Hi,
I am new to this web site, but not new to weight loss. I've been overweight to varying degrees for most of my adult life. I'm an emotional eater with a morbidly obese mother, and a great deal of knowledge about what I
should be doing to get healthy instead of eating to satisfy emotional ups and downs.
About three years ago, I woke up one morning with an incredible amount of will-power and determination. "That's it," I said to myself. "I'm tired of being fat. I'm ready to do something about it." I immediately began a healthy, low-calorie diet of my own making (I didn't follow any particular program, but stuck to about 1300 calories/day), and began exercising 6 days/week. In 5 months (after going strong for the first 2, then slowing down due to "diet fatigue" for the next 3) I had lost about 30 pounds and was feeling great about myself. So great, in fact, that I finally "put myself out there" in the dating world, and met my now-fiance.
And that's when the weight started to pile back on. Meals with him (we both love food more than life itself) became a highlight of our days, and we didn't restrict or limit ourselves in any way. I also fell off the exercise bandwagon, as suddenly I had more fun things to be doing in my spare time...like hanging out with him.
After about 1.5 years of dating and slow, steady weight gain, we got engaged and I swore to myself that I would get back on track. I wanted to look and feel great at my wedding! But despite that, I had lost my former will-power, and somehow the wedding seemed too far in the future to be a real motivator. I kept putting off the weight loss process. Or I'd start, but then fall off the wagon 2 days later. I kept telling myself I had more time, and I kept gaining weight.
And now, I'm all out of time.
Six weeks ago we ordered my wedding dress. I stood in that store, in front of my mother and sister, and insisted upon ordering a size smaller than what fit me at the time. I swore up and down, left and right that I would simply lose 30 pounds before the wedding, which was (at that time) almost 5 months away. I could lose 30 pounds in 5 months. I knew I could. It wouldn't be fun, but I knew I could do it because I had done it before--twice. (Once was during college.) And so I ordered the dress a size too small.
And then I went home, and got stupid. I didn't start eating right. I didn't start exercising. I told myself that I really needed to....and that I would start on Monday morning. And I would actually start! But by Monday evening, I'd be craving all my old high-fat, high-calorie foods (and wine with dinner, of course). I'd indulge, and rather than start again the next day, I'd tell myself "I'll start
for real next week." I gained about 6 or 8 more pounds without really realizing it before
truly starting last week.
And then yesterday, I went to pick up my wedding dress. And when I tried it on, rather than just being one size too small for me, it was 2 sizes too small. The wedding is now in less than 3 months, and I need to lose about 4 inches off my torso before it's even remotely going to fit my body. I only have 1 month before I have to get the dress fitted and altered, so that's an additional deadline. Yes, we can let the dress out a little bit, but not much, and we need to have some sense of what size I will be come wedding day to properly alter the dress.
So this is the dilemma I've put myself in. I realize that being unhealthy about weight loss is not the long-term answer. I realize that what I
should do is eat a moderate, healthy, well-balanced diet, exercise steadily, and lose about 1-2 pounds per week over the course of a year in order to be healthy and keep the weight off. I know all that, and I know how to do it. And just as soon as the wedding is over, I
promise to do precisely that! But right now, it's crunch time. I need to loose 4 inches,
fast. And I need as much of that as possible (which isn't much, I know) to happen in the next month before we do the dress alterations. I know it's not healthy. I know it's not sustainable. It doesn't have to be sustained for more than 3 months. It just has to work so that I can get married in the really expensive dress that I love, and I've already bought and paid for.
I need help, tips, advice, anything. The ironic thing is that I know how to lose weight slowly and healthily....what I don't know is how to do it fast; how to do it the
wrong way. I am currently limiting myself to 1000 calories/day or less. That involves a lot of protein. I drink a protein/vitamin shake in the morning, accompanied by a multivitamin pill, a calcium pill, and an omega-3 pill. For lunch I usually have an Eating Right frozen meal (always includes some meat, some starches, and some veggies), which is around 300 calories and not an insane amount of sodium. For dinner, I scrounge whatever I can find in the house that satisfies my remaining day's calorie budget and keeps me full enough to not go crazy. This often involves fresh vegetables, soup, vegetarian "meat" patties, salad, or some combination of the above. Some days I drink a fiber powder mixed with water to fill me up in the afternoon. I exercise on my home elliptical 40 to 60 minutes in the morning. I stretch afterwards, and if I have time, try to do a few strength-training exercises (but I often end up skipping them...I don't know why I'm not giving that higher priority, but I probably should be).
What else can I do? What should I be doing differently? Do you have any tried and true methods to lose inches (as opposed to pounds)? I'm not so concerned with what the scale says as I am with how the dress fits. Would more strength training be better for that, or should I continue to make aerobic exercise my priority? Do you know of anything at all that would help me, even if it's not good long-term advice, just to get me through the next few months? I promise to stop any and all unhealthy behavior the very day of the wedding, and revert back to my tried and true healthy weight-loss methods!
Thanks....
Oh, also, I'm (very nearly) 32 years old, 5'6", and currently at about 227 pounds. (Down from 234 last Monday! Thank goodness for first-week-water-weight loss...it's such an ego boost!)
P.S. I'm also a very wordy writer. Sorry 'bout the novel-length post.
new and desperate: losing inches for upcoming wedding
