Controversial but Desperate
Hi everyone,

Now, trust me, I am a believer in sensible weight loss plans, whether you are counting calories or limiting your carbohydrates and I also agree that rapid weight loss is not healthy for the body.......

..........however..........

............let's put sensibility aside for just a moment and talk about desperation here. To make a long story short, I am a maid of honor in a wedding at the end of this month, have had my dress altered, and have found that I STILL need to lose 20 pounds to fit into it. Again, I have never been one to take radical approaches to losing weight, but I consider this a special circumstance. I need to lose 20 pounds and I need to do it within a month. I thought briefly about fasting all month and drinking about 800 calories' worth of protein shakes, kind of like the Optifast plan. Has anyone ever tried anything like this for a month? Anyone have any tales of things you've done to rapidly peel off some pounds before a big event?

Thanks for your help,
Jennifer

... I just finished reading the book "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand (in case you guys didn't know, I'm a BIG horse fan). If you want to check out some REALLY DRASTIC quick weight-loss regimens, there's a whole chapter about what jockeys were doing in the first part of the 20th century to lose weight...actually many jocks probably still do a lot of the same things to stay at a riding weight.

I can tell from the tone of your note that you are totally desparate, but if you lose 20 pounds in a month (depending on your current weight/fitness level) you can very well end up in the hospital. And doing an Optifast-type diet (800 calories) without medical supervision can easily backfire on you. Not only will you begin burning muscle rather than fat, but you can end up in the hospital having your gallbladder removed - and believe me that is no fun!

You might want to look into Body for Life - check our thread going on in the "Diet Plans" section...just please do NOT try going the 800-calorie a day route without medical supervision!!! Take care.

Jennifer,

I can totally relate to what you are saying. Just recently I was in my sister in law's wedding and my dress didn't fit either. I got it let out and everything and it was still too tight. I was so embarresed. When I saw the pictures I just cried! I wanted to apologize to my sister in law b/c I felt I ruined her wedding pictures. I was in the same despiration as you were. The Monday after the wedding I joined LA Weight Loss. Now I am not sitting here and telling you to join, but it was the only thing that helped me. Perhaps if you just try and cut down the carbs that would help. I only have two starches a day. I am super sensitive to carbs and since I have cut back I have lost 10 pounds in 5 weeks. I could have lost more but I cheated. Maybe not focus on the 20 pounds. Just think that every pound you lose, you will look better in the dress. SO if you only lose 5 pounds, thats okay b/c you will be 5 pounds lighter. Just tell yourself for this month you are going to drink lots of water and cut down your carbs. Try eating a lot of veggies and fruits. I guarentee you will lose if you cut back the carbs. Do you currently follow a diet plan? Good luck and if you need to chat let me know!
Marcie

Have you considered upping your exercise and workouts instead of dropping the calories so much? That might be something that could help.

You will definitely throw your body into starvation mode and mess up your metabolism. This is totally unhealthy and DANGEROUS. People that did Optifast were under constant medical supervision. I don't think you could lose 20 pounds in one month unless you are at least 100 pounds overweight. Look at it this way, you need to cut 3,500 calories, or do exercise to expend this many, to lose one pound. Get the dress let out. Believe me, they are used to doing this. You'll feel really bad if you end up fainting as you go down the aisle!

i just wanna say that you can do a shake thing safely in 2 ways. by drinking 3-4 shakes a day for 2 weeks only! or, you can do the same 3-4 a day, plus a small meal for unlimited time.

Check out the Slimdown threads and ask about the Larry North Sizedown. It's a week long program that is VERY VERY VERY strict but not as strict as something like a liquid diet and is much healthier and shows good results if you adhere to it strictly. I tried to do it once and didn't get past day 3. But if you are desperate, it might do the trick.

jennym,

i use shkes, but i cant fast. i wanted to let you know that i am starting a shake cycle for 11 days starting o saturday&if you wanna join me, we can support each other. [email protected]

Dear KD80,

What is your shake cycle? I'm curious!

Jennifer

The first week I was on Weight Watchers, I lost 10 lbs and never gained it back. I pretty much ate within my points, but the biggest difference was that I drank a TON o' water (cutting out all caffeine and sodas-even diet) and excercized.

I would highly recommend trying the same before doing anything drastic like Optifast. Try it for a week and see what the results are. Obviously, you should cut back on fats, carbs and calories......but really, really increase your water intake, cut out sodas and caffeine (which dehydrate you and make you retain water) and excerize.

I lost 10 lbs week one, 5 lbs week two, 3 lbs week three.

Granted, not everyone has the same results, but I'll bet doing the same will be a lot healthier AND you'll see better results!

Good luck!

Cheers,
Taunia

Thank you for your reply Taunia. I used to go to Weight Watchers and I think it does work very well. You had some tremendous losses there! If I may ask, what were you typically eating each day and how many points did you average on a daily basis?

THANKS!
Jennifer

Hi Jennifer,

Well, let me first say that pre-WW, I was eating:

Breakfast: bacon, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich from Dunkin Donuts

Lunch: typically a sandwich - roast beef, chicken salad, etc. or chinese food

Dinner- always the worst: pizza, fried foods, etc.

I went on WW, starting at 30-35 points.

My new menu became:

Breakfast: banana (2), light english muffin (1) with peanut butter (2) and a low-fat yogurt (2). Total points: 7 points

Lunch: Still a sandwich! Light White bread, 2 slices (1) 6 pieces of roasted chicken or turkey breast (Fat Free Butterball packaged- it's really good!) (1-for 6 slices!), Mustard (0), lettuce (0), tomato (0), slice of Kraft Fat free cheese (1) - total= 3 pts

34 Fat Free Pringles: 2 pts
Salad w/fat free dressing OR a piece of fruit - 2 pts

Snack: Usually a 1-3 pt snack: a few strips of red licorice, chex mix, a peanut butter Kudos bar
(this is where I allow myself to have something "sweet), chewy granola bar, etc.

Dinner: I allow myself the most points here because I LOVE dinner. Sometimes I'll just have a smart one and bank points for a weekend meal, sometimes I make my dinner. Some include:

1.5 cups sushi rice (sushi rice with rice vinegar and sesame seeds) (6)
Some sort of asian chicken dish with veggies. Usually equals 6-8 points.

The thing to remember is - I NEVER drank anything but water. Lots and lots of water!!! I drank it at every meal, as soon as I woke up in the morning, at my desk while on the computer, in my car, everywhere.

I could get away with eating a big meal at night because I always excercized right after.

Hope this helps!!

-Taunia

Another method suggested by body builders for losing water precontest is nothing but tuna and water for 3 days before. It is said that you can lose up to 15 lbs of water weight before the contest and look "cut". Eat only tuna (waterpacked) and drink gallons of water. They say to push water, vitamins and have at least a cup of green tea (a natural diruretic) each day. You don't want to dehydrate so you need at least a gallon of water and don't do this for more than 3 days.

Dear Susan,

Thanks for the water weight tip of tuna and water! I will definitely try that for maybe a day or two before the wedding (I am a maid of honor). My cat LOVES tuna and I know he'll be going insane (as much as I love him, I'll let him indulge).

Taunia,

Are you still going to W.W? Your food plan sounds healthy and definitely realistic! I mean, you're eating REAL food! About 6 or 7 years ago, I lost about 50 pounds doing the W.W. Fat and Fiber program. Sadly, I gained my weight back plus some due to the atypical college-eating syndrome (late night pizzas, studying snacking, etc). I have been to W.W. about 6 times over the past year and I always end up getting off-plan due to my twisted relationship with food. It seemed that I ate for every reason OTHER than being hungry - I ate out of boredom, stress, celebration, and also because it just plain tasted GOOD. For me, the more I ate, the bigger I got, the bigger I got, the more I stopped doing things that brought me fulfillment in life....I mean, who wants to go out in public at all when they feel fat, dumpy, in ill-fitting clothes....as an overweight person, the only thing that brought me comfort and fun was eating at home..it became a recreation for me. I am currently 227.5 pounds and 5'4". I've been wanting to go back to W.W. but I'm too embarrassed..I know the receptionists are probably saying, "<sigh> Here she comes AGAIN."

Anyhow, you have truly inspired me. I know it won't be an easy road, but this is what I HAVE to do. If I were to wait around for when I 100% FELT like eating right and exercising, I'd be overweight all my life! The funny thing is, is that I somehow know if I were trimmer, I wouldn't need to seek comfort in food the way I do now, because there wouldn't be this pain/embarrassment/shame about my self-image to be drowned in food. I am going to limit my calories to about 1400 per day and walk daily. Oh, and yes, I will drink water til I float!!

Thanks a bunch!
Jennifer

jennifer,

im going to start switching on&off berween the neg.cal. diet&shakes. thats what i mean by cycle... usually for 7-12 days at a time. as i said before, im starting a shake cycle tomorrow morning if you want to join me.