy,” but it was doable and having a buddy definitely helped. I couldn’t have done it without her. Oh, and sugarfree fudgesicles… couldn’t have done it without them either. haha

I have 10 more pounds to go to get back to my pre-college weight. These pounds are definitely the hardest. I’m running 2 miles about 3 times a week now to get me off my plateau. Hopefully this works! Look out wedding dress… here I come!!

Current Me at a size 4!

So my questions are, has anyone tried a diet that has worked for them? And, how are you losing weight for the wedding?