FAN MAIL FRIDAYS: How I lost 20 lbs. 5 months before my wedding


Happy Eid'l Adha to my beautiful Muslim readers!

Today's a pretty slow day and I'm enjoying it; we all need to pace ourselves sometimes.

Our FMF for today is from Sheirelaine, who's newly- engaged! Yay!


Hi Martha, 

Congratulations on your wedding. I have been recently engaged and I wanted to lose weight for the past lifetime now. Any recommendations? My wedding is still more than 12 months away and I know I still have a lot of time, but I really wanna kickstart it right away. 

I am a fan! Looking forward to your response. Thanks for taking time. 

Sheirelaine

Hi Sheirelaine!

First and foremost, congratulations! I wish you and your future husband a blissful marriage and family life. Thanks for being a fan as well.

12 months is a lot of time! Depending on your weight, you can still lose between15-30 lbs. provided that you stick with your fitness regimen. As for me, I lost 20 lbs. total in 5 months and here's how I did it.


Before you proceed reading, please know that these are techniques I've experimented with and they worked for me. My health background is good: I've no genetic/underlying/existing health condition and I've been on the dieting/fitness track for 10 and 4 years, respectively. If this is your first time, please consult a physician first before undergoing any form of diet or physical activity.

Before resuming with my fitness routine to shed weight before my wedding, I sat down with myself and made it clear that 1. I will do my best to lose weight 2. I won't stress myself out over losing weight (because stress causes weight gain) 3. I'll be happy with the final result, whatever it is. I didn't want to beat myself up over losing weight and end up being sad in the entire process; it's my wedding, a once in a lifetime thing and I wanted it to be a happy journey.

Here are three things I did religiously that helped me shed 20 lbs. 5 months before the wedding:

1. RELIGIOUS EXERCISE

- I signed up for Crossfit in February and have been doing it three times a week; twice a week if I'm really busy or even once if I'm swamped with work and wedding duties, but never none. I could say that the intensity of Crossfit has helped me lose weight just because such exercise requires big calorie expenditure.

You don't have to do Crossfit or intense exercise like me to lose weight. Just exercise- that's my tip; it could be yoga, zumba, boxing, body weight exercises, spinning, etc. as long as your body is moving and spending more calories.

2. TIERED DIETING

- Some bride-to-be's would drastically cut calories at the beginning of the weight loss journey, but I wouldn't advise that because that is a recipe for diet burnout. I would do this before when preparing for a big event and I learned the hard way through yo-yo weight.

Instead, I created tiers for my daily calorie intake and reduced it while approaching the big day. Here's what I did:

DAILY CALORIES BEFORE CROSSFIT AND DIET: 2,000
FEBRUARY 2017-MARCH 2017: 1,800
APRIL 2017- MAY 2017: 1,600
JUNE 2017- JULY 2017: 1,500

As you can see, I didn't go for the popular 1,200 diet. Why? Because I train intensely and my body needs food for repair and fuel. Also, you have to know that not all people are built to eat 1,200 only; your daily recommended calorie intake is based on your weight and height so you have to know this first before slashing calories from your diet. Also, you calorie intake depends on your level of daily physical activity.

Tiered Dieting helped me adjust to various calorie intakes minus intense hunger pangs and mental stress.

3. STRENGTH TRAINING

- I would also encourage you to do strength training; there are numerous studies saying that strength training is beneficial for women who want to lose fat because it builds muscle, ergo burning more calories and it keeps the metabolism revved even a day after the workout, ergo burning more fat.

And remember, don't stress about losing weight! Just do the work; if you want to hit your goal, focus on the process and one day, you'll just realize that you lost weight already! Good luck!

**Got a burning question on beauty, makeup, skin care, perfume, blogging, career, fitness, love, life, or anything under the sun? Email me at martha.stabarbara@yahoo.com, message me via Contact Form, or shoot me a message at THE BEAUTY JUNKEE's official Facebook fan page.

Post a Comment

23 Comments

  1. It's right to have consultation first before anything else. Loosing weight is so hard it need proper diet, training and takes time.

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  2. wow! ang ganda naman po nung routine mo in loosing weight po madam! as of now I'm in the midst of loosing weight din po, may goal po kasi ako na palagi ko nirereach kaso nauudlot dahil sa mga problema sa bahay, kapag stress po ako I eat eh huhu.. but now, I changed it na and I'm a Mommy na rin kaya tlgang prone ako sa gutom kaka asikaso sa mga anak ko. I'm aiming po kasi mgka abs hehe, dream ko kasi un and I like your tips po sa strength training mo po, tama po mga yan and dpat tlgang iwas stress din sa pagbabawas, dpat focus! be positive lang!

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  3. Whoa. This must have been quite technical and hard. :( Considering the fact that you were also busy and working at the time. Hands down to you, Ms. Martha. I'd probably would quit within the first week of this hahaha but I'd take note. Discipline and hard work gets things done indeed. Thanks for this, Ms. Martha!

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  4. One of the hardest thing to do is to reduce weight. Thanks Miss Martha for this blog, another helpful article for someone like me who's dreaming to be fit. Also thanks to Miss Sheirelaine for asking this question.

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  5. Love this post Ms.M! I'm a registered nutritionist but I'm kinda chubby. Hehe. I do have a diet plan and I exercise regularly but it's really true na sobrang big factor ang stress and puyat. 😞 Hopefully I'll hit my goal soon. Thanks for this Ms.M. ❤

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  6. OMG this post is so helpful. I also wanna lose weight since I have gained a lot for the past few months. It's a struggle for me since I have also tried different kinds of diet. Thank you for sharing this! ❤

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  7. I admire the persevernce of people like you who strive hard to look good andbe healthy because I, myself is having a hard time to do so. I wanted to but to lazy to do ao because of all the work here at home. That is my workout but still looking forward to do workouts or excercises to keep me fit.

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  8. i started working out around February this year because i wanted to lose weight. i worked out regularly, at least 3x a week. for the first few months, i was frustrated because i wasn't losing any weight.

    i did notice that i got stronger, and my endurance improved immensely. i later realized that, while my weight didn't change, i was actually replacing fat with muscle - and i'm quite happy with that.

    now, i'm trying to pay attention to my food intake. calorie counting is so hard , 'yo! :P

    thank you for sharing your tips. you're very inspiring!

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  9. Thank you so much for answering my mail Martha! I've learned so much! I'll keep these in mind and good luck to me! Haha

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  10. I would love to try the crossfit as ive first seen it on you ms martha. And i agree to you to dont stress yourself about losing weight. Very helpful and simple tips again!!!

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  11. Hi Ms. Martha, I am getting married din po pero I want to gain weight naman huhuhu di po talaga ako tabain even my family nasa genes na ata parang sa iba it's okay swerte ko daw but for me ang hirap din parang wala akong kinakain sa kapayatan ko. hahahahaha.

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  12. My trainer friend call me skinny fat because I appear to be skinny but I don't have much muscle. He says that I should lose on size not on weight.

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  13. I really need these tips. Kaso mahirap mag gym pag ako lang. Gusto ko talaga may kasama. And minsan panira si partner sa diet.

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  14. Thanks for sharing this Ms Martha. Though I am not getting married yet, losing weight is an issue for me too. I would love to be more healthy! Getting there!!

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  15. How I wish ganyan dn ako ka-determined to loose weight huhuhu lagi ko sinasabi sa sarili ko ung gasgas na line na "Bukas, magda-diet nako!" Pero anyare? Ahahaha. Sobrang nahihirapan kse ako sa pag iwas sa pagkain lalo sa sweets saka sa rice 😭 lalo na kapag stress ako sa mga bagay-bagay. I don't have fri

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  16. *iends. Na pwedeng pagsabhan ng probs. Kaya ang ending, sa pagkain ko ibinubuhos lahat. Ahaha sorry, nasend ko agad ung comment ko ng di pa tapos.

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  17. Anyway Mrs. M, thank you for sharing your tips. Sobrang makakatulong po ito sa mga gustong magloose ng weight kagaya ko 😂

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  18. Agree with the strength training! and most of all self-dicipline.😉

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  19. Wow! Congrats on losing weight miss m! It's good to know that u really didn't follow any fad diet. As a nutritionist, this is also how i recommended my clients when it comes to losing weight. You really have to religiously exercise and eat healthy foods as much as possible. Thanks for promoting things like this on your beauty blog! :)

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  20. I also want to lose wait because of PCOS and talagang ang taba ko na. Thankyou for this ate martha, nagka idea ako. Masarap mag exercise pero mas masarap kumain pero gagawin ko pa din best ko. 😊

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  21. Last week ng cardio ako ms martha :) OMG hinika po ako :( Yan din po talgaa balak ko bago ang wedding magdiet, because I want to look good on my big day and I want to wear the wedding gown that I have been dreaming of :) Sana sana makayanan ko po, will consider all your suggestions and tips ms martha :)

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  22. Nakakamotivate naman yung diet routine mo Ms. Martha. I will surely recommend this site to my friends who needs to pull some workout. Para hindi na rin sila mahirapan when it comes to their wedding prep, ipapabasa ko sa kanila yung mga advice mo when it comes to wedding and diet tips. Thank you much for this Ms. Martha! Love yah :*

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  23. We will support you Ms. Martha sa pagpapasexy! Hihi Maaachieve mo rin ang goal mo.

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