300+ And Ready To Try Again.... #754
 

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!

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Yay, unless somebody beats me to it while I am typing this, I am going to be the second to post on here :D

It's Saturday night, and I have had a productive day. I have washed and dried all my washing, and I have caught up with all me emails etc. I have been really good on my diet too. Saturday is usually my treat night, so I used to have a bottle of wine, a fattening meal, and a tub of Haagen Daaz icecream. Oh and a couple of bags of sweets. So from that I have gone to no wine, a WW home made meal, and half a tin of low fat rice pudding with a banana. It filled me, and it was delicious.

I hope everybody is doing ok and eating well.

Hugs,

Ammi

Hi,
I am glad to find you all here. I have been a member of these boards for three years and they have been a significant factor in my journey.

I am have been stuck at 199 lbs for 6 months and it is so frustrating. I think the resistance is more in my mind than in my diet. I had no idea how scary it would be to become a "thin" person.

On the other hand, there are so many exciting and wonderful things that have changed for me at this weight.

Karie

85 stone and 10 lbs (2000 lb) woman
 

I haven't posted lately, but have been lurking and reading the past couple of weeks. My dad is out of the hospital and doing fine. I can't remember if I told you all I was going to have a physical and bloodwork done as well. That, suprisingly, all checked out OK. My fasting blood sugar was fine, blood pressure good (although a few points higher than I am used to seeing it), cholesterol was only slightly high (210). Basically what the doctor said was that I so far have dodged a bullet. She said many people wait for a bad medical diagnosis...diabetes, high BP, etc...before they ever start to do something about their weight. She said I should count myself lucky and do something now before the weight catches up with me, which it will. She was pretty supportive, esp. compared to some doctor horror stories I have heard. She basically said to make small gradual changes, and aim for small goals. Her suggestion was to aim to lose 3 pounds per month. Of course, I immediately think, "No way, that would take me 4 years to lose all the weight I need to lose." But, I realize her point is right. I need to make small, maintainable changes rather thinking I am going to lose all this weight in a year.

Ammi - Wow, what an article. That lady is incredible. I know I am currently overwhelmed by the amount of weight I have to lose. I have always struggles with my weight, gaining and losing many many many times over the years. (To quote the child of a friend of mine "Everytime I see you, you are a different weight"...Out of the mouths of babes!) Thanks for sharing this article. It will help to remember not to get overwhelmed. I have to focus on what I can do TODAY to be healthier and weigh less and not think ahead too much.

Welcome, Karie. Congratulations on your weight loss so far. I have lost to within 20-30 pounds of my goal weight before, started plateauing, and ended up gaining it back. I realize now that I was having a "mental" plateau rather than a true physical one. Many times we are told that physical plateaus are to be expected, that our bodies are adjusting to our new weight and we must give them time. But I think the same thing can happen with a "mental" plateau. We may get within a certain distance of our final goal and start to find ourselves feeling apprehensive, or scared, or tired of the process, or frustrated, or starting to sabotage ourselves, or whatever we are feeling. Maybe at these times we need to treat our "mental" plateaus the way we are told to treat our physical ones...with patience and understanding that we are going through a big adjustment and sometimes we are going to have a stall along the way. Being significanly overweight affects your mind, body, and soul. So we have to give our mind and soul, not just our body, time to adjust to the massive changes we have made. I am no expert at getting to goal, but I am an expert at almost getting there. ;) My only advice would be to take it easy on yourself right now. Take time to work though why you are scared to "go all the way" or why you had the excess weight to start with. You might try a therapist or just try to write a journal or come out here and share with us who have your same struggle. And while doing that always remember that you have lost a significant amount of weight AND have maintained it. I had a wise WW leader once say, "You didn't just lose another pound this week. You lost a pound, and you maintained the X number of pounds you have already lost." You have done really great so far. Someone with the wherewithall to do what you have done can make it the rest of the way. Be patient with yourself. And keep coming back to post with us. Look forward to getting to know you!

Ammi: Great article. Very inspiring. Reminds me of our Catherine. Starting with flutter kicks and moving on to more exercise. GREAT job, Catherine AND Rosalie. What I found funny though was if you read the timeframe, Rosalie started her journey in 1988 and here it is 2005 and there's an article. And it's in YOUR papers and she's from here in the US. Interesting how news reports go.

Ammi sounds like you had a great Saturday!! Your new "treat night" sound delicious!! Great job!

I had a treat last night too. I bought lite/low fat ice cream and had 2 servings, one in the afternoon and one in the evening. I wanted to finsh the container as I used to do in the past, but stopped myself so now I have some for today!
Have a great day!
PJ

Hi Karie!!

HUGE CONGRATS on your 100 pounds gone forever! That is fantabulous!! I am sure that you will break that 199 barrier soon. Thanks for sharing yoru success!

PJ

Xena

Glad your dad is out of the hospital and doing fine! Now it is time to concentrate on yourself. Get healthy for you. Make small changes. Take one day at a time and one meal at a time. You will get there. Don't worry about the goal of 3 pounds per month. Set up a plan with room to "slip up" and try to stick to it. You can and will do this! Hang in there!

PJ

Hi Xena - glad you had good results at your physical. Your doctor sounds wonderful and aiming for 3 lbs a month loss sounds like a great idea. I aim for four, so if I weigh after a month and I have lost more than that, well great, if I just lose the four, then I am happy. I am only the second week into my diet so I have two weeks to go before I get on the scales. I am glad you liked the article, it definitely gives us something to think about doesn't it.

Thinthinker - yes it is amazing to think how long this lady's story took to come to print, AND that it was in a UK paper, not a US one. Richard Simmons is popular over there, so you would think the papers would have wanted to report about that woman's fabulous story.

PJ - good for you for saving enough of that low fat icecream so you could have some today. That's what I did with my rice pudding (low fat of course). I could have had the whole can, but I thought no, I would rather have half of it, put a banana with it and keep the other half for tonight. It really is delicious.

It's now Sunday, nearly midnight, and two weeks ago today at that time I weighed and decided to start my diet. So here I am two weeks on, and I have had a really good time of it. No slips, nothing. Woohoo, go me, lol.

Take care all, and have a great week,

Hugs,

Ammi

Ammi
AWESOME job on your 2 weeks to a HEALTHIER you!! COngrats! When and how often are you planning on weighing yourself? Just out of curiousity!! Keep at it!!

PJ

Ammi
Forgot to mention, yes I did have my low fat ice cream yesterday as a treat. I even shared it with my 5 year old! I had another container of low fat ice cream in the freezer and I was thinking of breaking into it last night, but didn't!! Now I can take it with me to my brother's house for dessert today along with the brownies I made! SO I can have some of the ice cream there!
PJ

:grouphug: :wave: Good Morning Everyone,

Happy Labor Day. Hopefully all of you have a vacation day today.

Well, I just finished reading all of the posts.... Whew. So nice to see so many people.

I want to thank everyone for all of the encouragment and love that you all sent my way. It sure does hlep to know that you have friends and that your friends really do care about you! You are all such a blessing. :grouphug:

Lori: Hi right back at ya girl! So very happy that you are back here and that your knee is heling. Happy 28th :cheers: anniversary to you and Bob! Wonderful in this day and age when divorce is so easy to see another couple dedicated to staying married. Praise God!

Catherine: Thank you so much for all of your support. I just love you. How are things going with your new boyfriend? :goodluck: October is just around the corner! OOOH I can't wait to hear how it goes for you.

Brandnewme: Thanks for all of your support. Sweetie I'm so sorry that you have to go to court to testify against family members. How awful. You can't run away sweetie as tempting as it sounds, your problems will eventually follow you. Hang in there and be strong. :strong:

Jillybean: Thanks for the support. I've missed you too. Glad to see that you are almost at - 30 pounds. Wonderful! I was feeling sluggish too and I took our Catherine's advice and added Ginko to my vitamins and wow, :cb: zippy what a difference. You may want to give it a try. Worked for me.

Doxiemom: Hi girl. I have missed your smilling words and encouragement so much. :cheer: I'm glad to see you still encouraging. Thank you so much for your support and prayers.

Ammii: Wow, you are so strong. :thanks: You really pulled me right back onto the wagon. Thanks a bunch for that. I really am looking forward to the weight loss journey with you.

Sickntired: I think your prayer for the folks in the south was lovely :yes: and I add mine to it. Positivity doesn't ususally offend. It is when you single out :soap: and are negative that is when the offending begins. Stay positive and thank you for sharing your prayers with us.

Xena: I am so glad that your Dad is doing well. :D Wonderful. I am happy that your Dr. appointment went well too.

Kari: Congrats on loosing 100 pounds! What an inspiration you are. The rest will come off just keep :bravo: on keeping on. You rock!

Well, no word on hubby's job offer yet. They did call and say that they are trying to get moving expenses approved by the owner. That would surely be a blessing. We do have one offer on our house and a back up offer for ten thousand dollars more that came in on Sunday. Folks from out of town came and loved our home and offered us $10,000 more than our asking price! Wow. The Lord is so awesome! I am going to go swim today no matter what. I haven't been exercising in soooo long and today I am back on the wagon, thanks to all of you. So, I will go soon.

Blessings my friends,
Dogpal

Dogpal-great to see you back. You guys are living proof of that "God closes a door, but opens a window" thing. I just got back from walking at the mall. The YMCA won't hold classes on holidays because they have to pay the instructors time and a half, so no water aerobics today. I wasn't about to sit on my behind all day. I hopped the bus to help conserve gas, and it put me outside Macy's. I normally don't shop there, but I do use an expensive perfume, one of my only luxuries that doesn’t come from Wal-Mart. I was trying to see if they had a trial size I could take on the trip. Himself really likes my perfume, and I didn’t want to have a $100 accident in my luggage. Macy’s is the only local store that carries my scent, but no trial sizes. I guess they figure if you need to try it out first, you can’t afford it. It was amazing though, not only did the clerk wait on me instead of ignore or cold shoulder, she was actually quite toadying. It is amazing what losing a couple of hundred pounds can do to bring up your esteem in the eyes of skinny shop girls. As for him, he actually sang to me on the phone last night. How are you supposed to deal with that? I couldn’t laugh for fear that his delicate ego would take a hit. I ended up practically hyperventilating, and he thought I was breathless from it. He sings like my father did, and that is not a compliment. It was however an amazing thing considering how timid he is. I had to send him some clipping last week he asked for, and was naughty and scented the envelope with my perfume. I’ve been told that he is carrying the envelope around and sticking it under the noses of his friends. He and his friends are such big nerds that he is probably the only one with a girlfriend, so I have visions of ending up being a frat house mom. I laugh, but I am counting the days until I leave. I still have a coat, and 3 pairs of pants to make, and a suit jacket to finish before I leave. I’m going to have to order long johns over the internet. They looked at me at Wal-Mart like I was nuts asking for some. I tried to find some boots at the mall. I have now lost 2 sizes on my feet. That is really weird. I never thought my feet were particularly fat. I couldn’t find what I wanted. I’d better get back to my sewing.

Greetings chickadees!! :wave: I've been so wraped up in my own world for awhile and haven't been posting :rolleyes: . WOW super great to see so many new people to share with :coffee: . I felt for awhile we were poopin' out :cry: . But our family has blossumed so beautifully. WELCOME :flow1: , WELCOME :flow1: , WELCOME LOVELY LADIES.

DOGPAL: Oh my how I've missed you lady :goodvibes . I'm so glad we're both back where we need to be. I missed the piece on where you may be relocating to. Can you catch me up in a nut shell?? I'll pray for you so it goesw well. Stay strong and lets hurry back here to get stronger yet. Ginko huh? Hmmm :thanks: xoxoxoxox

Well, to catch up on how I've been doing: I hit a platue at 49 lbs. :kickcan: I lost my mond after 3 weeks at the same place. :crazy: But I didn't go to food to fix it this time. I just went on vacation instead :beach: . My husband travels around on his job and he was in Red Bluff Calif. when I decided to run away for awhile. I took my diet partner/son with me. We lived in the motel for 10 days and all we did was sleep, swim, fight over the t.v., read, swim some more and eat from the micro wave. WE HAD A BLAST :flow2: . I got tired of relaxing...lol. I did mostly ok on my food while we were there. I was not perfect but I have been perfect for 4 months straight so I let go just a little :dancer: . But I don't feel bad because I was also swimming 3 to 4 hours per day :yes: . I fried up my back and shoulders the first day :sunny: so I had to wait till there was a shadow on the pool after that.

I went to my 3 month check up with my doctor last month and she was sooooo happy with me. :encore: She didn't know I was working on my weight, so 49lbs was a great suprise I had to share. My labs were awesome. I am diabetic on 3 differt pills and 44 units of insolin 2 times a day. My A1c (3 month blood sugar levels) were 8.6 in April (5.5 is perfect 10.0 is almost dead) and it is now 6.4.YEAH. I take meds for high blood pressure and forgot it the day I went in and my pressure was....normal...YEAH. My cholesterol has always been good but it was 30 points lower than before. WOW 49lbs was a great move> I only take 22 units of insolin once a day now also. That was all great news in one day. My doctor said she can't wait till my next check up because she knows I will be able to weigh on her scales for the first time in 8 yrs.. :goodscale ...I sure hope so.

Well, I turn 42 on Wed. Sept 7th :hb: and I am buying a good scale for home I finally found one that may go up enough :lol: to handle me. I weigh at the hospital now and am getting tired of making the trip. I haven't weighed it 3 weeks so I hope I've done something. Oh well, stuck is better than backsliding. I gave my mind a rest and changed up my diet some and added some differnt vitamines too. Please cross your fingers for me all :crossed: .

Ok, I've gone on and on :blah: and I just want to finish with :hat: GREAT JOB TO ALL OF YOU. Just putting your minds in check to take care of your self is part of the big piture. :strong: Stay stonge. Enjoy every day :joker: .

GAH! Another long post crashed and burned along the information superhighway! I HATE when that happens. OK...here we go again....

Just wanted to pipe in and brag that I have exercised all three days of this Labor Day weekend....water aerobics on Sat., 30 minutes on the treadmill on Sun., and 30 minutes swimming laps this morning. My food is still a bit of a mess. I am doing better than I was doing when I was packing on all this weight, but not good enough to actually be losing. Everytime I even considered cutting back or counting points or journalling my food I just had this horrible little rebellious streak in me. But I have decided to quit acting like a child and do something about this weight! I am going to start counting WW points again. Not planning to attend meetings again because for me I am too embarrassed when I start to struggle. I'd rather struggle in private, thank you very much. Or struggle with you gals who understand what it is like to have a lot of weight to lose. Anyway, I got my nifty spreadsheet out that I used to use to track my points and have been journalling my food today.

Sickntired - Way to go on not eating all the ice cream at once. I am not sure I could have done that. Ice cream is my drug of choice and for now I try to keep it out of the house. I can't be trusted!!!! ;)

AmmiUK - Congratulations on 2 weeks of sticking with it. That is certainly a great big step in the right direction!

dogpal - Nice to see you again. I bet you are so relieved to have not one, but two, offers on your house. I know trying to move and get a house sold can be very stressful. Sounds like things are going well for you though. I hope the employer comes through on the moving expenses too!

hippivanlady - Your story about him singing into the phone made me giggle. Ain't it funny what crazy things love makes us do?!?! I am glad you and your beau are happy!

shadiepurple - Good job improving your blood work so much! And...long time, no see. Glad to see you out here again.

Take care everyone. And thanks for being here.

Hello All,

Well another day over with, it's good to be here at 9.30 at night and be confident that I won't be eating anything else tonight. The best part is that I don't feel hungry either. I made WW chinese style rice tonight for tea. It was delicious and so filling. I have kept half for tomorrow.

PJ - You are doing great with your willpower and that low fat icecream. Those Brownies you made, were they WW ones, or are you that strong that you can make full fat ones without tucking into them?? I intend to weigh once a month on a Sunday night at midnight. Silly time I know, but that's when I took my start weight, so I may as well stick to it.

Dogpal - That is fab news about you getting an offer for the house $10,000 more than the asking price. I bet it's a relief. I am glad I helped you get back on the wagon, and I look forward to losing weight right along with you and the other wonderful ladies here.

Catherine - aww that is so sweet how 'himself' sang to you on the phone, how romantic. Good for you for holding back the laughter. Oh and how sweet that he carries around that envelope you put some perfume on. He sounds so adorable, how long have you been going out with him?? As for losing weight on your feet, it's funny where we lose it from isn't it. On a previous diet I had lost about a stone, and I was in my mum in laws kitchen with her. Ex mum in law now. Anyway I was yapping away about the shoes I had on, and I lifted my foot to show her, and must have been a bit forceful and my shoe flew right off and hit her. I had lost so much weight the shoes were loose. We had a good laugh about that. Of course I would rather lose weight off my tummy and butt, not my feet. But never mind a loss is a loss.

Xena - good for you for taking the positive step of deciding to count WW points again. I am sure that now you are focused you will be able to stick to the diet. I do WW at home too, classes are too expensive and I also don't want to weigh weekly. Mainly I love WW because of being to eat what you want as long as you stay within your points limit. Thanks for the congrats on the two weeks OP, I look forward to when I have you saying, woohoo, well done on your being OP for 2 years. Because even if I have got to goal by then, I am making a lifestyle change and want to keep the weight off.

I have a little tip for you all now, especially good for if you live in a house with an up and downstairs. When you do your ironing, do it downstairs, and every time you have a top that needs hanging up, go upstairs and hang each one as you iron it. Don't do all of them, and take them up at once. I did that today, it didn't take me long to work up a sweat. Exercise doesn't have to be the type you do in a gym, it's amazing how much of a sweat you can burn off just doing simple jobs around the house.

I hope you have all had and are having a good day, and for those having a holiday, enjoy.

Hugs,

Ammi

OH, Catherine, your story was so sweet. I feel like I'm at a slumber party at times listening to you. I love it. Love is so wonderful and amazing. My hubby can sing at times but usually he tries for the rock and roll stuff (being a biker he is really into rock and roll) any way, he really isn't very good either and I applaude you for not giggling. It would probably hurt his feelings and you would never hear him sing again. On long car rides I will sing (I can sing a bit because my mom was a singer and an artist) and I love to sing Chirstian songs that we sing in church. I will beg my hunny to sing with me and he usually does. I am so happy for all that you have to look forward to!

Shadie: So very good to see you here again. I miss you so much. I feel such a kinship with you. We may be moving to Northern Idaho. The job offer is coming from Spokane WA which is about 7 miles from Post Falls Idaho. Beautiful country. I would not be crushed if we stayed here though and just bought some property like an acre or 10, tee hee. I am such a country girl.

I went to the pool to swim and low and behold it is closed for repair until next week. EEEK! I am going to try to have to walk for exercise. I have not been very successful at walking without hurting myself big time because of severe arthritis in my hip. I will maybe walk just a bit each day. It will be better than sitting on my duff now that I am back on the track. Well, all of you special ladies have a wonderful evening. Much love to you all,

Blessings,
Dogpal

Hehe--cute story bout the shoe flying at MIL :dizzy: I haven't changed shoe sizes yet, but the size 10 regulars are fitting more often (used to always need a 10 wide). I notice my weight loss firs tin my ankles and wrists--how weird! I'd much rather notice it in my waist and gut, but hey, at least it's going from somewhere, right?

I had a bit of a rough weekend. Actually, I had a great weekend, but today I had a minor breakdown. I realized that I have been absolutely HORRIBLE with my food since Thursday night. Not a single day on-plan :mad: I had a minor crying fit this afternoon (tough to explain to Jeff, as I don't think he gets why I get so upset over things like, "I allowed myself to eat at restaurants too many times this weekend," but he was still good and hugged me till I stopped crying :^: ). I have probably gained a few pounds just in the past few days, even minus the water weight. I really wanted to have a 3-pound loss this coming Thursday at TOPS, but I am now praying to stay the same!

In any case, I cried out my frustration and sat down tonight to plan my meals for tomorrow. I plugged them into my Fitday, so I know exactly what I'm getting from my 4 meals. I will also be at the gym between jobs tomorrow (I have been skimping on the gym and just been counting my waitressing as exercise :nono: ). I'm going to low-carb it for a few days just to jump-start the initial weekend pounds off me, then get back to my sensible plan (mostly low-carb, but with fruits and veggies and sometimes oatmeal and whole-wheat pasta). I hate that I fell off during the weekend, but I am ready to climb right back on. No way am I ever gaining back all 30 of those pounds--they are to be gone FOREVER!
What is it the Ginko is supposed to do? I must have missed that post, but if it is helping multiple people here, then perhaps I will try to find some next time I hit Target or Walmart. Anything that might help is worth a shot, right?!

Dents on my tummy!
 

I have lost 42lbs and still need to lose another100lbs, but recently I have nticed that the weight I've lost is'nt coming off evenly. I have dents in my tummy and it looks a bit lop-sided too, has anyone who's lost weight encountered this problem and does it settle down?
I know that I will need a tummy tuck or similar procedure, (my arms & legs may need some work too, I am living in hope that they won't) but in the meantime any advice? No one sees this except me & my hubby but it is making me rather anxious, when I've lost before it's always been evenly, without lumps & bumps.

thanks,
sharon

Hi ALL

I'm back after a confusing, emotional time but I decided: NO EXCUSES just ready to try again. I must be responsible for my own behaviour. In short, I'm having issues with my mother and this has triggered me to not take care of myself (for some odd reason). But, I've regrouped and gathered my sanity now... I'm up 3 lbs and I look forward to dropping those soon. I've already gotten rid of 2 damage lbs... can't wait to attack that Virgin Fat again!

Hey, wheres the 30 a day in September exercise thread? I'm ready for it...

Right, off to read up on posts and see what's been happening in your wonderful lives! I've been thinking about you all and when I was most ashamed of myself and my behaviour, I kept imagining all the encouraging words you all post and well, here I am.

Thanks for being so special.

Love,
Tammara

Yikes Attention everyone, I meant to say Ginsing not Ginko. OOPs hope everyone didn't rush out and by it. So very sorry all.

Blessings,
dogpal

Voodoo...I am down 66 lbs and I am definately seeing some uneven areas. I still have a ways to go as well...so I am not even thinking of surgical outcomes afterwards. But I noticed the other day that my hips are different sizes. I try to stay focused on the positives though...my thighs are definatrly smaller, my legs looks nicer and longer and my butt and boobs are perkier than before and have a nicer shape. I still have an "apron" of sorts and I am worried that it will never go away. I also have excess skin hanging under my arms and I am trying to just ignore that altogether. I could be more pro-active about it and try to firm it up, but I have lost my exercise motivation. I was great about exercising over my vacation and now I am just a slacker again..I need to kick that!!!

Julee-Here's my thinking about loose skin. I have been losing weight from the top down. The skin on my upper back, chest, high waist, and arms except for triceps area all tightened up on their own. Even my neck area where I used to have several extra chins is tight. If you pinch the skin on the back of your hand, that will show you how thin skin is. The stuff that is loose on my legs and hips isn't hanging skin. It is hanging fat. The fat that used to be quite rigid is now honeycombed. It has lost its support. Sometimes dragging my legs through the water at the pool is like trying to drag a bucket up. When I get my body fat %'s down to a normal amount, I am positive that the skin will follow. I've been thinking about compression shorts like the kind that football players wear to prevent hamstring and groin injuries. Eastbay online sells them, and they come in pretty large sizes. They even come in long leg and tops too. It might give the flab some support and maybe even stuff out a little.

Biggirl-Moms. That was always my biggest sabotager. I haven’t seen or spoken to her in over 10 months. I am convinced that I wouldn’t have made as much progress if I hadn’t made that big leap. My best revenge is to live a long healthy life. I realize that not everyone had a mom as abusive as mine. You don’t get to be almost 600 lbs. by accident. Not everyone can just cut themselves from their family. Right now it is necessary for my sanity. Protect yourself however you need to.

I hope she checks this and hasn't ditched us for the "Old Hens" completely...


Saw the puppies in the pictures thread--insanely adorable!!

Julie c & everyone else, thanks for the advice, I have to be realistic I know I will have to have some sugery, BUT it has to be better than having firm, well stretched fatty skin, ugh, better a few well placed scars, after all I'll lose some stretch marks in the skin they remove.lol!
If I'd have known when I was pregnant for the first time, that putting on all of this weight would do this to my body I'd have refused all the choccy & cakes that I ate.

regards,
sharon

Good Afternoon Ladies!

No Jilly, I haven't abandoned you young chicks! Thank you and also Dogpal for the Happy Birthdays! I really am an old hen - 42 today! But I read every post - or at least I try to. Jill, your weekend sounds like mine - food, food everywhere. Not really, but some really bad choices were made - including Pizza, McDonalds and Olive Garden for example. I really don't think I gained, but we'll see. I didn't even weigh last Friday, forgot about the steak sandwich and fried cauliflower and beer I had then! But this Friday we'll see if I've done bad things to myself or not.

Well, there are way too many new ladies here for me to say hello to individually, so... Hello New Chicks! :D I hope everyone finds what they need here. I've certainly found a great support group here!

Catherine: Your posts about your sweetie just always make me smile! It's very sweet he sang to you. My own DH, who is not timid and who sang in competition in high school, won't sing to me - I've even asked him to! Maybe I can get "Happy Birthday to You" tonight if I beg! :lol: I'm so happy for you!

Voodoo: Gotta hate the loose skin thing. I just know my arms will need surgery - I do tricep exercises like crazy - but they are soooo floppy! My tummy has the added burden of having a surgical scar that runs from sternum to pelvis and for some reason there is a "dip" at my waist. So I basically look like I have two belly-buttons - one where it's supposed to be (which isn't one at all) and then the one that's four inches below it - which is where the real navel hangs down. After five years of marriage, I don't let my husband see me without my panties on if I can help it. :( But I am determined it will get better. If nothing else, the muscles being built back will help lots.

Well Ladies, I must go. I just got back from running home to let my new puppies out of their crate for an hour or so, but I must get back to work. Take a look at my new furry babies on the photo thread!

Onward and Downward Ladies! :D

Hi everyone~~:)

You all make me :lol: --in a good way, of course. I've been posting pretty irregularly--usually when I'm doing good on my weight loss ;). When I'm doing not so good I don't post because I'm usually bummed out and depressed about it. But I've changed recently and I read here every couple of days now--no matter what. You ladies are all so supportive and inspiring to me. :)

I've been following a low carb diet and I'm doing pretty good on it. I did cheat this weekend though and I had some Chinese food. I ate beef with broccoli, an egg roll, 2 crab rangoons, and some sweet and sour chicken pieces and I gained 6 ounces. :( I'm okay with it though--I just went right back to my low carb eating the next day and I'm hoping that I'll see a loss tomorrow. I am actually glad that I cheated in a way. I've been looking at stuff and WANTING to inhale it lately--like the Wheat Thins and the Ritz crackers that are in my cupboard. I think that eating that fried food the other night has cured my temporary cravings, :D yay! Oh--and the best part--I had ordered a bottle of Coka~Cola so that my bf could drink it with dinner. He usually doesn't drink it, but he's been working on the house and he was so hot and sweaty that he wanted some. Anyway--I've had to give up my beloved Coke--I can't even have it in the house. I lost 10 lbs. in April and after that I told myself that I could drink 1 can a day--WRONG! That one can soon turned back into the 2 liter's + that I was used to drinking. :( It took me a few months to get off it again and now I drink either Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi and Poland Springs. Anyway--my bf didn't finish the glass that he poured himself and he told me that I could consider it a treat. I haven't had a Coke in over a month. I said "No. I can't drink it. I'm afraid of what will happen." So what did I do? I took a sip of course. I'm weak when it comes to Coke. And then I made a face of disgust. I just can't believe how disgustingly sweet it is. :rolleyes: I'm actually shocked that I used to drink the stuff so much. So, like I said, I'm glad that I cheated because I found out that I can withstand the temptation of Coke. I ended up pouring the rest of the soda out.

My mother and I are busy making magnets to sell. We are going to use the proceeds to help the Katrina victims. And my Mom called me earlier today to tell me that some of them are going to be staying up in Cape Cod at the base so that's where we're going to focus our efforts. I know that it sounds silly--making magnets and selling them--but after 9/11 my mother, sister and a friend of ours sold pins and magnets and they raised over $600 to donate to the fund. I know that's not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it helped--and it made them and the people who bought them feel good that they were able to help out in some small way. We're hoping that we can raise some $$ to help this time too. :) And the prices are so crazy here right now that some of us can't afford to give more than the $2-$5 that we're charging for the magnets. Wish us luck.

Sharon--Actually, the government did fail these people but for once, they can't blame Bush. 2 days before Katrina even hit, Bush declared a state of emergency. The problem was the "in-state" government. The mayors and the governor dropped the ball. Parts of Mississippi were hit just as bad and just as hard but the Governor of that state sprung into action the moment the State of Emergency was declared. So the death toll and injury toll is much, much lower.

ALSO.....People have always had this misconception that they can out smart nature. No matter how serious the news people told them how bad the storm was going to be, they were not going to leave. They were not going to do what needed to be done. So yes, a lot of them died. There's nothing the government can do about that but bury the bodies.

Also--are you the same one who's Voodoo? I feel for you as far as the skin thing. :( It's very depressing, but you're right when you say that it's better than having firm, well stretched fatty skin. :D Just work out with weights and hope and pray for the best. That's what I'm doing. Hoping and praying, I mean. I am Wiccan and honestly, since I re-started my diet--I've gained so much strength by talking to the Gods every day. I think that I've actually become more spiritual and it can only get better because my relationship with them has changed. I used to just pray that I would lose the weight and do nothing to make it happen. Now, I'm eating better and exercising and instead of asking for it to magically melt away ;) I'm asking for help and strength to keep doing what I'm doing. That's a big part of why I'm losing now when I wasn't before.

Catherine--I loved your story about your honey singing to you. :D I always feel so good after reading your posts. And I never thought about losing shoe sizes until your post. Something else to look forward to. :)

ShadiePurple--keep up the good work! Your blood work is speaking for itself so I'm sure that this plateau will soon be behind you.

Jill--you are always so positive--remember that just one weekend won't kill you. Good luck in the next few days getting yourself back on track. That's what I realized--that if you fall off or cheat a little that you just have to pick yourself up and get your butt back on track. I've learned that by reading what you all post so...Good luck. :) :(

Well, I have to take my babies out. I'll talk to you all later.

Keep up the good work.

Vicki

Hey Tammara - GOOD FOR YOU, you are taking such a positive step. You have to try to put aside all the emotional turmoil you are going through and take control of your eating again. You have already lost 2 of the 3 lbs you gained, that's brilliant, you will soon get that other lb off.

Sharon - sorry I missed your post yesterday. I am sorry that you are finding that you are losing weight in a lop sided way. I have lost only 28 lbs in the past, and I didn't notice anything odd, but then it wasn't a big loss. I can't think of anything to advise you on keeping the skin firm etc, I just hope things even out for you the more you lose. I think you are so brave even considering the surgery it might take to remove any sagging skin, I hate surgery, had it three times, and I never want to have it again, and would certainly not have it electively.

Catherine - that is really great that a lot of your skin seems to be getting back in shape and not doing the huge sagging thing. I also hope you are right about what hangs now being unsupported fat, and that when the fat % drops so will the flab. I would love that to happen to us all!!

Julee - I was reading on another post on this board about how some people find that exercising isn't really doing them any good when it comes to losing weight, and others swear they couldn't lose weight with just dieting. Maybe it won't hurt you too much to have a break from exercising, and get back to it when you get the inspiration again.

Lilion - I don't think I have met you before, so hello and hope you have a happy birthday!! :hb: :woo:

Vicki - I used to do like you, only write on support boards when I am doing good. But when you think of it, when you aren't doing so good, that's when we need to come here more. We need the support then to help us forgive ourselves and get back on track. I loved your story about how you have had to give up cola and then when you got a sip of some you thought it was disgusting. I was like that with milk, I couldn't stand the half fat stuff, and really rebelled against changing to it. Now though if I drink the full fat stuff it's FOUL. It's amazing how the body adapts to do without things. I think it's a beautiful thing that you and your mum are making magnets to sell to raise funds for the Hurricane Katrina victims. If you have paypal I wouldn't mind ordering one from you if you are happy to send abroad. PM and let me know.

PJ - how are you doing today, still enjoying that low fat icecream? My fave dessert these days is a banana and rice pudding, low fat of course. BUT I want to keep it a weekend treat, so in the week I either eat Dole jelly and fruit pots, or a yogurt as my dessert.

OK well I hope everybody is keeping well, and having a great day.

Hugs,

Ammi