Weight/ wedding dress

Hey girl! That’s one of the positive things I’m looking at with having to postpone our wedding - I get to actually work towards my body goal for my dress! Even if you don’t have a home workout system, drinking lots of water, eating more good food when you’re hungry, going for quick walks two times a day, and YouTube offers free at home workout videos. You’ll get to where you wanna be!

My advice would be to not stress yourself over losing weight or making any huge lifestyle changes during this time. Focus on your health first - mental, emotional, social, and physical - and do not add pressure to change your body while stuck at home in this weird limbo time of pandemics and uncertainty. Do things that make you feel happy and good, that promote self-care, and embrace what your body can do. As hard as it may be, try not to dwell on your size. You still have plenty of time between now and July to meet some fitness goals. Now is the time to focus on your health and feeling better, not necessarily being the skinniest or most toned version of you.

There are a LOT of excellent YouTube videos for no-equipment, at-home workouts, so you can still establish a fitness routine without access to a gym and personal trainer. Setting a wellness routine for yourself will help you feel better about your body physically as well as release some good endorphins that will help reduce stress and may help curb the stress eating and wine drinking habit. Your routine should be something realistic and manageable. Start small. Do you tend to sit around and watch Netflix all day, or are you spending hours sitting in front of a computer? Make it a point to get up every hour and walk around your house or your yard for 10 minutes. Find a few fitness YouTubers you really like and set aside a half hour to do a YouTube workout twice a week, then build in a neighborhood walk a few other days a week. You basically need to take wherever you are and build on that. Fitness transformation is rarely a "go from doing nothing and eating fried food daily to working out for an hour six days a week and subsisting off of lean proteins and fresh vegetables" lifestyle change. It's gradual and happens over time as you build good habits starting with attainable, realistic goals and small but impactful lifestyle changes.

I feel you on this. I’m fairly positive my dress won’t fit once I’m finally able to try it on, and my wedding is supposed to be July 4th. I wanted to feel amazing on my wedding day, but so far I haven’t felt amazing about anything wedding-related.


My biggest hurdle is that I get into slumps. Like really really bad slumps where I feel fatigued and depressed and have no will to do anything. All the advice about doing home workouts from YouTube is the most aggravating to me in those moments because home workouts suck, I don’t own any equipment, and I’m not in the right headspace to work out unless I’m in the proper environment (I.e the gym).
I’m still working on figuring out a system. I wrote down daily goals and stretch goals. Daily goals: get dressed when I first wake up, drink water throughout the day, eat meals on a schedule, and only drink alcohol and eat dessert on the weekends. Stretch goals: do something that makes me sweat at least once a day. Run at least 3 miles 3x a week (I’ll bump that up to 5 miles once the weather is nicer).
I’ve found that when I get in those horrible funks going for a run - even if it’s only a mile - is usually enough to snap me out of it and re-orient myself for the day. Walks aren’t enough because they don’t get my heart racing. Now my fiancé practically forces me to run when he can tell I’m depressed. We’ve also taken up some garden projects to get us out of the house after the work day and help us to feel productive and accomplished.
This whole situation really sucks and I’m sorry that you’re having to endure it. It’s honestly a daily fight to keep your chin up, but don’t give up! I’m rooting for you!

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I'll say I run a mile every day and it's my "me time." For me running a mile and a quick shower after is about 15 minutes out of my total day, and regardless of whatever else happens, at least I know I did something good for myself every day. Running daily has helped me kind of get past/through difficult times, especially when I otherwise feel too stressed or busy to do a proper workout. It doesn't have to be a run, but carving out some time in your day to do wellness and making it a routine can be super helpful for getting through tough times. Running daily keeps my base fitness level at a certain standard too, so when I re-start a fitness routine I'm not starting from ground zero. I've run a mile every day for more than 2000 days in a row now (since Nov 2, 2014).

Working out at home is kind similar to working at home in that creating a dedicated space will make you more productive and get you in the right mindset. Home workouts aren't my favorite, but they are keeping me sane(r) during this pandemic. I have a few "go to" workouts I'll default to if I don't have the time to come up with something more creative or test out a new program that I find on YouTube or Pinterest. I'd recommend the New York Times Scientific 7-Minute Workout (full body, limited equipment, and you can do multiple rounds for more of a challenge) or the Deck of Cards workout. I've also found some YouTube videos by MadFit and Pamela Reif that have been pretty good. You can also attempt to find a virtual workout buddy, which can make the workouts more fun and help hold you accountable. I work as an athletic director at a college so have been leading virtual fitness classes from my basement or backyard for the past month. Having students or friends on my screen just to share some smiles with with has made it a LOT more enjoyable to work out from home than when I just do a workout on my own.

I feel your pain. I am also the heaviest I've ever been in my life. I think it's great to work on healthier habits in general and just trying to be more active, but I would suggest not making it a goal to loose a specific amount before trying on dresses. I feel like that is just a way to stress yourself out even further, and set the stage for beating yourself up if you don't make a specific goal. Work on small, manageable changes - no more than one or two at a time. Add more healthy habits as things stick or work for you.

When things open back up, just go and start trying dresses on with the body that you have, and look for one that makes you feel beautiful right where you are. If you lose weight by the time you're ready to have the dress altered, great! If not, you still have a dress that you feel beautiful in.

I feel this and I felt the same exact way when I went dress shopping. Instead of focusing on my weight and the fact that I’m not where I wanted to be at all, I focused on what I wanted out of my wedding gown and what looked good on my body type so even if I don’t lose the weight by the wedding day, I’ll still feel good. And girl...the dresses looked FABULOUS on even though I’m at my heaviest. I didn’t think I could look so good, so really. Try not to stress that much about it, it’s truly not worth it. Your FS is with you because they love you, not your weight.
But what I’ve been doing just to keep myself sane honestly is taking walks when it’s nice enough to do so out and just trying to do something somewhat active at least once a day. My eating habits could use work, but I’ve been trying to stick with 3 meals a day with an occasional dessert and try to keep away from mindless snacking. This time is so stressful right now though that I’m doing that stuff just to make me feel better about the situation rather than lose weight. You have to do what’s right for you, but my best piece of advice is to not stress too much about your weight and the dress because you’ll find one that’s going to make you look fabulous the way you are.

I'm trying to lose weight before dress shopping too. I'm down 29 pounds thanks to Chloe Ting's free at home no equipment workouts on YouTube. She even makes scheduled programs on her website to follow. Since quarantine, I've been counting calories, staying hydrated, having my last late night snack around 9:30-10pm and I don't eat again until 1:30-2pm the next day. I wake up, workout, do chores, and then open my eating window up. I grocery shop once a week and will not buy unhealthy snacks so I won't get tempted. I'm still meal prepping my lunches as well just to have some normalcy and control. Also not drinking anything but water, green tea, and apple cider vinegar mixed with 8oz of water in the morning. I would highly recommend checking Chloe Ting out and following a program.

Don't worry about that because you may think you want a straight dress now but walk in and fall in love with the total opposite. 2021 is a little ways away and it's hard to keep weight off for that long period of time, well it is for me anyway. Just make sure you do your research when deciding which shop to try out. Don't pick a place that only carries up to a size 6...save yourself the trouble. You have to remember your man proposed to you just how you are right now! Don't forget that part!

I feel you have alot of time to get where you want to be . I do agree with you that you can now focus on trying the goals you want to loose the weight. I agree it is hard to eat healthy during this time when it's so stressful. Good luck

I gained 30 pounds in two months due to changing medication. The good news is I’m back on my previous medication where I was able to maintain a healthy weight and I’ve lost 10 lbs in a month and a half of dieting & working out. I am hoping to lose 10-15 more lbs but that also means more alterations. $$ 🤷‍♀️