Is losing over six stone in nine months realistic for a wedding?

[DoeIdea]

Friend is getting married at the start of may. She's obese currently at 20 stone/5'3 and has bought a dress that's gorgeous but is only a size 12. She's currently a size 26/28 for context and is adamant that she's going to lose enough weight to fit into it for her wedding. It's over six stone which seems a mad amount to lose in that time period.

I'm really worried that's not going to happen and she's going to be disappointed or frantic trying to find a new dress. I've been gently trying to get her to look at dresses that will fit but she's refusing.

Is it even possible to lose six stone plus in 9 months?

Couple of questions
Has she stopped taking the medications that have caused her to gain weight? If she was on steroids like prednisone and has now tapered off she may lose some weight quite quickly.

Is she well enough to go on a strict diet regime including exercise?

Would she be allowed to take WLI given her current health situation?

Even with WLI it’s a big ask and I agree with you that she may be pushing herself too hard too soon. I’ve lost a similar amount on Mounjaro and it took longer. It’s also taken quite a while for my body to reshape itself. My waist took a while to reappear as I didn’t lose weight evenly at first.

Even with them she has no chance. It took me two full years to lose 6 stone on mounjaro. It doesnt perform miracles.

She might be able to lose 6 stone in 9 months with WLI and diet/exercise but at 5'3 she'll need to be a lot less than 13/14 stone to fit into a size 12.

I'm 5'7 and a 16 in M&S clothes at that weight, so I'd expect her to have to get down to more like 8 or 9 stone to fit into a small 12.

Well put the wedding off until she is somewhere near where she wants to be. There are a wide range of well documented possible risks to significant and rapid weight loss - just check out ChatGPT, CoPilot, Perplexity, etc - arrhythmia, gallstones, loss of muscle mass (you need to exercise), etc - it strikes me as a completely unrealistic idea and bound to end in failure and disappointment but great that she wants to do something - slow weight loss, in fact, as slow as possible, is the better route - I did 5:2 and lost 11kg in 6 months (actually as part of an experiment for a book about my daughters anorexia) - I crashed my car twice - falling asleep at the wheel on 5:2 days due to being weak and tired - I am lucky not to have died in the 2nd accident(*) so I would say even 5:2 is too rapid.

(*) this was the reason I stopped.

Possible, if she gets on with WLI. If they don't suit her she'll find it almost impossible in that timeframe.

I'd stop saying anything to her and just support her at the time if it doesn't work out.

I lost 3.5 stone in one year to get into my wedding dress that I had bought in a smaller size BUT I'd just had a baby and the wedding dress was my 'natural' size pre-pregnancy. Even then, it was a slog.

I think she is setting herself up for failure and upset. I say that coming from a place of kindness, with someone who was incredibly strict with themselves to get there (and ended up with gallstones too! 🙃)

Come Christmas she will see how’s she’s progressed and that will give her time to buy a more appropriately sized dress.

Basically no chance and even if she did, her skin would sag like a melted welly due to extreme weight loss in such a short period of time.

I lost 5.5 stone and went from a size 18-20 to 12, so I'm going to say no, but I guess it would depend on body type!

I think she's setting herself up for disappointment, but there's really not much you can do.

It's unrealistic to do that healthily and she'd potentially need to lose more than that to get into a size 12 wedding dress. I was 13 stone when I was a size 12 and I'm 5ft 5. I always think wedding dress sizes are a bit smaller than regular sizing too. I would encourage her to be healthy about losing weight, she'll be really unhappy if she has lots of loose skin due to losing the weight too fast.

No.

Probably on the jabs. I know everyone is different shaped but at 14stone and also 5ft 3 I was still a size 16/18. I’m know 11 stone and a large 12/14.

I’m 5’3” and only got into size 12 once I was less than 10 stone so if she’s starting at 20 stone she might need to lose even more than she thinks she does.

Im similar height (5’2) and I had to lose 10 stone to go from a size 22 to a size 12, and even that is on a good day, most days I am still a 14; am nearing the 2 year mark on Mounjaro.

I reckon she’ll need to lose closer to 10 stone to get into a size 12 wedding dress - especially as they’d tend to be small fitting and/or an American size 12 which is closer to an 8-10. I was an M&S 12 at 9 and a half stone.

Even if she loses that much, she still won't fit in a size 12 at 14 stone.

I'm 5'6 and 14 stone 6 (so it spreads out more on me than it would your mate) and I'm size 18. To get into a size 12 I need to be 11.5 stone tops.

It’s not 6 stone, surely it’s somewhere around 9/10 stone to fit a size 12. Personally I think you need to let her try and be there to support her when she realises she’s not going to fit into it. It would be an incredibly unhealthy way to lose weight.

She can lose the weight if she starts now.

She’ll likely stop her diet on honeymoon…

I lost about that (33kg but maybe it could have been more if I'd wanted) between April and Dec last year. The first 7-8kg was just diet but once I started to feel the benefit of weight loss I sprung for Mounjaro and lost the rest. It's been amazing. I am so much happier and healthier. But it did require the full package too lose so quickly: drungs, diet and exercise.

I lost 7.5 stone in a year and have been maintaining for a year since. I do have a wrinkly tummy and tops of my thighs. However the tummy was already stretched from pregnancies before I gained the weight later on, and my thighs have improved over the year.

My arms are absolutely fine and the only surgeries I'd consider are a tummy tuck and breast enlargement, as they have certainly reduced volume, but not brave enough.

Loose skin requiring surgery is not inevitable at all.

I wish her luck, but agree with most that fitting into the dress in 9 months is highly unlikely.

If she insists on this plan, I think the kindest thing to do would be to quietly research some alternative dresses that look good in a range of sizes, then if need be you can be ready to help with a plan B.

What she wants to do is possible but she'd have to under-eat to a degree that would risk her health and it's to be hoped her natural urge to eat wouldn't let her do that.

I hope she will see sense and aim at something more realistic.

There is no reason why she can't look fantastic on the day, she'd just need to find the right.

Everyone is different. 28/10/2025 I was 19st.
this morning I’m 11st 9.
that’s a loss of over 6st and while I agree WLI is t a magic potion, it’s been an absolute game changer to me.

I lost 7 stone in a year years ago so way before WLI. I did the 5:2 for the first 5/6 months then just calorie counted and worked out 6 days a week - combo of running and strength training on alternate days.

I’d say that was a big loss in a relatively quick time and I mostly kept it off. I’ve gone up a stone or two here and there during stressful periods but I lose it quickly once I stop drinking alcohol for starters and up my running miles.

I’d say 6 stone in 9 months is extreme but judging by the crazy losses people on WLI seem to have, it may be doable. You lose it faster when fatter for obvious reasons.

thats very rapid weight loss meaning it could be easy to put back on
it will be v difficult to maintain the level of discipline for so long
is she using. weight loss jabs to help?