Wedding in August must get shaped up

Have you considered weight training?

Sarah, it's not your exercise habits it's your food. Age is not a factor. You don't say how old you are, but I'm 48 and just started training for my first ever competition and lost 5 lbs. in two weeks trying to maintain my weight and only tighten up the nutrition. It's possible. The reason you look bulky when you train is that you have too much fat covering what is most likely a phenomenal body underneath (predisposed to great muscle formation?).

Find yourself a good macro plan to follow then follow it. Don't discount paying someone for that plan. I too thought high protein and low carbs was the answer, but got on my current plan where they knocked my protein down by 20 grams and increased my carbs by 30! The results have been nothing short of amazing. Good luck!!!

Your diary is not public, so I can't see what you're eating, but I suggest you get tight no nutrition. Not tight as in eat a very restricted subsets of foods, but try to be consistent with your macros. Get your body composition analyzed (you could even get yourself a body composition scale for a reasonable amount of money, just make sure to check the reviews before you buy, some are really inaccurate). Eat and train consistently with your a plan of your choice for a given amount of time (say 1 month), after which you evaluate yourself again and adjust accordingly.

Some other tips are

• Don't go extra low with calories, you want to lose body fat, not muscle. Yes, you are going to lose more weight, but that weight is going to be mostly water.
• Don't go crazy with the cardio—moderation is key.
• Try to up your weights. Some women friends of mine are afraid of getting bulky, but that is just nonsense, you don't accidentally become bulky.
• Think of it more like improving your body composition instead of losing weight, it is going to benefit you in the long run (including your wedding in August)