Three years ago, I was getting ready to say I do to my best friend. It was this weekend that I had my final dress fitting and curled up on the floor of the store sobbing because my wedding dress barely zipped. The stress of moving to New York City, moving in with a boy, anxiety, and many other things had led to a 15 pound weight gain between our engagement and wedding weekend.

Back then the way that I lost weight was by counting calories, many of which were empty and processed, taking water pills every now and then, lots of caffeine in the form of Diet Coke or coffee, and lots of cardio. Well, the picture below shows that even doing that for a week didn’t help much.

The last time I wore my rehearsal dinner dress, one that I fell in love with as soon as I saw it in JCrew, was on November 20th at our rehearsal dinner. I used the gorgeous wrap my aunt gave me as a cover to protect myself from seeing my arms in any of the mirrors. I was so uncomfortable and self conscious that night that I don’t have a single picture from that night on Facebook or framed in our home.

Last night, for the first time in 3 years, I put this dress on and instead of feeling self conscious I felt beautiful and strong. Cleaner eating, combining cardio with lifting heavy, positive thinking, and better daily choices have made me a new woman. I can say that I am happier and more confident today, inside and out, than I have ever been before!