Shedding for the Wedding...22.5 pounds!

Photo Courtesy: CW

I've been trying to lose weight for the past 2 years - year 1 was in preparation of getting engaged (why he took so long I have no idea), and year 2 is in preparation for my wedding.

I'm now officially 22.5 pounds lighter! 

This may not seem like much weight for 2 years, but before this point I was frustrated with my weight constantly going up & down that I wanted to try something new. I'm a normal thick girl with a mixture of toned & jiggly parts. I'm not by any means obese (just a lil' chunky), so losing 5-15 pounds a week Biggest Loser style and working out 8 hours a day wasn't going to work for me. 

My goal was to lose about 1-3 pounds a month so that it would completely stay off. And it's working! Even after having 3 Thanksgiving dinners and gorging myself at Christmas dinner with prime rib and multiple portions of red velvet cake, the weight still stayed off. Slow & steady wins the race!

So how did I do it? You already know the answer from the millions of articles already out there. But here is what worked for me.

I always ate what I wanted and thought I could just work it off. Wrong. You can't eat a burrito every day, and work out for 1 hour and expect to lose weight. 90% of weight loss is all about what you put in your mouth. 

Cutting out Processed Sugar - I try to use honey, agave nectar, maple syrup, and stevia over sugar if possible. I use honey instead of sugar when making Korean BBQ, nectar in my plain yogurt. Maple syrup in my oatmeal, stevia in my coffee. Of course I still use sugar & heavy cream when I make salted caramel ice cream, but that's only for special occasions.

Vending Machine Junkie - I didn't realize this, but I'm a vending machine junkie. Every day at work around 3:30pm I would go to the vending machine to get a snack. That's a 500 calorie mistake Mon-Fri. I started bringing oatmeal, yogurt, and hummus to replace my ending machine habit, but still feeding my afternoon snack craving.

Portion Control - I have no concept of portion control. Just because I was eating a salad doesn't mean it's healthy if it's 3x the size of a normal salad. So forced portion control works great for me. Here are some examples.

     - Subway sandwiches with no mayo actually really does work. 

     - A can of Progresso soup has 2 servings, but each serving is only 100-150 calories. Add 1/2 a can of water to the soup and you could eat the whole thing guilt free. Watch out for the sodium, that will make you retain water and the scale will show that you've gained weight. 

     - Trader Joe's salads are a goldmine. They really pack a lot into 1 small container and you know exactly how much you're consuming.

Drink (Party) Water - I don't like water and I get annoyed when stupid health articles tell you to drink more water. I want to tell the author to go eff themselves. If you don't like water like me, get a Soda Stream. I love it! It turns regular tap water into bubbly party water and it's so much more palatable for me. 

Weights  - Lifting weights BEFORE cardio will help your body burn fat more efficiently and faster.

Morning.
Boxing & TRX - I discovered boxing and TRX about a year ago and I love it. TRX works out my legs and gives me tons of cardio. Boxing gives me upper body strength and nice arms for my strapless wedding dress. Also, working out with hot muscled men is total motivation to step up my game during class rather than lurk around in the back and half-assing it.