Weight loss?

abramlett79

My wedding is in April, but I am waiting until Jan/early Feb to start dress shopping. I am trying to lose weight (40 lbs!) before then. Has anyone tried to lose before their wedding? Were any of you successful?I've gained almost 50 since I started working where I work now. The worst part is that they buy cookies, candies, and other sweets for our breakroom. Ugh, it's sooooo depressing. I've already tried weight watchers and they basically wanted me to starve myself with the point/calorie limit they assigned me.Any suggestions (or encouragement!) would be helpful :-)

aggiekrys

I am also getting married in April, and want to lose about 50 pounds! I lost 160 pounds after I had the lap band done, but had all my fill taken out at one point, because I thought I could do it myself, and gained back about 60 pounds. SO, here I am! But I LOVE Weight Watchers. I do really really well during the week. Its the weekends  that kill me. Im dress shopping August 24th, but still plan to lose the weight and have my dress taken in when needed. You can do it!!!

mrunner2009

I lost 70 pounds, and have gained back about 20. Its been about 4 years. When I lost and was losing weight, I did three things: ate well, did cardio, and did weights. The combination of all three was the only way I lost weight. I had a "cheat day" plan. All week I ate salad, grilled meat, veggies, etc. Any thing healthy. I ate out almost every meal too. Im not a cooker. Just order grilled chicken and veggies, or at a mexican place get fajitas but dont eat cheese, tortillas, chips, etc. Just eat the grilled meat and veggies with salsa. I ate salad (no cheese or croutons) with honey mustard on the side. Then, on Saturday I ate whatever I wanted. And man - I pigged out! I would plan my whole day around eating. Gradually, my cheat days got less and less extreme. The healthier your body is, the less crap food it can handle. One cheat day I had a chicken fried steak and threw up! Cardio, I started with walking 10 mins on the treadmill, and added a little bit every day. Something like .1 of a mile. Then, I switched to the elliptical. Once I could do 45min on the elliptical, I started running. I started with one mile and added .1 every day, and still did the rest of the time on the elliptical. Eventually I got to where I only ran. Weights, I did a plan that was 2-3 times a week. I used supersets. I "tested" every few weeks to measure my progress, and then added weight accordingly. As soon as I did all three of those things, the weight melted off. Sometimes up to 5 pounds a week!

aggiekrys

MRunner, I agree. I do something kinda like that too. Im SUPER strict during the week, and then on one day in the weekend I do a "free" day. I do cardio at least 5 times a week, and strength training 2-3. It helps!

abramlett79

Thanks girls! I think I've really gotta kick myself in the butt to start exercising (and FI's butt too!). My mom and I are going to walk tonight, if we don't melt.The eating part is hard for me since I am not much of a veggie person. PPL tell me ALL the time that I'm the only girl they know who will not eat salad!FI has an elliptical that we bought a year ago! He's used it maybe twice and I've never used it!

Zurita1123

Post baby-weight came off with cardio and interval training. I'd start off NOW slow, with going walking, and moving your way up to the bike, or stairmaster, and go from there.

deenov7

I'm doing the South Beach diet. I hate the protein diets, but i waited until the last min. to lose the weight. I also bought the WII Fit stuff and it has helped me shed the pounds.  Now, i don't really eat meat, so i use protein burgers in place of it. I hate it because i eat the same thing every day, but i've lost 15 pounds in 3 weeks. I took out the nuts and some other stuff it allows me to eat. I only did that because i wanted to shed pounds quicker...it worked.  Since you have more time, do the South Beach exactly as the book states and exercise each day---atleast 30 mins of cardio. I also cheat 1 meal a week, even though you're not suppose to. Don't cheat at all the 1st 2 weeks and the 10 pounds fall off. After 2 weeks, the diet is a lot easier. You can do it. Keep your head up and don't kick yourself for cheating once a week.

kathzach

The timing of your post made me laugh.  I've been stressing all day because I read a post this morning about how long in advance you should have your dress ordered.  My wedding is in May and I wasn't planning on dress shopping until at least December. But from what I've been reading you should allow at least 5 months for the dress to come in and to have the alterations done.  So I only have between now and December to lose the weight I want, which is around 40-50 pds.  Ugh!!I've already started eating healthy and working out more.  I'm doing a step class Mon&Wed and a boot camp Tues&Thurs.  And now I just came across the Shaun T Insanity DVDs and was thinking about trying those.  Has anyone tried them?

veronabrit

I worked out a lot before our wedding to tone up and have more energy.  The WW system is pretty accurate, according to what I have heard. I think that maybe you need to work on portion control.  You look at it as "starving yourself" but in reality, your body is probably just used to over-eating because your portions were not what they should be, which is why you feel that sense of hunger even after you've eaten.My advice:1. prepare all of your lunches and healthy snacks in advance and bring them to work with you to avoid snacking on all of the unhealthy stuff they have2. work out at least 3-4 days a week3.  when you eat, drink lots of water while you eat, so it fills you up, and you feel fuller, faster4. drink lots of hot green tea, i swear it works wonders for your metabolism, i swear by it, and drink at least 3-5 cups a day.

abramlett79

kath, I plan on going thru David's Bridal for my dress and I don't think they have to order, do they? Since they have a large quantity of stock, they have most sizes available unlike bridal boutiques where you try a sample dress and then they have to order it. I'm still waiting til probably mid to late January to try dresses. When I tried weight watchers, I drank 100 oz of water EVERY day, I ate 3 meals and had 2 small snacks a day and I didn't eat after 7pm. After 3 weeks of following their points system to a T, I felt awful. I was irritable and super moody because I was hungry. I thought after a week or 2 I'd get used to it, but it didn't work. AND I ended up gaining 4lbs.I've taken myself off birth control pills in the hopes that maybe that is causing me to not lose weight. I started gaining A LOT after I started taking it.Anyway, thank you girls so much for all the input. I'll let you guys know how it all works out in the end :-)

laffytaffyam08

Hi, I am in the same boat! Wedding in June, but the first fitting is in December. I started WW just yesterday, so I don't know yet if it will work for me. The point system so far has been good for me. I've always been a bargain shopper, so the systems works well in my head. For the same 5 points I can either have 1 scoop of ice cream, or I can have a chicken breast with all of the veggies I want. The latter fills up my stomach a whole lot more. But, if I need the ice cream (mentally), then I can have it. I am just sacrificing a full stomach. Like I said, it is still new and exciting....I'll let you know after ten days when I normally give up!

PrimoBride

I loved WW and lost 20 lbs when I was on it. But I lost the momentum somewhere and gained it all back. I thought I could do it without the meetings and quit to save money but apparently I can't. They are opening a new WW meeting place near me inside my gym so I am going to join once that is up and running again.

erin0709

omg, mrunner, I would never have guessed you are the end-result of losing 70 pounds!  That's just great!  (and I couldn't imagine you another 20 pounds lighter, that would be TOO skinny!). Anyhow, I had gained the freshman 30 (yes, double the normal 15 pounds) from eating too much fast-food and not working out during college.  But I lost over 30 pounds after a horrible break-up and the key was just stayiing focused on a routine.  One thing that helped me personally, I put the fattest/ugliest picture of myself on the freezer, so when I went to grab a snack I would think twice about it.  Also, tried not to eat after 8pm, and if I had to I would make sure it was healthy like carrot sticks or a salad. Always order your "sauce on the side" if you must eat out, and ask for your food to be dry if they can do it (no oil or butter).  Cut down on red meats and add more seafood - it's proven to boost your metabolism!  The hardest thing for me is to cut out the sodas, but that really does help as well.  It's just empty calories and the carbonation makes you bloated, even the diet soda.  Food journals & workout journals also helped me stay focused and give me a chance to monitor the progress.  Good luck to all those looking to lose weight, it is such a tough thing to do for women, but especially after the past two biggest loser winners, it has been shown that with enough drive & consistency with the diet, you can still achieve big results!