How This Bride Lost 20 Pounds in 6 Months

Mary was pretty overweight when she and her then-fiancé decided to get married. When she was shopping around for a wedding dress, she came across the perfect oneâ€"and it happened to be on sale too! There was only one problem: it was about 2 sizes too small.

A Dash of Determination

Nonetheless, Mary wasn’t going to let something like that stop her from getting the wedding gown of her dreams. Instead of letting the dress go, and shopping for another one, Mary decided to actually buy the dress even if it didn’t quite fit her yet. She knew that if she bought the dress anyway, she would have no choice but MAKE herself lose the weight. She was determined to look stunning on her wedding day and she vowed to lose enough pounds so that she could fit in the dress.

With that, Mary did a little research about what she had to do to lose weight quickly (but safely). She found that dropping those pounds was completely doable, as long she remained determined and committed.

The thought of walking down the aisle wearing the perfect dress was enough motivation for Mary. She consulted with a trainer to help her craft a diet and workout plan, then she began almost immediately.

Proper Eating and Exercise

So what was Mary’s plan all about? Two words: diet and exercise. When it came to food, Mary stuck to a strict diet where she ate plenty of vegetables, fish, and lean meat while staying away from fatty foods from Monday to Saturday. She gave herself one “cheat day” (Sunday) when she could eat whatever she wanted.

Here are some of the items that were regularly on the menu:

Chicken breasts â€" When it came to eating chicken, Mary stuck with breasts because they were the leanest parts. As much as she loved chicken wings, thighs, and legs, she knew that these parts were fatty and unhealthy.

Fish â€" Mary loves fish. She ate a lot of sushi and baked lemony recipes whenever she could.

Beef â€" Mary had beef about twice a week, but like chicken, she only picked the leanest cuts which included eye of round and top sirloin.

Vegetables â€" She ate a lot green leafy vegetables every day, and she experimented with several dressing recipes (mostly vinaigrettes) to make them tastier.

Mary then coupled this diet with a disciplined exercise plan, which she stuck to for 5 days a week for nearly a year. For exercise, Mary alternated cardio and weight lifting to keep a balance in her work outs. She ran the treadmill 3 days a week, then proceeded to lift 5 to 10 pound weight twice a week.

When her wedding day finally arrived, she was able to fit into her gown with ease, and she walked down the aisle with the manâ€"and in the dress of her dreams.

Image credit: robert.hamilton on Flickr