Wedding in 5 months - help me stop self sabotaging - need friends?

leo10021

Hi Friends -

I've posted on here before, but I am getting married at the end of September, which is just about 5.5 months away. While I am not technically overweight, it would be great to use this as an occasion to be in the best shape of my life. I am 5'8" and 145 lbs, and would love to get down to 130. My dress fittings start in July.

I have really great weeks where I stick to everything 110%, no junk, stick to my calorie limit, lose 2-3 lbs of water weight, and then fall off the wagon for a few days out of frustration and hangriness until I find the motivation to get back on again.

Does anyone have any mantras or thought patterns that I can remind myself when I am about to make a bad food decision? Why do I make things harder for myself than they need to be?!?

Feel free to add me as a friend! I need some accountability partners!

janejellyroll

My best advice is to stop thinking about it as "off the wagon" or "on the wagon."

You don't need perfect days to lose weight, you just need a consistent calorie deficit. You can have the deficit while eating "junk." You don't need to stick to a bunch of arbitrary restrictions, you just need to make your foods fit into your calorie goal. Yeah, sometimes it can be harder to meet your calorie goal if you're including a lot of calorie dense foods. But once I stopped thinking I had to have "perfect days," it became a lot easier for me to figure out the foods I wanted to eat and how to make it work for me.

tgcake

If you're hungry, you may want to rethink this. What's your calorie limit?

jemhh

Why not eat at maintenance and get on a lifting program? You would be firmer and in all likelihood smaller after 5.5 months of lifting and eating well. 145 is such a good weight for 5'8". You're at a great starting point. I'm assuming you are after a "look" rather than a scale number that nobody except you will know.

Lounmoun

Is your goal set to lose more than .5 a week? If it is higher than that change it and have a smaller deficit.
Eat normally just tweak your diet here and there. Some smaller portions here, skip cheese or cream or bread sometimes, use less oil in cooking, put more vegetables on your plate. Plan meals. Cook more at home. You don't need to cut a lot of calories.

Maybe it would be more beneficial to focus on exercise rather than diet since you are at a healthy weight. Increase your steps, try more strength training, take dance lessons or something fun.

leo10021

Thanks everyone. My goal is 1500 calories. For breakfast I have been eating oatmeal with a scoop of natural peanut butter (THE REAL STUFF - with no added sugar, just peanuts and a dash of salt) - around 300 calories. Lunch will be a 600 calorie salad from Sweetgreen. Dinner will be scrambled eggs with some veggies and cheese (400-500ish calories), and a snack (fruit or RXbar) somwhere in between there.

What I mean by "falling off the wagon", sometimes my mind is just like f*** it, I'll walk to the cupcake shop if I'm bored at work in the afternoons and get a 400 calorie frosting bomb. How do I stop myself from doing this?!?

yellingkimber

Let yourself have the frosting bomb?

I budget at least 200 calories into my day for snacks like chocolate and peanut butter. Today, I went to Starbucks and had a unicorn frappuccino. The other day, I went to Dairy Queen and had a banana split blizzard. You do not have to eat clean to lose weight. You just have to eat at a calorie deficit. If you want a cupcake, have a d*mn cupcake. Just budget it into your day.

LKjourney

Willpower. And determination.
I'm preaching to myself as well when I say that though. I tend to waffle on to friends and myself about my pudgy parts and how I need to lose some weight but I'm realizing you don't lose any weight by whining and complaining (which I love to do...) so I had to identify what my weaknesses were. It looks like you have already done this, you get bored so you go get a cupcake. My weakness is mindless eating while reading or watching a program. I THINK the solution would be to plan ahead for those moments and keep a healthy snack on hand for those moments when you get peckish. I'm trying to snack on cucumbers or grapes when I'm watching my shows and if my mind wanders toward an unhealthy option I ask myself do I REALLY want it? Then I force myself to wait like an hour and if I still want it I eat it. I'm also super super honest when logging my food. Did I eat half a box of doughnuts? Log it. A whole box of Cheez-its? You guessed it! I log it. It's so disappointing to see all the wasted calories in black and white so I find myself trying to do better so I can avoid that feeling.

Congrats on the engagement btw!

DietPrada

I'm getting married 22nd of October. I am about 20lb from goal, and would like to get as close as possible but I'm not going to sweat it. I am 87lbs down from where I started and I actually look good in a dress now. I have held off on buying my dress though as I'm going to need a smaller size than I am now, and I refuse to spend a fortune on alterations. This will be my second wedding (I'm 42 - the first one was just practice), I am going to wear black, so I'm not confined by those wedding cake looking bridal dresses

amtyrell

Mini cupcakes.
Ie have the treat but in moderation

crossfitandlipstick

I'm in my best friend's wedding the first Saturday in October, and want to firm up as much as possible. Let's get after it!

EmbeeKay

I would rather eat a cupcake that I've looked forward to all week and made it fit into my plan. I budget for a pint of Halo Top on Sundays (calorically and financially because dang that stuff isn't cheap) and I look forward to it all week.

Make one day a week your Cupcake Day. Fit it into your calories. Then it won't cause the whole guilt-snowball-eating effect that happens when you blow your perfect (maybe unattainable) plans.