Wedding in two months- HELP!!!

NicoleMckenzie2017

The title pretty much says it all.. haha. I have lost fifteen pounds so far in the past 2.5 months. I'm looking to really burn another 10-15 in the next 2.5 months before my wedding. Any diet/food advice that keeps you satisfied? What about workouts that you do that really helps tone? Open to any advice! Thanks in advance y'all. Keep killing it out there.

NextRightThing714

Keep counting those calories. Start lifting heavy (whatever that means for you). Congratulations! Beautiful gown!

batorkin

You look skinny/healthy to me, especially for wearing white. 10-15 pounds in only 2.5 months will likely be near impossible when you don't have much to lose. You should probably target .5 pounds/week, so I think 5-10 pounds sounds more reasonable.

I think if you aren't happy right now, you should focus more on toning than weight loss. Hit the gym and focus more on weights and resistance training.

kshama2001

If your dress fits, why make yourself crazy with an overly aggressive goal? Don't you have enough stress already?

(ps: stress can cause you to retain water.)

sardelsa

You look amazing and your dress fits wonderfully. I wouldn't start messing with anything at this point. Focus on maintaining and relaxing and getting the last minute things done.

kenyonhaff

Darling, you're beautiful and so is the dress. Trying to lose such a drastic amount in such a short time isn't a great goal.

My advice is to start here on MFP just like anyone else...log, exercise, count your calories. There's great advice out there on the boards already.

Cbean08

If you diet very strict, you can likely achieve close to that. It probably won't be very enjoyable and you'll probably feel pretty hungry though.

Set your MFP to 2 lbs loss /week, and eat whatever that amount is. It'll probably be 1200 cals. Consume all of this in food!!! Focus on eating protein and fat at every meal to help with fullness of satiety. No need to eliminate carbs if you don't want to. You could always just cut carbs the week before the wedding and see a big water weight whoosh. It's temporary weight loss though.

Personally, I enjoy doing cardio, but you don't have to do a ton of it. Instead, try doing weights and pilates. You might see a temporary water weight increase from beginning exercise but it will go away. Use a full body routine to help preserve any muscle you have. "Toning" does not exist. Instead, you cut away the fat to show the muscle underneath.

Stick with it until your wedding and then enjoy yourself. Note that there is no guarantee that losing the weight will mean it will stay off. You could easily re-gain it on your honeymoon since you'll be fairly depleted and your body might be crying out for food.

kenyonhaff

Frankly, I *never* recommend brides (and it's always the brides, never the grooms) to go on a diet just before the wedding. I'm not saying don't do it. Just between the stress and the time-suck of planning a wedding, plus what can be emotion-laden and outsized expectations of having a "perfect" appearance can lead to a disasterous dieting plan.

I don't recommend the 1200 calorie plan unless you're a petite and sedentary little old lady. I see this mistake over and over.

LKjourney

Congratulations!!!! Now, I haven't been a bride yet, but I started incorporating more fiber (and tons of water!) into my diet and going on walks 3-4 times a week and I lost almost 10 pounds pretty easily. It's called the F factor diet I listened to a podcast on it. They recommend GG crackers from Amazon that are supposed to keep you pretty full. Look it up!
You look great by the way! Have fun on your big day!!!

Rickster1967

Frequent fasted cardio (after 16 hours no calorie intake) and heavy weight training, with your calories set at 2lb per week loss and eating a little less than say 40% of your exercise calories might get you there.

I've seen your photos on your profile and you really don't need to do this, you are lovely as you are.

However if you really want to you can do it. Whether it would turn out to be a good idea is anybody's guess

TavistockToad

NicoleMckenzie2017 wrote: »

The title pretty much says it all.. haha. I have lost fifteen pounds so far in the past 2.5 months. I'm looking to really burn another 10-15 in the next 2.5 months before my wedding. Any diet/food advice that keeps you satisfied? What about workouts that you do that really helps tone? Open to any advice! Thanks in advance y'all. Keep killing it out there.

Unless the dress isn't done up in that pic, why do you need to lose weight?

Plus, you'll only want to lose till your final fitting so that your dress still fits properly.

HellYeahItsKriss

@Rickster1967 --- explain to me how an already tiny person loses 2 pounds per week without starving their body?

Rickster1967

HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »

@Rickster1967 --- explain to me how an already tiny person loses 2 pounds per week without starving their body?

Didn't say it was a good idea did I?

HellYeahItsKriss

@Rickster1967 -- Doesn't matter if you said it was a good idea or not.. The first part of your post is a "plan" to lose this weight she desires to lose, you said set yourself to 2lbs per week loss, but she won't lose 2lbs per week without starving her body, the most MFP will lower to is 1200, eating to 1200 is probably not any different then what shes eating already which isn't going to speed up her loss.. On top of that, you are recommending lots of cardio.. are you also suggesting she not eat any of those burned calories back?

Rickster1967

HellYeahItsKriss wrote: »

@Rickster1967 -- Doesn't matter if you said it was a good idea or not.. The first part of your post is a "plan" to lose this weight she desires to lose, you said set yourself to 2lbs per week loss, but she won't lose 2lbs per week without starving her body, the most MFP will lower to is 1200, eating to 1200 is probably not any different then what shes eating already which isn't going to speed up her loss.. On top of that, you are recommending lots of cardio.. are you also suggesting she not eat any of those burned calories back?

That's what the OP asked for

And I know her, she is one of my MFP friends, I've been following her quest to get in shape from the start.

HellYeahItsKriss

If she is your friend, don't you think you would want to give your friend some advice that isn't putting her health at risk?

The health of people losing weight is my main concern, you are not doing her any favors by advising her to not only eat the bare minimum of calories but also to do cardio on top of it with no recommendation to eat those calories back.

jennifer_417

Honestly, your dress fits perfectly, you look great, and the next few months are going to be stressful enough. Unless you're 100% certain that you can get your dress taken in right before the wedding, I suggest you park yourself in maintenance until after the honeymoon.

NicoleMckenzie2017

Thanks all for the responses- please no need to get into arguments on this post. I appreciate everyone's input and ideas- what works for them and what doesn't. I definitely am open to any and all opinions and suggestions! and thank you @Rickster1967 .. I know we are MFP friends on here and I appreciate you.

I definitely have seen some suggestions on here that I will look into and try! Keep em coming though.

And also, to all those who say I look great and don't need to lose weight, y'all are sweet. However I know how to dress my body and I know my angles when taking a picture(; lol as sad as that may sound. Right now I am at 5 foot 8 inches and sitting at 175 pounds, which is still considered overweight for my height. I started at 190 two months ago, so I know more loss is possible. I definitely am not trying to starve or deprive my body of nutrients- but it is crunch time and I know there are techniques and ways to tone the arms or tone the tummy in better ways than I know. So thank you everyone for reading this post and feel free to keep commenting. I am open to everything! It's great to bounce ideas off of one another. That's why we're all here, right?

cmh308

NicoleMckenzie2017 wrote: »

Thanks all for the responses- please no need to get into arguments on this post. I appreciate everyone's input and ideas- what works for them and what doesn't. I definitely am open to any and all opinions and suggestions! and thank you @Rickster1967 .. I know we are MFP friends on here and I appreciate you.

I definitely have seen some suggestions on here that I will look into and try! Keep em coming though.

And also, to all those who say I look great and don't need to lose weight, y'all are sweet. However I know how to dress my body and I know my angles when taking a picture(; lol as sad as that may sound. Right now I am at 5 foot 8 inches and sitting at 175 pounds, which is still considered overweight for my height. I started at 190 two months ago, so I know more loss is possible. I definitely am not trying to starve or deprive my body of nutrients- but it is crunch time and I know there are techniques and ways to tone the arms or tone the tummy in better ways than I know. So thank you everyone for reading this post and feel free to keep commenting. I am open to everything! It's great to bounce ideas off of one another. That's why we're all here, right?

Those techniques are called continuing to lose body fat in a sustainable manner until the muscle is able to show. There's no "spot toning" that will help if those areas are still covered in fat.

Besides, as others have said, do you really want to deal with dress altering right before your wedding? That sounds awful.

VintageFeline

Have you factored in alteration time to this? Your seamstress/dressmaker will be less than delighted if at final fitting you've lost a bunch and they have to rush alter risking the dress not being ready.

NicoleMckenzie2017

Yes- thanks for the concern guys! I already got it altered with a corset so it can be tightened up to two sizes smaller than it already is. So the dress alteration is not a problem

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TavistockToad

NicoleMckenzie2017 wrote: »

Yes- thanks for the concern guys! I already got it altered with a corset so it can be tightened up to two sizes smaller than it already is. So the dress alteration is not a problem

So aim for a more realistic rate of loss and you're good to go.

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dragon_girl26

cmh308 wrote: »

NicoleMckenzie2017 wrote: »

Thanks all for the responses- please no need to get into arguments on this post. I appreciate everyone's input and ideas- what works for them and what doesn't. I definitely am open to any and all opinions and suggestions! and thank you @Rickster1967 .. I know we are MFP friends on here and I appreciate you.

I definitely have seen some suggestions on here that I will look into and try! Keep em coming though.

And also, to all those who say I look great and don't need to lose weight, y'all are sweet. However I know how to dress my body and I know my angles when taking a picture(; lol as sad as that may sound. Right now I am at 5 foot 8 inches and sitting at 175 pounds, which is still considered overweight for my height. I started at 190 two months ago, so I know more loss is possible. I definitely am not trying to starve or deprive my body of nutrients- but it is crunch time and I know there are techniques and ways to tone the arms or tone the tummy in better ways than I know. So thank you everyone for reading this post and feel free to keep commenting. I am open to everything! It's great to bounce ideas off of one another. That's why we're all here, right?

Those techniques are called continuing to lose body fat in a sustainable manner until the muscle is able to show. There's no "spot toning" that will help if those areas are still covered in fat.

^^this

Unfortunately, "toning" or "spot reduction " as they're often described are not really a thing. Genetics determines where and when the fat will come off. The only thing you can do is keep losing. Also, as you approach a healthy weight for your height, the weight loss slows down because your calorie deficit margin shrinks.

Set your loss rate to .5 per week, and do what you can. At the end of the day, no one is going to care what you weigh when you walk down the aisle, nor is anyone going to remember. They're going to be too busy being happy for you and admiring your beautiful dress. Congratulations, by the way!

kimny72

Any woman I know who has actually been a bride in a planned wedding (with a reception and lots of guests and fanfare) have said that attempting to diet during the last month or so is an exercise in torture that no woman should put herself through. Managing to stick to a moderate exercise plan is fine as it can work as stress relief, but trying to eat at anything more than a slight deficit is asking too much. A friend successfully lost 15 lbs in the two months before her wedding, and the stress on her body (because losing weight does stress your body) combined with the stress of the approaching wedding and then the alcohol and dancing at the reception caused her to pass out before her very expensive dinner.

In general most of the people in these types of threads encouraging "going for it" to brides-to-be are usually men, or women who haven't planned a big wedding. While I haven't planned a big wedding myself, I have witnessed the stress many brides go through in that last couple of months and how it can affect their energy level and attention span for their big day. I say focus on a reasonable exercise schedule, try not to overeat (or maybe a 0.5 lb deficit), and have a wonderful wedding :drinker:

WhereIsPJSoles

I saw a really big difference in my body in 2.5 months by introducing strength training (I did pretty much what the trainer at my gym showed me to do for an upper body day and a lower body day alternating them), limiting cardio to 30 mins per session (I think this preserves my energy for the strength training portion of my workout I didn’t do before), and following the calorie deficit MFP gave me to lose 0.5 lb/week.

DebLaBounty

Have you joined a gym? Can you take a weight lifting class or consult with a personal trainer? Sounds like you've been very successful with weight loss. I guess at this point if it were me I'd aim to lose a pound a week. But I've never set a time deadline for my weight loss goals...

NicoleMckenzie2017

Thanks Deb! I have had a lot of luck with losing quickly. I do belong to a gym and usually try to go 2-3 times a week but I will definitely be upping that to 4-5 times per week.

darrenbeckworth

Can I just say that it is not only brides that are trying to lose weight for their weddings? Mine is coming up in October and I am very focused on sliming down in the interim. I was 315lbs back in 2015 and now I am 200. I took some time off in the middle. I am hoping to be in the 165ish range by October, but we'll see.

I hope your journey continues to go well and you are happy with whatever weight you are on your big day.

NicoleMckenzie2017

That's awesome @darrenbeckworth you can do it! That's a great loss. It's great that you got a head start as well. Nine months is a long time to make a drastic change too- good luck to you!