by Beks
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m in two weddings in the next 9 weeks. At the bridesmaid dress fitting for wedding number one, the store smartly ordered a size four. A few weeks later, at a fitting for wedding number two, the attendant measured me at a size two. Rather than object and say, ‘I know my body and I know it sure as hades isn’t a size two’, I said, ‘I’ll take one in every color.’
The size four dress arrived for wedding number one and it fits perfectly… which of course means…
I’m in trouble. Sure, I can get the size two dress on, but it presents the very ‘minor’ problem of the inability to breathe.
So I have two options. Lose weight OR pay a small fortune to alter the dress for wedding number two. In light of my financial situation, I thought it best to lose some weight.
I have dieted exactly one time in my life and the diet lasted 4 hours before I broke down and ate a large order of carne asada fries. And it’s not that I haven’t needed to diet. I gained 20 pounds in college and kept the weight on for three years. But… self control isn’t my strong suit.
I’ve been using the Lose It! program I recommended in an earlier post and have been carefully monitoring my caloric intake. By dinner time, I’m left with a dismal 300 calories and my debate is usually a toss up between a green salad with goat cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing or two glasses of wine. It’s not a tough guess as to which one regularly wins.
It’s been a week and all I can think about is food.
But I’m sticking with it…. at least for another four hours.
Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
It could very well be that the one shop’s four is the other shop’s two. Women’s sizes are notoriously inaccurate and not necessarily translatable from one brand to another. You might try it out before subjecting yourself to misery.
It may not work for the long run, but if you need to lose weight QUICK, I recommend South Beach. You can get the book from the library. After I cut all sugar and carbs, including wine 🙁 I lost about 8 pounds in two weeks. I was crabby, but it worked.
In the long run it helped me make a few permanent changes (plain yogurt, whole wheat pasta, etc). But if the wedding is coming up, it will help.
Also, if you can do some yoga/pilates or lift some small weights, I found that burned calories FAST – even 15 minutes per day of simple lifting (look on youtube for good form though!!).
Good luck, and darn those !@#$%^&* bridesmaid dresses! I feel your pain!
You are a size 4 and you want to lose weight? Yea… that is real healthy! I have read your blog everyday since you took this over. I am really disappointed in this post.
Salina – I think you’re missing the point. She isn’t trying to lose weight because she’s fat. She’s trying to lose weight so she can fit into a dress and avoid paying $$ to alter it. I’m sure after the second wedding she’ll go off the diet. It doesn’t matter what your size is – if the dress is too small for you it’s too small.
I think that some stores purposely order the wrong size so that you have to pay for alterations. It’s a nice revenue stream.
This probably isn’t fast enough for you, but…I joined weight watchers online and lost about 10 lbs. in 6 weeks. And it’s totally worth it because like some of the programs mentioned above, basically all you eat on it (or at least all I eat) is fresh fruit and veggies, oatmeal, and maybe some protein (tofu or seitan, I’m veg). Bread and beer are things of the past…
Nice Salina. Do you know how tall Beks is? A size 4 on a 5′ tall person could mean that person could stand to lose a few pounds and still be a healthy weight. A size 4 on a 5’10” woman is a completely different story. How about you get all the facts before you start judging!
It’s difficult to change eating habits, you just have to have a plan. Buy your food and cook, don’t take out. Try to stick to it and be consistent.
Well you have learned an important lesson when it comes to clothes. Its not the size that matters, its how it fits. Next time tell the person you are not a size 2 and be happy with the way you are.
I’m confused — have you tried on dress two and know it’s too small? How much time do you have between wedding 1 and 2 to lose the weight?
It seems like losing weight might not be a good strategy… isn’t that just going to make dress 1 too big?
I did something similar to this for a Health Project. It was difficult, but it definitely helped me better my eating habits in the long run.
Tracy – I hope so!!
Brooklynchick – Thanks for the help! And yes… those bridesmaids dresses will be the death of me!
Salina – Trust me… I can afford to lose some weight.
Jen – EXACTLY!!!
Susan – That’s what I’m thinking happened. Those alterations are sooo expensive!
Cynthia – Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Craig – That has made a huge difference. I stopped eating out and dropped a few pounds immediately.
Honey – I’ll check into it. Thanks for the suggestion.
Da Big D – Next time, I’ll speak up and avoid the stress!
Beth – Wedding 1 is in 2 weeks and wedding 2 is in 9 weeks. I won’t lose enough weight to mess up dress 1.
The GooRoo – I’m already looking into changing some bad habits. I agree, it makes me reconsider how I’ve been eating.
Good luck 🙂
I feel your pain… My bridesmaid dress just arrived today and I’m worried it’s going to be a bit too small.
We started a family competition where everyone put in $100 and whoever met their monthly goal got to keep their money and split the money of those who did not meet their goal. (we thought this healthier than winner take all) Let me tell ya, with money on the line, sticking to a 1500 calorie a day diet is MUCH easier. The first three weeks are a battle, but it gets MUCH better after that. AND you get that long-term calorie-deficient side effect where every food in the world, no matter how boring, tastes like fine French Cuisine. I’m not kidding. It’s freakish.
My snack of choice is kimchee, comes cheap in huges jars, almost zero calories but tons of flavor. And that it makes your eyes water is just a bonus.
I’m like the evil wench of double posting…
One other thing. For some people exercise heartrate is critical. If you keep it in the 120 range, you burn fat and everything’s cool. But if you ramp it up higher, you’ll eat way more later than you ever burned off. Something to note incase you are one of those people.
I am, so I find that weight training works really well, but heavy cardio makes me gain because I’m a total pig for days after.
Just a quick thought on changing food habits – try eliminating soda and sugar loaded fruit drinks! It’s mind blowing how much sugar is in those things. I switched about 10 years ago from drinking soda often to just drinking water. Now I drink soda only once in a while, and fruit juices occasionally, but I try to drink fruit juices that have no added sugar. Or if the fruit juice has added sugar, it’s just sugar – not corn syrup, fructose, maltose, etc.
I have been using Lose It! on my iPhone since March 27th – and while I am not as careful with staying under the calories – I have lost 20 pounds. This is with no exercise, just watching what I put in my mouth!
I am going to start working out – you might want to check out the T-Tapp site, as it promotes inch loss as opposed to pounds, and I find that motivates me more. Plus the intro video is only 15 minutes, and for just getting into exercise, this is about all I can take at a time. Good luck!!
Good luck Beks! I’m sure that you’ll look stunning in both dresses. 🙂