Thank you all for the great advice! I am bound and determined to make this a healthy experience and hopefully a jumping off point for a lifelong of healthy eating.

I will definitely keep you posted on my progress!!

Cut out dairy and sodium until after the wedding. Both will bloat you.

Don't be afraid of Level 3. It's not as bad as you fear. It's mostly totally different from Level 2 rather than just building on it. Or at least that's how I find it.

Good luck!

Have you thought about having one of those wraps that guarantees to shrink inches off all over?

If you have comcast digital...you can get the 30 Day Shred on their free ON DEMAND menu under fitness!

Just a thought!

Boy, it sounds to me like it would be hard to lose a size in 12 days without doing something drastic (though I am more than happy to be wrong here!)

Do you want to enjoy your wedding day?? If that's important, it might make sense not to do anything drastic that might cause you to not be able to enjoy the day, and just have the dress let out a bit.

I totally agree with this. I would suggest looking in having the dress altered if there is time.

I agree...there is not many options except to cheat, lie , steal your way into that dress..except to let it out. It will be hard, I can't say I would NOT try all of my options if I were you.

ok, definitely lower your sodium intake. A water pill would get rid of lots of retained water. ONLY a few days before the big day. Why would you start that now? Also it might sound yucky..but a good colon pill--would probably whittle your waist as well. This will only work if you need some breathing room in the waist of the dress--probably won't help in the back.

definitely cut your carbs--I have heard of atkins inductions with losses of 10 lbs before. I don't know about inches though. lbs aren't going to do you any good really. INCHES is what you are looking for. maybe eat carbs only at dinner?

so cut your carbs, I don't think a dexatrim would hurt you a day or two before the wedding as long as you stay hydrated..and DON'T LOCK YOUR KNEES. keep them bent.

Don't eat ANYTHING that could potentially bloat you 2 days before the wedding. And I sure hope it won't be that TOM...you know AF can be though...

I don't recommend ANY of these for a healthy lifestyle. Well, the water pill is helpful during TOM and the colon cleanse is helpful once a month. But not long term.

I know my suggestions are bad..so don't yell at me. I'm just trying to help reach THAT goal of the dress.

I totally agree with what all of you are saying. I messed up and didn't watch my weight due to the stresses of planning the wedding (I was hoping the stress would have had the opposite effect, go figure) and so I didn't think I would have a problem. Well I may have to resort to letting the dress out. Either way, I'm not going to fall into the mentality that I have to fit the dress. The dress has to fit ME. That sort of thinking is what has given me problems in the first place.

I made my fiance come over and "De-carb" my cuboards." He was more than willing on taking the chips and cereal off my hands. I'm planning on doing something like Phase 1 of South Beach.

Question: One of you said that I should cut out dairy, because it bloats you. Well a big part of low carb diets is LF cheeses and yogurts, etc. Am I really supposed to only eat meat, beans, and vegatables? I need my cheese!

Drink a lot of water. Every time you feel hunger try to drink a cup or two of water. This will help curb your hunger. Also, have you tried sprinting? If you can run really quickly for say, 50-100 yards, then jog for 200 yards or do a brisk walk, then sprint again. Continue this pattern for about 3-5 miles. Start out doing it every other day and then increase to doing this routine each day. This should keep your metabolism guessing and cause irregularity which should lead to at least a more rapid weight loss than you are currently experiencing. Hope this helps :-)

You still have time to see big results, you just have to be agressive.

For the next week and a half, you need to really commit to a clean, 100% clean diet. No preservatives, processed, added sugars, packaged foods. You will have a hayday at your wedding dinner, so consider that a "cheat meal" to look forward to. Oats with protien powder for breakfast, tuna for snack, chicken/veggies/sweet potato for lunch you get the idea. 5-8 liters of water per day, and, go to the pool! Go swimming, soak in the hot tub. When you workout, sweat like crazy, and on the day of your wedding, keep your hydration up, have some non-bloat foods like raw nuts, chicken breasts, scrambled egg whites, etc.

These aren't crash diet suggestions either, just some ideas to de-bloat for the big day! You can lose big water weight, which WILL make a difference in the fit of the dress.

AKA - Get you some Spanks and some crisco and slip your way in!

A wedding dress is suppose to fit tight. Breathing is optional.

But really, don't worry about it. You've already done really well losing weight! (From what I can see on your weight ticker!)

The ultimate plan B! Photoshop. Retouch them back shots and don't worry about it! Have fun!

Congrats!

I lost the most weight, the quickest during phase I of the southbeach diet. I find when I cut out mostly carbs, I can drop at least 5 lbs in about 2 weeks.
That's what I use when I need to drop a few lbs, fast.

Do whatever will cause you the least stress. If agressive dieting is going to cause you extra stress - it's really not worth it. If you don't find that it adds to the stress then go for it. Weddings are enough to drive anyone crazy - make putting your dress on as easy as possible. You need to ENJOY your wedding.

I would enjoy this time and do what you can for the least amount of stress possible. I wish you well in losing a dress size in 12 days, but to put your mind at ease you may want to go see a seamstress to alter it a few inches. Best of luck and enjoy the day!!

At this point, altering is too late unless you know someone in the family or a friend who can do it asap. Tailors are usually fully scheduled because weddings happen year round. My dress alterations took a month, but you may get lucky.