Wedding Blog
Is it me, or do most girls hate cardio? I can’t even run for 1 mile. My best mile time in high school was like 13 minutes and my worst was 16 minutes. My best bet with exercise is through dance, which has helped but not helped enough.
I was my biggest coming out of college and starting to do the 9-5 thing. But I’m very lucky because you can’t really tell if I’ve gained or lost a little - my face doesn’t change that much, and my problem areas are easy to hide: my stomach and thighs. But Mr. Caramel and I wanted to lose weight so we can look sexy for our wedding. It was called: Project Sexy.
I’ve lost 15 pounds since that post college gain. Of course I’d like to lose 5 more pounds, but I’m proud of what I did to lose the weight so far.
How did I do this? Tips are always nice aren’t they? They work differently on all people, but maybe these can help you out:
- running/cardio never seemed to work on me. So I tried doing the weights thing and it’s so much better! Instead of spending 30 minutes on the treadmill, try doing 50 lunges and 50 squats, and your heart will be beating just as fast as if you were running! As for weights, do 3 reps of 15, then change it up. The next day do 2 reps of 30 of some type of weight. The whole idea is to *shock* your body/muscles. You should try to feel sore everyday. I never believed it, but it’s true — just doing weights alone can burn just as much fat if your body tends to be like mine. If you feel the burn in a certain area, that’s where it’s working!
- you should feel very hungry once a day. Try to aim towards being hungry as you go to sleep. If you feel satisfied all day long, that’s no good! (I don’t know if health magazines would frown upon this, but hey - this is from my experience!)
- do not mingle around the fridge or even check it “just to see.” Try closing the door to any place that has a view of the kitchen.
- here are my healthy snacks: honey nut cheerios, grapefruit (it’s supposed to help you digest!) and this common Korean snack that I heard a lot of Korean actresses do: take sliced cucumbers and dip them in red bean paste. The red bean paste needs to be mixed with water, sesame oil and maybe 1-2 spoonfuls of sugar. It’s a yummy and refreshing snack that fills you up because of the water content of the cucumbers. My roommate and I did this often to be healthy together.
- work out at home. If you don’t think of it as a normal thing, just do some stretches or at least some toning while watching TV.
- you must cheat every now and then or you will go insane. That’s pretty easy right? 
But don’t blow it entirely on a huge plate of mashed potatoes with gravy. You know the deal: lean away from carbs.
- eat a Steak Only Dinner. Which means throwing a slab of rib eye with salt & pepper on top of the stove and cook it with olive oil. No carbs, No veggies, just MEAT! It’s delicious and pretty healthy, I think.
- *this was especially difficult for me* NO MORE STARBUCKS. If you have to go to a Starbucks, then get a Green Tea Lemonade. Not only is it cheaper, but it’s much healthier than a Frappucino. Trust me, I used to work at Starbucks! They’re pretty much selling you 5000000 calories per cup. Try drinking only water. Not even diet coke, just water water water.
Okay and lastly, here’s a chart of what I believe a real, healthy diet should look like. You cannot expect your body to keep losing, losing, losing weight. It has to fluctuate and you have to take a couple steps back to get a few steps forward. Here’s what I mean:
Do not even think for a second that your weight loss can look like this!
Be safe, be healthy and try to think of this as a “forever” thing and not just a “wedding” thing. Be proud at your 1 lb loss, because even that is difficult!
Also, I’m sure most of you have heard of the Master Cleanse. I was not particularly fond of this because it just seemed like a quick-fix. But I do think it might be a great way to wipe the slate clean, and get your body ready to begin a new life of healthy dieting and exercising. If you don’t do that, you’ll lose 10 lbs and gain 15 lbs back. So I would only recommend this if you just need a boost to feel good about losing weight, and then keep it off by eating right slowly after it’s over.
I know 2 people who used this diet correctly and they’ve been able to keep most of the weight off! It takes a lot of commitment and mental strength, so if you know you can’t keep your goals, I would not recommend this.
What type of diet and exercise worked for you?
*okay next post will be about fake eyelashes, I promise!*
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you look pretty skinny in your photo to me!
I have to say though that most of your advice regarding eating goes against most nutritionists tried and true suggestions.
From what I understand, feeling “hungry” isn’t helping you, you’re actually slowing down your metabolism.
And just eating red meat isn’t necessarily good. You can eat good carbs (whole grains) and veggies. Why would you tell people to not eat veggies?
Also, I would not think that a healthy snack would be cherrios. I would suggest nuts, soybeans, carrots, etc. Cherrios and paste with sugar, is just that, sugar.
I think the rest of your suggestions are nice, but I just don’t want people getting the wrong idea.
Thanks for the tip. I never lost any weight running, I will definitely try doing the lunges and squats!
i also hate cardio! running for a long distance just makes me bored. what works for me is interval training where i am constantly changing the exercise, so it keeps my mind and body engaged in the workout.
on the nutrition front, adding fiber to your diet is a great weight loss help. it fills you up with less calories and also helps keep you regular, hah!
i think the important thing is to not go on a short-term diet. make a commitment to being healthy, not losing some pounds only to go back to your old habits and gain them back later. (easier said than done, believe me, i know!)
I was also surprised at some of your suggestions but hey, if it works, it works. I think steak only for one meal is fine but only if you are getting your veggies and carbs at another meal during the day. Carbs are not bad, but lots of simple carbs like the kind you find in white bread and bakery products are not the best. Ain’t nuthin’ wrong with whole grains though It is true however that lowering your carbs for awhile will help you lose weight faster but it’s not a long term solution.
For me, what worked when nothing else did (much to my SUPREME annoyance) was calorie counting. It was a major wakeup call that I was consuming way more than I thought I was, and it wasn’t the “bad” foods that were a wakeup call for me. It was how much the little things add up, like the butter you spread on your toast in the morning or the juice I drink with breakfast or the salad dressing I put on my salad. And I don’t even use that much salad dressing! If anyone wants to go the calorie-counting route, it’s kind of a PITA to measure out all your foods before eating, but figuring out how many calories are in your food is made about a million times easier if you sign up at http://www.sparkpeople.com. (It’s free). They have a food database where you just enter the food you ate and how much of it and it spits out the calories, plus you can enter your own foods and nutritional info per serving if the food you ate isn’t in their database. Most foods are in there though.
Also my other best tips: Drink lots of water and if you have a sweet tooth like me, pop in a piece of gum whenever you get a craving. It has a sweet flavour and gives my mouth something to chew on for half an hour, and usually the craving has passed by the time I throw out the gum.
i agree with you on weights!
but not on the food! the best thing that ever worked for me on a consistent basis was eating 6 tiny (healthy) meals a day. and i was never hungry. i am doing low carb for the weeks leading up to the wedding though. i know it’s bad, but it works so well. :o)
No matter what you’re doing, if you burn more calories than you consume, you will loose weight. Everything else is just calibrating the equation so you can maintain it.
The best way to start loosing weight is to start shunning sugar and cook your own meals. The food you prepare yourself will have less salt, sugar, fat, etc than that you get eating out or eating over processed foods. You’ll be amazed at how much weight you can loose and money you can save!
Finally, there’s no need to eat until you feel full and sleepy. Try just eating until you’re 80% full. Over time, the less you eat, the smaller your stomach capacity will be, the less you will WANT to eat. Your body will know the equilibrium, and you can always have a snack later if you get hungry again (banana’s are one of my favorite snacks)
and by sugar i mean processed sugars found in candy, etc. not the natural ones you get in a piece of fruit.
Sorry just need to clarify… this is just a description of what I did, not really tips on what YOU should do, but you CAN do this if you want! I should have not used the word “tips” but people have been asking me how I did it… and hey, whether it’s correct or incorrect - this is how I did it!
Also, regarding the steak dinner, that is just for that one meal! Not saying that we should eat steaks 3x a day with no carbs or veggies all the time, but just for that 1 dinner — mainly cuz its fast and pretty healthy.
Everyone is different–whatever works for you in weight loss, stick to it, but don’t assume what works for someone else will also work for you. Other than the basic axiom of fewer calories + more exercise = weight loss.
I’m a runner, and I have a lot of female friends who are runners, so there are plenty of us out there. I find weight lifting boring (and I can’t do it because of a health condition) unless my husband is doing it. Then I find it fascinating and incredibly hot. Seriously–watching my husband lift over 400 lbs drives me crazy. And it gives him a big testosterone rush, too. 
To be completely honest, I used to be obese. And I hated it. I was chunky but athletic in my younger years, then put on a lot of weight. I decided to lose it by changing my diet. I didn’t eat any diet foods other than Diet Coke, which doesn’t count, for me. I learned a good bit about nutrition, so I knew how many calories, approx, I was getting a day. In the past, I had short-term success with low-fat diets, but I always put the weight back on, with extra. So this time I cut back on fat but made sure I ate enough to keep hunger at bay, and I tried to eat good fats. I lost about 125lbs over 2.5 years, and I’ve kept most of it off–I gained about 20lbs this year, but I have a health issue that makes eating difficult and forced me to cut back on my running. I’m getting back to where I was, now. Unfortunately, I wasn’t my thinnest for my wedding, but I know I looked damn good.
My basic advice: first, don’t follow a diet, this is your opportunity to learn how to eat for the rest of your life. Learn about nutrition: find out the calorie, fat, vitamin, and antioxidant content of foods. Some foods that I thought weren’t much nutrition-wise are antioxidant storehouses, like corn on the cob and fresh watermelon (full of lycopene.) Second, find exercise that you enjoy and you will be willing to continue. If you can cycle two days a week and do aerobics another two, that’s great. Or maybe you love tennis, or running, like me. There’s no better time to start than right now. Good luck!
Agree with you on the weights suggestion…like most of the other comments, disagree with the food advice.
My trainer always tells me that you have to eat to lose weight. BUT this does not mean you should go out and eat junk food. You should make every calorie count. Also, careful on the steaks - you want to have a healthy heart too. Eat lots of fiber and protein to help you feel full faster and longer.
Good job, Pencils! That was a major acheivement, losing that much weight.
I’ve been up and down with weight my whole life; healthy eating habits with plenty of cardio AND all-over weight training was the trick for me. And yes, lunges and squats work your quads, your largest muscle group - fast results in that area.
Luckily, my FI loves my bodonkadunk and overall curves. Can’t keep his hands off them!
Personally, I love running. I find training for marathons and eating as much healthy food as I can tolerate in a 24 hour period works wonders! Although it’s really hard sometimes balancing marathon training, a professional job, and wedding planning I am happy that I know with the wedding being 3 weeks after my fall marathon that I’ll look pretty good
Plus running is insanely good for destressing. It’s like meditation. Can’t wait to get out there in about an hour, actually! I need some of that right about now!
I never could workout just to look good and I honestly don’t know anyone who can maintain a hard core workout regime just to be skinny. The people who exercise to get stronger and healthier or to compete athletically are much happier exercising for the long term. I don’t want to just look good for my wedding–I want to be a boomin’ granny!
If you’re looking for a break from wedding blogs, feel free to check out my running blog: notpeppery.blogspot.com
I used to be depressed about the way I looked back in HS and I wasn’t even considered overweight. Going to college really helped me, actually, my bf (now fiance!) really got me into exercising and now we both rock climb and train for half marathons. He never told me that I needed to lose weight, but helped me feel better about myself and taught me how to take control of my body.
I used to keep a food journal, but that just stressed me out too much. Luckily I’ve been cooking my own meals and have recently started experimenting with different ingredients to make so called comfort foods more healthy (my latest achievement was with mac n chese!).
I’ve never felt more healthy in my entire life
Ok, I love you Miss Caramel…you’re adorable and fun, and I love your posts!
But please stop saying that a “slab of rib eye” is “pretty healthy.” A 3 oz rib eye steak has 250 calories and 18 grams of fat. And I’m betting that the average “slab” that folks eat when it comes to steak isn’t kept to a 3 oz portion. If someone cooks up a 6 oz rib eye at home and consumes the entire thing, that’s 500 calories and *36* grams of fat! YIKES!
Yes, there’s a good amount of protein in there, and yes, every once in a while, red meat is an acceptable option, especially when kept to a controlled portion. But for heaven’s sake, eating half the amount of fat that the average woman should have in one day at one meal? That’s not healthy by any stretch.
Just for comparison sake, a person can get something called an “angus burger” from Burger King and eat the whole thing for only 520 calories and 22 grams of fat. So, yeah. Would you consider that healthy? Or is it because it has a bun on it that it would be considered “unhealthy” in that case?
Miss Caramel, thanks for sharing all your working out tips with us! Mr. Chickadee and I are also enacting Project Sexy to whip ourselves into shape for the wedding. We figured this would be the best motivation to start making some great habits that will, hopefully, last a long time! I tend to be the cardio kind of girl…I wish I could get myself motivated to lift weights, especially as I really don’t need to lose weight as much as get nice toned arms and abs and whatnot. Good luck with all your work out goals in the final stretch to your wedding!
diet - tons of water, tea, black coffee, skim and soy milk. lots of protein foods - very lean cut of meats (pork, beef, chicken and fish) and tempeh prepared very simple with salt/pepper/fresh herbs, vegetarian chilli, thick and hearty veggie based soups with no cream or dairy, steamed/sauteed veggie dishes, dried fruits and nuts, whole wheat breads and cereal, brown rice and Irish steel cut oatmeal. snack on these items all throughout the day, don’t starve yourself but don’t eat until you’re full either.
exercise - cardio, stretching, pilates, weight training in moderation. but the biggest factor is to stay active and move, even if it’s just moderately fast walking for an hour or two everyday.
Some of my family did the Master Cleanse, but not to lose weight. Though they did lose some. They did it to cleanse their body of the bad, icky stuff. Afterwards, they felt more energized and healthier. I would suggest the cleanse for those who want to clean out their system, but not as a form of diet.
And thanks for the tips. I’m so not motivated to exercise, but maybe some of your ideas will help me ease to some sort of routine.
It seems to me that instead of fasting on lemon juice and cayenne pepper, it might be a better idea to eat more fiber and whole foods on a daily basis.
There’s no “quick fix” for weight loss and health. Eating a red meat only diet is certainly a short-term fix and causes bigger problems down the line.
Staying fit and healthy involves regular exercise (however you can make that happen) and eating sensibly. There’s really no way around it.
i rowed lightweight crew for awhile in college and it mostly taught me what not to do. i lost 17% of my body weight in less than six months and gained all of it back and then some less than a year later. i find a lot of discussions on how to lose weight disturbing because i remember the stupid things my teammates and i used to do. i also remember the last time i weighed in and sitting down afterward and eating an entire bag of pepperidge farm cookies in like 15 min.
since college i’ve mostly focused on eating reasonably healthy and working out. i’m trying to step up the working out (including weights, which definitely helps for me) to shape up for the wedding but i’m not trying to change my diet. i’m especially not weighing myself. your weight fluctuates so much based on how much water you drank, when you last peed and things like that. i try to measure my “progress” based on how my clothes fit and how i feel… i think looking at my weight can be demoralizing.
i agree w/ people above about being hungry being a bad thing. however, i think one of the distinctions i’ve worked on learning is between being hungry and wanting to eat. sometimes i just feel like eating when i’m not hungry. particularly before bed… most nutritionists will tell you not to eat before bed… not to be hungry, but to not eat for a few hours before you plan to sleep. losing weight by being hungry… generally doesn’t keep the weight off. actually, in general, extremes of any sort are hard to keep up.
i also second the exercise in front of the tv idea. i go to a gym with tvs, i read while on the machines and i bring an ipod. between those three i can usually distract myself enough to not notice how much i hate working out.
Mmmm, me love steak! You can add some grilled corn on the cob to that and im there. One thing I do is make salads exciting…or at least try. Put dried cranberries or goat cheese or almonds or something different in there.. i love a grilled chicken salad with cut up mango and balsamic vin dressing. very yummy and pretty good for you. I also hate cardio, i cannot for the life of me do the treadmill. i dont get how people do that. im EXHAUSTD and feel like death after like 4minutes on that thing… My God! I do light weights and I swim,and i love tennis. i prefer doing activities rather than the gym. i hate the gym. i agree with you that working out at home makes it easier, at least for me. im overweight and at the gym, i feel like a science project with all the skinnies and muscle guys starting at me…and not in agood way.
Your posts are so fun! Since there are so many ideas and methods here, maybe I can squeeze in my comment which I posted earlier on the “non wedding related” board… Has anyone ever worked out at Curves? I am inconsistent with working out … I wish I loved to run, but I just can’t stand it 
So, there’s a Curves right in my office building - any insight or advice? Thanks!
Lifting weights is important to add to your exercise routine if you can because you are gaining muscle, which will help you to burn greater amounts of calories when you do other types of activities. But remember to work out both the agonist and the antagonist muscles (eg. the triceps with the biceps or the hamstrings with the quads) and ALWAYS stretch before exercising.
And you don’t always have to run to get a good workout. My mom has lost a lot of weight and all she has done excercise wise is join curves and walk more. Just get a pedometer and see how many more steps you can take each day, thats a very manageable goal.
Counting calories is really important. http://www.mypyramid.gov is a great website for doing that. If you find you are consuming a lot of calories and really not eating a lot of food try to avoid empty calorie foods like candy and chips and stick with fruits, veggies, and whole grains (cheerios are whole grain, honey nut cheerios are actually a great snack, they really do have a good amount of fiber and not too much fat or sugar). My advice would be to read food labels and educate yourself on what the nutrient amounts mean, then choose to eat low calorie, high-fiber foods that YOU enjoy. Losing weight shouldn’t be because of a temporary diet, it should be because of a LIFSTYLE change, something you can do forever.
[...] off, pardon my horrible dieting advice! I obviously am not an expert, and have never counted calories even though I know it’s [...]
I loved the post! I’ll try it out myself. It’s really just some good old common sense!
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Mrs. Caramel, Los Angeles
Age and Occupation: 24, Art Gallery/Museums
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Engineer
Engagement Date: January 8, 2007
Wedding Date: October 6, 2007
Venue: a beautiful church and hotel reception
About Me: I love dancing, singing, eating out, eating in, surfing on the net, and brainstorming fantastic ideas. I also love cats, coffee, and know every quote written on Sex & the City. I'm known to laugh really loud and have really crazy hand gestures while I talk. My fiance writes songs and I take pictures. What else? We're just a crazy young couple in love, trying to make a fabulous wedding!
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