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!!!!

Well, i've missed a few threads!! But it's fine.

WTG girls! I did glance through them and see what every one has been up to!

Kaley -- How are you girl??!?! How is Andrew?

Quiggs-- WELCOME!! I hope that you can find as much fun and motivation here as I have!!

And for me -- Here is my update!!


The small apartment that me and Amanda moved into is slowly but surely driving us nutty!

We knew that our lease would soon be up and we started looking for a new one. They are letting us out of our lease almost 2 months early. I'm soo glad!

The apartment that we are in is $413.00 a month, no washer or dryer hook up, and no bedroom door. There is only the bedroom, living room, small bathroom, and tiny kitchen!

The new one that we have found is $500.00 a month with a washer and dryer hookup, TWO bedroom ( both with doors!! ) and a much bigger kitchen. It also has a dining room.

Up until now we have been having it a little rough. I've been the only one working and trust me she has been looking for a job.

Monday, she went for a job interview at Wal* Mart and got the job!! She's going to be making 8.50 an hour!! This job is going to be awesome because we are moving across town and her job is going to be on the side of town that we are going to be living on! Now that she has gotten a job, her aunt is going to help her get a good running car!

It's really amazing to know that things are going well at the moment.
She starts Saturday. I swtich to midnights at my job ASAP.

And both of our jobs are going to give us Tuesdays and Thursdays off for school that starts on January 8th!!!!
You girls have made such a difference in my life! Thanks sooo much for everything up until now!!

Thanks for reading!

Erika Leigh

Hello, everyone!
On man, another thread is started while I was catching up from yesterday. This is just such a great site. I just love all you girls.
to all the new ones. I hope you love it here as much as I do.

Quigg, Katt has incredible ideas! She (and now I) allow for a treat every day.
I use fitday.com to keep track of my calories. It's a really cool site & it's free!
Never feel bad about venting, We all need to do it sometime.
My dad hassles me about my weight ALL the time. In sneaky ways. Sometimes it really makes me sad and sometimes I don't care what he thinks. As long as I know I'm progressing, that's what counts. Just last week I was totally bummed. But, after suggestions from all the girls, I feel I am back in control through their suggestions.
What part of Indiana are you in? I'm in Lafayette.

Xena, I can't believe your boss said that. What an butt head. He could get into all kinds of legal trouble if you pushed it. How thoughtless can one individual be?

Katt, Nutterbutters are cookies. Kinda like a shortbread with peanut butter as a filling. Now, the 100 calorie pack ones don't have the filling, but they taste just like the originals! They are just awesome! about what you tell your daughter to say. And, you're exactly correct, you (and I) can and ARE dieting, they will never change their ugly shallowness. Good Luck on your interview tomorrow.

Raven, Katt is totally correct about your sexual orientation, it totally doesn't matter at all. I know a young woman who is a wonderful wonderful person. Kind, sensative, just a wonderful person. But her mom won't hardly talk to her now that she's "come out"
I told her that I would be proud to have her as my daughter. (i'm old enough to be her mom too) She's putting herself through college blah, blah, blah. Of course my feelings toward her can't make up for her own mom, but I do love that girl. And, Katt is right, the more you deny it or whatever, the more your step dad will still freak out. You just hang tough and keep progressing on your weight loss program. We're all here for you.

Sharon, Hang in there girl. I know you'll see a : Saturday.

Jill, What a strong woman you are and what a strong girl you were. You ARE an inspiration! Being able to ignore those mean, mean, horrid kids when you were young.

Lavendel, In the US you can get a doctor to say you need a tummy tuck or whatever for medical reasons. Sometimes when you have the skin hanging, (or in my case my belly over my lap) the skin UNDER what hangs over it chaffs, or it'll get red and really sore and can get infected. If it's well documented, insurance can cover it. I hope I have enough
elasticity in my skin.........but I've been heavy for SO long, I doubt it. It's still a better problem to have hanging skin that you can cover up than be as heavy as I am now.

Seattlegrl Way to go on your loss!!!
As for the holiday dilemma.....Ya know, if you have white meat turkey, steamed veggies,
you're on a good start. I allow for some of my famous garlic mashed potatoes AND a1/4 cup of my as famous turkey gravy. If I snack on veggies all day and maybe a hard boiled egg, I won't get so grouchy I could hurt someone. And, I allow for a piece of pie WITH light cool whip. If you make your pies from scratch go to splenda.com for cool splenda recipes. (i think it's splenda.com...maybe google splenda first.) That way, I can eat what I cook and not feel guilty. Remember, I used fitday.com and it's an awesome site for counting calories and keeping track of what you eat....protein, carb, fat breakdowns.

Hey Ammi, Good job on your back to back OP days. I'm on day two and I am SO EXCITED!! It's like the feeling I had when I first started 3FC. This is how I feel...
how about you!

NSV--Last night I had to go to the store for medicine. While there of course I noticed they have all the christmas chocolate out. Little santas, my fav chocolate bells, holiday colored reeses cups etc! o m g, I managed to rush past on purpose.....and didn't get a thing. It was so hard, but I did it. for me!

Oh Yeah, another NSV. The pants I wore today at work are looser ....guess where.
EVERYWHERE .........especially the calves. I hate my calves. So when I put these on this morning and the pant legs HUNG down over my calves instead of being snug ON them, it was jus so cool!

Well, I gotta get going. Sorry if I missed anyone, but I'm totally out of time. Gotta go over home work with littlest DD and then fight with her about her shower. (she HATES to go shower, but then you can't get her out once she's in)

Til later! Stay OP my friends!

Erika, I am so glad things are moving well for you. What a cool landlord you have to let you out of your lease early. That's awesome.
Even better your schedules will match!

I forgot to tell you all, DH did email Red Lobster last night after I told him all my friends here said he should. I'm so proud of him for not blowing it off.
We'll see if anything comes of it.......

That is awesome that he is being soo great about it!!

I read back over the post and never fully understood what happened.

Hope that something does come from it!

Just a quick post from work...here catching up on some things I wasn’t able to earlier...time to turn on the tunes, and GET TO WORK!


seattlegrrl - That’s so great that you’ve got your hubby for support! My fiance does my Just My Size Yoga with me, but I can’t convince him to do the Crunch Cardio Dance just yet! LOL....About traveling...I’m not in the same boat as you, but I am a full time college student, and I eat out (well, I’m cutting it down, but I still eat out once a week or so...), and I just order SALADS! I never liked lettuce or anything, and I had to make myself like it...but it’s all for the best. As for exercising, try and figure out things you can do in your hotel room...make a little kit if you can. For Thanksgiving, I plan on eating turkey of course, but I’m going to go a bit off plan, and I’m okay with it. I’ll have some stuffing, an possibly ONE roll...but that’s it. I’m also going to take a salad, so I might not even eat the “bad” stuff. I’m not having dessert, though! My Aunt is like Martha Stewart, so that’s going to be hard! But I did it last Christmas, I can do it again!

Annie - I know you aren’t posting, but if you EVER need to talk, send me a private message. I’m here for you, hun. -BIG BIG BIG HUGS-

Lilion - 95 pounds gone!!!! That’s absolutely FANTASTIC!!!!!!!! WAY TO GO!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Erika - I’m doing alright, thanks for asking! A little stressed, but aren’t I ALWAYS?!?! Andrew is okay...although he might be getting laid off until March! How are YOU doin? Awesome NSV, too!!!!!

Hello Everyone! Whew, it has been a LONG day ... we are short some people in our office and have been swamped today. I worked 11 hours today with no lunch break .. so, ofcourse I came home and stuffed my face with pizza, blah! Needless to say, I not only feel miserably bloated but am feeling so guilty about splurging. I will have to really watch what I eat tomorrow, which shouldn't be a problem because I will probably not get a lunch break again anyway. heh

Despite my long day, I could not wait to get on the boards tonight! And, I have to say .. even though I do not know most of you at this point, you all are the BEST!!! I could not believe my eyes when I read all the posts and how well you all knew each other. I think that is AWESOME! I have been away from the boards for some time but you all have really inspired and motivated me tonight. If only I had read all this BEFORE I ate all that pizza . LOL

Anyway, I don't even know where to begin so I will just say that I am so glad to be back and I am really excited to be a part of such a great group!

Xena: I know exactly how you felt when your Boss said that to you. It amazes me how ignorant and insensitive people are. I used to work in an office where there were two of us named Tammy. I happened to be bigger than her so, ofcourse, I became "Big Tammy" and she became "Little Tammy". I cringed every time I heard someone refer to me as that. I couldnt believe that people (my supervisors included) thought it was OK to call me that. In a day and age when we as a society "try" to be so politically correct all the time .. I often wondered .. if I had some other type of obvious physical handicap would they label me that too .. if I had a wondering eye, would they call me Googley eye Tammy? Well, you get my drift. Anyway, I am sorry you had to go through that today.

Lioli: Thanks, I dig your avatar too!

Seattlgrl: congrats on your loss!

Annie: You are in my thoughts and prayers! Sorry to hear you are having such a time with your surgery.

Well, I think that is all I can do for now! I have to get my clothes together for work tomorrow and hit the sack. I hope everyone is having a good night. See you on the boards tomorrow.

So I feel alot better today than I have the past couple of days. I didnt exercise today unfortunately. I feel really crappy about that. But tomorrow Im back on course and things will pick up I know it. My job is still going slow. We only had 20 people in the entire hotel last night. I dont think today will be any better. I guess I should be happy to have a break from all the summer business. I just want to say to everyone here....I really appreciate all the support and encouragement Ive received. Ive only been on here for a week and I really enjoy talking to all of you. Im so glad that I found this site.

Michelle- I know sometimes I totally forget about working out and just go lay down but then I cant sleep. Things are just better when I workout. Everything is getting better.

Wezi- Way to go on losing another pound! They all count. Keep up the great work!

Ammi- Thanks for the words of encouragement. Yeah I know the scale does have control over alot of people including me. Im going to try and not let it stress me so much when I dont lose anything or gain. I know it will only be a matter of time before Im losing the weight. Things are quiet between us at the moment I havent said anything yet. I was giong to let everything settle down first. About the height thing.....My mom is 5'9" and my read dad is 6'5" so I guess I got lucky....

Sandy- Thanks for the support. Im glad I have someone to confide in. You all make me feel better about myself. Im really working on losing weight now...I eat better than I have in a long time and Im even exercising...

Okay well im sorry if i missed anyone...I have to get ready to go out to the movies with my family....I will be back later...

~*~ Raven~*~

Rayne - I ended up out for pizza too! Guess us purple fairly girls think alike. Actually, the pizza wasn't nearly as bad as the chicken primavera - covered with alfredo sauce! Luckily, my DH and I did split it...but I'm still well into my WW flex points for the week. Big Tammy and Little Tammy is awful too! You know, we had two Terri's once...did we call one Black Terri and one White Terri? NO! That would be discrimination...but Big Terri and Little Terri would be fine, huh? (And no, we just called one Teresa and one Terri!)

Kayley -- Did I miss my own NSV? Tell Andrew to try the local Wal* MarT. Amanda just got a job there!!
it's alright, I'm always stressed out too!!

Rayne -- Hello! I don't think that I've seen you around before!!

Other than that, I'm gonna Weigh In tonight and I hope that it's down a pound!!

Hi everybody!

Was hoping to do some personals but whew what a busy day as usual! Just checking in to say hi.

Annie, if you are reading, know I am praying for you and so sorry for the difficult time you are going through.

This morning my scale was at 231.0 -- LOL I tried and tried to get it to go down to 230 but it just would not do it. If it reads .9 that is okay... I go by the big number. Maybe soon. Someone who was walking behind me at work today commented that I am still shrinking away! This is second person this week who has said that so guess something is showing.

I am getting ready to watch a TV special of a 1000 pound guy who is trying to lose 800 pounds. From the ad... what I want to know is... why is it okay for a GUY to show boobs every bit as big as mine but it would be illegal for me to display mine? Just a thought.

Good Evening Ladies! Just wanted to drop in for a moment and tell everyone hi. Hope everyone is doing good. I cant believe i almost missed a whole thread, they are sure moving fast Im going to try and do a few personals, so bear with me.
Lookingfor Hope: Im happy that things are starting to turn out good. The new apartment sounds nice, it will be great to have more room and be close to work!
Sandybar: Im glad your feeling better and that your husband emailed Red Lobster,maybe they will listen and someone else can be spared the poor service.
Kayley: Sorry to hear Andrew may be laid off, he sounds bright, im sure he will find something. How did he lose his wt? If you have already answered this, please forgive me. That's a great accomplishment!
Rayne: The story you mentioned about the "big, little" reminded me of my ex mother in law, Since i had a sister in law named Kim, they always referred to me as Big Kym, and her as Little Kim. They saw nothing wrong with this, but i had the same reaction as you...disbelief!
RavenElizabeth: glad you are feeling better. I, too, feel lots better about wt loss, dieting, etc when i read the boards and stay involved. Everyone is so inspirational and helpful!
Lillion: My boss at the part time job is clueless. In his defense, he is foreign, and very blunt. We have known each other a long time and the ironic thing is, when we met i was way heavier than now! I did tell him that his "jokes" were not funny
Ammi: your really making me want a Gazelle, maybe that will make me more willing to excersise. i really need to step it up!
Mechelle: I am still shopping in plus stores too. I love Lane Bryant, and Old Navy has a very nice plus line. The sad thing is now Lane Bryant starts at size 12, god what i would give to be a 12 in clothing, lol
To all the other ladies i havent addressed: Hope you all are good.
As for me, today was a good day. After torrential rain yesterday, the sun was shining brightly! I am totally a sun person, the lack of it affects my mood alot! I did very good with food today, again i need to work on the excersise. For those of you who like and use splenda, a friend of mine gave me a pack of the individual splenda flavored with vanillla, yummy it was very good in coffee. I hope everyone has a good night, and a great tommorrow. Thanks for listening to me ramble!
*i am hoping to figure out how to make my future avatar pix less blurry, hopefully i can do it this week.
Peace

Misti: We must have ESP, this is the second time this week we have posted at the same time, lol. That show you want to watch sounds good. A&E had a show on a few months back about a woman that lost several hundred lbs after wt loss surgery. She had an extremely hard post-op course. The show was very good, but sad at the same time.
Annie: Hope you are ok, you are in our thoughts and prayers, take care.
Good night everyone

Hi everyone .. just a quicky stop

I was planning on walking to the interview today .. and what did I wake up to?? Torrential rain!! ARGGGHHHH . so that just started me panicing thinking omg is this an omen or what?? So then I started panicing about what to wear .. I had in mind last night exactly what I was gonna wear .. but then I started dithering and changed my outfit 5 times .. only to end up with the outfit that I had originally chosen anyway lol .. so I called a cab to pick me up to take me there thinking well .. I can afford to get wet and messed up on the way home but I gotta get there dry and looking composed lol ... I ended up getting there about 20 minutes early! So I had a wander around and got myself some nail polish remover (which I kept forgetting to get lol) and some cheap (but nice) perfume ... as well as 2 boxes of scorched almonds ... okee .. now those are NOT for me lol ... I am gonna pop one box in the package I am sending my mum cos I know she likes them .. and will put the other box away for Xmas in case I forget anyone lol .. I know I cant open the box .. if I do I will eat the whole lot cos I cant say no to chocolate almonds!

Anyway .. finally the time came to go up for the interview and we got off to a nice and friendly start having discovered that we were both singers in bands etc ... she was rock and roll . I was country and everything else rofl. She asked me some questions about my past jobs and why I wanted to work there .. and if I was ok about it being permanent part time possibly although it would start off being only for the Xmas season with no guarantee about permanent work .. no problem I said .. just get me out of the house and socialising again Then she asked why did I want to work there? I said that I know from past service that the team environment seems like a fun place to work, and that I feel I can offer something positive to the enviroment with customer service and staff morale

Humm .. do you think that was too much??? I like to think Im a positive influence on people that I come into contact with ... just not sure if I should use that as something I can offer to a position?

Anyway ... she asked if I had any questions (which I didnt) asked if I could start work next week if I was offered a job .. I said I could start yesterday rofl ... she asked if the staggered and changing hours would be a problem .. nope I said. Working weekends and holidays (other than Xmas day) would be ok to?? Yes .. no problem. So after that she pointed out that she wasnt just looking for till staff .. but also till supervisor relief staff and security staff (which is when I told her I had experience as a bouncer at the bar I used to sing at when I was starting out) ... so she made a note that I would be interested in any of the jobs, then she mentioned that it would be the day basically on your feet .. good I said .. Im on a weight loss journey and the more physical work I have to do the better for me .

So I left there after a little more chit chat .. went back into the store and bought a small umbrella lol .. I was dying for a hot chocolate (was so nervous about the interview that I hadnt eaten .. I know .. thats naughty .. but better to not eat than throw it up in the interview rofl) so I walked into town (about 15 minutes) and went to a cafe and had a toasted ham & cheese sandwich and a small hot chocolate .. and a bottle of water lol ... I got the newspaper and had a read while I was waiting for my daughter to finish school then she met me there , had something to eat and then we went and got the shopping as I was in town .. sooo I didnt end up walking home in the rain either lol ...

Ash said something to make my day ... her biggest problem at school was her socialising skills ... she would act out at others so she didnt have many friends and the ones that she made she would usually end up pushing them away because of her behaviour ... welll .. she said "mum ... you know you were right .. I have been trying really hard to treat everyone nice no matter what and now I have a lot of friends and I have finally been invited to a birthday party!!" I was just soooo proud of her .. I gave her a hug right in the middle of the street lol .. probably embarrassed her poor love rofl ... I said to her "you see hun ... life throws back whatever you put out there .. if you send out a positive vibe you will get a positive vibe back ... not always straight away but people will always gravitate towards someone who is positive because it makes them feel better about themselves, but you can guarantee that if you keep putting out negative vibes that you cant expect anything else but negative vibes back"... Im just really happy that she is finally starting to feel more positive about herself and her abilities.... its been a very long road with me councelling her .. as well as her councellor at school, but hopefully this year will be the last one where she is wanting to throw her education away

Okee .. what was the other news .. ohhhh ... thats right .. we got home .. and Ash had picked out a hair dye she wanted me to do for her ... so I did that (she is washing it off now lol) and the phone rang ... it was the woman for the job interview .. they want me to come back in tomorrow afternoon for a second interview for the SUPERVISOR position!! I was only going for the till one cos I thought that was the only one I would be qualified for lol .. sooo kewl! So hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow and I will finally be able to walk there to see how long it takes me ...

Gotta go .. need to light the fire cos its cold lol ..

Will write more later to catch up with everyone!

Love and Laughter..