Losing a few pounds for a dress…—Jessie from FL
“Dear Abby, I’m trying to lose weight for a dress I have to wear at a wedding. Any advice? I have four months of recovered cycles, and the wedding is four months away.” –Jessie from FL
Jessie, (and the four other girls that wrote in with concerns about dropping eight pounds or less in their first year of recovery in order to fit in their dresses) I have three major thoughts to give you today.
This is how you got into HA and it speaks to the fact that you aren’t completely recovered. We end up losing our periods because of the strain we put on our bodies and the disconnect we bring about. We want our bodies to be a certain way, and we are the kind of people that push to get what we want and ignore the symptoms our bodies are giving us. Therefore, at this stage of the game, I would suggest you look at my second major thought—
2. Clothes should be made to fit you. You should not be making yourself fit into the clothes. Change the dress! I know some of you say that there’s
“nothing that can be done at this point”
“no seamstress will let it out further for you”
“no time to order another dress”
…and about a million other excuses we tell ourselves to continue as we do. But is it true? You’re stressing about zipping up that last inch… add a piece of lace! The bride won’t approve because it's not exactly the same? Everybody should be looking at her, nobody is going to remember or care about your one inch of lace, a jacket, a new outfit if possible. It's not worth it! A beautiful body is not determined by size, but by how well it is cared for and dressed in the size appropriate for it. So I challenge you to think, is the story you’re telling yourself about why you need to fit into this dress true? Is there something you can do? If the bride (or whoever you have as your “weight warden”) is that meaningful of a person to you, they won’t be putting that kind of pressure on you to change your body especially after the journey you’ve been on.
3. Losing weight after HA can’t be put into a time chart. I could shout this one from the hills. The only time I see success from girls who lose weight WITH their hormones, are the ones who take away all the stress of making it happen NOW. They are focused on their well being. They are focused on their muscle content and ability level. They work on fueling their bodies. They buy clothing that suits them no matter the size. And you know what? They look beautiful with all different body shapes. Nobody who sees you as attractive walks up to see if your shirt is an extra small or a medium or your shorts as a size two or ten. That’s not reality, but for some reason girls have told themselves that it is. Taking care of yourself by paying attention to what you truly need to be able to feel your best brings about a steady hormonal cycle and a toned, healthy body, but it takes TIME.
