Miss Coconut, Tallahassee
Age and Occupation: 27, Soon-to-be Lawyer (once I pass the bar!)
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, phD Computer Science
Engagement Date: March 2007
Wedding Date: November 2008
Blogging Since: May 20, 2008
Venue: 1930s Historic Building in Lakeland, FL
About Me: I never thought about weddings until I got engaged. Now, I can't stop thinking about them! Planning the wedding has really opened the floodgates to my DIY side. If there's anything I can do to avoid hiring someone else, I will do it! Mr. Coconut is my financial advisor, he tries to keep me budget-conscious! We've tried to make wedding planning a team effort!
I Can’t Find Sugar-Free Pina Coladas!
June 13th, 2008 @ 8:26 am by Miss Coconut
If you recall my dress post, I have a tiny problem with the snugness of my dress. So, what’s Miss Coconut gonna do about that?! Well, I’m certainly not going to go on South Beach or some other diet, no way jose. I’m going to do it the ol’ fashioned way.
Let me take you back through the life of Miss Coconut. Throughout high school, I was a cheerleader (stop laughing) and was pretty active every day. I wasn’t skinny by any means, but I wasn’t really overweight either. Then in undergrad at Michigan, I was living on my own, eating out a lot, and for about four months it was REALLY COLD. Needless to say, I didn’t go to the gym much and I ended up gaining a considerable amount of weight. (*I wish I had pictures to inspire you, but I didn’t like taking pictures back then!)
I took about two years off before going to law school and decided to get a grown up job working at a law firm. There, I met someone who forever changed my life. Her name was Jennifer and she was the most amazing friend I could have ever hoped for. She was older and married with a child so she taught me a lot of about maturity in relationships. But the most important thing she taught me was a love for health and fitness. On our lunch breaks, we would go downstairs to the gym and work out five days a week. She taught me the importance of weight training, cardio and healthy eating!
Then, I went to law school where I gained a little weight because of all the studying, but the gym always stuck with me. Today, I’m an avid spinner, kickboxer and weight trainer. However, I also eat what I want. So, back to my dilemma. I’ve started to up my workouts and really start to pay attention to my eating.
A day in the life of Miss Coconut:
8:15 am - Wake up!
8:35 am - Eat 1/4 cup of Bare Naked Granola with Plain Soy Milk
9:00 - 1:00 pm - Attend Bar Class (Try not to fall asleep)
11:00 am - Eat cottage cheese and fruit (kiwi or apple)
1:00 pm - Eat tuna salad or chicken salad OR Spa Lean Cuisine (depends on time)
**I usually bring some extra tuna/chicken salad with me to eat an hour before my work-outs!
2:00 - 5:30 pm - Study at Coffee Shop
5:45 - 6:45 pm - Kickboxing Class on Tuesdays & Thursdays
6:00 - 7:00 pm - Spinning Class on Mondays & Wednesdays
Dinner - Chicken burgers / Spinach & Chicken / or Brown rice with steamed veggies and chicken. (Point: Eating lots of veggies and chicken, with moderate amounts of healthy carbs!)
Dessert - 1/2 cup Sugar-Free Orange Sorbet
**Also, none of the food I eat has more than 6 grams of sugar per serving. If you’re buying Lean Cuisines (they can help you out in a serious time crunch), I always check the sugar content. If you eliminate sugar from your diet, you will eliminate your cravings!
On Fridays, I go the gym and either run on the treadmill or elliptical and do a little weight training. I’ve also been playing tennis after my kickboxing class on Tuesday and play a little golf on the weekend.
I’ve been on the regimen for about two weeks now and I can already notice a difference! My goal is to lose about 15 pounds before November 1st baby!!!! I’ll keep ya’ll updated 
Anyone else on a plan to become a HOT BRIDE?!
20 Responses to “I Can’t Find Sugar-Free Pina Coladas!”
Oh man I wish I had your dedication. I can get myself to eat healthy, it’s the working out part that I’m failing at. By the time I get home, I’ve somehow talked myself out of the gym.
Holy crap, just reading that made me tired. I’m terrible; I don’t exercise and I don’t diet. All I try to do is eat small portions, lots of fruit, and no fizzy drinks, alcohol or tea/coffee (no hardship for me as I don’t LIKE any of those!) Can’t stop with the chocolate, though. Well done you! I’m full of admiration and envy for people who can keep to a fitness/health regime.
Is it true about the sugar? Less than 6grams, eh? Then no more cravings?!?!? REALLY!?!? What a great idea. I am going to try it now. I would love to lose even 5 lbs, but I’m hope for more like 15!!
i started going to the gym, but i refuse to change my diet for my wedding. I eat resonably healthy anyway, and I refuse to give up the occasional fries or guac — i don’t want to be a grumpy bride!
i’m also trying to focus on making this about life changes and not wedding changes… it sounds stupid, but if in my mind i think “i want to be in the best shape possible for babies, trips to the beach with my husband, etc” then i feel like i won’t stop going as soon as the thrill of the wedding passes.
I’ve lost weight for the wedding. I gained about 10 lbs last year due to too much Mexican food and had gained about 5 before that, so I really wasn’t where I needed to be health wise and had crept into the “overweight” category on the weight charts. At the beginning of this year I bought a a treadmill and faithfully used it everyday until, according to my orthopedic surgeon, it gave me an Achilles tendon injury. Now I can hardly exercise at all. But, I did lose 13 lbs. by watching my diet. Yay! I’m not starving myself, I still eat Mexican, just not as often. Most importantly to me, my face thinned out and I won’t regret looking back at my wedding photos for the next 60 years thinking, why didn’t I just lose that weight before the wedding? And, I can wear most of my old clothes again!
Is there a brand of sugar-free sorbet you’d recommend? I love sherbet when it’s super hot out, but there is a lot of sugar in the stuff.
i am doing a 10 week intensive program at this amazing boxing/kickboxing gym, club ko. i lift to exhaustion once a week on the weight machines and take 2-3 boxing/kickboxing classes a week. i had my 5 week weigh in and i lost 2.2% body fat and maintained my weight. i’m super psyched and know i’ll make it to my 5% body fat loss goal.
Wow! Kudos to you for living such an active and healthy lifestyle. I’m sure you will reach your goal if you keep it up. Good luck!
P.S. I love Bare Naked Granola. 
I’ve been doing Weight Watchers for a while now so I was, thankfully, already on the right track when we got engaged. (I’ve lost 20lbs so far.) Now with the wedding three months away my sister and I have started aquafit and will be doing a boot camp in July. I want to look as good as I can for the wedding and not be self-conscious on our honeymoon cruise.
me too! i’m aiming to lose 15 lbs by October….my wedding is November 1st. unfortunately. 10 of the lbs i want to lose were gained after i ordered my wedding dress!
being a michigan alum myself, i know how that 4 months of cold, bitter winter can mess with your workout [though oddly, never affected my desire to trek out to stucci’s for ice cream. funny]. when were you at michigan? we may have been there at the same time
I’m studying for the bar right now and trying to be a “hot bride” too! My wedding is August 22 (3 weeks after the bar). Luckily I mentally prepared myself for lack of time by starting to get super healthy during my last year of law school. I now mostly eat fruits and veggies during the day, and have a lean protein and veggies for dinner. Recently, I’ve been getting to the gym only about 3 times a week (combined weights and cardio)…since I’m trying to keep up with the Barbri program and hope to keep that up until the bar. I want to lose about 5 more pounds and tone up a little more…I’ve already lost 8 since January!
What a great schedule and program!
I’ve always been on the thinner side of things, my eating is pretty balanced but I joined my gym about 5 years ago to get into a healthy lifestyle.
In the beginning going to the gym was tough as I work full-time, it was hard to go to the gym after work - I would get home around 10 at night after having something to eat (I also like to eat something before working out) going to the gym and it was easy to slack off.
But now I’ve worked it out with my office to combine my coffee breaks and lunch together to get a good 1.5 hours of gym time during the work day. I highly recommend people try this if their work is open to it.
I haven’t changed my eating habits but because of my regular gym routine, now, I still weigh about the same as before, but am more lean and tone and feel much stronger.
Re: sugar - I have been known to have a fruity candy now and then but last month I challenged myself to go through the month of May without candy and did it. If you set your mind to it…..
One last thing - anyone watch Bulging Brides? It’s a Canadian show filmed in Vancouver in which Tommy (personal trainer) and Nadene (foods nutritionist) put brides who don’t fit into their dresses on a 6 week bootcamp/diet. Miss Coconut’s program reminds me of the show.
@mhb: If you have a decent blender, I HIGHLY recommend making your own fruity frozen treats. You can use fresh or frozen fruit (though watch out for added sugar in some frozen brands) and just blend with ice and water. I’ve used combos of strawberries, peaches, pears, lime, blueberries, raspberries and even fresh coconut!
Try adding watermelon or pineapple juice instead of sugar for sweetness. You can also add yogurt, if you like it (skip the pineapple and any other acidics, if you do). And, for a treat, you can always add a little RUM and have yourself a delicious daiquiri.
As far as ice cream, if you are going to eat it SKIP the low-fat and no-fat kinds. The chemicals are bad for you and they won’t satisy your craving. Have a small scoop of REAL ice cream with NO additives instead.
Hey, thanks, beanchar! I’m partly researching sugar-free stuff for a diabetic friend of mine, but I’m happy to follow advice that includes daquiris and real ice cream. 
I love BearNaked Granola, but the only kind I eat in the morning is their lower sugar fruit mix. I practice nutrition partitioning and try not to mix fat and carbs (fat slows the metabolising process - don’t need that when I eat carbs!). I stick to carbs in the morning and fats at night, and once in awhile splurge on the BearNaked Peak Protein with yogurt and strawberries.
I’m on the same bend…our wedding is 11/8 and I’m gung ho to lose 15. I’ve lost 3 already and just am watching my diet and working out. It’s a lot of stress so I pretty much get alot of fish or chicken and cook it for the week for salads and eat a frozen dinner here and there for variety.
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