Hi,

I have something coming up the first weekend of june and I would like to have some weight off by then.

I was going to try slim fast for the next 3 weeks but a friend of my sister lost a good amount of weight for

her wedding by having soup and salad for dinner for the 2 weeks prior. I'm also going to up my exersize

from 3 to 5 days the coming weeks. I'm hoping to drop a size by then.
I posted this on ivillage and only got one response that really didn't help.

Does anyone have any other advice then what I'm thinking of doing?

You certainly can begin to slim down by then.
How much do you weigh and how tall are you?
Do you have an outfit that's just a tad tightish

It's hard to say what would work best w/out knowing concrete figures here.

How tall are you?
What do you weigh now?
What do you want to weigh by the first of June?
How many calories do you eat at the moment?
How much and what kind of exercise do you do and what do you plan to raise it to?

Losing a size in the next 3 weeks could be completely doable and very realistic or it could be something that you might be disappointed in. Give us more info and we can help you better!

.

Thanks guys!

I'm 5'6" 192 pounds and a size 16 right now. the dress I want to wear
is a large (12-14 is what the lapel says). I was planning on using the FIRM as
my workout because it's aerobic weight training and it would save time.

and, I'm not really counting calories right now so I'm not too sure.

I hope that helps. and thanks again!

Also remember to watch your sodium intake and drink plenty of water.

Well, bottom line is that losing weight is about burning calories. Everything else is just a framework for helping you eat more or less. Exercise helps in increasing the calorie burn, but exercise alone won't do it.

I'm not entirely sure about dropping from a 16 to a 12-14 in 3 weeks. It really depends on a lot of factors. I'd say you could probably get close, if you're willing to really work at it.

By working at it, that means for the 3-ish weeks you have left, you need to very carefully control your calories, and manage your exercise.

I can only say what works for me: I'm 5'4" and 169 lbs right now and wear a 12-14 (depending on the manufacturer). For me, in order to lose consistenly and at a rate of 2 lbs a week, I have to keep my calories very strictly between 1500 and 1700 and exercise every day; 30 mins of cardio alternating with 30 mins of weights.

Even then, things like my period and seasonal allergies sometimes stall me.

.

Really? so, what you eat plays more a role then how much you workout?
Well, that explains a lot of things because I do workout but I honestly haven't
been playing attention to what I'm eating. I basiclly eat whatever I want and justitfy that I've burned the calories but I'm not losing any weight. I'm just staying the same. That's why I asked Natalie how she got into her bridal gown and she said "prosseso soup and salad for dinner" plus she did workout
with a Kathy smith step video too.

yeah ... as you can see, that just doesn't work.

What you eat plays a HUGE role in losing weight. I posted this on someone else's thread, but I'll post it again here.

Say you do 30 minutes of cardio/weights. You'll probably burn 300-500 calories (depending on your weight and the intensity). Let's say 400 as an average. Assuming you work out 5 days a week, that means you're burning 2000 calories a week in exercise.

You need to burn 3500 calories to lose 1lb.
So. With the exercise, you've burned off 60% of 1lb.

If you are not paying attention to what you're eating, then you're probably eating back those 2000 calories and more, so of course you're not going to lose weight.

The ONLY way to lose weight is to consume fewer calories than you burn. That's it. You can use whatever diet plan you want - South Beach, WW, Atkins, or plain old calorie counting (which is what I do), but ultimately all they do is provide you with a mechanism or structure for Eating Fewer Calories.

If you want to lose more weight, and lose it faster (and you shouldn't lose faster than 1-2 lbs per week, if you want to be healthy about it), then you need to combine diet and exercise. And if you're "justifying" eating anything you want ... you're not going to lose. I promise you ... it won't happen.



.

Thanks for the advice, Photochick.

I really can't see myself just having a meal replacement shake for dinner so
I'm going to go the soup and salad route for the next three week and then
re-join weight watchers. I need structure and acountiblity or I will just regain
what I lost after the event.

Sweetmel! I could have written the EXACT same post! I always justify my terrible eating habits by saying "at least I went to the gym this morning!" Of course, I continue to stay the same size and as of yesterday, I got on the scale and see that I have even GAINED three (3!) pounds!

Photochick I sooooo needed to read that post! Thanks!