Wedding dress woes (big chest & lats)...

H

HollyCat

Cathlete
Hi Cathe or anyone else who wants to jump in and help. I am almost to the point of desperation. I'm getting married on 02/02 (7 weeks and 4 days away) and I need to lose between 10 and 15 pounds before then to fit into my dress. I had bought my dress about 8 months ago before I started doing Cathe tapes and using heavy weights in my workouts. My upper body was slender at the time. Since then, I've developed a larger chest and noticably larger lats (and added some fat, I'm sure, due to post-quitting-smoking weight gain), and my beloved dress no longer fits around the chest/upper back. They can let the dress out a little, but that would be my last resort. Besides eating very clean and low-fat, what kind of workouts should I do before then? All cardio and no weights? Or light weights? Or keep up with the heavy weight work (currently 2x a week) and just focus on diet? I already do cardio about 4x a week. I have started to look a little "manly" in the upper body and would really like to have a more feminine look by wedding-time, as these dresses sure don't seem to be designed for muscular women!!

Thanks for anyone who can help.

Take care,
Holly
 
There was an article in Oxygen magazine about a year ago(?) that talked about exactly this situation! I believe the bride was Brandy Flores. And she only had 4 weeks to go, and she says she lost 10 pounds. I remember the article pretty well since I have read it a bizillion times! I can look up the exact date if you want it.

Her diet: Obviously clean, low calorie, low fat, no carbs except green salad after breakfast (or was it lunch?, I think breakfast).

Her workout: 30 minutes of aerobics in the morning on an empty stomach, another 20-30 minutes at night. Legs and abs weight training only. NO upper body. She too needed to lose size there.

Again, if you are interested in seeing the article I can look up the reference--or even fax it or mail it to you.

Good luck! Jeanne
 
Yes, Jeanne! I'd love the reference (m)....

Jeanne, that sounds like the perfect article for me. If you could look up the reference and either post or e-mail it to [email protected], I would be ever so grateful! Or, you can fax it to 816-767-7361. I owe you one big time!

Thanks a bunch,
Holly
 
Jeanne.

I would appreciate if you could send me the article to as I need to lose 10-15 lbs myself. I would like to see the diet of Brandy Flores. Please email to [email protected]

Thanks!

Dawnelle
 
Holly,

What kind of weight work do u do 2x a week? Which of Cathe's tapes. I want to avoid the muscular look and I am a bit anxious that Cathe's tapes might make it so- as u already experienced. Please advice those tapes u used so I can avoid them. Thanks!

Dawnelle
 
Well now I feel terrible. This morning I looked quickly for the article in my Oxygen collection and couldn't find it. And then I had this vague recollection of throwing some magazines out because my two drawers were full with no room for new ones. However, I will look again more carefully.

It didn't however go into much detail at all of her diet. It just gave a brief description and I remember it was very similar to this:
breakfast: oatmeal, egg white
lunch: chicken or lean fish and small baked potato, green veggie
dinner: chicken or lean fish, green salad.

It also said that in the last two weeks of her diet she switched to just a protein shake for dinner. It didn't say how many scoops or what she mixec it with.

Again, I'll do a more thorough review of my mags and I apologize for getting any hopes up. Jeanne
 
Dawnelle,

Don't get me wrong...I don't look like a bodybuilder or anything right now. I certainly don't look like Cathe in the upper body (probably because I still have a layer of fat over my muscles). I am just bigger than I used to be, and I used to be very thin (I used to be called a "waif" by my friends). I started noticing a change in my muscle size from doing the Slow & Heavy series, and using a 50-lb barbell. I don't think it's the tapes themselves necessarily, but the amount of weight used. Also I got this crazy idea to do weight training to increase my bench press over the summer, and I would do a bench press routine with a 90-lb barbell 2x a week. That is probably responsible for my more muscular upper body more than anything. That wasn't related to any of Cathe's tapes. I seriously doubt you'd have to worry about looking really muscular unless you use really heavy weights or do the S&H series frequently. And, normally I wouldn't see muscle growth as a problem; it's just this tiny dress that I'm freaking out over!!

Good luck,
Holly
 
That's okay, Jeanne!

Hey, don't sweat it! Looks like her diet, from what you wrote, is kind of what I'm trying to do with my eating. Thanks for looking anyway. I did already get useful information from you from your summary of the article.

Thanks,
Holly
 
This is only a suggestion and may not be useful to you since it sounds like you already have a dress that you need to fit into ......speaking from experience, I would try not to alter your body shape or appearance too much for your wedding day, at least not to a point that you don't plan on maintaining or at least staying close to. I lost a lot of weight before my wedding 13 years ago. Did some of it on purpose and dropped another 10 pounds or so the couple of weeks before the wedding due to stress, being so busy and excited, etc. Anyway, I was at leat 10 or 15 pounds below the body weight that I can maintain normally on the day of my wedding. Now when I look at my wedding pictures it looks like it's not me and that I have really gained some weight since I got married!!! I am a good size now, not too fat or anything but it's just my normal body habitus to be a little on the plump and "rounded" side.

Good luck and hope you have a wonderful wedding!!!
 
Hi Holly! Relax, you'll be fine! For now, eliminate chest and lat work from your workouts for about 2 weeks. This will allow your muscles to atrophy some, therefore diminish their size. If at that point they still feel too big, cut back these exercises out for another week.

Also stick with light weight workouts until after the wedding.

Add a couple of days of running to your cardio program if you can.

Keep a very clean diet!

Good luck and an early congratulations to you!
 
Thanks for the well-wishes. You make some good points and I agree that I should not try to get to a weight that I cannot maintain just for the wedding. I am still trying to figure out what a normal healthy weight/size for me is.

>This is only a suggestion and
>may not be useful to
>you since it sounds like
>you already have a dress
>that you need to fit
>into ......speaking from experience, I
>would try not to alter
>your body shape or appearance
>too much for your wedding
>day, at least not to
>a point that you don't
>plan on maintaining or at
>least staying close to. I
>lost a lot of weight
>before my wedding 13 years
>ago. Did some of it
>on purpose and dropped another
>10 pounds or so the
>couple of weeks before the
>wedding due to stress, being
>so busy and excited, etc.
>Anyway, I was at leat
>10 or 15 pounds below
>the body weight that I
>can maintain normally on the
>day of my wedding. Now
>when I look at my
>wedding pictures it looks like
>it's not me and that
>I have really gained some
>weight since I got married!!!
>I am a good size
>now, not too fat or
>anything but it's just my
>normal body habitus to be
>a little on the plump
>and "rounded" side.
>
>Good luck and hope you have
>a wonderful wedding!!!
 
Thanks for the suggestions, Cathe. Looks like I might try to take up running, or at least ease in to it. I appreciate your taking time to help, and your encouragement!

And congrats to you on the news that you are having another son! Best wishes for a continued healthy pregnancy.
 
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