How to Lose Weight
for a Wedding

Many of us have a specific goal in mind when we are trying to lose weight, and one of the most common goals is a wedding.  At Align we believe in healthy, sustainable weight loss, and in giving you the right tools to make lasting changes, but we appreciate that for some people kick starting their weight loss is a must!  Today we’re going to explore some of the strategies for losing weight quickly for a wedding. 

Your wedding day is one of the most important days of your life, and it’s natural to want to look and feel your best.  For most of us this is the first time when all eyes are on us and we know that hundreds of photos are going to be taken.  We want the memories of the day to be really special and look back on our pictures with pride.  Feeling and looking great is a must for many brides and grooms and so losing weight can be a priority for many people ahead of their big day.  

Let’s think about some of the factors involved in losing weight fast for a wedding…

Setting goals

When we’re thinking about losing weight it’s important to set a realistic goal.  Think about the time frame that you are trying to lose weight in.  If your wedding is in 2 months the goal you set for weight loss might be different to that if your wedding were in 3 or 6 months.  The date of your wedding and the lead up time that you have will naturally affect how much weight it is realistic to lose and the strategies you should think about using.  

Traditional methods of weight loss usually involve a combination of diet and exercise, and it is usually recommended that you aim to lose 1-2 lbs per week.  The quicker you need to lose weight the stricter and more punishing the weight loss programme will be.  The problem with these types of weight loss programmes however is that they are rigid, difficult to stick to and often leave us feeling deprived and unsatisfied.  There’s a reason that most diets fail, they’re just too demanding.  Moreover, many of us need to lose weight quickly for a big event and traditional weight loss methods just don’t allow this. 

This is where medical weight loss can help us.  GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Rybelsus are a true breakthrough.  They have totally revolutionised the way that we can approach our weight loss, providing us with safe and effective tools to lose weight quickly. 

These medications have been licensed since 2005 for the treatment of Type 2 Diabetes and in recent years we have come to understand their power when it comes to managing overweight and obesity. They work by mimicking the action of a natural hormone (glucagon-like peptide) in the body, which leads to:

• Lowering of blood sugar levels by stimulating insulin production in the pancreas and reducing glucose production in the liver. 
• Slowing down the movement of food through our intestines helping us to feel fuller for longer. 
• Increase in the amount of energy-burning brown fat in our bodies, which increases our basal metabolic rate.  This effectively increases the number of calories we burn when we’re doing nothing.  
• Enhancement of the signals in our brain that tell us we are full, meaning that we will want to stop eating sooner. 
• Reduction the signals in our brain that cause cravings. 

At the core of weight loss is taking in fewer calories than we are burning.  How many calories we are burning is a combination of our basal metabolic rate (BMR) i.e. the number of calories we burn at rest, combined with the number of calories we burn through physical activity.  BMR is individual to each person and is dependent on our age, sex, weight and height.  For example a 35 year old woman who is 160 cm tall and weighs 80 Kg will have a BMR of approx 1400 calories per day.  Any physical activity on top of that will increase the number of calories burned.  A 30 minute run will burn somewhere between 250 and 500 calories depending on your body make up and the intensity with which you run. So, you can see that the number of calories we burn per day varies from person to person but is likely to be somewhere around 2000.  The number of calories a person consumes per day also varies from person to person, but is often somewhere around 2000.  If calories consumed matches closely with calories burned then weight loss won’t be possible.  

Fat is the body’s energy store.  It is converted by the body to energy when the calories we consume are fewer than we need throughout the day.  Each kilo of body fat contains approximately 7700 calories, so in order to lose a kilo of fat we need to create a calorie deficit of 7700 calories. 

As we have seen above, GLP-1 medications assist us in losing weight by naturally and easily reducing the number of calories we want to consume.  When our appetite and cravings are reduced we eat less.  In addition to this Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro can increase our bodies’ brown fat stores.  Brown fat is a fascinating part of our bodies – let’s take a closer look at it:

Brown Fat: The calorie burner

• Brown adipose tissue, commonly known as brown fat, is different from the type of fat that accumulates in our hips, abdomen and thighs. Unlike white fat, which stores energy, brown fat burns it. But how does it do this? Brown fat is packed full of mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell and when it’s activated it generates heat which means we are burning calories.
• The biggest store of brown fat is in just below our collar bones and it can be activated directly through the nerve pathways.
• One of best ways to activate brown fat is to expose your body to cold temperatures e.g. cold water swimming or ice baths or through vigorous exercise.  
• The good news is that GLP-1 medications also increase brown fat activity, most likely by stimulating the nerve pathways that link to brown fat.  This means that by taking GLP-1 medications we can increase our brown fat and increase our basal metabolic rate. 

How long does Ozempic (and other GLP-1 medications such as Wegovy and Mounjaro) take to work for weight loss?

As we have explored in a previous blog post, GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro help us to lose weight quickly.  Most people will start to notice the effects in the first few days of taking them.  These effects build over time and many people will lose 10-15% of their body weight in 3-6 months.  So what does this actually mean?  Let’s look at an example:

• Caroline is 35 year old woman who weighs 80 Kg and is 160 cm tall giving her a BMI of 31, which is in the range for obesity. 
• If Caroline loses 10% of her body weight this is an 8 Kg weight loss, which brings her BMI down to 28 and puts her in the overweight range. 
• If Caroline loses 15% of her body weight this is a 12 Kg weight loss, which brings her BMI down to 26, and is very close to a “normal” BMI of 25. 

Maximising fast weight loss with GLP-1 medications

GLP-1 medications help you lose weight without strict and difficult diet and exercise plans. We know that we can lose weight steadily with these medications by using them correctly and making simple lifestyle changes. If we want to lose weight quicker, say for example your wedding is in 2 months, then making bigger lifestyle changes will help to maximise the results.  

Eating for weight loss

One of the most important factors in losing weight quickly is our diets. Thinking about the food we eat can help us to lose weight more easily and make us feel more energised. 

• Focus on whole foods – GLP-1 medications will reduce your appetite and make you feel fuller more quickly and for longer.  So when you are eating chose whole foods which are packed with nutrients such as vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats.  Processed foods and sugary foods won’t fill you up for long and can increase your appetite. 
• Mindful eating – mindfulness is the act of taking note of the world around us and we can use mindfulness techniques when it comes to food.  One of the key factors for weight loss success is learning to listen to our bodies.  We need to pay attention to what we are eating and eat it slowly without distractions.  This helps strengthen signalling between our stomachs and our brains, which trains us to recognise when we’re hungry and stop when we’re full. GLP-1 medications will give you a helping hand with this but we can learn to maximise their effects. 
• Portion control – for many of us, when we overeat it can be because we are filling our plates with much more food than we actually need. Large portions can become habit over and we can stop noticing how much we are eating. By thinking about portion control and reducing how much we eat at any one time, we can reduce the number of calories we consume in each sitting.  For some this will involve weighing food, but for others this is too time consuming and fiddly.  Another great way to practice portion control is to eat from smaller bowls and plates.  It’s a small change that can make a big difference. 
• Stay hydrated – for many of us it can be easy to confuse hunger and thirst as the sensations can be felt as similar in our bodies. Making sure we are well hydrated, particularly before we start a meal, is a great way to avoid overeating. 
• Plan your meals – being out and about, being late home from work and there’s no food in the house, going to a party, all of these can be triggers for making unhealthy food choices.  Thinking about what to eat in advance having the food you need ready can really help us to stick to our goals. 

Exercise for weight loss

As we have discussed in a previous blog post, you don’t have to exercise when taking GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. There are many health benefits to exercise which we have previously explored, however if we are trying to lose weight fast for a wedding we might want to think about adding in some form of exercise to our routine. 

• Calorie deficit – the aim is to get into a calorie deficit and so the more calories we can burn each day, the faster we can get into that deficit.  It doesn’t matter how you do this. Pick a form of exercise that you like and try and build that into your week, ideally three times a week. Remember it all counts, if structured work outs aren’t for you then try to build more activity into your day. Making simple choices like taking the stairs, or parking further away from the supermarket door; they all all add up.
• Strength training – doing some form of weight based exercise such as free weights, machine weights or bodyweight exercises is not only a great way to get into a calorie deficit but it also helps you to increase your muscle mass and look more toned.  

Sleep for weight loss

Getting enough sleep is crucial for weight loss and overall health. Lack of sleep can disrupt your metabolism and increase your appetite. This is an area of our health that it is vital not to ignore when you are on your weight loss journey. 

Conclusion

When we want to lose weight fast for a wedding and time is of the essence, we can maximise the power of GLP-1 medications and ensure our weight loss success.