How did you lose weight before your wedding?

I have about 3 weeks to lose at least 15 lbs!!! I have already lost 15, and have completely plateaued. I did the hcg diet, and now I am trying it the old fashioned way, diet and exercise! This is so hard, did anyone else have to drop weight in a crunch? How did you motivate yourself, how did you do it? Ahhh, i need help!

The problem is that I bought my wedding dresses in a size smaller, and they zip miraculously, but DON"T fit well!!! I am losing my mind, any secrets and inspiration totally would be appreciated!!!

thanks ladies!!

Eeek. Stay away from the carbs and any processed food is my advice.

Have you seen the show Bulging Brides?

I know how you feel. I lost 20 lbs quickly but nothing for the six months. I've maintained what I've lost but my goal was/is still another 10 lbs. I'm not getting married until December and doubt if I'll lose another 10, but right now, I would be thrilled with losing 5 and that's what I'm shooting for now. Picked up the dress today, after having it altered and it fit fine, thank goodness. I agree, I think the carbs will keep the weight off.

At this point, you are not going to lose much in the way of fat. I can post for you what my workout regime was for a figure/bodybuilding show that I did in my last few weeks before competition but be warned it is not meant for long term and there is some dehydration involved. Just take it with a grain of salt and if it looks/feels like it is too much, just don't do it.

CARDIO: I did two 35-45 minute sessions daily for 5 days a week

WEIGHT TRAINING: I split my workouts into 5 body parts for 5 days of the week (2 days one off, then 3 days on and one off): legs, chest, back, shoulders, biceps/triceps. I did medium to high reps (8-20) for 3 - 5 sets. I did about 3-5 exercises per body part. On one of the days, I did an extra full body circuit (5 exercises, 20-25 reps, 3 sets, 30 second rest between each round OR 2 minutes cardio in between eah round)

DIET:

- NO CARBS. NO DIARY. NO FRUIT. NO EGG YOLKS. NO SALT (everything was low sodium to no sodium added)

- Basically I had 5 meals of LEAN protein and veggies (e.g. chicken breast and brocoli)

- The only carbs I had was sweet potato with 2 of my meals and 50g of oatmeal with 113 g of unsweetened applesauce with my breakfast.

- Condiments are okay (HP sauce, ketchup, mustard, etc)

- I ate every 2 - 3 hours on the clock but I also listened to my body and didn't force feed or underfeed myself.

- I drank A LOT of water until the day before the competition and then cut that to almost nothing. NO CRYSTAL LITE; it has asperteme which makes you bloated.

- I took 1-2 capsules of dandelion root with every meal for the 2 weeks prior to comp day. This acts as a diuretic so you lose water (I know this seems counter-intuitive when you are drinking more water. What is happening is that you are tricking your body into going into 'expel water mode' so when you stop drinking the body just expels the water in your body very quickly)

So that was my regiment to get as leaned out as possible so that all the muscles show. I lost about 3 lbs a week on this regime while cheating left and right, so if you stick with it, you may see even better results. However, it can feel like crap and once you start eating your body will absorb it quickly so on the day of and after the wedding be sure to pace yourself.

Okay, so in order to reach your goal of losing *at least* 15 lbs in 3 weeks you will have to burn a total of *at least* 52,500 calories. Break that down week by week and you'd have to burn 17,500 calories per week for the next 3 weeks. Not sure what your schedule looks like...if you can work out every day for the next 21 days...if you could, you would need to burn 2,500 calories each day. I hope you understand where I'm going with this. I'm not trying to bring you down but trying to help you realize how unreasonable your goal is. Healthy weight loss is 1-2 per week...so in 3 weeks you should have a goal to lose between 3 and 6 lbs.

Not sure what your build or weight is currently but there are many sites out there that offer "calorie counters" where you type in your weight & the amount of time (in minutes) you are going to do, or have done, a particular exercise/workout for and it calculates several different activities you could do for that amount of time, telling you how many calories you will likely burn.

For example, I am 120lbs & for the time I entered 30 min. since that's really all the time I've got to spare. If I would want to burn 2,500 calories in one day (like you would need to if you want to lose 15 lbs within 3 weeks) I would have to...use the stationary rowing machine at a moderate rate for 30 min, do water aerobics for 30 min, ride a stationary bike vigorously for 30 min, use the stair step machine for 30 min, lift free weights vigorously for 30 min, do step areobics at a high impact level for 30 min, run for 1 hour @ 10mph (that's running 6 min miles for an hour straight), rollerblade for 30 min, and perform general housecleaning duties for 30 min.

That is 5 hours devoted to non-stop vigorous exercising. Maybe if you don't have a job & kids that could be possible but other than that I think your weightloss goal is impossible. Sorry, I know this wasn't the kind of response you were looking for but I am just trying to give you my honest advice. Good luck with everything!

Did HCG work for you and did you stick to it completely?

I love love love HCG and loved getting on the scale every morning!!

I am starting my next round on friday! cant wait!

WOW! thank you ladies for all the great feedback! I seriously appreciate it so much!! It's a week later, and I am doing okay! Down only 3 pounds, but I am now satisfied with that. JennaLynn, I truly appreciate what you were trying to get at, and after so long I realized it on my own! I can only do so much within so little time. Goals need to be realistic. I have tried a lot of things, hcg combined with extreme low calorie diets, and am now simply sticking to lots of intense cardio each day, combined with a healthy structured diet (ehhh, with a few cheating little snacks here and there ;D ) and tons of water!!!

...also, really interesting tip about the dandelion root ssnm, I was wondering why a diuretic would help, but I will definitely take that into consideration, being a huge water drinker, I also partake my coffee with splenda, so I need to immediately nix that!!

I am happy to also report that I am trading the stress in for 2 detoxifying wraps that guarantee at least 6 inches lost before the wedding!!! I made the appointments for next week, so please cross your fingers!! even if it's temporary, i will be able to get back on track after we come home.

Also, whats the bulging brides What channel is that on, because id definitely love to watch it!!

oh, and yes mrs.2010!!! I stuck to the hcg diet for 4 full weeks. less than 2 grams of fat a day, less than 600 calories, and a gallon and a half of water, with 5 small "meals" a day! That's how I lost nearly 17 pounds the first time!! While it worked, there were drawbacks. Even though I felt pretty good drinking a lot of water, the lack of calories and fat worked against me while I was working. I'm a manager for a VERY busy retail store, and running around with that little food made me a little dizzy, even with the hcg hormone to protect. So hopefully you are able to find better results! Going off and on that diet several times, I so much prefer my healthy fats, like nuts and oils!! Plus, I felt a little too weak to even work out, so even if I lost weight, I'd still feel a little flabby!! :/ Best of luck, and don't hesitate to ask any questions, I have done it all regarding it. I did the injections, too if you were wondering! Very non pleasant at first!!

Yah I run around in a trauma 1 hospital 10 hours a day so I know what you mean about energy but it only really affected me the first week then I was perfect! And I was told more than a gallon of water is too much! And to not go over 1 gallon of water. I loved HCG. I felt really great on it! But everyone is different!

I am getting married in February. I want to lose at least 10 pounds, but 15 would be better...I have been losing inches, but nothing around my abdomen. It looks like I have a "baby bump"...lol.. Any advice on exercise that worked for that? Diet advice? I have no idea where to start....I have been this weight for probably 15 years, I never lose or gain weight.....Any help would be great...Thanks so much!!