Things We Love!

One of the best things about my job is the fantastic vendors NWD gets the opportunity to work with. Heather Artz at JMISKO is no exception. Yesterday I stopped in and got a hydrafacial with Heather, and it. was. AMAZING. A bonus: the hydrafacials are on special until the end of September--normally $125 and now only $85!

EVERY bride should get one of these facials from Heather. They're completely relaxing and you will look absolutely radiant after. These facials would also be great (and much appreciated) gifts for your bridesmaids. Heather also does makeup for brides and bridal parties before the wedding--another wonderful option for pampering on your big day!

I highly recommend to everyone that reads this post that you call in to JMISKO and make an appointment with Heather. She is super sweet, knowledgeable, and GREAT at what she does. Mention this blog post to get the special hydrafacial rate--and enjoy!

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Fat Girl Confessional

OK, brides, I’m down another pound! The broken foot isn’t bringing me down! However, I'm taking a break from the Fat Girl posts because:

1. I’ve been repeatedly informed that I am not fat. I realize this—it’s just a more entertaining title to my blog posts than “25-pounds-Overweight-Girl Confessional”!
2. I’m running out of things to talk about. We all know the importance of eating well and working out - putting it into practice is what’s difficult.
3. The magazine is entering its busy phase. We’re beginning to put together the 2011 issue (you’d be surprised at how much goes in to making NWD the beautiful publication that it is) and that is requiring more time from all employees, including me.

So, I love all you brides, and if you have anything you ever want to share about your weight-loss journey, feel free to email me at holly@neweddingday.com. I may even want to share your story on our blog!

And don’t forget to check out Wealth For My Health’s website. It’s a great weight-loss competition and there’s another one gearing up in Lincoln soon!

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Fat Girl Confessional

OK, brides, I'm down another 2 pounds for a total of 10 pounds lost. Yeah!!!

The foot is still gimpy but I've been focusing on eating healthy and even trying to do some substitute workouts like pushups and planks that don't require a lot from my feet. I'm not going to let a little thing like a broken foot stop me from looking good by the end of the summer!

Not much else to report on right now - I hope you are all doing well (and staying healthy) in your own weight loss endeavors! Have a fun and SAFE 4th of July and don't go too crazy with all the barbecues!

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Fat Girl Confessional

Well, I’ve got great news this week - I broke my foot! Those of you that know me know this is a fairly common occurrence. I sprained my ankle last summer and I’ve broken both feet before as well - all in the last 6 years.

YES, I drink my milk, so I’m not sure why my feet continue to betray me, but when I figure it out I’ll let you know. I think it pretty much boils down to the fact that I’m a giant klutz. I’m constantly stubbing my toes, walking into doors, and falling down stairs (which, coincidentally, is what I was doing every time I’ve injured my foot. Perhaps I should just avoid stairs?). I always have bruises on my arms and legs and I can never remember where they came from because I run into things so often.

So, the sad news is that boot camp is on hold for at least the next 6-8 weeks. Now I must rely solely on my diet to lose weight. I’m hoping it won’t impede my success too much, as I’ve been eating pretty healthily for the last couple of months anyway. And on a good note, I’m down 2 more pounds! Let’s hope this momentum carries through my time as an invalid!

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Fat Girl Confessional

Well, ladies, I returned from my vacation down two pounds!!! I can really only attribute it to the enormous amount of walking/hiking we did up in the mountains, because I certainly didn't obsess about what I was eating while we were up in Estes (translation: I ate like a pig). I think maybe moving up to the mountains would be enough to help me stay fit and keep my weight down. I'll admit I shed a few tears returning home to the heat and thick humidity.

Anyway, at this time, I have lost a total of 7 pounds (keep in mind that I gained 4 pounds at the beginning, so it's really only 3 pounds. However, that's kind of depressing, so I'll just focus on the 7 pounds total). It's a relief to be making progress, although I will say that the weight seems to come off MUCH slower once you've had kids. Most of you brides probably don't have to worry about that yet, but keep it in mind if you're in my shoes!

Hopefully some of you have checked out this past Friday's giveaway - a free 4-week boot camp session with ELS Wellness for TWO lucky brides! If you haven't done so yet, make sure you enter! I can speak from experience when I say that even if you DESPISE working out (like me), you will be grateful for the help. Be honest - would you really get your butt up off the couch 3 times a week unless you had someone holding you accountable? I know I wouldn't!

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Fat Girl Confessional

Another "hobby" I've taken up to help get my weight down (and help my pocketbook) is planning my meals for a week. I'm not as ambitious as some - I try and keep some healthy breakfast and lunch options around and just fly by the seat of my pants for those meals (although I will chop veggies/fruit once or twice a week so I can include that in whatever I'm eating). I DO try and plan every dinner, though, because I'm preparing a meal for the whole family.

One of my favorite sites is AllRecipes.com, because they have a "healthy eating" recipe section that includes user ratings. When I'm planning my meals and I'm trying to fill in a date, I can go to the "healthy eating" section and pick a recipe that's received 4 or 5 stars. I add the ingredients I don't have on hand at home to my grocery list (bonus: you can enter in ingredients you already have at home and the site will pull up all recipes that include those items!).

Planning ahead like this helps prevent me from making impulse junk food buys at the grocery store and also ensures that we can have a healthy home-cooked meal every night. It also helps us save on eating out. The nights that I work late, I plan ahead with a Crockpot dinner that I whip up in the morning or something quick like whole-grain spaghetti.

I was always one of those people who didn't understand how people had the time to do things like this, but I've tried to get myself in the habit of sitting down for 20 minutes every Sunday afternoon to plan out the week. That's honestly all it takes, and then I hit the grocery store (armed with my coupons and list of items on sale) and voila! I'm ready to take on another week of battling the bulge.

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Fat Girl Confessional

Weigh-in results this week - I'm down 4.5 pounds! Yeah!!! I'm definitely feeling good and starting to see some results, however small they may be right now. It's really encouraging to see the positive energy that all of my fellow contestants have as well. Having teammates really helps hold us all accountable.

One other thing that has helped hold me accountable is keeping a daily food journal. It's pretty depressing to write down "half a box of Oreo cookies", so it motivates me to not eat those Oreo cookies in the first place. Here's one of my daily entries (granted, this is one of my better eating days!):

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with shredded cheese on top, 1 cup of Special K, 1 cup of skim milk
Snack: 1 cup of cottage cheese, water
Lunch: Flat-out wrap (they sell these at HyVee and they're AWESOME and low-calorie!) with deli turkey, alfalfa sprouts, onions, tomatoes, and green peppers; 1 cup of strawberries; water
Snack: 1 container of strawberry Greek Yogurt (made by Yoplait and sold at most major grocers), water
Dinner: 6 oz of grilled salmon, steamed veggies (broccoli, snap peas, carrots, baby corn), Diet Pepsi
Snack: 1 bag of 100-calorie SmartPop Orville Redenbacher popcorn, Diet Pepsi

It takes some planning ahead, but as you can see, none of the items on this list would take a ton of time to prepare. Check in next week to read about another way I save time, money, and calories: weekly meal planning!

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Fat Girl Confessional

Ok, brides, this week I'm sharing some of the valuable knowledge I've been getting with Wealth for My Health. Karen Kuzma, MS, RD, LMNT is a registered dietician at Hy-Vee who has been giving the challenge participants tons of helpful info on our daily meal plans.

I didn't realize it, but they overhauled the Food Pyramid awhile ago. Check out MyPyramid.gov for tons of helpful info on nutrition. You can even create a plan based on your age, height and weight for how much you should be eating in each food group in the "interactive tools" section.

One of the big wake-up calls for me has been portion size. How many of us have 6-8 oz of chicken breast for dinner and think we've had one serving? Surprise, surpise...1 serving is actually 3-4 oz. I'm sure many of you already knew this, but count me among those that were a bit delusional about what realistic portion sizes are. Karen showed us some really disturbing images of how portion size has grown over the last twenty years (see below).

I've really been struggling with this part. A lot of times I eat what is considered "one serving" and still have a hungry feeling. Instead of indulging it by piling on more pasta (or caving in to my desperate chocolate cravings), I've been trying to fill up on veggies when I find myself still feeling hungry. I have definitely trained my mind to think my body needs more food than it does.

Now, brides, I know most of you are just trying to drop a few pounds before your wedding. However, if you start the healthy habits now, not only will you look great in your wedding gown, you'll also create a great legacy for you, your fiancé, and (maybe someday) your children. When I think about my son or daughter consuming a "regular-size" burger that contains 843 calories in the year 2030, I'm more than a little concerned!

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Fat Girl Confessional

Here's a summary of my week:

Monday afternoon: Waaa. I don't want to go to boot camp today. I'm stuck at work all day. Sorry, I meant to say I am BLESSED to go to my wonderful job today! (No, seriously, I do love my job. And I'm not just saying that because my bosses are probably reading this.) I want to see my kids (funny how when I don't see them all day, I think of them as little angels, but when I'm home with them all day, I'm ready to tear my hair out by noon). I feel lazy and tired. How long is it going to take to lose some weight already???

Monday evening: I sucked it up and went to boot camp and now I feel great! Time to get weighed in. What??? I gained ANOTHER pound? But wait...I actually lost an inch off my waist and half a percent of body fat!!!! Sweet! I'd much rather have lean muscle and be a little heavier than weigh less and be flabby.

Tuesday: Sore, sore, sore. But I'm going to work out anyway.

Wednesday: My generous bosses let me use the elliptical machine after work today. Gotta get in some cardio.

Thursday: One of my favorite "healthy" food finds: The Luna Bar. Heather at Body Overhall advises me that I should not use these for my ONLY snack (why would I do that? Because they taste like little bites of heaven?), but they're great in a pinch after working out. I particularly love the Iced Oatmeal Cookie and the Peanut Butter Cookie. They're made with organic ingredients and packed with tons of nutrients.

Friday: Another favorite healthy food find: alfalfa sprouts. I LOVE the Beach club at Jimmy John's, but it's not exactly a great weight-loss tool. However, I did take a page from their book and now I stick alfalfa sprouts in my lunchtime sandwiches (made with whole grain bread, deli turkey, tomatoes and onions). I feel like a rabbit eating this, but it tastes pretty good.

Saturday: I took Friday off from working out, so it's time to get my butt in gear again. I'm doing the Jillian Michael's 30-day shred DVD in some of my off-days (alternating with cardio per Heather's recommendations). I love it because it's only 20 minutes but it's an INTENSE workout. Can't find any fault with that!

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Fat Girl Confessional: Losing the Weight

I had my first weigh-in this past Monday. And...I GAINED THREE POUNDS!!! What the...? Ok, I know that this is fairly common. Muscle weighs more than fat so technically I probably gained three pounds of muscle and am toning up. But still...it's hard to stay encouraged in my quest to lose weight when the reverse is happening so far.

It's moments like this when I have to remind myself that this is not just about losing weight so I look better. It's about being healthier, living longer, and teaching my children good habits. My grandmother has Type II Diabetes; I know if I'm not careful that could end up being my future as well.

Hopefully next week I will have a progress report with more positive results. In the meantime, I plan to continue working my tail off while a variety of expletives repeat themselves in my brain (I would never say them OUT LOUD, of course, but that doesn't mean I can't think them).

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Fat Girl Confessional

Well, I'm two weeks in to my own personal hell, and so far so good. I've been working out 5 days a week (which is quite an accomplishment considering my previous average was 0) and eating super-healthy. I'm trying not to count calories because I know that can just set me up for failure. I'm simply eating when I'm hungry and stopping when I'm full, and I've stocked only healthy things in our refrigerator. If my husband were here, he would tell you how much he LOVES the new fat-free popcorn ( it tastes like cardboard) compared to our old Movie Theatre Butter style!

Yes, it is very difficult - especially the eating part. The working out (to be honest) sucks when I'm doing it, but I feel great afterwards so it's worth it. It's only a small part of my day and I can move on to something else when I'm done. However, the eating is definitely not easy, because it's something I face over and over again every day, and I'm the first to admit that I'm quite the sugar addict. Replacing Dr. Pepper with water was pretty painful, as was getting rid of snacks like chips and crackers and choosing raw veggies and cottage cheese instead.

However, when we went to our first Wealth for My Health group meeting, Dr. Alex Leonida pointed out something that really resonated with me: "You'll never feel guilty after eating something healthy." How many times have we all felt guilty after pigging out on ice cream or pizza? I feel ten times lighter and better after I chow down on cherry tomatoes (which isn't a terrible sacrifice, because I love them). I need to stop and consider how I'll feel after eating something before I eat it.

It is becoming very clear to me how much I used food as a crutch without even realizing it. When I take away that crutch and eat only to nourish my body, I'm forced to find other ways to occupy my mind and emotions - which means my kids are getting a lot more attention and I'm getting a lot more reading done.

I haven't seen any major weight results yet, but I know that will come with time. I just need to have the patience to stick with it. Are there any brides out there in the same boat as me? If so, let me know! I'd love to hear your stories!

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Fat Girl Confessional

Well, ladies, I may not be a bride anymore, but as far as wanting to lose some extra pounds, I'm right there with many of you brides trying to slim down for your wedding gown. In fact, NWD is a sponsor for Lincoln's first city-wide weight loss challenge, Wealth for My Health, (coordinated by the amazing Sara Brown of Events Refined) and I decided it was time to get off my butt and get healthy.

So I joined. And I immediately regretted it. What was I thinking? I have my NWD job, two adorable (insane) kids (three if you count my husband), and a host of other activities I'm involved in. Not only will I have to find time - and motivation - to work out, but I'll also have to find the time to cook healthy meals instead of throwing a pizza in the oven. Fabulous.

So I went to my first boot camp session on Monday (with the inspiring but relentless Heather Hall at Body Overhall), and let me tell you, there's a reason they call it boot camp. It's definitely resembles army training, at least in my imagination. You know the drill - I worked out muscles I didn't know I had; I considered other acts of torture that would be more pleasurable than this; I prayed for the good Lord's strength to get me through the next 45 seconds, etc. But a funny thing happened when I was done: I felt GREAT - exhilarated, happy, proud of myself. Two days later, I still can't walk down stairs or sit in a chair without my quads screaming in protest, but for the first time I feel like the pain is worth it.

I've always known it to be necessary, but have never managed to find the motivation to stick with an exercise/healthy eating routine. However, now that I have kids and my metabolism isn't that of an 18-year-old anymore, I know it's time to get this health thing figured out before I end up 150 pounds overweight with a much steeper hill to climb.

So on that note, ladies, I'll be chronicling my weight-loss experiences here every now and then, offering some (hopefully) positive motivation to all of you brides hoping to drop a couple of sizes. We're all in the same boat here. With that said, here's my goal: 25 pounds or 5 inches off my waist - whichever comes first. I'll keep you posted on my progress. And I would appreciate any well-wishes you'd like to send my way!
-Holly
P.S. Those of you hoping for a Biggest Loser-style "before" photo are out of luck - we did take one, but that image is between me and my trainer only, thank you very much!

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Wealth for my Health

If your New Year's Resolution to lose weight before your wedding has already worn off, join Wealth for my Health, Lincoln's first city-wide weight loss challenge!

If losing weight and leading a healthier life should be a priority in your life - then this challenge is for you. Train with Lincoln's best personal trainers, receive health and nutrition related advice from our expert dietitian, and compete for the chance to win a cash grand prize of over $1,000! That money could definitely help out towards your wedding expenses!

For more information, visit Wealth for my Health's website or email Sara at sara@eventsrefined.com.

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Slimming Down for your Wedding Gown

As your wedding approaches, you're probably starting to panic about how you're going to squeeze into that gorgeous wedding dress that you ordered one size too small (back when you were thinking you would lose the weight before the big day came).

Luckily, there are options that can help you lose weight for your wedding. Some require a little planning ahead, while others may work if you're trying to drop the pounds in the last couple of months.

One option that has become increasingly popular is going the surgical road. The benefits of surgery are that the results are permanent, so while it may be pricier than diet and exercise, it could end up saving you a lot of time and money in the future. (Bonus: some insurance plans may cover a portion of the procedure!) However, you will have to plan ahead to make sure you have plenty of time to recover from a surgical procedure, so don't put this off until the last minute.

Another trend for brides is body boot camp. These camps are often designed to get maximum results in around 6 weeks, so they're great for the procrastinating bride, and they are often affordable since you're paying for a short amount of time and sharing a trainer with other women. You will want to be prepared to work your butt off, and you might have to sacrifice sleeping in some mornings as well. You should also keep in mind that unless you are truly committed to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, the results may not last long beyond your wedding.

Check out the NWD website to find some great businesses that can assist you in your wedding weight-loss goals!

*Photo courtesy of Kameron Bayne Images.

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