Wedding Weight Woes

[Trepiechick]

My best friend's wedding is in November and she wants me to be a bridesmaid. I know it's her day, and I feel really selfish, but just thinking about being the fat bridesmaid along with possibly having to dance drives me to hysterics. I don't want to disappoint my friend.

I was bulimic in middle and high school but I didn't really know enough about it for it to help. Now I'm willing to do practically anything to lose weight before the wedding. I'm very ashamed to say that I'm 185lbs now, and I want to lose as much as possible. Unfortunately, I have some problems that I'm hoping someone will be able to assist with. I took adderal for about 4 years for ADD and then vyvance for half a year, and I couldn't stand the side effects. I also get terrible migranes if my body doesn't get enough food. Any advice (or anything really) would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much everyone!

[Marc0]

You have plenty of time to lose some weight, so there's no need to freak out.

Cut out anything with lots of sugar or empty calories, like soda or candy. Find anything that could be considered unhealthy and try to avoid it.

Drink more water.

Try to eat five small "meals" throughout the day to keep your metabolism from slowing down. There are some calorie calculators that can give you an idea for how many calories you want to take in in a day around here, so they can help you figure out how much you will want to take in during the day if you want to lose weight.

Try to work out. Cardio is what you want to do if you want to lose weight. You could also try to gain some more muscle, since more calories are burned maintaining a pound of muscle than a pound of fat. Just be sure to switch up your workout after about a month, so your body doesn't get used to it.

You managed to get through bulimia before, but that doesn't mean you should try it again. As I'm sure has been said here many times, it can sometimes lead to weight gain. If you stick with diet and exercise, you can lose the weight.

EDIT:
Honestly, I have had friends who have lost so much weight over the summer, just by cutting back on bad foods and running.

Also, look at Peter Jackson. The man lost 50 pounds by changing his diet. Hopefully doing so won't give you headaches, but I suppose that is always a possibility.

EDIT 2:
A really good workout for losing weight fast would be High Intensity Interval Training.

As wikipedia describes it:

"An example of a HIIT session may be as follows: Use this scale of 1-10 (1 being a casual walk and 10 being sprinting as hard you can) to help clarify the intensity level of the run. For this exercise, it is most efficient if it is done on a track or at least outdoors instead of on a treadmill. Begin with a five minute warm up jog at about a 4-5 followed by a couple of minutes of stretching. Then start with a jog at about a 5-6 intensity level for 60 seconds and then sprint at an 8-9 intensity level for 30 seconds. Repeat this cycle 6-8 times depending on how fit you are (Beginners should limit themselves to 6 cycles and more advanced HIIT users should strive for 8 cycles). Your HIIT session will look something like this: Jog (level: 5-6, 60 seconds) then Sprint (level: 8-9, 30 seconds), Jog (level: 5-6, 60 seconds) then Sprint (level: 8-9, 30 seconds), Jog (level: 5-6, 60 seconds) then Sprint (level: 8-9, 30 seconds), Jog (level: 5-6, 60 seconds) then Sprint (level: 8-9, 30 seconds), Jog (level: 5-6, 60 seconds) then Sprint (level: 8-9, 30 seconds), Jog (level: 5-6, 60 seconds) then Sprint (level: 8-9, 30 seconds). After you complete your cycle, you should also have a cool down run to help your heart rate return to normal.

A HIIT session involves a warmup period, several short, maximum-intensity efforts separated by moderate recovery intervals, and a cool down period. The period of alternating effort and recovery intervals typically lasts a total of 15 minutes."

Believe me, it is a bitch to do, but it works.

[Trepiechick]

Thanks so much for all your wonderful advice! I'll definitely try everything and hopefully will lose weight to keep me motivated to keep going. Thanks again. Your help really means a lot to me.