Wedding Blog
Confession: I’ve been home from my honeymoon for 4 months…and I’ve gained 20 pounds.
Yep, it’s true. Yep, I’m sure. And yep…it ain’t pretty.
I share this information with you now because, in truth, I want to scare you all a teeny bit. I want to get you thinking about a gameplan, preparing for the “ah, to hell with it” attitude that will crawl into your brain and plop down on a beanbag chair with a bag of Fritos and a diet coke, and to get you ready.
In truth, I’ve had major issues with my weight my whole life..so of course that didn’t help matters. But in my own non-scientific research, apparently that doesn’t make a lick of a difference. In a recent poll I took (and by “poll” I mean I called 5 friends last night who each were married in the last three years), 100% of my respondents admitted to gaining weight immediately following their weddings.
Don’t join our club…cause once you’re in, it’s realllly hard to resign.
Now, of course I’m not speaking to those of you who could use to gain a pound or two…or to anyone else who really doesn’t care to focus on their weight at all and is happy with whatever goes down in that arena. To each, her own I say…and I really mean it.
But for anyone out there like me who worked their asses off to lose weight before their weddings…struggled with annoying diets and weird exercise regimes…ripped pictures of skinny models out of magazines and hung them on your wall..I implore you to be really careful and come up with a solid plan of action.
If I had it to do all over again, here’s what I’d do:
1. Indulge as much as I can while on my honeymoon, enjoying all of the delicious dinners and tasty treats I deprived myself of while preparing for the wedding (OK, this is actually exactly what I did).
2. Promise myself that the moment I return home, the eating free-for-all will end (nope, didn’t do this one).
3. Make sure that our house is immediately stocked with all of the healthy food I was eating and enjoying before said Honeymoon binge (if you can ask a friend or family member to stock you up before you return home, even better) (I did the opposite and stocked up on Devil Dogs, bagels, and all the chocolate I could get my hands on).
4. Weigh myself the day after I return (did this but then didn’t get back on for 3 weeks…and by then it was too late).
5. Exercise the day after I return, and commit to 2 more times that week (nope…ignored this one too).
6. Stop saying to myself at every opportunity “eh…I’m still in Honeymoon mode!”
I’m happy to report that I am now, as of 3 days ago, back in charge of my 20 pound situation, and on the way to solving it. I’m prepared for the fact that it could take me 4 more months to lose it, and that’s ok. Just don’t follow my lead.
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Ah, I know the yo-yo well - congratulations for taking charge at 20 pounds, and not waiting until you’ve gained 30, 40, 50 or more — and good luck in conquering the irresponsible demons that lurk in every box of cookies and every wine and cheese evening snack (my FH loves a good wine and cheese evening).
To manage my own wedding weight (I’m half-way to my goal for our September ‘07 wedding), we’ve already made plans for our first wedding anniversary — we’re hiring a photographer and a car and driver, getting dressed up in our wedding clothes, and having pictures taken at all the places that are meaningful to us, but can’t manage during the wedding itself.
I like not having to worry about coming up with something romantic for our first anniversary, and the additional motivation to stay at my wedding weight for at least the first year doesn’t hurt 
*Hugs* - good luck to you.
ack, our 6 month anniversary is in 2 days. I too have gained 15-18 lbs. i noticed when my “skinny” jeans I wore for my engagement pictures no longer fit. I always promised myself that I would never let this happened, but lo and behold i stopped going to the gym and started eating bad again. hopefully i will lose it all and then some by this summer.
Did you live together before you were married? I only ask because I gained a little bit of weight when FH and I moved in together, because I was eating more similar to him, and I just gained and he didn’t. Now that’s all settled down and we eat a lot more healthily.
great tips mrs. beetle! i broke every single one of them and then some. i guess i have no more excuse to say i’m still in honeymoon mode!
so funny and true, i think i gained 30 pounds initially after marriage (i’ve been married 2 yrs now and fortunately have lost most of that weight)…similar to the “freshman 15″ in college…i suppose it’s b/c you become relaxed after the stress of the wedding that you indulge all the foods one has denied…
fizzyg: We had already lived together for 4 years by that point. I think I was just on a “yay, i don’t have to watch what I eat” free-for-all because there was no pressure regarding fittting into a dress…looking good for pics, etc. But the bottom line is (for me, at least), I ALWAYS have to watch what I eat for the rest of my life. I don’t mean that I always need to be on a sad diet, but if I just let myself go a bit, this leads to a bad downward slide for me…
We have been married 9 months, and I am ten pounds heavier, and I can’t seem to lose it! I was successful with South Beach before the wedding, but I can’t make it work–
This week, I joined Weight Watchers, but I cannot stick to it because I hate feeling like i only have a few “points everyday”…
So, I am trying not to be on an official diet for a week–and just trying to be super healthy, and we’ll see what happens!!!
Any advice is appreciated, thanks!! GOOD LUCK Mrs. Beetle, you can do it.
Oh my goodness! I can totally relate to you Mrs. Beetle. I’ve gained about 15- 17 pounds since I got married in Oct. ‘05. I think for me it was a combined sense of relief that the wedding was over (let the eating begin mentality) and all the cooking I began to do for my hubby. He is lean and I’ve always been chubby so eating the things he likes only made me heavier. However, now I decided that this has to end. I always dreamed of being a “sexy wife” and hopefully sexy mom one day, so I joined the gym and also started to eat better. =) Good luck with your back to shape plan! We can do it!
Good luck to all you gals!
My wedding is in just over 2 months and I’ve reached panic mode! I’ve put off dieting for long enough (though I have been lifting and my arms are starting to shape up) that I finally took the plunge and ordered my vow2bfit program! I did the two pre-cleanse days (not as hard as I thought they would be) and am on day 2 of the 9 day program (day one was really hard, day 2 has started off better than yesterday)! Thus far, I’ve lost 3 lbs and am hoping that it’s the jump start I needed to get going!
Christina ~ We are date-twins!
I’ve gained only about 5 pounds fortunately since our Sept06 wedding. I’m not very in shape though, so I’m working on getting off some bad weight and adding some good weight in the form of muscles.
amen sister! i’m up 25 in just under 6 months and although there were a few other issues following the wedding (postponed HM, at home reception, death in the family etc.) that didn’t help the weight problem, like you said, it’s not pretty. i’m back on the wagon myself, and i wish you all the success and strength in the world :o)
Haha … I have you beaten. I’ve gained 45 pounds since my June 06 wedding … but well, i have a little bit of an “excuse” (although that excuse probably only weights 5 lbs right now, so i’m not sure what’s up with the other 40).
But seriously, my biggest concern when I got pregnant a couple months after the wedding was that people would think that I “let myself go.” (I was naseaus in the 1st trimester and bagels made me feel better …) It was such a relief when I could actually tell everyone that I was pregnant.
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Mrs. Beetle, New York/Palm Desert
About: Mrs. Beetle previously wrote our weekly advice column. She got married in October 2006, and is currently guest blogging.
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