Suggestions for losing body fat...

MLeigh18

Here's the deal. My wedding is in May 2012. Bought my dress yesterday. it's a size 6. It fits perfect. I just can't breathe in it.

I know, I know. Everyone keeps telling me, it's supposed to be tight/ you're not supposed to breathe in your dress anyway/ beauty is pain/ just wear spanx... etc.

I get all that, I hear you trust me. and Spanx is an option. But i'm not the kind of girl to wear something uncomfortable. It's my wedding, it's supposed to be exactly what I want, right? and well, I want to eat, drink, dance and more importantly BREATHE!!

So clearly I need to lose the fat around my upper waist. The dress is A-line so it's really just the area from the bottom of my bra to my belly button. My waist is, I believe about 28". I would like to try to decrease that by like half an inch or an inch. Nothing too dramatic. Just enough so that I can breathe in my dress. Here's where you come in:

I workout 2-3 times a week at CrossFit. So I know I'm getting an excellent workout but I guess upping it to 4-5 days/week would help, obviously. However, problem is during the week i work 40+ hours, do CrossFit T/TH and sometimes Fridays. Monday/Wednesday i go straight from work to grad school until 9pm. And no i can't get up earlier than I do to go to the gym: Reason 1. because they're not open and Reason 2. I aim for 7-8 hours of sleep every night because I know that's whats going to help keep my weight off the most and keep me from being overly stressed out- - everyone knows it too so don't try to tell me to lose precious sleeping hours.

Because I work and go to class during the week, I don't have much time to dedicate to studying, so i do it on weekends. I'm a full-time grad student so when I say I study on weekends that literally means I get up at 7am Saturday and Sunday, study from 7am-12pm, take a 30 minute break to eat lunch then seriously get back to studying from 1230pm to, most of the time 9 or 10 at night. Sometimes even later. There are days that wedding priorities get in the way so I don't spend all day studying but that's a rare occasion.

I eat pretty clean. Currently doing a 21-day challenge of not purchasing any food, at all. none. went to the grocery store the day before the challenge, can only eat what is at my house. Which of course is helping me lose some weight, like a pound or two but nothing worth gloating about. So with all that being said, What's my next step?

My trainer suggested I cut out all bread sources. Ugh! I'm such a carboholic it's ridiculous. So other than heeding that advice, any other suggestions?

AlsDonkBoxSquat

Um, my dress was beautiful and comfortable. Beauty is not pain (unless we're discussing shoes). get a couple of extra workouts in. You don't need a gym to run, it's great fat burning cardio, cross fit will work on them muscles. Let your trainer know that you're adding a couple of runs a week in case they want to alter your in house work out.

Janlyn51

Please...do you hear yourself??? A size 6 and you want smaller. Shame on you. You will be gorgeous no matter if you have to suck it in a little and I mean a little. I would love to be a size 6. LOL

catwrangler

Here's the deal. My wedding is in May 2012. Bought my dress yesterday. it's a size 6. It fits perfect. I just can't breathe in it.

If you can't breathe in it then it's not perfect. Can it be altered?

Acg67

a consistent caloric deficit is all you need, and you don't have to eat "clean" or cut out bread to lose weight

Lisa1971

Great job! I'm also a 6 but soon to be in a 4! You can do it!

welloiledmachine

I'm sure you know that muscle burns fat. I would suggest lifting heavier weight to boost that metabolism and burn that fat. Not sure what type of weight lifting you are doing, but muscle takes up less room which will help fit in that dress better.
Congrats on getting married.

welloiledmachine

I don't get it. I'm a size 0 and my waist is 30.5 inches?????? I'd kill to have a 28" waist. But I wouldn't be able to find any clothes to fit.

MLeigh18

Here's the deal. My wedding is in May 2012. Bought my dress yesterday. it's a size 6. It fits perfect. I just can't breathe in it.

If you can't breathe in it then it's not perfect. Can it be altered?

Touche. and I'm sure they could alter it but I'm trying to save a little money on it.

welloiledmachine

Here's the deal. My wedding is in May 2012. Bought my dress yesterday. it's a size 6. It fits perfect. I just can't breathe in it.

If you can't breathe in it then it's not perfect. Can it be altered?

Touche. and I'm sure they could alter it but I'm trying to save a little money on it.

Is 6 your normal pants size or is it just that the dress is a 6? Not sure if wedding dresses are sized different than regular clothes.

Shanna_Inc86

You have till May...you could easily lose 2 inches from your waist by then...

I've lost an inch from doing a hybrid of P90X & Jillian Michaels in one month...

Cheap: Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30, 30 day shred, 6week 6pack, metabolism boost, or no more trouble zones
All can be found at Target & WalMart

Continue to eat healthy and maintain a calorie deficit

If you were to say your wedding was next month, I'd panic...but you have plenty of time, just stick with it

ArroganceInStep

Eat at a deficit and engage in high intensity exercises that maximize your calorie expenditure.

Basically all the un-fun stuff

MLeigh18

I'm lifting to my max right now. 115# overhead, DL #190 and back squats 175#. I'm sure i'll be lifting more and setting new PR's by May.

@Acg67 : pretty sure everyone should be eating clean all the time. I'm struggling to give my body the nutrients it needs to build muscle and maintain energy through the day and get 1400 calories/day. I've added whey protein with Almond milk to swap out some red meats so I can lower my overall fat and sodium intake and up my protein amount. Moreover, how do you propose I decrease my caloric intake while maintaining my nutrient levels for sufficient energy, function and to build muscle?

bcattoes

Zumba

I know people say you can't spot reduce and I mostly believe that , but in my lifetime I've ran, done aerobics (general, step, dance) walked, hiked, biked, used exercise bikes, stair master, treadmill, eliptical, universal gym, free weights and several other things. NOTHING has ever reduced and firmed up my core like Zumba. Like many other things, it's great aerobic exercise and a real calorie burner but the constant core movement has done more for me than anything else I've tried. And my middle is half a century old, so not the easiest thing to get in shape.

MLeigh18

Here's the deal. My wedding is in May 2012. Bought my dress yesterday. it's a size 6. It fits perfect. I just can't breathe in it.

If you can't breathe in it then it's not perfect. Can it be altered?

Touche. and I'm sure they could alter it but I'm trying to save a little money on it.

Is 6 your normal pants size or is it just that the dress is a 6? Not sure if wedding dresses are sized different than regular clothes.

the dress is a 6, typically the designer sizes are different than street sizes. Or so i hear... as for street size. hell I don't know, i guess it depends on where I get my pants. I have jeans from american eagle that are size 4, but i have a range of different size pants because it all depends on the manufacturer and the style.

Shanna_Inc86

LOL you and I could share clothes I think
I love American Eagle b/c I can wear a 4 there....however I also have size 6s and size 7s that fit the same way...damn clothing stores. Just stick with it and I think you'll be fine

Acg67

I'm lifting to my max right now. 115# overhead, DL #190 and back squats 175#. I'm sure i'll be lifting more and setting new PR's by May.

@Acg67 : pretty sure everyone should be eating clean all the time. I'm struggling to give my body the nutrients it needs to build muscle and maintain energy through the day and get 1400 calories/day. I've added whey protein with Almond milk to swap out some red meats so I can lower my overall fat and sodium intake and up my protein amount. Moreover, how do you propose I decrease my caloric intake while maintaining my nutrient levels for sufficient energy, function and to build muscle?

in terms of body composition, it doesn't really matter where you get your macros from, just that you get them. i'd say you should put an emphasis from eating mostly whole foods, but it doesn't hurt if you choose to incorporate some more junky things into your daily cals

robersonjas

I can't figure out how you had time to meet a man and have a relationship that resulted in engagement with that schedule!

Did you talk to your trainer about your specific goal? I would think more work on the rubber ball to focus on abs is all you really need. There is intense core stuff that I can't do yet because my core is just not strong enough. Assuming you have strength there to start with you can do a lot of work on core balance and strength with the ball and make a huge difference. I work out with my daughter who has a super core and got this from her trainer. She works out with me in addition to her personal training work which is beyond what I can do.

ArroganceInStep

I'm lifting to my max right now. 115# overhead, DL #190 and back squats 175#. I'm sure i'll be lifting more and setting new PR's by May.

@Acg67 : pretty sure everyone should be eating clean all the time. I'm struggling to give my body the nutrients it needs to build muscle and maintain energy through the day and get 1400 calories/day. I've added whey protein with Almond milk to swap out some red meats so I can lower my overall fat and sodium intake and up my protein amount. Moreover, how do you propose I decrease my caloric intake while maintaining my nutrient levels for sufficient energy, function and to build muscle?

You're not going to be able to build muscle if you're eating at a deficit, particularly if you've been working out for a while already (that's not to say you can't get stronger, just that your muscles won't grow larger while you're at a deficit). If you want to increase muscle mass you'll need to eat at a surplus, which will also cause you to gain some body fat as well (unfortunately the exact opposite of what you want for your dress). A lot of folks will go through bulking and cutting phases. You might want to try doing a cutting phase to fit the dress for your wedding, and then up your calories to do a bulking phase following the wedding to build muscle. If you want definition you can also look up 'shrink wrap effect' on google. It works pretty well, particularly if you're to a point where you can control your gains and losses pretty well. This is just a suggestion, take what you will from it.

H_Factor

check out the sprint interval ideas in my workout blog below. you can do those outside your residence or on campus. one of them takes as few as 10 minutes (not counting warm-ups). the others range between 20 and 30ish minutes. if you're not doing sprints during your cross fit sessions, try some sprint interval training.

other than that, I agree with the above responses that if you continue to maintain a caloric deficit, you will continue to burn body fat. of course, you can't control where you burn body fat, but you will eventually lose it in the midsection.

as for whether to eat bread or not, I have found that during weeks when I don't eat bread products, I have better results. I know this is counter intuitive to everyone who says you only need a caloric deficit...and I think that's true for several people. but, we have different body types. some folks respond better to fewer bread products. I am by no means suggesting a low carb diet. I eat carbs; I just do better if I choose more natural sources of carbs.

Good luck to you as you get ready for your wedding day.

MLeigh18

You have till May...you could easily lose 2 inches from your waist by then...

I've lost an inch from doing a hybrid of P90X & Jillian Michaels in one month...

Cheap: Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30, 30 day shred, 6week 6pack, metabolism boost, or no more trouble zones
All can be found at Target & WalMart

Continue to eat healthy and maintain a calorie deficit

If you were to say your wedding was next month, I'd panic...but you have plenty of time, just stick with it

Thanks. I've been looking to Insanity rather than P90x because my door frames won't fit the p90x pull up bar and since I'm already lifting weights i figure i should just up my cardio using body weight movements. I've been hearing things about this Jillian Michaels 30 day shred a lot. I'm starting to take interest in it. I will check Walmart next time I go for it. I think having an at home video I can do rather than going to the gym would be better for my schedule. That way I can take an extra 30 minutes for lunch on weekends, work out and then get back to studying. Don't have to worry about driving to and from the gym, taking a shower, and all the little extras that waste time. Thanks!

getfitdiva

You have till May...you could easily lose 2 inches from your waist by then...

I've lost an inch from doing a hybrid of P90X & Jillian Michaels in one month...

Cheap: Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30, 30 day shred, 6week 6pack, metabolism boost, or no more trouble zones
All can be found at Target & WalMart

Continue to eat healthy and maintain a calorie deficit

If you were to say your wedding was next month, I'd panic...but you have plenty of time, just stick with it

Thanks. I've been looking to Insanity rather than P90x because my door frames won't fit the p90x pull up bar and since I'm already lifting weights i figure i should just up my cardio using body weight movements. I've been hearing things about this Jillian Michaels 30 day shred a lot. I'm starting to take interest in it. I will check Walmart next time I go for it. I think having an at home video I can do rather than going to the gym would be better for my schedule. That way I can take an extra 30 minutes for lunch on weekends, work out and then get back to studying. Don't have to worry about driving to and from the gym, taking a shower, and all the little extras that waste time. Thanks!

You have plenty of time to get the inches off by MAY!!! Your wedding and your dress is a great motivation - just have a pic of yourself in the dress in your wallet and bring it to the gym or as a constant reminder. All of the above suggestions are great. I experienced the most inches loss doing JM 30-Day Shred w/ running 2 miles a day and Insanity. Both will get you to where you want to be. I guarantee you may even lose more than those 2 inches. By the way the shred will make your arms look incredible for your wedding! Eating clean or cutting out extras like carbs at night/drinking (if ya drink) to a minimum/fancy coffees - drinking lost of water will get you there. I managed this year to get back into my size 4 wedding dress from 10 yrs ago! I was determined coming from a size 10 almost 12.