My body hates me. Sigh

Losing that much weight in that amount of time is highly unlikely. It can be done, but it will be really rough. I started out at around the same heigh and weight as you. It took me 3 years to finally be under 160 pounds. Even now I don't fit in a size 8.

I suggest you do your best for the next 6 months, lower your expectations and find a new dress to love.

you could have a medical condition and lots of times tests never pick them up research medical conditions and symptoms that make it hard to lose weight

Do not despair, I am sure that your body is on your side.

Once I counted calories: it was quite a waste of time. Instead, I started working out after quitting smoking and, the same way as with my quit, I reprogrammed my brain/taste to LOVE eating clean. I posted online the first of a series of videos on my ideas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th2JqVrbbnE.

Where could you start your jorney to your maid of honor goal? My take is knowledge. Have regular theory snacks and look at what actually people do/think in this amazing website and forum.

As an appetiser, you could look into what you are eating and how you are working out to figure out what is going on. For example, your body will do everything in its possibilities to hold on to its fat, if you let it do that. That is because fat is key for its functioning. Carbs are the energy that your body wants to burn before fats, and sugars are the worst type of carbs .

If you drastically reduce your food intake, ceteris paribus, you will lose a little at the begining. Then your body will try to hold on to the fat as it would go in famine mode. If you push it, over time it will try to consume your muscles instead, thus reducing your metabolism...conterproductive.

I hope this helped a little. I pass the ball to other members .

No just NONONONONO

there is so much wrong with this post I don't know where to start

famine mode ???? you have now picked your own name for the ever popular and still oh so wrong starvation mode myth?

If you consume less calories then you burn you lose weight. It doesn't work for people who underestimate their intake and/or overestimate their calorie burns, but for people who are accurate it works, no reprogramming of the brain needed

since we are throwing out links, here are some that I found helpful when I got started:
http://www.acaloriecounter.com/blog/why-am-i-not-losing-weight/
http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode

I know how you feel, but with exercise and counting calories, you WILL lose weight. I complained about being unable to lose weight for years, but being honest with myself this last month has taught me it was really just me eating too much and not exercising enough. For you, it might be a better goal to get the measurements of the dress, and aim to lose inches instead of pounds. Shows like the Biggest Loser give an unrealistic view on weightloss. It is possible to lose that much weight, but much better to make healthy lifestyle changes and lose it slow and steady. If you replace fat with muscle, the scale might not budge much, but you will definitely lose inches! At the end of the day, nobody will now WHAT you weigh, but they will see how awesome you look in your dress!

I travel for work, and always gain loads of weight from staying in hotels and having to eat out constantly for 3 months at a time. When I got home the 31st of October, I weighed in at 190 pounds, and I'm 5'3". 4 pounds fell off that first few days back, almost assuredly water weight from eating fast food and hours of driving on the 2 week roadtrip I had just completed. I started at 186, and have fought tooth and nail for the 4 pounds I lost this month. My diet still has a LONG way to go, and I go over my calorie limit a lot because I eat what I think I should, then add it after to see how many calories it has. Sure is an eyeopener sometimes. I also don't measure everything exactly, and err on the side of overestimation. I still drink beer and have sweets, probably more than I should, but I'm still losing weight. I'll take real life over 100% clean eating and unsustainable weight loss. I just increased my weight loss goal from 1 pound a week to 2 pounds a week as I add in more exercise, so we'll see how December goes! I am slowly increasing how many miles I walk each day because I have to train for a fitness test for a new career path, and trying to figure out a good lifting program to replace fat with muscle. It stinks that some people can just stop drinking soda and lose 10 pounds, etc, but moaning about it for years hasn't done me any good, and won't do you any good either.

Speaking of soda, if you haven't already, I'd recommend cutting out ALL sugary sweet beverages. You really get no benefit from drinking your calories from sodas and Gatorade, and very few people actually workout hard enough to really need to replace electrolytes with fitness drinks. You will get them from the food you eat already. If you can't live without coffee and won't drink it black, a little sugar or honey is way better than artificial sweeteners, even if they are calorie free. People will probably grumble and moan about that, talking about all the research and how it is safe blah blah blah. I don't care, they taste like cr*p after you've stopped drinking them for awhile, and I find they mess up my taste buds and make me crave salty things like potato chips.

You can do this, and you've given yourself a good long time to work on it, so start now and keep rolling! Feel free to add me if you want an understanding buddy on the journey!

Best of luck!

Rachel

It's abusive to ask you to be a maid of honor and then give you a dress that doesn't fit. No good friend would do that. It's not respectful. Who does that? You look beautiful and are perfect just the way you are. If you want to lose weight that's awesome, do it in a healthy way. Your body loves you it lets you play sport and even be the captain. I don't have great advice on how to lose weight, I am good at helping with other areas so give that. All the best.