Trimming the Fat

With 14 months to go until W-day, you might think I’ve got a while to go before the hard-core dieting sets in however you need to start early if you want results! I’ve never been huge but (especially during University) the weight slowly crept on mostly due to burgers, jacket potatoes, pizza and pints of snakebite and black at the Union.

I’ve had my measurements taken for my dress now which should be ready in January 2012 so I already had to start the weight loss plan a while before that. I didn’t want the dress to arrive and be too big! I always think that if you’re spending thousands of pounds on a dress to be handcrafted by an extremely talented designer and seamstress, the last thing you want to be doing is messing around with the tailoring once it’s complete!
 
So the diet started around mid-January 2011 and I’ve already lost about 5 pounds. My fear is that I’ll peak too soon as it will be hard to sustain the new lighter me! I’ve pretty much cut out everything but a few main items including lean meat, fish, all vegetables, all fruit, minimal cheese and porridge! I’ve been trying to stick to around 1200 calories per day with around 1-2 hours of exercise per day too. I heard Mila Kunis at the Oscars say that she ate 1200 calories per day and did 5 hours training 7 days per week and she lost 20lbs so it’s clearly the way to go.

On that note however, it begs the question, how far is too far? Should we all really be doing this to ourselves for one day? Well I think the answer is yes (!) but many would disagree. “You look fine as you are” or “________(insert name of Groom) will love you no matter what” although they’re kind of missing the point. A) ‘fine’ isn’t good enough and B) its not for Groom it’s for me.

The rate of obesity is absolutely ridiculous in the UK. It seems to have become acceptable for people clearly overweight to complain about back ache, breathing and joint problems, heart trouble etc when the answer is pretty simple as the voiceover guy on the Chris Moyles says, “eat less and move around more.” I think we should take a leaf out of Vietnam’s book where old folk well into their 80s still exercise every single day. I wonder what we could do with all those £millions saved from unnecessary NHS expenses for motorised scooters and the like?

Ministers announced this week that all fast food chains must display calories on menus. Fantastic idea! There’s absolutely nothing wrong with ‘watching your weight’ and mentally making a note of the food we eat and exercise we do. I still can’t believe the number of people who eat at McDonald’s not just every month or so but on a daily basis! Don’t get me wrong, I adore a McChicken sandwich but not to the point where I’m eating three times my daily calorie allowance.

There’s been speculation over Miss Middleton’s weight this week since she looked a tad skinnier than usual. Firstly, she’s always been pretty thin and as long as its not taken too far, why shouldn’t she be allowed to lose weight as she so wishes before her big day – goodness knows the minute she puts on a few pounds the tabloids will be quick enough to point the finger.

Apparently, Mrs Middleton is on the band wagon too. Following the Dukan diet, Carole has lost 4lb in four days. Developed by Pierre Dukan, the French nutritionist, the diet involves surviving on ‘cottage cheese and prawns.’ Delightful. Gisele has also followed Dukan’s regime after having her son Ben and JLo is also a fan.

Obviously, in health terms, nothing can replace a balanced, varied diet but short-term I say put the hours in and stick with it. No one gets a medal for saying no to the biscuits. As a good friend of mine once said, ‘nothing tastes as good as thin looks.’