300+ And Ready To Try Again... #1085
 

WELCOME

We are a group of individuals who weigh or have weighed 300+, or near there. This group was formed to provide a place for others like us to find support and hope. We are aware of the distinct problems that come with weighing over 300 lbs.

We want to invite everyone to join us in our journey.
We share laughter and tears .
We share what works for us and what doesn't.
We often use a "Topic of the Day" for discussion.

Motivational Monday
Tuesday Tips
Wednesday Wish List .. and What you are doing to obtain it.
Thankful Thursday
FUN Friday ... don't wait until you lose your weight.
Sit-up Saturdays - any physical activity
Share your Success Sunday

These are not required topics ...just ideas to share. We often find them very helpful. We also share heartaches and fears ... joys and celebrations.

We have several extra threads going on simutaneously such as Monthly Challenges, Weekly Weigh-ins, Recipes, Bios, and more. Please feel free to check them all out.

We have found this thread to be more than just a support group...
we have found it to become a home. We invite you to join us.

WELCOME!

I know you'll all agree that we are really thankful for the free services here at 3FC. The sisters offer all of this support and information with no charges to us. There are a couple of ways though that we can help out.

If you are thinking about buying anything at Amazon, why not help out 3FC at the same time? You can do this by clicking on the button for the Amazon "store" in the upper right hand corner of the screen on the PURPLE tool bar. A portion of your purchase price will be given to 3FC by Amazon. It doesn't increase your price at all, but it does help out 3FC. You can use any of the Amazon.com links that you see on the site in order to help contribute to the site.

Also, BTW, in case you didn't know it, you can view the message boards "ad free" for a minimal charge. I think it's like $15 for 6 months. A very small investment to be rid of the annoying ads and make your pages load quicker.

There have been some concerns expressed by the powers that be about copyright infringement. So please, if you are directly quoting someone else or printing an article in whole or in part, please give credit where credit is due!!!!

What a great way to think about it!!

Morning everyone!

Heather I'm glad you locked that thread - I would definitely have posted after you stopped it!

Nancy: I really hope the new place/job works out well for you. I'd miss that Canadian bacon too though – it's a staple in our house! Good luck!

Sandy – thank you for the compliment – You could too do the elliptical though – everyone can…just a matter of doing it a little at a time until you build up! I suspect it's not that much harder than the gazelle. :)

Mechelle – When you get to Washington it'll be a whole new ballgame for you! Moving is so stressful. :hug:

CHRISTIE :bravo: That's a great victory!

Annie – Good job with the exercise – Keep it up! :)

Catherine – Has it been a year already! How times flies! Happy Anniversary! :D

Heather (Aengusmommy) First of all – I LOVE the name Aengus! Second, how incredibly cool that you play the bagpipes! I LOVE bagpipes – must be my tiny drop of Scottish! :lol:

Heather (Wyllen) I totally feel like you just said. Not that I'm by any stretch doing the kind of working out you are, but I feel like I'm learning to appreciate and control the things my body can do. Even after only 3 ½ weeks of doing the elliptical steady I feel like I see a difference and I certainly feel a difference. I look at other people and see muscles and I think "My body CAN do that! I could do that if I work at it!" It’s a feeling that's entirely new to me.

Everyone! Thank you so much for the nice things you've said about my exercise. I know I tend to go on and plan to do so some more! :lol:

Did the usual exercise this morning and then decided to walk to work from my far spot. It's a bit rainy here but almost 50 degrees and I thought I'd use the extra 9 minutes or so to round off my exercise goal…which I increased since I was almost ½ way there on the 5th! :rolleyes: I still trying to decide whether to count that morning and evening walk when I do it. The state lot is .2 mile and up hill. The other spot is downtown on the street and .6 of a mile. I'd decided I wasn't going to count something as "exercise" if I'd do it anyway…For instance, going to the mall to shop isn't exercise no matter how long I walk around, going to the mall to walk because it's raining is. Walking the extra does take about 10 minutes, but I do it a lot just trying to get in some exercise and Never mind – talking to myself. :blah: I just answered my own question anyway. :shrug:

Time to go! Have a terrific OP day everyone!!!

Man, it's hard for me to keep up when I'm actually BUSY at work instead of surfing the web all day (imagine that!) :dizzy:

Just wanted to stop by, though, and say that I had a loss of 2.5 pounds at TOPS last night :carrot: That's 12.25 pounds gone since I returned to TOPS on December 7 :cool: According to my TOPS book, the last time I was at 280 was back in April. When I weighed in on Feb. 9 of 2006, I was 275.5, so my next goal is to be lower than that by my first February weigh-in at TOPS this year--that way, I can at least say I didn't gain for the year ;)

Looking back through my TOPS weight book, I see my lowest recorded weight since I joined (which was March 2005) was 268.75, and that was on Dec. 1, 2005. It's time to reach a new low (in a good way!).

Lilion -- Being able to see that kind of progress is a really great NSV. I'm thinking I need to focus on those kinds of things more, as the scale has slowed down. I want to learn to focus on other ways of measuring my progress.

As for the exercise, I wasn't sure of the answer to your question... if you park further away to get the exercise in, then perhaps you SHOULD count it.

I make my own rules for that, and I am trying to change them as I get fitter. I really like the idea of counting the walking I do with my dogs. When I was starting out and not in good shape, it was a great walk for me and a great motivator. I counted the walks as they were over 10 minutes.

But I'm fitter now and walking with my little dogs isn't really as much of a workout (though I try to keep moving, even as they are doing their business). However, I'm afraid that if take away the incentive of counting my minutes my poor doggies will never get walked! So, I'm compromising, and only counting our walks if they are at least 15 minutes.

More than anyone probably wanted to know!

Jill-- :woohoo: on the weight loss. You are in the zone and it is paying off!

That was my feeling. I mean if I'm doing it for exercise, as opposed to just because, then it IS exercise after all. If I walk the downtown fitness mile at lunch, it's exercise. If I walk downtown to get a latte - it's not. If I walk the dogs around the block for exercise then it's exercise. I could just walk them out to the backyard to pee after all and usually do - I'm not walking them around the block for them, I'm doing it for me! So, since I purposely park 6/10 of a mile from the office so I have to walk briskly to get here in 10 minutes when I could park in the state lot that's only 2/10 of a mile away and stroll, I'm not doing that for fun - I'm doing it because I want the extra exercise and that makes it exercise. But I may not count the walk back...because I usually stroll and window shop then. We'll see. :dizzy:

Jilly: YOU GO GIRL! EXCELLENT! :D

I think you're thinking smartly about this! What counts as exercise really may be different for each of it. I really like thinking about it as what encourages us to do something intentionally!

Since we're on the subject of exercise....is there anyone here who is disabled? I walk with a cane because of nerve damage in my left leg and it's almost impossible for me to do long periods of exercise. I still weight lift, but that's about it [I can't box/kickbox anymore :(]. I just ordered a DVD called Chair Aerobics and I'm looking forward to that...but I was wondering if anyone here has had any similar issues??

I lost my head and hopped on the scale this morning. I wasn’t going to do it until I was sure I had lost my Christmas weight. I didn’t want to upset myself and put myself in a tailspin. Plus, my scale only goes to 390 and seeing that error irritates and scares me at the same time. I also always weigh first thing in the morning, without anything on, before breakfast. This was after breakfast and after getting dressed. I didn’t get the error. I was down a pound and a half below my pre-Christmas weight. I had such a huge smile on my face, that my husband was freaked out and wanted to know what I was up to. Yeah! I’m on my way back down again finally! Watch out, there’s no telling what I might do next.

Aengusiwmommy-I played trombone. With nothing but older brothers some of my hand-me-downs were not exactly dainty. Bagpipes take some serious air. How are your lungs? If you choose the pipes, there’s a company called Elderly Instruments that sells a practice pipe. It’s about the size of a recorder or tin whistle so you can practice without the neighbors complaining. My uncle played, and he used the chanter to practice on the subway going to work, and he got weird looks but no real complaints. As for the drums, I understand that there is also a digital practice drum that you can practice on with headphones. The reason I bring this up is that I gave up the trombone because I couldn’t find a place to practice that didn’t bother people. The more you practice an instrument, the better you get, and that’s what makes it fun. It’s like exercise, if you like it, and it’s convenient for you, you’re more likely to stick with it.

Annie-When people ask us to help them move something, himself will tell them that I’d be better help than he is. He was raised with nothing but sisters, and his dad was a professor of medieval literature, and he’s never owned a car, so he’s not exactly what we’d call a Bubba in the south. He looks like one, but I’d be surprised if he’s ever had a wrench in his hand. Needless to say, I do most of the fixing up around here. I’m still waiting to try out the new basketball I got from Santa. I haven’t had one in my hands in over 15 years. He got me a black one in case I lose it in the snow. My big goal is to be able to play church softball next summer. I’ve got the mitt I used in college re-laced and reconditioned and ready to go. I just have to lose a little more weight, and rehab my back so I can twist enough at the waist to get the ball over the fence. See, if I hit it out, I don’t have to sweat the fact that I can’t run yet.

Christie-That’s great that you met a goal. Way to go!

Wyllenn-Sometimes I think being an athlete was a disadvantage because I could get away with eating a whole lot more food back then, and I think that was the beginning of my warped view of serving sizes. Research says though that once you’ve been in shape, it is easier to get back in shape than if you’ve never been in shape before. I hope to some day find out for myself. In my book I talk about being an athlete who never exercised or expended much energy. I used my size as a tool.

Lillion-yeah, it will be a year the 16th. He somehow or other talked a big drug company that is having a conference 8-10th at this expensive resort into paying our entire way, plane tickets, hotel, food, transfers, etc., in exchange for him giving an hour lecture and me a half an hour to a bunch of drug reps on the new medication he is taking. You know stuff like side effects of the new drug versus the old one. It costs $7-800/month, so I guess they need all the ammunition they can get in order to sell the stuff to doctors. I guess they will ask me questions on my view of his improvement or whatever. We’ve taken 8 trips since I’ve been here, and only paid for one. He always has to give a speech or go to a meeting, but I get to relax and enjoy. He may not know how to clean a sink trap, but I think he could sell dirt to a farmer.

Jilly-losing 12.5 pounds in December is outstanding. Not many Americans can say the same thing.

Simone-yes, I’m disabled. I’ve had an ankle reconstructed, two knee surgeries, and in ’91 I was severely injured. I messed up my knee and back, left hand, and had a brain injury bad enough that my memory Swiss-cheesed. For example I can still read Spanish and French, but can no longer speak them or understand them when being spoken to. I sometimes watch the French language channels here by turning on the close captioning so I can read what they are saying. I was medically retired. I walked for 5 years with a cane/crutch, and in ’96 I re-injured my back so badly that I couldn’t stand up straight any longer. I’m not sure exactly what I did to it because by that time I was too heavy to have a cat-scan or MRI or even a decent X-ray. I ended up in a wheelchair for 8 years. I couldn’t lose weight because I couldn’t exercise, and I couldn’t exercise because of my size and disability. I couldn’t even do any kind of water aerobics at the time because I couldn’t walk far enough to get from my chair to the pool. I eventually started by just doing scissor kicks lying in bed. 5 seconds at a time at first. Then I did sit-ups in bed. Eventually I was able to get flexible enough to try to learn to walk again. Once I could walk a whole block, I started water aerobics. Now I can walk for 2 hours without stopping, not without pain, but without assistance. Chair aerobics can work, but just keep in mind that a lot of them are designed not for the overweight but for the elderly and are designed to increase movement not burn calories. You can try regular aerobics tapes while lying in bed so that it doesn’t stress your injured areas. Even those silly rope and pulley things you are supposed to put on a door knob or your head board can help. The key is to get moving. I kept telling myself that even 5 seconds was 5 seconds more than I had done the day before. If it makes you feel any better, my doctor, I hate to admit, was right, if I lost weight I’d feel better. Big shock. Just do what you can, when you can, and don’t re-injure yourself. That doesn’t help anything.

Catherine - :bravo: on the loss!

way to go catherine!

Dear Sweet Catherine, I am so glad you're feeling better. Thanks so much for your words of encouragement and caution regarding DD playing basket ball. I actually have her doing just a couple reps/sets a day to strengthen her knees. She's a little heavy, but solid as a rock, and super strong. She HATES high top shoes, but she does have good basket ball shoes. They have good support and gel in the heels etc.....(her dad and i suffer from heel spurs)
I've had surgery on one knee as well as an elbow and 5 children. I agree the pain is about the same. I will definitely get her supports for her knees when she starts her cycle. I really appreciate your advice. I feel it takes a village to raise a child....at least a child that's kind,
trustworthy and productive as an adult. You are truly an amazing woman and an inspiration to me. I feel so honored to be able to call you my friend,
Congrats on your loss too!!!!
Heather.....my opinion...definitely the bag pipes. It's an art and few can do it.
I hope you get your gym buddy.

Christie :woo hoo: on meeting your goal! Keep up the amazing work!

2fat4u...You know about my blood clot. Please, please do what Catherine tells you and get it checked. Especially if the front side of your calf is swollen. I don't remember the link, but do a search under DVT. There's lots of info with all the symptoms and even photos.

Jilly. I am so proud of you. Congrats on your loss. I was thinking about you a lot today. And YOU saved me!!! I went grocery shopping and guess what they had in the marked down bakery section. I big fat creamy lucious carrot cake.....I almost RAN past that thing. It looked so good, but I didn't want the headache that goes with it, or use up all my calories on it. :) Keep up the good work.

Today I was under my caloric intake again. Day 5 :woo hoo: (even if a new restaurant did donate 25 pizzas to our office today.) It wasn't the healthiest day, though. I had plain cheese, thin crust and mostly at the naughty cheese off the top. Still counted the entire amount on fitday.com
I haven't gotten on the gazelle today, but I did leg and arm stuff today and did the grocery shopping....two hours walking around at the store.....I still count it as exercise in my mind, but not on my minutes. My legs hurt afterward every time. At least my ankles didn't hurt tonight when I got home. That's a first in a long while.

I want to start laundry tonight and run the vac. My son will be here just for a little while in the morning and I want the house to be somewhat presentable. And, as you all know, I HATE laundry the most of all chores. Maybe I can get it done and out of the way tomorrow.

Hope all of you are hanging in there. :hugs: to all and sorry to those i've not been able to give a personal reply.

thanks for the info sandy .. i am taking the weekend off exercise and if i still have pain will go to the dr.thanks for the concern!

Hey everyone...just a quick check in. Still packing...I guess that is what I will be doing this whole month!:lol: The good news is I did my dancing today! I find I can do the short 3-5 minute dances to a song then rest and try to do another one. I seem to be able to do this a lot better than just walking back and forth in the house. Its sort of fun because its almost like a game because I try to see can I just keep moving until the song ends. Thank goodness they are short songs! :lol: Whatever gets me moving I guess.:)

Christie~Congrats on meeting your goal!:bravo:

Lilion~I know...being back in the lower 48 will be awesome! And you are doing so good with the exercise. WTG!:cp:

JILL~You are doing so good! Congrats on losing 12.25. :congrat:

CATHERINE~WTG on your loss! :woohoo:

SANDY~WTG being on Day 5! you are doing great hun!:)

PATTY~Hope your leg gets better.

Wow everyone is doing so well! So many losses and NSVs! What a wonderful start to a new year!

Also I forgot to mention. We packed away the scale today! I won't be able to weigh again for at least a month and a half. Unless we buy a new scale. Like I have mentioned before....its proably a good thing. I think I was getting obsessed!:lol:

Hope you all had a good day!

Congratulations to everyone who has experienced some weight loss during the past couple of days, and to the others that have done so well with the exercise - hooray!

Heather (Wyllen) ~ thank you so much for telling everyone - especially us new folks - that we don't necessarily have to respond to each post. After posting the first couple of times, I was just overwhelmed trying to figure out how I was ever going to learn everyone's names. But little by little, I am catching on.

I've been telling everyone I know about you guys. Everyone here is so supportive and so positive. And I think that's rare.

Today I spent a large part of my time trying to navigate the scholarship process at one of the universities to which my son has applied. I called the admissions office, which makes decisions regarding many of the merit scholarships, and could just tell that the front end person had no clue as to what she was talking about.

And I told myself that I was not going to let my baby go out like that. He has worked so hard to be a good student, he contributes the majority of his money to our household income and he stays after school nearly every day to ensure that he earns good grades. Not my child!

I realized that I was going to need some help from the inside, so I called a friend who gave me the names of a couple of people who work at the university and one called me back. He had me fax my son's information directly to him and said he would work on it.

So I don't know what may come of it all, but I do believe that you must advocate for your children and help them shake the world like a tree so that they get what they deserve from it. So today was a good mommy day!

I also worked on pulling applications and other general items for scholarships and universities that he still plans to apply to that have immediate deadlines so we can finish those.

Regarding weight loss ~ did pretty well with my eating. I kept my calories within my daily allottment, keep the fat at 30% of my diet, and made good choices even though I had to eat at a couple of fast food restaurants. Had McDonald's for dinner. I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich, minus the mayo and minus half of the bread. I was cutting it close with my calories and wanted to make sure that I did not go over.

For lunch, I ordered a burrito supreme - I just love sour cream - but I substituted chicken in place of the beef.

So I did well with the calories and fat, but I didn't have any green veggies or fruit today.

Even though I haven't started exercising yet, I have found that my body feels much better since I have reduced the amount of food that I have been eating.

I know that I have lost weight. I'm just not sure how much. I have this silly digital scale that gives me crazy readings. Got on it five times yesterday within a short period of time and it gave me five different readings. I may have to purchase a different type of scale. But it's probably around 6 pounds.

My sister-in-law told me yesterday about a show she watched where a man orginally weighed 600 pounds, hooked up with Richard Simmons and lost over 400 and then ate his way back to 1000 pounds. That just let me know that I cannot become over confident with my progress. Even when I reach my goal, I must always be mindful of my eating and exercise habits.

Someone made reference to my post about struggling with what to do with my hands when I can't eat. I don't struggle at home. I have things to do there. Or when I have a makeup event, I definitely have something to do with my hands then. It's just in the call center, during the day. They restrict the internet during the day hours because of the call volume. I do crochet, but that is also hard in the day time. But I could journal, read books. I really struggled the first few days I made the change. It's starting to become somewhat easier.

I almost forgot ~ I found a small container. The one that you usually put paper clips in and also got 143 pennies. This represents the number of pounds I need to lose. I plan to put one penny in for every pound I lose and keep it when I'm done. When I pick it up and feel how heavy it is, it will serve as a reminder as to how heavy I used to be and where I don't want to go back to.

Lastly, I had a brownie yesterday. It was so good. But I learned - never tell anyone that you are on a diet and ask them to help you stay away from sweets. My mother nagged me so badly that she started to sound like an alarm. I just felt like "step away from the brownie." I ate it anyway, but I definitely did not go and get another one.:D

Another OP day for me. It's a little easier every day to listen to my body and follow it's directions. I'm definitely cutting back on portion size. Plus,I'm feeling so good about the exercise, that I really don't want junk food. I want to put only the good fuel in my body. However, when an urge hits, I have a small portion and that's it. I did that this afternoon... I had a sliver of cheesecake at work... while a good friend of mine had about 3 slices. I wanted to tell her that those were her calories for the next two days, but I know that she'll make healthy choice when she's ready. I know better than anyone that you can't force someone into losing weight.

I digress... I forgot the pedometer today, but I had a packed day.I taught gym to Kindergarten at work (oy vey) and then I did some power walking this evening for 60 minutes. I'm beat. TGIF!

My first weigh in will be on Monday morning... I'm nervous/excited. Do you all weigh in on a certain day? Or is it whenever is best for the individual?

Have a great weekend, friends!

Hey everyone -- Mona Lisa's post above made me wonder if there's anything we can write in either our intro to new people or on the first post of the numbered threads to help people better get integrated into the group -- the idea that you don't have to do personals all the time may help people feel more comfortable jumping in, for example.

Any thoughts from anyone??

Does that even make sense?

Christie: Way to go

Jilly: yea to you on another -2.5 pounds!

Catherine: Congrats on already loosing weight. You go girl. I love your avitar picture too. You have the most beautiful smile.

Sandy: Whoop Whoop to day number 5 op!

MonaLisa: What a great penny Idea! I love it. I may have to borrow it. Boy, along with Xena's scrap book idea of her weight loss journey that I am borrowing, I may be busy besides exercise.

Well, Today for the first time in months and months, I cleaned the Master Bedroom and bathroom and the spare bedroom and our computer room and hall bathroom, showers, toilets, dusting, vacuuming, mopping the whole shabang. I feel really proud of myself for doing it without hurting my back. I just took my good ole sweet time and did some work then rested my back etc. Plus I saved us money by not having to hire our cleaning lady this week. I do so much of a better job than she does. lol. She is a young lady of 19 without a job so I was helping her as she helped us. She moved out of her mother's house and is MIA so it kind of forced me to do it. I was so determined to not have my dear hubby work so much then come home and have to work in the house at home. I did all of my bike riding and weight lifting and situps (in bed) too. I have to tell you guys that I haven't been very op in the eating department and I told you that I will do what I have to do to loose this lard so, I am telling on myself for some accountability. Please kick my in the butt. I will be op tomorrow. Yes, I will thanks to all of your talk of op and my feelings for this website and for all you ladies. I won't let you down but especially, I won't let myself down anymore. As our Catherine said a few days ago, "This is the last day I will weigh this much"!

Blessings to you all,
Annie

annie you have so much energy now way to go!

Annie -- WTG on all that cleaning! As for the eating. This is a new day and another chance to be OP. You have to try today too. Do the best you can. And then you wake up tomorrow and try again.

Heather (wyllenn) ~ I think that one thing that helps new people intergrate is joining a specific group such as this one rather than just responding to general posts.

One poster in the 100lb club (I think you responded to her) stated that she found it hard to integrate. But, I have not had this problem. I credit that to joining a well established core group. I may respond to general thread posts, but being a part of a core group helps a lot, I believe.

Mona Lisa -- Thanks for the feedback. I'm just trying to figure out if we can make joining this group less intimidating ... I wonder if a lot of people find it overwhelming to "keep track" of everyone and don't post because they can't handle all the personals. I just want them to know they don't have to do that!

Hello Everyone,
I just am taking a minute before I start on the DEEP cleaning of the kitchen.
The question has been asked about how to make it easier to "fit in" to the group.
Wyllen, Is it possible to put a note on the front page of the new posts to just post as you're comfortable with no requirement to do personals to all?

The only way I can do personals is to pull up a word document page, read the posts and type replies that hit me in a certain way.

All of us know how busy life is with families, work, health issues, our weight loss programs etc. I've never felt slighted about not being responded to personally. I think all of us here feel a special bond to one another because, we ARE a special group of people. We do have SPECIAL needs. And, we ARE PROGRESSING every day. ALL OF US! If we're op for the day, if we exercise for the day, if we make little healthier choices that day....if we're JUST AWARE of what we're eating......it's all progress.

Well, now that I've rambled on a bit, I'm gonna go hit that kitchen. Today the stove gets moved out of it's cubby and cleaned behind and under, clean the oven, clean all the burners, clear off the top of the fridge and clean it, take out wash all the shelves in the fridge. Y'all know the drill. I HATE to do it, but it's time.

More later my friends.

oh sandy you make me tired just thinking about all that housecleaning lol! i am taking today off resting my leg which isfeeling better right at this moment. have a good day everyone!

It's been a while
 

But I've updated my weight loss tracker....:balloons:
I also start a new job on Monday at a local cable company...my position is Customer Service Rep....I'm a bit nervous about it, but i'm just excited to finally have a job!

Taking the lesson that's there.
 

I was just attempting to tie my shoes and had a thought I wanted to share.

Like many people, I had a bad December. I put on, like 7-8 pounds. I had been down to 266-267 and the scale early this week put me at a solid 277. (Oh, I guess that's 10-11 pounds. Who says I'm not skilled at denial?) Each morning I try pleading and bullying it, coaxing, cajoling and threatening, insisting that it must have gone down a pound or two by now. After all, I've been kinda-sorta pretty well back on track for, um, like 3 days already.

I made a concious decision a few weeks ago. I decided I couldn't resist all the temptations around me for the holiday. I decided to not beat myself up because I was slipping every day, and just enjoy whatever I could get my lips around. I ate it all! I set a limit of course, only until the day after Christmas. But I discovered that everyone else was waiting until after the New Year, and the goodies kept flowing like water. Besides, I celebrate Christmas with my own side of the family on New Years Day, full feast included. (Anyone hear the loud clanging of the Excuse Bell?)

I knew I would put on weight behaving that way, just giving in entirely. I resigned myself to re-losing it in January, and that was all there was too it. I knew I'd have regrets, but I was willing to pay that price. So here I am, very suddenly 10 pounds heavier, with my jeans and jackets fitting tighter - much tighter, and my feet suddenly much farther away when my sneakers need tying. I don't ask HOW it happened, or why, because I know the answers.

What I wanted to share wasn't that I was all discouraged about putting it on and having to face losing it again. "I've owned that" as WYLLENN would say, I accept it and am ready to simply move forward from here. But what I wanted to share was that ten pounds made such a HUGE difference in how I feel, in my physical discomfort, in my humiliation and attitude towards myself. I am suddenly vividly aware of how much harder even ten pounds makes my life. I mean, all of a sudden, I can't freaking reach my feet again! And I can't very well blame anyone else in the house for having moved them farther away! :lol:

Right now I'm Not feeling shame or guilt or regret or discouragement. I'm simply dealing with the objective facts of how much harder life is, with only 10 pounds more. You know, if it hadn't happened so fast, if it had snuck on bit by bit, I just wouldn't have the same perspective. So perhaps I'm even a bit glad of it. I'm taking the lesson that's there. I know also, that in the past I would have ignored the added discomfort, closed my eyes to it, because I wasn't ready or able to face it and deal with it.

I mark positive NSV's for myself every day, often repeats. Like, I put on a shirt this morning that's loose, and at one time I was busting out of it. But this week I've been marking many Not-So-NSV's, like noticing how much harder and slower climbing stairs is. I puff more, and recover slower. My knees and back ache more. Even getting dressed is more cumbersome.

I'm not depressed by last month's gain. As I said, it was a decision I made and it's done. I'm just dumfounded at the extent of the fall, not in pounds, but in every single move I make and breath I take.

I acknowledge the lesson. Now I'm ready to move on.

Val, I know you're down and I'm very sorry. I have noticed all the same things you mentioned. And it's totally unfair that we can gain so quickly. BUT, I just love the lesson. ten- eleven pounds makes a huge difference in how we feel. That means, losing just 10 pounds, not a HGUE goal, but a baby step so to speak, is an easy goal, not overwhelming. I really, really appreciate you sharing. It has made me more determined to stick to just 10 pounds at a time. Therefore, I am chaning my ticker to 10 pound increments.
Hang in there, Sweetie. And take comfort and encouragement, that you have helped someone....at least me, in a major, major way.

ZIGGY - CONGRATS on the new job!!

JILL, I missed your post I think. Did I read that you LOST 12.5 pounds last month?????????????

Like, WAY

AWESOME!!!

I thought I would pop in really quickly before I need to go find some lunch. Adjusting to leaving has been harder than I expected. I actually couldn't stop crying last night and all I wanted to do was to go home. Now I am so confused. The thing I think I need the most is some time to sort everything out. I will actually be seeing my BF tonight because it is our company's holiday party (we postponed because scheduling was turning into a nightmare). Then tomorrow I will need to go back to our place to get more things, so I will see him again then. My idea right now is to give it a month no matter what. Everyone always says how hard break ups are. Even so, I wasn't quite expecting this. I went from feeling so sure of myself to completely confused in so short a time.

With everything going on exercise has been going out the window, but I am determined to not let that continue. After lunch I am heading to the gym and will make sure to have the time to get there almost every day. I can't let the new part-time job interfere with that. I promised that to myself and I also made it clear to the owner when I interviewed for this.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Greetings all,

Valerie, I've noticed the same pattern with myself. I can tell when I gain weight by how my body aches, how once easy exercises become challenging, and how I lose so much flexibility. Like you, I'm taking note and not really beating myself up about it, mostly because hating myself has no useful purpose. Yes, I over-ate over the holidays and gained weight. Yes, my back and knees are once again killing me because I did not exercise nearly enough or challenging enough in December. So, back to square one. Live and learn.

Heather, I don't see the harm in posting a quick sentence or two in the welcome message about jumping right in and not worrying about personals. That is one of the reasons I like this board so much...there are fewer "random" threads and mostly a nice conversation that everyone is welcome to contribute to.

Also, I view exercise the same way that you and Lilion do. If the intent is to exercise, I count it. My dog walks are really walks that the dog accompanies me on. 9/10 I choose places like hiking trails or locations where she can be off-lead as when I walk her on lead, it aggravates my back. (I can't figure this out, by the way. She doesn't pull, but heals very nicely. I don't know why it hurts more when she is on lead...)

DeterminedSara, I personally like to weigh-in on Tuesday mornings. I tend to become "unglued" during the weekends and eat more than I should, so early Monday morning weigh-ins are painful. However, by Tuesday, I feel that any excess weight associated with too much sodium over the weekend is gone and the weight is more accurate. Plus, it was a Tuesday when I got my act together and started this journey, so I just have always kept Tuesday as THE DAY.

BRAVO and CONGRATS to everyone who is staying motivated to continue their efforts. To those of you struggling, please remember this group is here to help you stay accountable.

As for me, I'm a little shocked and disturbed by our weather pattern. It is supposed to reach near 70 degrees today. 70!!! I'm actually wearing shorts around the house and all the windows are open. As I've probably stated before, or you can tell by my avatar pic, I love winter and snow. I'm telling you, if the ticks come back out, I may just move in with Michelle and take over her place in the artic.

Have a good day, everyone.

Hi everyone! Yay!!! The weekend in here! It was a tough week at work and will be again next week so I plan to really enjoy my leisure time this weekend. I did fall off the OP wagon on Thursday. Stress at work = eating. I was doing really well and feeling satisfied with my meals until the stress kicked in. And then I wanted Cheetos and ice cream and macaroni and cheese. Oh well, it's something I must continue to work on. I know I can still pull out a good week so there is no sense in letting one bad Thursday cause me to throw it all down the tubes, right?

wyllen - I have often thought when I set up a new thread we should update our intro. For instance the part about specific topics for each day of the week. We don't really do that, do we? We could take that out and replace it with what you are suggesting. I do think it is intimidating for newbies to start posting with us when we all know each other so well and they feel they must do personals all the times. I think sometimes even the regulars may choose not to post at all if they don't have time for personals. So a resounding YES! I think you have a great idea.


Mona Lisa - Love the penny idea! I started to do something similar with a string of beads. I think I like your idea better. I mean, really, what am I going to do with 140-150 beads on a string? ;)


Annie - WTG cleaning your house. I struggle with my ability to do that as well because of the back pain caused by my weight when I am up and working too long. So I definitely understand what a victory that is! :carrot:

Valerie - Thanks so much for that great post! I loved the part about how you were able to be more aware of the negative affects of the extra 10 pounds because it came on so fast. And how when we put it on slowly we may not notice how bad it is making us feel. It reminds me of that old story about the frog and the boiling water - If you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water it jumps out right away. But if you put the frog in a pot of water and turn the heat up slowly, it will get boiled before it realized it because the discomfort came on slowly. (I am definitely NOT condoning frog boiling....it's just a metaphor. ;) )


Nancy - Hang in there. All change is hard and you are going through a big one. When I split from my hubby several years ago, it was hard but I think it was made easier by the fact that I stayed in the same house, had the same job, etc. Everything else in my life remained stable. In your case, not only are you going through a separation, you are changing homes, and adding a new job to the mix. All very difficult. Change is just plain hard no matter what form it comes in. But you can do it. Look at the other ways you have changed. You are a proven commodity! :hug:


OK, that's it for me. Off to fold some laundry and then I am gettng out and about for some fun. :) Take care everyone!

Hey everyone!
Well, I sold my elliptical today. I still hate that machine but I hate it less now that it is not taunting me in the living room. :lol:

Wednesday we buy a treadmill. :carrot: :woops:

So I have had a really nice weekend so far. I scrapbooked last night and started a new book with pages for all my 3FC Christmas cards that I received. I am trying to wrote a little about each of you and our experiences here. Its been very theraputic. I did a really nice page with the one from Zelma as it was a "success is possible" page and included her picture that she sent. I also included the "freedom" speech that she had posted on here.

Eating the past 2 days has been horrendous! My sister.... :rollpin: I love her dearly, but loves to bring junkfood into the house because she feels that if we are all together it must mean it is time to celebrate. Well, 3 bags of chips and hershy kisses later...... here I am confessing!

So far today it has been OK and tonight will even be better. Tomorrow. I hope is better still. I feel really motivated since I can now afford a treadmill. There is one on sale this week 1/2 $ and it is a really heavyduty one.

Val ~ I also feel your pain. At least a dozen times a day, something happens and I know that it wouldn't have 20lbs ago. I also know it wouldnt have happened if I was still in "exercise" mode. I have a hard time remembering how bad it must have been 70lbs ago!

Catherine~ Love the new pic! Now we can see the beautiful you :)

i think tonight will be eggs and some ff ham. I had a smoothie for breakfast and an english muffin and some meat and corn for lunch..... and an apple. There is no way that I can eat 3500cals *L* I got a little calorie counting computer thingy for christmas and it says for my weight and my goal weight I am to eat 3500 cals. yeah whatever buddy. I really will be the size of a house! I have to work at getting 2000!!!!

Well there is someone coming in to look at my old computer so I had better run for now. I will be around later. Have a great one!

Brenda :wave:

Nancy, Hang in there, Honey. Ask BF how he's feeling about you moving. Was he visibly
upset? I hope so. He needs to be. He needs to be doing some work here in your relationship.I'm not meaning to put in...just giving you my opinion. Please don't be offended. Work out all that anxiety at the gym. It'll help clear your head and help you focus on what's best for you. :hug:

2fat4u Can you please tell me your REAL name? I'm glad you're resting your leg. I'm sure I have no idea how to put a link on here, but I'm gonna give it a try. This is one of the dvt sites I got lots of info on when I found out I had a clot. I sure hope this isn't what's wrong with your leg.
http://health-pictures.com/deep-vein...is-picture.htm with the image in its original context.

Brenda, I'm not sure about the amount of calories your computer thing says you should have. We're close to the same weight....my goal is 150 lbs. I got on Discovery.health.com
on the challenge thingy, answered questions about height, weight, life style etc and it gave me a limit of about 1800 calories. It provides you with a meal plan, exercise plan etc. It's awesome.

Well, I got the stove cleaned, inside, outside, under, behind, along the sides on the cabinets, the burner drip pans, etc. Plus I swept and mopped the kitchen floor. The top of the fridge is gonna wait. I'm gonna work on laundry. DH came home sick from work so I'm gonna fold up the awful laundry and watch movies with him and DD.
Fish for dinner tonight for us, baked potato and BROCCOLI! ....I LOVE baked fish and broccoli!!!!
ttfn :hug:

Valerie -- What an excellent lesson to learn -- both the part about 10 pounds as well as "owning it" and moving on.

Sara -- I weigh once a week on Mondays "officially". I often weigh at other points in the week, but only count it once.

nancy -- hang in there. It will take some time for you to figure out what you really want. I think what you're going through is normal.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll talk to thinthinker about updating the intro to the thread.

Good Afternoon Ladies. Today so far I am op and it is 1 p.m. I know it is early but hey. So far so good. Thank you for all the feed back on what I said. I loved your post Vallie. I too feel the extra ten pounds. I do so well over all the holidays and just the past week I have been eating bad. Go figure. NO more though.

Blessings to all of you,
Annie

Thank you to everyone for the congrats--I'm actually in Va Beach this weekend visiting my sister (we just got back from her Va Beach baby shower--she had one in CT at Thanksgiving time), so I'm borrowing her computer and don't have a lot of time for posting. We're about to finish sorting through her baby shower gifts ad then go spend some of the gift cards she recieved--she still needs a crib mattress and a new maternity shirt for a maternity family photo they are having taken next week.

Sandy--I do have to say CONGRATS on passing up a marked-down carrot cake! Believe me, I know how hard that can be, so give yourself a giant pat on the back for a job well done.

I do have to say the food options at the baby shower were excelent. They had ham and cheese to make your own little sandwiches on whole-wheat rolls and they had light mayo and lots of fruits and veggies, plus bottled water and diet soda. There was some other junk, too, but I was glad they had a lot of healthier options to choose from.

Well, off to go log my minutes in the exercise thread, then off to help my sister with baby stuff. Catch up with everyone next week!

sandy my name is patti.thanks for the concern my leg is still hurting but is not hurting as much today but i am still very interested in learning about dvt. i need my leg to walk on my treadmill lol1

Brenda i feel better my leg does not look like that.. i am hoping maybe i just strained it or something...

brenda i did take a quick test that did put me at high risk so i do need to see a dr. about my leg.

hey guys. I sold my old computer too. YEAH! It has been a profitable day here and I have yet to leave the house LOL