Support And Accountability Group

[Wafflesmom]

Thanks @@calgarybride2015 for the encouragement ☺️

[calgarybride2015]

@@acw271011

Don't have to exercise to Join our group just for accountability even if you wanna make small changes to your diet. I've always said 'you can't out exercise a bad diet'. Nutrition is so important I think. You are always welcome to join!!!

 

Edit - that wasn't suggesting you had a diet that needed improving. Just saying exercise isn't mandatory!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited August 28, 2015 by calgarybride2015

[Wafflesmom]

@@acw271011 of course you can join! As I said at the start, health comes in both physical and mental form. I understand your physical limitations with working out but you can always set goals that doesn't have to include working out. With your busy workload, you must need some mental rest. Perhaps a goal for you would be to make sure you take at least a 30 minute health break while at work to relax your mind. It could include you reading, or even just going outside for fresh air. I know you get really bogged down with work and get stressed out....we can be here to support you get some work-life balance ☺️

[snswedding2016]

I'm taking the plunge and joining as well!

 

My name is Stephanie, I'm 30 and I'm getting married January 9 2016 at Azul Fives. This feels like one more thing to add to my crazy busy life (which feels a bit overwhelming) but now is the time and it will be worth it!   As a kid and teen I was an extremely active dancer and rhythmic gymnast and never really thought too much about my weight but things really changed in my mid-late 20s. I noticed my metabolism really slowed down, I was less active and there was more stress from my job. I've really started to gain weight in the last couple of years. Sean and I haven't been exercising as much as we'd like and we loooove food. We really wanted to get our butts into gear for the wedding and while we both feel a bit better we're really feeling the crunch time to feel healthier for the wedding. 

 

I've started to take barreworks classes with a friend and I love them. They are super intense ballet barre based workout classes that incorporates cardio, strength and balance. We haven't gone in a while though. With our busy summer schedules it's been hard finding class times when we're both available. It makes such a huge difference to have someone to go with to keep you accountable (like this group). Sean and I have also started cycling/jogging more in the last couple of weeks. We have this great trail by our house and Sean will go jogging and I will cycle. I HATE jogging, for some reason I've just never been able to get into it and so this is our compromise and this way we can go together. Sean will usually jog 9km and I'll cycle 18km. I would love to keep this up in conjunction with going to barreworks. 

 

With the wedding coming upon 4 months - life seems extremely hectic but its good and I tend to thrive in a higher pressure environment so I hope it keeps me on track for my health goals as well. On top of wedding planning and work, this week I decided to start another business on top of it all. It seems a bit insane but just like this group - I'm just jumping all in and going for it. It feels very strange that for the first time since I've joined BDW this week I was barely able to check in. 

 

Goals:

 

Health - eat healthier, lose ideally 10-15 lbs by January, exercise more (classes and cycling)

Planning - staying on top of scheduling time to plan, continuing to go through my to do list, delegate more items to wedding party!!

 

Here we go ladies!!

[dreamweddings]

Far too often on this site, I’ve seen many brides beat themselves over weight gain, lack of wedding planning or just a general lack of motivation. I’ve spoken to a few brides on here (@, @@deecol and @calgarybride2015) and have come up with the idea of starting an accountability group. Accountability has been proven to be successful in achieving any goal as it helps one keep focus and achieve the goals set forth. Most importantly, it lets you know if you’re getting off track and not staying true to your plan.

 

An accountability group is a small group of people checking in with each other, minimum once a week. Now this accountability group is for two things, to set health goals (both physical and mental) and to set wedding planning goals.

 

If you would like to join this group, you basically just need to do the following:

 

- If it’s your first goal, write a little blurb about yourself and why you would like to join. Then write an overall goal you would like to achieve. This is for the health portion, we all know what we want to achieve for our wedding planning goals LOL. For example, a first blurb goal would be to lose 10 lbs in 4 months.

- Then every Thursday of each week, “check in” by writing down steps you’ve taken in the week to achieve both your health and wedding planning goals. For example:

o Health goal: I attended two yoga sessions and have given up junk food this week

o Wedding planning goal: I booked my photographer

- If there was anything that hindered you from progress that week, feel free to use it as an avenue to vent. Perhaps you’re stressed at work, sometimes finding an outlet to vent is a good cathartic way of getting your frustrations out.

- Most importantly, be honest. We will have obstacles to our goals and that is completely fine. In the end, we are all here to support each other.

 

I hope this doesn’t sound cheesy at all. I was initially going to start a Facebook group with those who have expressed interest but I thought that this forum is actually a great venue to host this group. Everyone on her has been more than supportive of each other and that’s exactly the atmosphere I’d like to foster in this group.

 

Since I’ve started the group, I’ll go first.

 

My name is Jerilee and I’m getting married on January 23, 2016 at Moon Palace. I was never the type to workout and have a love affair with food. Fried foods are my kryptonite. I’m Filipino, we fry everything LOL As I reached my 30’s, my love affair with food started affecting my waistline. I never quite noticed the weight gain until 2010 when we were all measured for bridesmaid’s dresses for my friend’s wedding. My measurements were the same as my friend who had just given birth! I was absolutely horrified. So right away, I signed up for bootcamp at this small studio near my house.

 

After a year of working out, I was still not seeing the results I wanted. I spoke to my bootcamp instructor and she told me that exercise alone won’t do anything; I also had to change my eating habits. Naïve me thought that if I workout, I could lose weight while continuing to eat junk food. She had me on a strict diet and cleanse for a few weeks and I immediately noticed a big improvement! I am now at my ideal weight for my height and have been working my butt off to maintain it. I’ve already bought my dress and that has motivated me to continue on my path to health, I will be honest in that although I try to eat healthy, I still can’t get over my love affair with food. I do have the occasional cheat days and don’t deprive myself.

 

So here are my health goals:

 

I would like to maintain my current weight but tone up in a few places, including my stomach. I would like to try to eat more vegetables and fruits and make sure that I don’t skip any meals.

@@Wafflesmom kuddos to you and the other lady on starting this thread.  This is something similar to what I have been doing with some of the ladies from this forum who contacted me privately.   A lot of them didnt need my services as a full time wedding planner nor coordinator. But they needed full support/advice, someone listening, holding them accountable, keeping you on track. talking all weddings things.  health, relationship with the fiance during the planning , coordinator at the hotel , engagement mode , actual planning, Vent or friends/family.  over whelming and the list goes on.  

 

Other people dont feel comfortable in talking in public.  

keep on sharing your wins/goals you might just change someone else day.

 

 

Happy Planning and Sharing

Joyce

[deecol]

@@snswedding2016 Barre classes are amazing!!!

 

I used to work for a company called Heartcore when I lived in the UK and they had XtendBarre.  It was killer!  An amazing toning exercise!  

[yycbride2016]

@@snswedding2016 You and Sean are already making great steps towards hitting those goals. Thats so great that you guys are doing it together. My FI hates when I want to workout with him. I think my high energy annoys him when he's in the zone lifting weights haha (I don't blame him, i'm a little insane in the gym). The only fitness we do together is running. We ran our first half marathon this summer and he was injured for the last few KM and I told him we went all that way together I wasn't going to cross the finish line without him. I'm so glad we did it together. I think there's a sense of bringing you closer together when you do those types of things together. Even if it's that half hour that you get to catch up on each others day!  I've never tried a Barre class but I see them advertised everywhere. Good for you for sticking with something you're passionate about! Keep it up! 

[Janjin]

I want to join! I know I’m a day late but here it goes.

 

My name is Daisy and will be getting married on November 20, 2015 at Azul Sensatori.  

 

I just turned 34 last week.  I was not active at all as a kid or in high school.  I didn't do sports or anything but I was able to stay skinny even while working at Mcdonalds in high school (can we say free food ALL the time!!)  All of that changed in college where I started to gain weight but I never really thought about.  In my twenties, I always "wanted" to lose weight but I never really anything about it.  

 

About 5 years ago, I started meeting my friend to run.  And man I was so out of shape!  I couldn't run for more than a minute before having stop.  He was amazing and did a run/walk program with me and after months I was able to run a mile straight for the first time in my life!  I was running here and there but my eating never changed.  So my body didn’t really change – as everyone else said you can’t out exercise/run a bad diet.  The turning point came 3.5 years ago, when my velrco ski pants didn’t fit anymore and I had to go buy new ones last minute.  Mortified that velcro pants didn’t fit I signed up for Weight Watchers.  Over the next 6 months I lost 30 pounds and have kept it off give or take 5-10 pounds till now. 

 

I’ve also upped my running game.  Last year I ran my first 2 half marathons and I can currently training for my first MARATHON!!  I’ll be running the NYC Marathon on November 1^st. 

 

Similar to others, I don’t have an exact weight loss number in mind.

 

Long term goals (now till Wedding day):

-        Finish marathon on November 1^st healthy and happy

-        Feel confident in my bathing suit for bachelorette party

-        Feel confident in both my bathing suit and wedding dress wedding week

 

Short term goals (1 week):

-        Cross train at least 3 times (I tend to just run and have gotten injured in the past because of this)

-        Do not eat every meal out this weekend (we are horrible and tend to have breakfast, lunch and dinner out on the weekends)

-        Limit “I deserve this because I just ran X miles” treats to 2

 

Think this accountability thread is really going to help all of us!!  

[yycbride2016]

@@Janjin You are awesome! Your story is very similar to mine with running (except I've been running since I was a teenager). But i also just ran my first 1/2 marathon 2 weeks ago, and I hear you on the importance of cross training. I was out of exercise for 2 weeks because i didn't strengthen my knees enough for that duration of running. Lesson learnt! 

 

I think your goals are great and really realistic! You are really inspirational to me. To go from not being able to run 1 minute to running a full marathon is absolutely amazing! Keep up the amazing work and keep us posted on your progress!

[Janjin]

Thanks @@yycbride2016!!  That means a lot.  I still get shocked sometimes on how far I've come - especially right now as I'm planning out where I'm going to run my 13 miles tomorrow morning haha