Dieting, body confidence & weddings – how to take back control

 17 Dec 2013   Posted by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD, FAND  7 Comments

Drop pounds and look great on your wedding day by taking a sensible approach. With her wedding fast-approaching, our real reader “Betty” seeks advice on how she can safely drop some weight before the big day.

Every bride wants to look and feel her best on her wedding day. And for most women, getting ready for the ‘big day’ involves dieting – in a 2008 survey¹ of nearly 300 brides-to-be, a full 70% were trying to lose weight before their wedding. So when our real reader, “Betty” asked for help getting into shape for her big day, we were more than happy to help. Getting in shape for any big event – whether it’s a wedding or a high school reunion – is something we thought many of you could relate to, which is why we were so pleased that Betty allowed us to share her story.

About our real reader, “Betty”

Betty’s plans are taking her from her adopted home in the UK (she moved there from Australia 10 years ago) all the way to a destination wedding in Thailand…and it’s fast approaching. The date is set for the end of January 2014 – just weeks away. When Betty arrived in the UK nearly 10 years ago, she weighed a bit over 200lbs (95kg/14.9st) but she carried it well on her tall frame. Fast forward to December, 2013, and she’s a busy mother of a 16 month old daughter, and she’s carrying around an extra 65lbs (30kg/5.5st). And while she’d like to get back to her weight of 10 years ago, “I am realistic,” she said. “I’m not expecting to lose (all my weight) before the wedding… I would just like to lose as much as reasonable … before that date.”

How much can she lose before the wedding?

Betty knows she can’t drop 65 pounds between now and her wedding day – she just wants to lose what she can, especially around her midsection. With a lean body mass measuring about 140lbs (about 64.5kg/10st), Betty’s got a decent resting metabolic rate of about 1900 calories per day (since each pound of lean mass burns almost 14 calories per day). I estimate that if Betty exercises regularly and is reasonably diligent in following a 1200 calorie diet, she should be able to lose about 2lbs (1kg) a week.

Dieting – what works and what doesn’t

Before becoming pregnant with her daughter, Betty and her fiancé went on a low carbohydrate diet together. Initially, things went well. She lost over 40lbs (19kg/2.8st) and he lost nearly 70lbs (32kg/5st). But, while her partner managed to keep a good amount of his weight off, “I was not so lucky,” she said, adding that she “put some weight on” after her daughter arrived.

When I asked Betty to describe a typical day of eating to me, she reeled off a pattern I have heard so many times – her day starts out great but things gradually come apart towards evening. A healthy breakfast (cereal and milk, or porridge with agave honey) is followed by lunch – frequently in a restaurant with girlfriends, and it tends to be “not so healthy…fries…(and) something with mayo or cheese.” By the afternoon, Betty is grazing on “anything and everything, but not necessarily because I’m hungry. “ Boredom or a bad mood brings on cravings for cake, chocolate, cookies and chips. Dinner is usually home-cooked, but tends toward meats and carbs – “burritos, burgers, chilli with rice”

How to – sensibly – lose weight for your wedding

Betty has a good handle on her situation. She doesn’t want a wedding diet she wants to take back control of her eating. Betty has a good idea of how much weight she can realistically – and safely – lose before her wedding, and she also admits that she knows where her problems lie. “I know what I should be doing,” she says, “I just don’t seem to think about it on a day-to-day basis”. So, I suggested that she start with a few changes that would be easy to do right away, and yet help her start to see results relatively quickly. Here are five tips I gave her to start:

1. Replace two meals a day with a protein shake

I suggested that Betty replace breakfast and lunch with a protein shake. While her usual breakfast is reasonably healthy, it doesn’t contain enough protein to keep her satisfied until lunch – and that could be leading her to make poor choices when she’s out “with the girls”. Rather than giving up time with her girlfriends, I suggested she have a shake before meeting up, then socializing over a green salad with a little dressing on the side, or a broth-based soup.

2. Emphasize lean proteins and more vegetables at dinner

Since Betty usually cooks dinner at home, she has a lot of control over what she eats, and how much. I suggested that she emphasize lean proteins – poultry breast and fish – and have both a vegetable salad and cooked vegetables to round out her meal. In the short term, I advised her to limit her starch to one small portion – and try to choose whole grains.

3. Have a planned, healthy snack in the afternoon

A well-planned snack in the afternoon can help take the edge off Betty’s hunger at dinner time. And, it’s also a great time to sneak in some extra fruits and vegetables that her diet currently lacks. Rather than grazing on sweets or chips, I suggested she try a protein-based snack, such as a small carton of yogurt, a protein snack bar, some raw veggies with hummus or a little bit of cottage cheese with fruit.

4. Add fruit to protein shakes

Betty told me that while she likes fruit, she doesn’t eat that much. Since she needs two or three servings a day, I suggested she add fruit to her shakes, which will have her daily fruit needs more or less covered.

5. Start keeping a food diary

I asked Betty to start logging her food intake for a couple of reasons. For one thing, it will help her to keep her calories in check. But it can also help her with her emotional eating, too. When she gets the urge to soothe herself with food, I suggested she pull out her food diary and write down how she’s feeling instead. If she can delay the urge to eat – even if only by a few minutes – the hunger for a snack is likely to pass.

We’ll be checking in with Betty regularly, and we’ll keep you posted on her progress. If you have any tips or words of encouragement, please send them along!

¹Neighbors LA, Sobal J.Appetite.50:550, 2008.

Written by Susan Bowerman, MS, RD, CSSD, FAND. Susan is a paid consultant forHerbalife.