[thinthinker]

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 a bi-weekly 2x2 Challenge.
Our goal is to lose 2 lbs in 2 weeks.
We have a long term goal of losing 300+ lbs within our 300+ group in 2005.

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 Amazon on any page in the forum, or by clicking on the button on the main 3FC page at www.3fatchicks.com . 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.

[Angela_aka_Alice]

Just a quick share... I was just at the local coffee shop, hanging out with my friend and his baby and another friend. The other friend had a polaroid camera and snapped a couple of pictures of me with the baby (my unofficial niece). The last few years I've been so supersensitive about seeing pics of myself--it always makes for a bout of depression--that I didn't want to look at them, but then I did, and you know what? I look better and it didn't hurt to see myself!

Thank you ladies SOO MUCH for all your support. I have tears in my eyes as I'm writing this, which seems silly, but I know a lot of you know how I feel.

cd, I don't have an answer for you on the post-weight-loss surgeries. I've been wondering, though, has anyone had any success with anything nonsurgical? Since I'm actually starting to see the possibility of a major weight loss in my relatively immediate future, I've started taking vitamin E, which I know is good for the skin, and I keep mean to start with A, although I know you have to be careful about amounts of A, and I've started using one of these skin creams that supposedly firms the skin. Anyone know of other nonsurgical things--besides losing really gradually--that can help prevent skin issues? Or should I just start a savings account for surgery?


Susie--I'm thinking of you and your dad. Hang in there!

[SueMarie301]

Hello everyone..

Wow I had a busy weekend and wasn’t able to get to the computer at all. I didn’t do so well with eating, although I got a lot of exercise in. Saturday we had a make up game to do for our bowling league, so we got that in on Saturday. Then after league I had to run out to twenty nine palms so we could visit with James’ father who is not feeling so well. We went to church with them Sunday morning and then came home and went to a super bowl party hehehe… I won a football and a Budweiser bucket… *yay* We won a few things from the raffle drawing. All in all it was a fun night… but very bad on the eating part for me. I have a question, I was wondering how does alcohol affect your dieting or even calories? I had some drinks but I dunno how to calculate them or even figure out what to do with them.

How is everyone else? Have a good Super Bowl weekend?

MichelleK – Hi there… when I first started loosing weight, I made it rule not to weigh more than once a week. Matter of fact, I made Sunday my weigh in day. I guess this time around I got anxious to see the weigh go since I gained 12lbs of my 30lbs back. I weighed in this Sunday tho… I haven’t lost of gained anything… however after this weekend, it’s amazing that I didn’t hehehehe…

Angela - I am the same way with photos… I still am. I know how you feel. I’m working on that tho… *great big hugz* This is a wonderful place isn’t it! We love you!

Susie – my thoughts and prayers with you!

I didn't get to many cars this weekend, but I got my exercise and my water in! I'm working on it! Baby Steps!

Take care everyone! Will write more later.

Sue…

[Jibbelle]

Good afternoon ladies! Just taking a minute to catch up on posts and say HI! I just got home from work and our house is 80 degrees. UGH. I want to open windows, but our screens are on order so I may have to kick the a/c on for a bit!

[therubyslippers!!]

Hi ladies - I just saw this posted on another thread. I don't know how to post links, so you'll have to copy and paste:

3fatchicks.com/diets/dcn.php

it's a calorie calculator based on height/weight/activity level

-Ruby

[thinthinker]

Hi everyone!

Been busy. I pretty much tookoff most of December and January from work and it was time to pay the piper and get off my duff and bring in some money!!!

I had a hotel breakfast to do this morning and then had to go pull a "bank job" and drop some stuff at the Post Office. I was borrowing #1 Son's car so Honey could take his turn at driving the car pool. Now I'll have my van for tomorrow and Wednesday and then he drives again on Thursday so I piled all my jobs into those two days!!! Of course, that was the PLAN!!! But what is it they say about the "best laid plans"? Yup, you got that right. One of my great paying companies called this afternoon and gave me 5 more "bank jobs" to be done by the end of the week. YIKES!!!

Food is getting better day by day. I know that if I just keep plugging away, the whole thing will "click" and I'll be back on a roll.

Ok, let's see if I can catch up here.

Kerri: How great that you're getting compliments on your weightloss. Makes doing what you gotta do easier.

Blissful: You figured out Motivational Monday just fine! Those RED jeans sound veeerrrryyyy motivating.

SueMarie: I was sorry to hear about your student and then happy that they are going to be alright. So sad when someone so young thinks that life is not worth living. Terrible tragedy. * From what I understand, 1 oz of alcohol is about 150 calories. Then you have to add for whatever you mix it with.

Esmaraude: Welcome! The Thai Peanut Chicken stir fry sounds yummy. Any chance you can recreate it in a recipe for us???? Huh, huh, can ya????

Joyce: Not too much gets past me!!! Those caffaine withdrawal headaches are definitely the PITTS! Sure hope it passed for you.

Barbg: Those graphics are sooo cool. Now I've gotta ask, are you doing these yourself or capturing them from elsewhere? I know you said you wanted to learn to do them. Inquiring minds (well, mine anyway) want to know. * Hope that bug you got is gone by now.

BarbPA: I hope you're holding up ok, honey. I've been thinking of you. [[[hugs]]]

Mary: Great job finally breaking that steady weight of yours. I bet you were ohhhh soooo happy! * How was that Valentine's lunch????

MaryB: Where are you?

Dimples: Welcome! Glad to see you here and posting regularly. * "I was thinking of creating my own journal/blog, because the ones are here do not give you your own address." Not sure what the purpose of having your own address would be??? I don't get it. * That is terrible about that website you joined. There is a spot here on the "chicks" for posting that kind of stuff called Buyer Beware. It's on the main forum page just down a little way from the top. There are all kinds of scams listed there. You might want to post that info there too.

Iwillbe: I liked your list of reasons to get thinner. Mine are just like yours but also include doing some of the things I used to love to do like going to the theatre and swimming. * I hope that "yucky" feeling didn't progress into any kind of flu bug on ya. [[[hugs]]]

Marcie: You had a busy weekend. Did you get all those errands done Saturday?

Judy: I have this vision in my head now of you chasing the dog around the yard with the soccer ball. Too funny.

Ruby: Yup, that's the plane crash. And I'm not sure why you can't remember dinner, but I have the same problem. I'm with 2cute. I was very surprised when I fit in the seat at the IMAX theatre here. I wanted to take Honey to see the Nascar 3D movie and was prepared to be very uncomfortable and was pleasantly surprised. * Ok, spill. When's your birthday? I double checked you Bio to make sure I didn't miss it. Do we owe you current or belated wishes???

Terri: Sorry you're having such a tough time right now. I sure hope everything starts heading in a better direction for you. "I've not been real satisfied with my general prac when I've needed something special. She's misread x-rays twice. I love her but..... " I have that kind of love relationship with my GP too. She didn't fully explain that I was borderline diabetic, nor has she taken much interest in the spot on my leg.....but I love her! * That's a cute story about the little girl riding with you. How precious!!! * I saved you the trouble of going searching. I put the Roll Call list at the bottom. I had to go back to #644 to find it!!! We've been movin'!

Susie: Oh, honey, I'm sorry to hear about your dad. My thoughts and prayers are with you guys. I hope he makes a speedy recovery. * That said, Step Away From the Food!!! It doesn't help to work out and then pig out!!! Although it looks like you were able to pull off a nice weightloss anyway. Take one thing about "program" at a time. Manage water this week. Manage fruits/veggie servings next week. They will all work into good habits, just one step at a time.

craftymom/Mary: Welcome to our little corner. WOW, now we have 3 Marys. This should be interesting! As far as smilies, are you using the Quick Reply box or the regular "post reply" button. If you use the "post reply" then you get a big window to write in and the smilies are on the right and you just have to click on whatever you want. For colors, fonts and sizes; bold, italic and underline; they are all at the top of the page. The easiest way to make any of it happen is to drag your cursor over the text to highlight it and then select what you want from the top. It will put in the codes automatically for you. Hope that helps.

Leeanne: Sorry you had a tough day at work, but you did well toughing it out without the food. A MAJOR victory!!! Your story about the nightie was GREAT. It's funny that we don't see ourselves shrinking. That it takes trying on something that we know is/was too small to really drive the point home that we're making progress.

Dommie: Welcome to you too! You're doing marvelous! 11 pounds in 4 weeks is a GREAT start! Keep up the good work.

Michelle: Sooooo, how was the party???

Hilta: Sorry to hear your hubby is having troubles. I'm not for a minute going to trivialize what may be wrong with him, but years ago, they told me to add potasium to my diet for my dizzy spells. Just a thought. They said by adding 1/2 teaspoon of Lite Salt everyday, that should fix it....and it did. Hope your hubby is in for a "quick" fix too.

Angela: Sounds like you are really doing well. Good for you!!! * Your town sounds like fun. Live music downtown on the weekends! * Exercise is the only other thing I've heard is good for keeping skin elastic....well, that and being young! Most of those creams don't do much from the reports I've read.

Ocean's Girl: I liked your list too.

Gizmo: WOW, for not feeling so good, you've been really busy and exercising to boot. That is PURE DEDICATION!!!! Congrats!!!

CD: Wondered where you'd been. Hope wherever, you had a good time.

Special K: You are doing AWSOME! Good job!

Togger: Welcome to our little corner. We're glad to have you join us.

There are alot of folks missing. Even some of you new folks since the first of the year. I know I'll miss some, and I don't mean to, but I'll rattle a few names: Tina, Jenhari, pumpkinseeds/Terri, pjkagain, Daise/Jamie, gottagetserious, Skinny Memories, Blue Hair Fawn, Amandamomof3, Teflonmot, gwhiz_vols. Hope some of you get a chance to check in real soon.

Roll Call for 2x2 ending 2/14/05:
Terri
Angela
Judy
Jibbelle
2cute
Hilta
Iwillbe
gmalil
CD
Mary
Leanne
Ruby
Itstime / Circles
Barbg
ThinThinker
GizmoV
Dimples!
SueMarie

WOW, I've been working on this post for over 2 hours!!! I had to go back three threads, we've been moving so fast and I've been posting so half-a$$ed lately. I should be ashamed of myself.

Big CONGRATULATIONS to everyone that is on a losing streak!!! Good Job, Ladies!

Gotta run. Love ya bunches!!!

[thinthinker]

Ruby: Just type in the address with the www's in the front and it will automatically turn into a link.

www.3fatchicks.com/diets/dcn.php

[therubyslippers!!]

Thin - thanks for the tip, I hope I can remember it when the need arises in the future. Birthday was Sunday, and I did have cake and a tiny tad of ice cream, and it was very unsatisfying. I have to learn that when I don't want it, I shouldn't eat it, even if it is a once-a-year thing.

Nitey-nite all you beautiful dreamers! - Ruby

[Angela_aka_Alice]

Hey gang--Checking in quick.

Craftymom--Congrats on that loss!

SueMarie--Yes indeedy, calories in alcohol. Plenty of em, too. And in mixers, too, depending on what you drink. fitday lists whiskey at around 80 cal/ounce, I think. I used to drink gin and tonics until I learned that tonic has as much sugar as a Coke; none of the places I go to ever carries diet tonic water, so I started drinking gin and club soda (no calories/no sugar or sweetener in club soda). These days, to help me get my water, when I'm out where alcohol is being consumed... and boy they consume a lot of it in Charleston... I usually allow myself only one drink with alcohol, and then I start drinking double club sodas. It's a lot cheaper, too, and I don't end up drunk.

Thin--Thanks for the info... my mother gave me this skin cream (it's Nivea w/ "active copper") so I figure I'll keep trying it until it runs out at least. Supposedly it has "visible results" within two weeks, so I'll let you know if I think I see any results.

Better run, kids, phone calls to make and work to do, and it's already quarter of nine.

[Terri in MO]

Hello ladies!

Hmm not sure what to talk about tonight so I'll just do some replies.

Ruby - You mentioned birthday on Sunday. Yours? if so!! I looked back in your bio and didn't see it mentioned.

Thin - Thanks for bringing forward the roll call. I'm sending : your way for that click!

Marcie - 80 degrees?? Furnace or just that's the temps in NC? Get to working for those two pounds!

Angela - for your NSV!!! Keep that motivation!

Crafty/Mary - on your pound down!

Susie - I'm very sorry about your dad. I hope that he finds his will to fight and progresses in recovery.

Judy - Those snack cups are bad news!! Get back to the Nab's! I love those things - only 2 points!

CD - You mentioned about ignoring your pains and exercising twice a day. It shouldn't hurt. Don't cause yourself any injuries.

Iwillbe - Hope you're feeling better. I chuckled at the "stampede for the exit". Took me a few seconds to catch on!!

Dimples - for your pound down!

I'm outta time. Off to bed! Good night!

[ageoldie]

I'm not going to try to reply to everyone, but a few things are hanging in my mind. Don't remember everyone who asked, or mentioned them, but

#1. I was the one who got the scented bear for Christmas. Except mine isn't very "little" it's about 12" high and she's sitting down with her legs out in front of her. I had never seen or heard of them before, but I love it.

#2 Obesityhelp.com and spotlight on health are two good sites to find lots of pictures of WLS patients, before and after. Also you can check with our chicks here on 3FC's Weight loss surgery thread, and they can probally give you more.

#3 I was wondering if anyond had heard from BarbPA. Thin, you are a mindreader.

#4 Joyce and Ruby

#5 No Thin, I'm still not to making my own graphics, but I'm having fun playing with them anyway.

[thinthinker]

Ruby: This one's for you:

Happy Belated Birthday to You!
Happy Belated Birthday to You!
Happy Belated Birthday, dear Ruby!
Happy Belated Birthday to YOU!!!! And many more!
Hope you had a wonderful day!

Terri: No problem. I had to search for the Roll Call list, but then I had to go back that far to do replies so I figured while I was there, I'd just grab that too.

Barbg: We're so glad you're playing with the graphics. They really brighten up the thread.

Angela: I hope the Nivea does help. I've used the Mary Kay eye creams and as long as you're using it, it seems to make a little difference, but don't stop or it stops. I think there's something in the cream itself that plumps or smooths while it's on contact or something. They've said on TV for years that you can get the same results for your eyes by using hemoroid cream. YUCK!! Just the thought.

Hilta: Hi!

Sorry, no word here from BarbPA. I hope she's holding up ok.

Later......

[SueMarie301]

Ruby... thanks for sharing that link! Super!

Sue...

[cdtobehealthy]

Hey everyone I'm back again for some "insomnia" posting.

Angela - I don't want to surgical changes either. I've heard so many random things about "natural" ways of helping skin "bounce" back I thought it would be no use to ask. They never do mention natural ways on shows, **** they rarely mention the loose skin at all! I try to use skin "repairing" lotion daily and just hope it helps in some way. Surgery scares me! But I just wonder if the people are actually happy with it afterwards, since I doubt they'd say they werent to the surgeons face on a television show.

Sue - Baby steps are very good congrats on the wins at the game!

Thin - I have definitely been gone randomly from here. Sometimes I'm going home to my parents house or a relatives and sometimes I'm just not to high in spirits and don't have the emotional energy to post. But I think I'm back to stick around a lot more this time

Terri - I meant pains from cramps Can't help those! Thanks for the concern I try very hard to watch out for injuries though it can be hard to tell the difference between "have to deal with" pains and "somethings wrong" pains! Like my knee, its always going to hurt due to arthiritus (spelling?) and Dr. gave me the "can't do nothin bout it but you need to work out anyway" speech. Meh!

BarbG- thanks for the link! I'll definitely check it out.

Ruby and joyce - happy (belated) birthdays!



I finally chose a calorie "limit" just to keep myself a little more focused on what I'm doing every day. I chose something between 1,800 - 2,200. Its nice, being that today I watched what I ate so well that when I got the urge for some snacks it didn't go over my limit. I'm getting used to this big lunch smaller dinner thing too. I'm not really restricting myself to a certain "calorie intake" since its so hard to understand what is the right amount (am I the only one that starts to get confused and gets a headache after researching "what to do" ?!!). I'm trying to just make sure that I eat until I'm satisfied without going overboard, and mainly just focusing on eaeting things that are healthy.

Still haven't worked out though I set my alarm for 8am tomorrow but now that I can't sleep I don't know how that is going to work out. As long as I can get back to once a day or twice a day I'll be happy.


I'm gonna go lay down now and try to get some shut eye

Wish list Wednesday? I wish I had an insanely large amount of tons of healthy yummy food for a perfectly planned well balanced diet every single meal and day of the week.

[Iwillbe]

Hi CD, I thought I was the only one up at this time of the morning? Night? Hope you can get some shut eye. Iwillbe.