Need urgent advice to lose weight quickly- bridesmaid dress doesn’t fit!

[AngeloMysterioso]

I’m due to be bridesmaid for a good friend next Saturday. She’s just been round to drop my dress off, and I tried it on while she was here- we couldn’t get it done up!

I’m 5’ 5.5” and according to my scales I weigh 64.7kgs, or 10 stone 2lbs and 10oz. My clothes are mostly a size 10. So I’m not exactly big- I’ve got a 9mo baby that is still breastfed but I’ve just checked and back in February when the dresses were first ordered (and I was weighing myself regularly to see if the baby weight was coming off) I was 62kgs!! But I don’t weigh myself that often now as I tend to just go by how my clothes fit, and whilst some things are a little on the tight side atm there’s nothing that I can’t get into.

My friend has taken the dress home to see if she can get it altered to let it out a little bit, but we had a look and there isn’t really any extra fabric to play with and the style of it means that it would be quite complicated to make any big adjustments to. So basically I’ve got a week to lose enough weight to fit into this dress.

Help!!

I think you need to attack on as many fronts as possible. Losing weight may not make much/any difference to your size or in the right areas. So industrial strength shapewear and a dressmaker are needed too.

Is it worth talking to the shop to make sure it's been made correctly? Could you ask for more of the same fabric, and pay a seamstress to alter it?

Seamstress, now!

Dieting is a bad idea as 1) not sure it will even work with breastfeeding, your body won't let go of that fat easily and 2) if it doesn't work, it will be too late to do anything about it day before the wedding.

And don't feel bad. It was really silly of the bride to order dresses from America that arrive so soon before the wedding. There's all kinds of reasons why a type of dress you tried on in February, won't fit in August. It might even be that the dress itself wasn't tailored properly.

Get onto eBay, vinted, marketplace etc and find the brand and colour of your dress. Any size at this point and use the fabric as donor material. Bonus if you find the right size for you.

This! 👏👏

Also, eat foods high in protein - tuna, chicken, nuts - and move as much as you can. Protein burns slower than fat - so the fat comes off first!

This happened to me a week before my sisters wedding. Don't focus on the weight. That's irrelevant really you need to get smaller. You also need to eat and drink enough to BF.

Spanks / skims might help if they can let it out a bit. I managed to get into mine although it was still tight and had correcting in it, my ribs were bruised by the end of the night.

Good luck!

There is a pre surgery diet I got to shrink your liver. I'll try and find it. Stick to that and you'll lose half a stone and be slimmer from your shrunk liver and it's healthy but only for two weeks (I know you're doing one)

Wear the dress for only the time you absolutely have to.
Have a panel put in the back or the sides by a seamstress.

Baby & mother comes first.

Find and beg a seamstress. You want to be comfortable on the day.

My friend was a BM. She had a dress from a department store, she had tried on and bought with bride. Bride then noticed dresses had gone on sale so had returned dress and reordered online (only saving a few pounds, was a mega expensive wedding).
When friend got the dress on the day, it said it was the same size, but it wasn’t. So she forced herself in it, said she cried at one point. Her parents drove hundreds of miles to bring a different dress for the evening. But she hadn’t been able to eat/drink (it was really tight on the chest) and said the whole thing was misery.

get it altered and be comfy.

I had similar with my wedding dress. Bought it two sizes too small and of course didn’t lose all the weight I needed to lose. It wasn’t a traditional wedding dress.

A good friend was really good at sewing and we bought the closest fabric we could find and she inserted a narrow panel into each side of the dress. It looked like it was actually meant to be like that on the day.

Is there anyway you could do similar with your dress?

Why don't you speak to a local dressmaker and see if there's anything they can do? They might know where to get hold of similar material. It can be hard to shift a few pounds while feeding. My body stubbornly clung on to the last few I till I stopped.

Here is a link and it gives three approaches so choose the one you like best.

www.chelwest.nhs.uk/your-visit/patient-leaflets/bariatric-dietetics/liver-shrinkage-diet-for-bariatric-surgery

@AngeloMysterioso

On the assumption that you are in the UK, it sounds as though there wouldn't be enough time to ask the company which made it to alter it or send a larger one.

I wouldn't advise crash-dieting, especially when breast-feeding. You don't want to feel light-headed on the day.

Could you retrieve the dress from the bride over the weekend and locate a good seamstress in your area who could come to you to see the dress on you, with a view to advising on whether the dress could be altered in some way?

The shapewear is a good idea too.

If the dress were only a little tight, could it be that the shapewear could be all you need after all?

Slim fast shakes only ?

Each pregnancy stretched my bastard ribcage. You can't diet ribs back once the baby has bolted.

Cut out carbs completely (bread, pasta, rice etc) and no alcohol or sweet treats. Plenty of lean protein and veg. You can defo lose up to 5 lbs in a week but make sure you eat enough calories for breastfeeding. Good luck

Personally I'd just give this up as a bad job and attend as a guest instead.

I had this with my wedding dress. Not a meringue just a monsoon one. Side zip. My dressmaker altered it without issue.

Very low carb, loads of water may achieve this but since you only have a week I think it would be safer to get an alteration to the dress as it's no good dieting for a week and finding it doesn't fit the night before.

😳

See if you can get some matching fabric and put under the zip and lace it up instead. A seamstress might be able to help.

Use safety pins to hold it together and wear a shawl to cover your back (I know this from experience)

Where is the zip on the dress? If it's at the back a good seamstress may be able to add a corset to the back.

Absolutely this

Not only is OP breastfeeding but she has other kids too

Is it certain that the dress fitted when she was 62kg? She doesnt say, it was ordered when she was lighter but did it fit when it arrived or has it only just arrived?

I wouldnt go to all that bother for a risk it wouldnt even fit anyway.

Either find something that looks complementary to the other bridesmaids dresses or just go as a guest

I wouldn’t want to crash diet if breastfeeding (I also found it impossible to lose the last half stone till I’d stopped bfing).

I would go to a seamstress to see what can be done. Maybe an extra panel of similar colour won’t be too visible if under the arm? Or could a seamstress take a little from the hem and add that in?