KARLA

Quote: Originally Posted by gkashmira Karla, Your sight looks wonderful! I love your egagement story - I think it's really fun to be able to celebrate your engagement with all your friends! Sunset da Mona Lisa looks so gorgeous too! And the food looks delicious... it must be lunch time! Thanks Kashmira!

Tammy - Step away from the cupcakes Ha Ha!

Christa - I slipped and had a glass of red wine... I was doing so good, but we had a girl's get together to watch The Bachelor season premier. That show is SO funny! Last night I got about 5 minutes of cardio because I left work later than I had planned, but I did get to the weight lifting class and I HURT. My gosh, I'm out of shape! Today it's kickboxing and abs.

Great websites!! It's so exciting that Sarah and Edyta get to meet! I almost feel like I know some of you already... We have a wedding website from WeddingChannel.com. To all the girls still looking to create a website, I would recommend to pay for something that is a bit more robust. I tried to convince my FI that it would be worth the $$ to pay for something, but he ended up convincing me it was not. Since then we ran into problems with RSVPs, etc... It would have been nice to have different RSVPs for all the little things we're still planning on having, like Spa party, ATVs, etc... just a suggestion! Our wedding website is: http://roldanandbrantner.weddings.com/

Quote: Originally Posted by A10CALGAL Karla - I totally know what you mean! I have fat days where I can't stand myself. Then I have an awesome work out & I feel so much better, thereby I look better to myself in the mirror - and like you say, I'm sure I didn't lose any weight or anything. It's totally endorphin related - and so psychological. Yeah, and feeling good is what it is all about anyway. Ugh, I miss having a glass of wine at night with my FI too. But seriously, think of how many calories that is! And that's something that is easy to cut out since it's an extra.... so that's where I started. And like you say, after 30, I really had to scrutinize what I ate. I worked out just as hard as I did in my 20s and kept gaining weight. Following my FI's eating habits didn't help either. Seems like everybody, no matter what shape or size, is almost on the same boat huh?

Quote: Originally Posted by TOESNTHESND My WC said that 25% of the wedding costs have to be payed before the wedding. The rest of the total cost can be payed when we get down to Cabo. But is the rest due before your wedding or right after? We are not paying the total until we are in Cabo also, but it is due 2 days prior to the wedding. (We will be in Cabo 3 days before the wedding).

Great idea! Some days I need a little push to get myself to the gym. Maintaining weight and toning is the name of the game at this point.... only 34 more days to go! Today I plan to go and do cardio for 30 minutes (don't have time for my goal of 45 mins, but that's better than nothing) and then go to a body pump class because I really really really really don't feel like going to the gym and doing weights today. So using the class to force me!

Quote: Originally Posted by AQHARIDER TammyM, Tammy host, KarlaV, Karla, and Janet Thanks for all your comments so far. I'm sure some of what I was gaining was muscle weight, although my jeans fit about the same (maybe a little looser). I think I just get frustrated when I see the scale go up so I throw in the towel and eat a whole bag of chips! I do think the suggestion of keeping track of EVERYTHING I eat is a great one. Except for when I was doing Body for Life (and I was only allowed to eat very specific foods), I think I do so much of "just one chip" here, and "only 1/2 cookie" there that I end up eating an extra 1000 calories a day, now that I think about what I actually ate today. My problem is that I have all really skinny friends that seriously do not do very much to maintain it. They are more active than me and work out moderately, but eat worse than I do. I also just moved to a new area and started a new job, so I'm just making friends in the area. Thanks for all the suggestions so far- I think I have a lot of work to do in simply changing the way I eat and paying attention to the little things. And Karla, great advice about the scale- not weighing myself is such a novel concept! I weigh myself every single morning and I think that it is doing more harm than good. Wow all those names are starting to confuse me! ha ha Do not worry about the other girls and what they do. Comparing yourself to your friends will only drive you nuts! My suggestion is to hide that scale for a bit and just see how you feel. I don't know about anybody else, but just going to the gym regularly makes me feel thinner. I know it's psychological because I feel not so thin one day (I know crazy, bear with me here), I have a good workout and I swear I "look" better in the mirror the very next day... or sometimes that very same night! You know I'm not losing any weight in that short period of time!! But seriously, it seems like weighing yourself daily was serving as more of a discouragement. Your weight can fluctuate so much during the day, it's not fair to be so hard on yourself just because of what the scale says! Thinking back when I was really trying to lose weight... I think seeing 2 lbs less after a week of tortorous workouts would have made me chuck that thing out the window anyway!!

Quote: Originally Posted by REBECCA Hi Ladies, Sorry I've been absent for the last week. Just finished my big tradeshow...whew! Next big event....MY WEDDING..YESSSS!! Welcome Back!! I was wondering where you had been... You're still even a "Newbie" by Forum standards. ;-) You getting excited?!?

Yeah, I really do not have very high expectations regarding the DJ... which is so unfortunate since he is a chunk of my budget. We have had so much fun doing the Salsa lessons. I really hope we can at least sort of look like we know what we're doing out on the dance floor!

Quote: Originally Posted by host the girls have given you awesome tips...for me, i really had to write down what i ate because i claimed to be starving myself, but in reality, when wrote everything down i was eating dessert with EVERY meal! that is so bad. so i started keeping small snacks to help curb the munchies...obvious one: carrot sticks, fruit, yummy veggies like jicama. i also got these small dark chocolate wafers (the size of quarter) from wholefoods and would allow myself 1 in the afternoon. Tammy, you were cracking me up on the cupcake thread when you said you had cupcakes and your hubby caught you with packets in the car. It's so true though, there's all these little things that you never account for. I was guilty of the cookie dough every evening.

Sarah, Are you sure it wasn't just muscle weight? I weight about 5 lbs more now but am about 2 sizes smaller. Muscle is much heavier than fat. (I know you know all this, but you know...) Did you notice any difference in how your clothes fit when you were doing the Body for Life really strictly? I try to rarely use a scale... I seriously don't need another form of body scrutiny! I use how my clothes fit as motivation. If I slack, the first place it goes is to my tummy and you can see the ugly side fat.

Quote: Originally Posted by JENDHILL Hi Karla- Actually those look pretty identical. The $550 for the Mariachi, I've found outside of Coca. But have never really intended to use one. The $250 for a Trio is a Trio that I found on my site visit. I found them at the Marina and thought they were so fun. Coca has never used them before, and because they don't do weddings, I was able to secure them for $250. We don't know if they'll actually show up though. But we're going to try. Oh good, I was starting to get worried about the price difference. I talked to my parents yesterday and they are going to try to get that $400 down if possible. One question, are you having to pay for the full coordination fee at least 2 days before the wedding date? My parents already discussed this with Coca, but they are still a bit bothered that they have to pay before services are completed, even though this seems to be the standard with coordination. Also, the fact that they have to pay in cash or traveler's checks. Any input on this?

Quote: Originally Posted by TAMMYM I think this is very important on what Janet wrote. The reason why most people fail on diets is because they are forced to not eat the things they love, instead still eat those things as a treat for doing well. I LOVE choc. so if I work out and stick to my plan I will treat myself to something small so that I won't Crave it and go crazy one day and eat a whole cake because I missed it too much.. lol.. I agree with both Tammy and Janet. Depriving yourself just works against you. The second I think "I'm on a diet" it's the second I head for the fatty foods. I pretty much eat everything, but in moderation. It's all about lifestyle change. You start eating healthy and all of a sudden you crave fruits and veggies! Sarah, I never asked... what is "slow" results for you? Don't forget that healthy weight loss is only a couple of pounds per week.

Thank you girls for the tips! We're about to figure this all out and get our "must take pics" list together.

Sarah, I honestly do not think there's any magic way to lose weight if you do so in a healthy manner. I have one friend that followed Body for Life and it seemed like a great program. I think if you lose weight healthily, that you will be more likely to keep it off for longer. Fad diets really just do the job temporarily. My metabolism completely changed when I turned 25 (yikes... 7 years ago!) and for me to lose the 10-15lbs I tacked on, I had to change my lifestyle completely. I was very disciplined about working out and incorporating weight training AND cardio. I really don't think you can lose a substantial amount of weight wihtout doing BOTH. If I remember the Body for Life my friend did it really incorporates weight training, right? Then I changed my eating habits. A very healthy breakfast, good lunch and small dinner. One of the tricks I used was trying to have at least 5 servings of healthy fruit and veggies. You'd be surprised how difficult that is, but it helps since then you're cutting out all the fatty sides, etc that you usually have in a meal. Once I got the discipline down, it became part of my lifestyle. So now eating fast food actually hurts my stomach because I'm not used to it.... therefore I rarely have it, and working out is part of my life. Right now I'm just really watching what I eat and cutting out the alcohol. So no more wine at night and a beer here and there. Also, I'm doing TONS of cardio along with my regular weight routine. Are you sure there's not something you're sneaking into your diet? Sweets, alcohol? Are you doing cardio more than 4 times a week for longer than 30 minutes?

Quote: Originally Posted by MARIAELM Ah, a fellow spanish music lover! I forgot Ricky Martin's La Bomba! I'll probably play the MTV Unplugged version of Shakira's "Ojos Asi". I just saw her in concert over the weekend and am obsessed with everything Shakira (old stuff) again. Yes, we're having a DJ. His name is Raul from AVL systems. I'm trying to coordinate with David Flores from AVL, but he's been very unresponsive. I'm starting to get scared he won't show up for my wedding. We haven't even gone over my song list yet - so annoying! Yeah, I'm sure you're just eager to cross that off your list! The only songs I'm worried the DJ won't have is the Country songs my FI picked out. I'm sure they have all those Spanish music though! I am debating as to how much Spanish pop songs to include... I think I may add more Salsa. 8 of us are all taking weekly Salsa lessons to be able to shake it out on the dance floor. It's cute to see everybody excited about dancing Salsa at the wedding. I have the DJ Adan Mijares... I just got his name this past weekend from the coordinator. I haven't heard anything about him. I have a feeling all the DJs down there are about the same.

Quote: Originally Posted by MARIAELM Marquis Los Cabos? Good for you - It looks beautiful! Did you get a good rate? Thanks for reassuring me. I'm sure he hasn't done anything. He's a world-class procrastinator. It'll be ok though. No, I think we got the regular rate. We did get a romance package with Classic Vacations, so at least there were some perks to it. We were originally looking at honeymooning at Las Ventanas or the One & Only. Las Ventanas "cheapest" rate was $825 a night and One & Only $650 a night or something like that.... so after mulling those over for a couple of weeks, the Marquis seemed like a bargain! I just seriously could not bring myself to spend that much on a hotel... but we did think about it for a while!! We compromised and intend to splurge during the honeymoon.

Quote: Originally Posted by MARIAELM You're funny! We all mooch off each other! We ARE going to do a fancy night, probably at Mi Cocina (Casa Natalia). I'm doing a spa day with lunch at Las Ventanas with my family. I can't wait for that! We're staying in Cabo for our honeymoon. We'll be at Hilton from 10/24 - 10/29 and then move to another hotel. I'm not sure where we'll move to yet. My FI is supposed to be in charge of this, but I don't think he's done anything yet - GAH!!! What about you? Oh Spa day at Las Ventanas sounds so great!! I thought about leaving the honeymoon planning to my FI, but I would go crazy!! Sorry, not to add to your stress! I bet your FI already has something planned and is just keeping it a secret! We're going to the Marquis for our honeymoon. Can't wait!

Quote: Originally Posted by MARIAELM thanks karla! since your wedding is a week after mine, i can see why your mind isn't cooperating with you either! is all your planning under control (or on schedule)? Sometimes I think it's under control, other days I don't. I still need to decide on a couple of things and can't seem to get it together. I think all the little things are driving me crazy. I don't even have my dress yet, if it tells you anything! It's so great to hear your sister is helping you out! How's your planning going? Are you almost done?

Maria Elena, Don't be surprised if my list has many of the same Spanish songs. I was just looking through my iTunes and I have most of those. We have the same taste in Spanish music! I would add off the top of my head: La Bomba - Ricky Martin and a few Juan Luis Guerra songs. Are you having a DJ? And which Ojos Asi from Shakira are you playing? The one from the MTV Unplugged is my favorite.

How crazy am I? I keep trying to figure out ways to switch the rehearsal dinner to this place, but my fiance keeps freaking out every time I hint about it.... funny how change I create doesn't freak me out, but if something else changes... ha ha. Anyway, I love the look of this place! I think I'm just going to have to get over it

I love #51 also! I think everything in the shot just looks great. Beautiful lighting, backdrop and bride!! Also I think in this one the detail on your dress really shows without being too "posed" and you look radiant!!

SO CUTE Maria Elena! That is totally Martha Stewart. I feel your pain about your mind racing... I'm trying to figure out how to turn off my brain also.

Quote: Originally Posted by host yes, old people will think we are really dancing to a song about milksahes and they will be cool with that Okay, it took me a while to stop laughing. But you're right, my mother would totally think it was a song about milkshakes!!