Weddingbee Blog

I wonder if I should try Kanye’s Workout Plan.

I’ve been fairly active my whole life, but I go through some periods that are better than others. When I was 13, I started joining my parents at the gym. Just like them, I did a half hour of cardio and a half hour of weights. Ah, if only I’d kept that up.

I continued visiting the gym throughout high school, but when I got to college, I very quickly learned that the Freshman 15 was not a myth. I was too busy partying and eating pizza for every meal to exercise, and before I knew it, I was the heaviest I’d ever been.

The summer after my freshman year, I went on WeightWatchers, and I’ve been on ever since. I’m not naturally overweight or anything, but I have the appetite of a linebacker. I’m not kidding. Challenge me to an eating contest. I will win. I could eat all day long—I can’t remember ever being full for more than 10 minutes. I love eating and food more than anything else in the world (except maybe animals), and now that I’m not a teenager anymore, it can get me into trouble.

Hello, lover.

Because I’m such a pig and because I get really, REALLY mean and miserable when I’m hungry, dieting alone has never been very successful for me. So, when it’s time to buckle down, I work out. I suck at sports, but I generally like generic gym-type activities and group fitness classes. That is, once I’m in the middle of doing them. I hate getting up early or getting my ass in gear after work. I just want to sit and eat! It takes a lot of motivation to get me going.

Once we started planning the wedding, I had a burst of motivation. I was keeping up with WeightWatchers, doing 30 Day Shred three or four times a week and running on the treadmill almost every other day. By the time our engagement photos rolled around, I was feeling pretty good.

Raw Photo Design

I wasn’t in the best shape of my life or anything, but I had my body under control, and that made me feel good. Unfortunately, once our engagement photos were done, I let myself take just a little, itty-bitty break from dieting and exercise. That break ended up lasting six months. WHOOPS!

Now, somehow, I’m almost back to my Freshman 15 weight. That is not good. My body doesn’t respond as quickly to diet and exercise as it did when I was 18, and now, I have much less free time to spend at the gym. It’s going to be a slow process getting myself back to where I need to be for the wedding. See, I ordered my dress before our engagement photos…when I was a solid 10 pounds lighter. I think I can probably still squeeze into my dress, but it won’t be pretty. And I’m running out of time! I’ve got a plan—I just really hope it works.

Step One: Stick to WeightWatchers, FOR REAL. As some of you may know, WeightWatchers recently switched to a new points system. Carbs and protein are now counted, and calories aren’t. I don’t know what was behind the decision to do this, and I’m sure they have great reasons, but I don’t like it. The old WeightWatchers worked for me. The new system doesn’t. I’ve been sticking to it since after New Year’s, and I haven’t lost a single pound. But I think I’ve found a way to help. Which brings us to …

Step Two: Kick my workout routine into overdrive. A few weeks ago, I got an email with a LivingSocial deal for one month of fitness classes at a local gym for $20. I bought it right away, and since then, I’ve been taking group fitness classes at least three times a week. Now don’t get me wrong, I love 30 Day Shred, but nothing beats a serious hour-long class at the gym. I’m still not losing weight, but I can see a difference in my body, and my new scale says my body fat percentage is going down. Woohoo!

I loved Miss Hippo’s workout calendar idea, and immediately made one for myself. Unfortunately, my Scotch tape is missing (I THINK it’s with my table number stuff, but I’m not sure), so instead of being taped to the refrigerator, my poor calendar has been sitting on the kitchen counter getting covered in food.

I’m not doing anywhere near as well as Miss Hippo, but I’m working on it! You like the oil splatters and tomato sauce in the corner? I’m so classy. I don’t know why I tried writing down what I did if I wasn’t going to use a consistent notation system. In case you’re wondering, “cardio” probably means I went on the treadmill and elliptical at the gym, “class” means I took a class (duh—in this case, it was an hour-long “high-intensity interval-training workout”), “bodycombat” and “combat” both refer to a martial-arts style Les Mills class, “spark” is the same interval-training class, and “30 D.S.” is 30 Day Shred. Good job, me.

Unfortunately, Mr. Panther’s calendar is a little more empty …

… But luckily for him, he’s a dude, and all he has to do is eat a little less Chick-Fil-A and he loses 20 pounds. I frigging hate that.

What methods are you guys using to slim down before the wedding? Anyone else take group fitness classes? What’s your favorite?