Wedding Forum - Official Weight Loss Thread - hints and...

Well after a long up hill struggle my weight loss is finally making an appearance lol.... have lost 15lb since last April! I know its a slow loss but thats what i wanted and also because i havent been trying religiously!!
Joined the gym in December which is really starting to help, personal best of 10k yesterday on a mixture of machines and then lots of arm and leg weights!! Have until 25th April til my last dress fitting so only another 8ish weeks to go!! Ideally would like to lose another half a stone in this time if possible!!..... IT IS POSSIBLE haha....good luck to everyone else wanting to achieve weight loss xx

Thanks Amanda :) trust me its been a losing battle all year :( didnt think anything was happening until recently! We'll all get there lol and you have plenty of time :) x

Hello All, I hope you are all well and congratulations to everyone who has lost weight for their wedding.
I hope you don't mind me offering some tips..

I have done A LOT of research into the ****** diet/lifestyle. It basically involves cutting out all refined and processed foods, including but not limited to.. all grains - breads, pastas, cereals, cakes, oats, pastries; processed food like microwave meals, pre-made pasta sauces (not including passata and tinned tomatoes) all sugary drinks, cereal bars - basically anything that has come from a factory.

I know that sounds fairly nuts, but believe me it is easier than you would think. I cook everything from scratch and batch cook a lot to freeze so there is plenty to 'grab and go'.

You may think you need these foods in your diet for carbohydrates, but fruit and veg is a much healthy source of carbohydrates which will keep you fuller for longer, stop cravings and also balance hormones and energy levels. All carbohydrates are broken down into sugar when digested, whether that is a biscuit, fruit smoothie, bread, pasta, musli, veg etc. the difference being that fruit and veg do not cause a huge spike in blood sugar and the hormone insulin. When blood sugar spikes, insulin is released to lower the blood sugar. These peaks and drops in blood sugar lead to fatigue, and fatigue leads to our brains craving a quick energy fix (sugar). So if you struggle with a sweet tooth/cravings, your best bet is to eliminate sugar unless it has come from fruit and veg, and the craving will decrease. Granted the first few days will be hard work, cravings, headaches, tired.. however, once you come through the other side you will have lots of energy balanced throughout the day, weight will drop off - especially around the stomach area - your skin and hair will be clearer and it can also be the cure to many many other ailments and illnesses.

How it helps you lose weight - if you stick to low GI carbs (fruit and veg) and cut out processed sugar you will give your body the chance to burn stored fat. Even if you exercise regularly, our bodies preferred source of energy is sugar, because it is quick and easy to burn, so if you constantly have over 100-150 grams of carbs (sugar) a day you will never give your body a chance to start burning fat. If you eat more sugar than you burn every day, that excess sugar is converted into adipose tissue (fat).

Healthy fats are also essential if you want to lose weight - butter, lard, olive oil, avocados, nuts and seeds. Avoiding fat by using low cal oils, spreads and sprays will prevent you losing weight and will make you deficient in (at least) vitamins A, D, E and K as they are all fat soluble vitamins (can only be absorbed in the presence of healthy fats)

every meal should consist of - Females - 1 portion of protein the size of your fist, 2 fist fulls of fruit or veg and a portion of healthy fats the size of your thumb. Males need to double these measurements.

When doing anything to lose weight ensure you measure yourself (arms - at widest point, chest - just under bra, waist - at narrowest point, hips - at widest point, bum - - at widest point, thighs - - at widest point) and take pictures of yourself. The scales can be deceiving, especially if you are exercising as muscle is more dense than fat, and can be really de-motivating so try to avoid scales and go by measurements, pictures and how your clothes fit.
Scales show weight loss/gain, the rest will show fat loss.

Please research yourself by typing in ***** to google or reply to this post if you have specific questions.
it isn't a diet product, it is just eating real food, the way our grandparents ate, the way nature intended

two side notes - some fruit is higher in sugar than others, berries are your best bet
- if checking a label, divide the grams of sugar by 4.2 - this will tell you how many teaspoons of sugar there are.
e.g 500ml bottle of Ribena - 11.9 TEASPOONS OF SUGAR PER BOTTLE! :O

Wow naomi great post x

Well done, I agree with the measuring thing as sometimes not weight movement is still an improvement. I have 22 weeks to loose 3st approx and need to find that motivation the measurements are helping

Still trying to stay strong on diet and exercise! Doing the 20minute workouts which are great for me! Husband to be supposed to be dieting with me but keeps giving into temptation. Need abit more support! !

My diet was a bit off at the weekend again, had some events on but it's been good since Sunday and exercise has been okay a couple of 45 minute sessions on the crosstrainer. next week should hopefully be spot on, as long as I can get through the weekend ;)

Wow lots of posts since I was last on here - someone asked about doing crunches on a medicine ball and just wanted to say that is a great way of doing crunches. I also use mine to do tricep dips, pikes, planks and glute bridges. Have also managed a few press ups with my tip toes balancing on top of the ball but my balance wasn't quite good enough to stay up there for long. At the end of a workout I also love to kneel up on top of the ball to test my core stability and to also strengthen it at the same time... definitely not reay to try standing on top of it yet though.

I've lost four kilos, largely through a 1400 calorie diet, cycling to work and back, and toning (more recently Pilates). I'm happy with my weight now, but my waist measurement doesn't seem to be changing much. I've still got flab on my stomach and upper arms that I want to lose. Any thoughts? I don't have a huge amount of time to spend on exercises, only about 15 minutes or so a day.

Really chuffed tonight...2lb loss and got my 3 stone award at slimming world :-) x

Wow, Showgirl! Thanks so much for the in depth response- so great to hear from somebody who has real experience in this field.

I realise that it's got to be a real lifestyle change- I think that I'm really ready for it, now. I just hope that I can find someone who will be the right fit to help ease me into the changes.

I'm looking into my options, and think I may have found something that suits my budget and my schedule. I don't want to get too excited yet, though- I'll come back and share with all of you once I get going.

This is scary and exciting, but so necessary!

Lost 1 or 2lb this week... can't remember what I weighed last week but I'm down into the next stone bracket :D

Joining slimming world next week, I need the motivation, just not sure what to expect

Measured myself just now and have lost another half an inch. Taking my total lost to 7 inches.
I am surprised that I lost any to be honest as had a bit of a shocker of a week.

Congrats everyone who's been keeping up the weightloss! This week's been a tough one for me, as I've had flu, and all I seem to want to do when I'm stuffy and sick is eat comfort food. Trying to stick to a low cal chicken broth, so let's hope I don't pack it all back on.

I've stayed the same this week, but I possibly went over a bit at the weekend. Next weekend is a hen do (not mine) so that's not going to be good, but hopefully during the weeks either side I can limit the damage. When we chose our food for the Italian I tried to choose things that didn't look too bad, but that's without pudding and there will be drinks.

You girls are all so good. I've been rubbish at this cannot stay motivated (too stressed and overworked etc) that I really couldn't feel like going for an run! So I've given up caring... And now with only 2.5 weeks to go, it won't make a massive difference anyway xx

That's like me keira, I haven't lost any weight what so ever for the past few months, but I have noticed that I have dropped a dress size. I haven't been to the gym or anything but I have changed my diet. Im also confused on how that would work, but im not complaining, at least im getting slimmer some how haha

Haven't been as strict recently but have been told a number of times by different people that I look like I have lost a bit of weight so that's good enough for me at the mo along with the fact that my Wedding dress still fits fine after my second fitting so not going to be as strict with myself for the time being.

Well done mrs wade 2 b x

Ladies! I think I've found the solution to all my dieting and health woes! I've been trying to hunt down a PT that will suit my lazy bones lifestyle, and a friend suggested a gym in London to me. I was poking around on their website, and I found that they have a chef there who cooks amazing healthy meals, which they deliver directly to your door, TWICE a DAY! For a FIVER!

The menu looks to good to be true- maple and walnut glazed chicken and asparagus cous cous, grilled salmon with honey and basil sauce... I'm drooling on myself.

Anyways, I'm going to look into signing up- this would be SO MUCH easier and tastier than trying to think of healthy meals every night and ending up eating the same old wilted veggies and grilled chicken. Probably cheaper, too.

I'll post a link to the menu here, so you can drool along with me:

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Nice to no that im not alone in loosing weight, Im currently trying juice plus atm and healthy eating and ive managed to loose 7lbs in 2 weeks. im going to try to swap to slim fast and give that ago, has anyone else tried slimming shakes? x

Right girls help please.. Dress fitting last week... Bit of back fat. How do I get rid of that in 2 weeks!? Xx

I have just joined a bootcamp by me. We meet 3 times a week and I can safely say its so much better than the gym! I find it so much harder but I love it! I have a target to tone up in 6 weeks but I cant loose weight as ive had my final fitting! ! I would be happy if I lost 8lb too but well see! I just had to share with you lovely ladies!!

I tend to use an app for calorie counting and counting the exercise done - I have lost 3lb this week!! am so happy hope it continues x