Who doesn’t want to look and feel their best at their wedding?
Hey look! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s one of those things that makes so much sense and is so easy to say but isn’t easily done!
Even in the face of some serious and some trivial pressures, I’ve managed to fa la la la la fail in this area so far. Where some brides might feel like they need to lose five pounds because they’re getting married and that’s what good brides do, I need to lose closer to ten times that because I’m honestly at an unbelievably unhealthy weight. Am I dying a little inside as I share this? Yup, but seriously, catch a side profile—it’s not like it’s a secret. I guess shout out to Mr. Raccoon for sticking with me through all of the ballooning. Sorry for the bait and switch; you’re a good guy.
Awhile back I tried SlimFast. It worked! The problem was on my end—I got really tired of having chocolate shakes for so many meals. (My inner child is still in disbelief.) After going back to regular foods, I put all that I had lost right back on. This was just the first float in my parade of only momentarily successful attempts.
So this post is really just to throw it out there. I think it’s the first thing in my life that I’ve really wanted, had genuinely good intentions about, and exhausted myself over, but still had no success at or at least a suitable substitute for. Battle: to be continued at a later date.
I wish I had some great secret to success to share with all of the five to fifty pounders and beyond, but I do not. Any readers out there have a problem that they just can’t fix at the moment? You don’t have to share if you’d prefer not to; it’s just nice hearing you’re not the only one.
Im sorry for your struggle im right there with you! I have gained about 60 lbs since i met fiance(sorry hunny) BUTT!! (no this is not a promotion and I have nothing to do with the company) I have been on a diet called Ideal Protein, a friend suggested to me… its not cheap about $300 a month, but I made the budget for it and in 1 month and a half I have lost 27 pounds. The reason I think this will work and I wont put it back on is because they have a 4 step program that introduces all regular food back into your diet. It really strict and not easy. If you have any more questions about it PM me otherwise good luck if you choose to keep trying to loose!
I feel the same way. I have about 50-60lbs to lose before the date and I just can’t seem to stick with it. I’ll lose 5-10 and then see it pop back up like a never ending yo-yo. I not only want to get in shape for the wedding (mainly because I don’t want to look back on pictures like I do now and feel completely disgusted with myself) but because I am at an unhealthy weight. Thanks for sharing, it is hard to say out loud, or blog about the oh so sensitive subject of our weight but it is so much more helpful to know we’re not alone in our battle.
Slimfast is a tough one. It’s not a long lasting solution in my experience. I definitely recommend Weight Watchers Points. I had great success with it and after battling with my weight for a long time found a healthy medium about a year ago. I’ve been struggling with whether to post or not about it.
I feel you’re pain, I would be thrilled if I could lose 50-100 lbs before my wedding! I still have 9 months so its doable but its very difficult. I have been doing weight watchers and that has been a realistic plan for me to follow. The results are definitely slower than what you see with other programs, but I think it is a lifestyle I can stick with long term, not something I will get sick of a few weeks in (been on it for 2 months now and down 9 lbs). I’ve also found that putting little notes to myself are helpful- right on my monitor I have a little note that says “Track your Points, Sit up Straight, Fidget”. I have a note on the fridge that says “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” They’ll silly and little, but they give you that kick in the butt you need through out the day. I know you can meet your goal, and good luck!
Right there with ya. I get the not-so-subtle nudge from my doctors that “it would be really great if you could lose XX pounds.” Why, yes, yes it would, but there’s a difference between saying it’d be great and actually making it work (or even wanting it enough).
My biggest issue, though, really is that I don’t want it bad enough. I’m happy with my admittedly fluffy body 99% of the time, unless I’m looking at a picture of myself. And since most days I’m not in front of a camera, those few photo ops can be minefields. So, instead of changing my body, I’m going to work on changing how I react to my photographs 
Either way, I’ll feel a lot more comfortable when the wedding day arrives, whether I’ve lost the weight or just gained that last 1% of self-acceptance.
Good luck with whichever route you decide to go.
What are your “regular foods”? Many people think they should just diet to get to a goal weight and then go back to eating like they did. To be healthy and maintain a healthy weight loss you need to make a lifestyle change-where you eat well for life. Also, have you incorporated exercise? 30 minutes a day of walking/running is all you need!
problem i can’t seem to fix? i need a job. lol. right now i’d settle for just an interview. it’s ridiculous.
my experience has been that nothing beats old-fashioned calorie-counting (and properly balanced meals/eating healthy) plus cardio. it wasn’t overnight and it took serious commitment, but it worked for me. boxed diets are generally not the way to go because the weight loss is only sustainable as long as you’re on the diet.
i have so much trouble losing weight. i need to get back to this. the last time i saw the underside of 150lb was when i was keeping myself in the 1300-1400cal/day range and doing 60min of cardio 3-4x a week. it took 3 months but i lost 20 lb (had 7 more to go before meeting my goal, and never got there…*sad face*). this time i’m at the heaviest i’ve ever been (not counting when i was pregnant) and i have about 40lb to lose.
one thing that helps make any diet easier to sustain, in my experience, is to allow yourself a little cheat in a structured manner. i built in a cheat day once a week, where i let myself have 400 extra calories that could be whatever i wanted. if you don’t cut yourself a little slack, you’re more likely to throw in the towel completely, plus it keeps your metabolism from slowing in response to less…uh…input. lol.
good luck, however you decide to proceed! there are a lot of different opinions on the proper way to diet and/or get healthy, and the reality is that everyone is different and different things are going to work (or not work). the big thing is that those of us who struggle with this sort of thing find what DOES work and develop some long-term healthy habits. (i’ve heard good things about weight-watchers for this, because the point system supposedly helps you do it, but i’ve never had enough extra dough to justify joining. thinking about it now.)
I think that you stole the words right out of my mouth. I woke up this morning very emotional after having a dream of busting out of my wedding dress on the wedding day. I am a plus size gal and have been since high school but it’s always been a challenge and I only keep increasing my weight. I will lose the weight but then gain in right back plus some. My FI is the most wonderful and understanding man and he really tries to be supportive but it’s a struggle day to day. I’m in a deep battle right now with myself and my wedding planning. I don’t have the enthusiasm to plan because I’m terrified of having to try on the dresses. I want to be beautiful on the day I marry the man of my dreams but I wish I could love myself and learn to lose the weight and keep it off. I thank you for writing this blog because it made me feel that I’m not alone.
Girl, I totally feel ya on this one! Weight loss can be such a struggle emotionally and physically. I wish I would have started my journey earlier so I didn’t have to worry about it this close to the wedding. I recommend a high protein, lower carbon eating plan and a good mix of steady state and interval cardiovascular with some weight lifting thrown in there as well. I’ve been doing the high protein thing for a month and I have lost 20 lbs Its amazing how many sugars and processed foods I’ve been able to cut out of my diet and not feel like Im starving myself!
Edit: carbs not carbon lol… stupid auto correct! I type in cardio and it changes it to cardiovascular so now it looks like I think im a crazy weight loss pro or something haha
I am on the same page! I have to tell you my weight has yo-yo’d with every fad diet out there and I finally found something that work, with the magic help of an iphone app! Its called lose – it and its basically a calorie counter, it gives you a calorie budget and helps track exercise. I’ve used it for a little over a year now and it helped me lose 28 lbs and KEEP it off. I eat all “normal” foods, just helps me with portions really. Its not just that, its exercise which I NEVER used to to! I don’t do anything insane at the gym or outside – I just do it – just try to get a few random days of taking a long walk if you can! It sounds like I had a lot more to lose than you do, but this is the ONLY thing that has helped me lose weight and keep it off. I made myself wait to try on dresses until I hit my goal of losing 25 lbs and I have to tell you it was SO worth it, going in with a positive body image and seeing myself in beautiful dresses. The first day of trying on dresses, looking and feeling great with all my girl friends and mom was probably one of the best days of our engagement so far!
Don’t be too hard on yourself and know that you are not alone!
@cardus- I agree. It’s not easy but I found that making little changes over time helps. Adding tons of veggies to my pasta dinner and then cutting out the bread & parm cheese. Finding something for breakfast that fills me until lunch (toast with peanutbutter & flax worked for me), replacing chips at lunch with carrots & hummus and having my sandwich on a lower calorie bread. Baby steps & small changes that overtime make an impact.
My biggest thing was to never feel deprived b/c then I’d go off on the deep end. I still ate out, still drank but I just made an effort to make better decisions and work out more.
I totally hear ya on this one. I have been writing about a similar issue too.
I feel ya on the bait n’ switch! I am 2 sizes up from where I was when I seduced my fiance….
Though I am tempted by the shake diets (hell, even the special k commercials!), I can’t convince myself to do them. I believe in whole & unprocessed foods… and exercise. Starting the 30 Day Shred as soon as it gets to my door, and then see if I repeat that or move onto Insanity workout. When the days get longer, I bike to work (can you say, kick a** legs?!)
I’ll put my two cents in about the weight watchers plan as well. I think it’s a great program and easy to follow. I just joined online last week because I want to lose about 20 lbs in the next five month. I’m not sure I’ll get there with the WW plan because it is more of a lifestyle and they don’t want you to lose more then 1-2 lbs a week…but I’m going to try! I think it might help you to think of weight loss as a long term goal instead of something you want to do before your wedding. There’s so much room for failure if you force yourself to lose weight for a specific event. If you have a bad night or week, you’re liable to give up because you’ll feel like there’s no point in continuing. But if you give yourself a year to lose 60 lbs because it’s the right thing for you to do and you want to live a happy, healthy life with your husband…you might give yourself some room to breath.
For what it’s worth…my brother is doing a zero carb diet (for him it’s a lifestyle) and he’s lost 60 lbs in about 6 months. It’s pretty amazing and I’m so jealous of his zero body fat…but it is SERIOUSLY hard to follow. I could never do it, dispite his awesome results.
Hi, I’m sorry for your struggle. Having to monitor something that you don’t want to or find difficult can be all consuming. I know from my own battle with sugar addiction. “But every woman eats ice cream, how come I can’t have ice cream…every meal…every day?” Good luck in finding a healthy and lasting solution that works for you that you can still feel like you are living. I have some friends that use this book (http://www.amazon.com/Extra-Lean-Fat-Burning-Plan-Changes/dp/0451230167) to plan their every meal and they really enjoy it. One friend even refused to go out with me one night because she was excited about the dinner that was scheduled that night. They both look amazing, have lost lots or weight, and their skin is glowing, they also have increased energy levels. It may help you too.
I second the recommendation for the iPhone app LoseIt. Its library contains all ordinary foods that you eat every day, and you can customize it so that it keeps track of your allowed calories based on the amount of weight you want to lose per week (so if you take it slow and put yourself on a 1-pound per week pace, it allows you more calories per day, for example). It also keeps your daily intake in a weekly graph that shows how you’ve done for the week. When I used it, I noticed over the course of several weeks, that my bad days were consistent. I really just needed to stop my Thursday night half-price margarita habit.
And another thing that I LOVE about it is that it tracks other things besides calories, like protein, carb and fat proportions, fiber, iron, etc. I loved checking to see if my carb/protein/fat proportions were what I thought they should be, and I found it to be an awesome way to make sure I was getting more fiber, which aids in weight loss as well.
And finally, my number one favorite feature about LoseIt is that it tracks your calories burned during exercise (I wore a heart rate monitor several times and found that the LoseIt calorie count was almost exactly the same as the monitor), and allows you to add that to your daily calorie intake. So if you get to the end of the day and find that you only have 250 calories left for dinner, it motivates you to take a walk or run around the block to “earn” more. That way you can enjoy the fact that you had a “good” calorie day instead of going overboard, and it motivates you to exercise, which is good in all kinds of ways.
I love LoseIt, but be warned, if you’re a nut about information, research and statistics like I am, you may become obsessed with it.
P90X…my fiance lost 20 lbs in one month. It’s dieting and excercise and you get amazing results!
while i realize this is not going to be a financially feasible option for everyone, one thing that has really helped me is signing up for a personal trainer. i only meet with him once a week or so, but the biggest draw is accountability. he asks me what my goals are – with both food and exercise. he encourages me when i make progress, and understands that i am human when i make a few bad food choices. i am held accountable to show up for my sessions with him, and if i don’t, i lose money (which is also a motivation.) to lose weight and to maintain it, you must change your lifestyle. but you can’t expect yourself to change everything all at once! start with small things and work your way up. for example, things like – drink at least 64 ounces of water a day, cut back on soda, eat out only once a week, vow to walk 20 – 30 minutes a day, no daily trips to starbucks. as these things get easier and a part of your normal routine, add more things in. tell your friends and your family what your goals are so you can have a built in support system. you can do it – just keep at it. one day at a time. each meal is a new meal. each day is a new day.
If you’re super busy and don’t have time to plan out healthy meals/portions, and have the cash to spare– Jenny Craig is a good option. It’s pricey but it saves me a lot of time and energy with figuring out what I can and can’t eat. i hate counting calories and eyeballing portions so it’s working for me. Plus I’m finally starting to get a sense of what proper portion sizes are. And the best part is lots of fresh fruit and unlimited (non starchy) vegetables.
Mrs. Raccoon, Indianapolis Age and Occupation: 22, Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Graduate Student Engagement Date: Christmas 2010 Wedding Date: January 2012 Venue: Catholic Church, Chateau Thomas Winery About Me: I'm a wholesome Midwestern girl, TV series junkie, professional shower singer, and Anglophile. I love my fiance, crock pot cooking, my cat Heepo, going for the gusto, and all things wedding. Mr. Raccoon is pretty sweet, too! He’s a mad scientist that loves to travel. We met my first night on campus and have been inseparable since.
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