Dress is too small :( Stressed.

Oh gosh, sounds to me like you have put muscle on, im no expert at all but this happened to me, i was doing weights in the gym and instead of toning up i grew muscle and added inches! I couldnt fit into my BM dress at the time. To loose this weight i went onto a no carb lean diet, and did alot of running/ walking i slimmed down a hell of alot and lost the weight/muscle i gained and the dress fitted lovely only 6 weeks later!

Also i forgot to add DRINK!! Lots and lots of water! 2.5L to be exact daily, the more you drink the more you will loose, i lost 5 pound in a week from just doing that as usually my intake is poor and i hold alot of water hope that helps

I exercised leading up to mine, but then when it got closer I got too busy to go to the gym so I just focused on diet (I find the gym makes me very hungry so its harder to calorie control) and this got rid of the last bit, so that might be best for you. I was doing a few exercises with very small or no weights to tone up my arms and waist (happy to try and describe them if you want them!) Worked brilliantly and I havent been that happy with my body for ages. Shame I didn't keep it up!

Having a week off from the gym seems to work for me. I've been doing 4/5 classes a week since Christmas and couldn't go this week as I was feeling poorly. I'd noticed that I'd lost weight and toned up but I've dropped a dress size this week and look noticeably thinner. Not sure of the science behind this but I always find a week off after you've been training hard seems to shift a little extra weight. You've got plenty of time hun, stress won't help so just keep doing what you're doing and it'll come off eventually

Of course it will change shape, that's why people workout. I didn't plan on adding inches, I was exercising to lose them.

Just eating less is also a silly thing to say - I was eating 1200 cals a day for a month, all healthy food, and didn't lose a bean. The week I started eating more I lost two pounds as my body didn't think I was starving it anymore.

That's a very good point, you have to be careful not to go too far with it. I was talking to a gym instructor who specialised in nutrition and he said you need to eat 500 calories less than you burn each day in order to lose weight, so that's roughly 1500 without exercise. If you go too low your body will start to go into starvation mode and will store it rather than get rid.

I think bodies respond in different ways. diet does very little for me, but exercise makes a huge difference. its a case of finding what works for you personally, i think that approach to weight loss isnt 'one size fits all' (no pun intended!). like another poster, i also find a week off after a heavy training session works. id cut the exercise down slightly, and switch to non muscle specific work (think dancing, walking etc).

To clarify: when i said 'that approach to weight loss' i meant all aproaches (when i re-read it seems i am nodding at a particular method!)

My diet is pretty good already though - 3 litres of water a day, porridge for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch with carrot sticks and maybe a cereal bar as an afternoon snack, then a regular sized dinner (chicken veg rice etc). I don't see how I can improve that?

ive heard slimming world is really good but I don't quite understand it - do they tell you what to eat?

im going to do less resistance focused exercise and more running (flat, long rather than uphill etc) and do light weights just for my arms and back.

I've been told by trainers before that to prevent the 'bulky' look by adding too much muscle, for women it's better to use lighter weights but do more repetitions.

I think you've probably just got to try what works for you. I can eat as healthily as I like but unless I'm exercising I don't lose anything. I also find that if a have a couple of 'normal' eating days this gives me a bit of a kick start.

Maybe lay off the spinning a bit & replacewith a session with yoga or pilates. Pole is also extremely good for toning & its fun too.

I was going to say cut out the exercise & focus on the diet & see if that helps.

Reduce the amount of weights and hard cardio - go for interval training as this can burn what you have without bulking up on muscle. Your diet sounds quite restricted so you might find your body is in starvation mode slightly.

Ask your gym to see a personal trainer - it can be pricey but usually they give a 2 taster session and they will be able to give you an exercise regime which gives you what you want, you have plenty of time :-)

Thanks Schwelley, good to know it's not just me! I will definitely cut back on the spinning (OH bought me a spin bike for Christmas...whoops!)!and start running. Hopefully it won't be so bad now the days are lighter. I hope it's not long before I notice a difference, end of April ideally!