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!!

And also all these posts to find a seamstress, they are weeks booked up to make alterations on things and they tend to work at their own pace Ive found. Its Saturday today, and its for next Saturday!!

This is a really unfair position to put you in OP.

I think it’s really poor form to get dresses pre-made from overseas and leave no time for alterations. This isn’t about your weight. If you weren’t BF I would suggest fasting for a week, but you can’t do this whilst your baby and your health is the priority, not for a dress (!)

Your friend is going to have to find a dressmaker who can alter it, and fast! This is her problem, not yours.

the only thing you can do to help is buy some intense shapewear and see if that works but otherwise she’s got to find the solution - she’s the one asking you to wear a dress that doesn’t fit you!

I like readysteady's idea although I'd put fabric and lacing in at both sides.

This would only work if the shoulders and sleeves aren't too tight.

That wasn’t her fault, the company ballsed up and sent the wrong dresses out the first time.

Agreed - totally thoughtless and poor planning on the bride’s side.

Please don't starve yourself to fit into a dress!

A decent seamstress will have options - adding a corset back, putting in elasticated side panels, adding a gusset under the arm, letting out the seams, etc.

Or wear shapewear.

No dress is worth making yourself ill over.

Does she still have the original dresses? If they're the same fabric then the seamstress could cut one up for fabric.

That has just reminded me that my colleague had a gastric band (on NHS) and had to follow a strict diet to shrink his liver beforehand. It was, I seem to recall, predominantly skimmed milk and yoghurt. But he did it for 4 weeks and lost over a stone.

I'd get a different dress. You and the bride will regret looking at the photos if you're poured into something too tight. You will be uncomfortable all day, too.
There isn't a law that says all bridesmaids must look the same. In my opinion, you looking amazing in a better fitting dress is much better than having everyone matching.

Buy that body suit everyone on Instagram is raving about

think it’s called skims

Wear multiple layers of good shapewear - I’ve done this and fitted into something that was slightly too small. And I wouldn’t have any ‘treats’ until the wedding day

Good shape wear can work wonders! I once lost 7lb in a week on the cabbage soup diet 😏 it wasn't fun but it works! Not sure it would be a good idea if you're breastfeeding though 🤔

Its just a low calorie and low carb diet, around 1k cals a day and fewer than 100g of carbs I was told (which isnt particularly low carb to my mind)

They were the wrong colour so got sent back. We’re wearing a bright-ish sky blue colour and the ones that arrived were olive green!

Surely one week of a drastic diet wouldn't impact breastfeeding too much, it's only one week.

This is an insane suggestion to someone who’s breastfeeding. Op please don’t do any kind of silly fasting crash diet!

I don't believe this is a diet issue.
You weight the same but your figure has changed - that's what's happened.
Like the PP who has a wider rib cage now - I went up half a shoe size.
Locate where the dress differs with your figure and see if anything like shape wear will help.
If not, decline with sadness and explain to the bride it's your pregnancy and birth that have changed your figure and it's not fixable by a crash diet!

This seems good advice. But please be careful with yourself too, breastfeeding is quite depleting on your body.

I would book a body wrap the day before and get some good shape wear.
Don't change diet too much if your breastfeeding.

So we’ve actually all got a different style of dress, they’re just the same fabric/colour/length. So at least if we have to alter it in some way it won’t be too obvious.

My friend’s aunt is a pretty good dressmaker (she made the flower girl outfits) so as a last resort she might be able to help us out, only problem is she lives near Lincoln and I live in Kent!

I’m so cross with myself for not being more careful and at least keeping a closer eye on my size. I guess it’s all well and good going by how your clothes fit, but it doesn’t mean much when I spend a large portion of my time in sweatpants!

If you can't get it to go up then a pashmina to hide it will suffice

As your baby is 9mo, your breastfeeding will be well established and a few days of crash dieting isn't going to wreck it (just as a short illness wouldn't and tbh from your thread title I though salmonella might be a possibility, but that's a bit too unpredictable in the time you have left.

Some ideas:

• drink lots of water
• and nothing but water except a cup of slimatee (Holland and Barrett sell it, it's a v mild laxative, not enough to tip you in to dangerous purging, but enough to make sure everything keeps moving usefully in case changes to diet bung everything up)
• consider replacing some meals with Slimfast bars or similar (nutritionally balanced so your milk should still in turn be nutritious, but hideously ultraprocessed so might leave you feeling hungry)
• so eat lots of (watery) fruit and salady stuff (undressed, the salad that is, not you)
• small amount of lean protein
• nothing white/processed or with sugars (except what is naturally in the whole foods)
• find really good distractions for when you feel hungry your willpower doesn't have to hold out for that long
• get your DP/DC/best friend to massage you (or pummel as much as yourself as you can reach) or use manual lymphatic drainage techniques (google for info) to help move on any water reduction
• best shapewear you can find

And take an evening dress that fits, so once photos are all done you can change into something that won't squeeze you to pieces. Then get very drunk on one glass of fizz as you'll have been running on empty for so long in the run up.

No GP is going to prescribe furosimide so some can fit into a bridesmaid dress! And if they do they want striking off!

I mean I managed to go to Glastonbury and not bf at all for almost a whole week and it was fine- I just pumped to keep my supply up.