One Dress, Two Rehearsal Dinners

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.

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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!

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11 Comments

  1. Tracy November 10, 2012 / 3:44 pm

    Way to go, Ash. How awesome! The inner strength you have found certainly radiates outside as well!

  2. Dana November 10, 2012 / 4:47 pm

    You look wonderful!

  3. Katie @ Livehalffull November 10, 2012 / 5:09 pm

    You look amazing and I bet you feel even better!!!

  4. Laura November 10, 2012 / 7:21 pm

    Your dress is the same one I am wearing as a bridesmaid in my friend’s wedding next June 🙂 I love it in the salmon that you got! Mine is champagne colored.

  5. Pam November 10, 2012 / 8:32 pm

    You look gorgeous (in all the pictures – both past and current) but as you know, its all about how you feel, and it makes such a difference to feel confident and happy with your body. Glad you have made it to that place 🙂 I was not happy with how I looked or felt last year and started WW and in the last year lost about 15 pounds and definitely feel a lot more confident and happy to get dressed now too! 🙂

  6. Lauren K November 10, 2012 / 9:45 pm

    You look beautiful in the dress in both occasions but I am so glad you feel more confident now! That makes a huge difference and is so important. Proud of how much you have accomplished both mentally and physically!!

  7. Kathryn November 11, 2012 / 12:49 pm

    The dress looks great on you!

    Is Bo wearing green pants?

  8. kristin miller November 11, 2012 / 4:51 pm

    YOU LOOK AMAZING! Love that color on you. I’m sure you had tons of fun!

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