kaplods
Yes, this is a weight loss site but we understand there are more things in life than just weight. Weight effects the other things in life, the other things in life effect the weight. That is why we talk about all kinds of things.

My cat has no idea he is a cat, he thinks he is the king of the house and should be treated as such lol.

Bob the dog eats flies. Big protein eater- he is waaaayyy overweight.

I am not a big poster-but I am a reader. I like how these forums validate what I am going through. There is enough people here that I realize I am not the only person with sore glutes or the fact my spouse left me when I hit 70 something pounds lost. I can read pages and pages of information in the Ladies Who lift section and find inspiration to go heavier, make a combination lift or what ever it takes to give me one more day of lifting.Having Mel, Irene, Meg and Depalma around is like getting a trainer to answer your questions. You don't get that anywhere else.
The couple places I have stuck I find a sisterhood. Someone said I must be getting "tiny" and it was the nicest feeling.Part of the support is a place to become accountable- it's not all about the pats on the back or the kick in the pants. I check in places daily or weekly because I feel as if there is a silent contract with these ladies that I am going stay on plan, put in 100% into my workout,kick butt with the Christmas challenge and be there for them.
This Community has given me the information to dream-I would have never started really working with weights or seriously changing my lifestyle for long range health.
I think I would have yo-yoed and quit without those mentor figures or the cheerleaders in WATP when I weighted 200 plus pounds.
I don't rant very much.I try not to ramble and many times I know the answer to the question- I just have to voice it. Support is like anything else- what you put in is often what you get back.
Somewhere there is definition of support- but I think it is going to be different for each of us because we all have different needs and points of view.

Actually, my cat never eats the bug. He loves playing around with them, though. I wish he would just kill them as opposed to playing with them whent they're alive.

His diet? Purina one and solid white albacore. Yes, we feed ours the good stuff. He's a very bad boy but we love him to death.

Mine too. I seriously wonder why he thinks I'm his pet and not vice versa...

Just knowing that everyone is here to be proud of me, to help motivate me, and that I will do the same for everyone else. BEING POSITIVE is the best support for me, and sharing stories too.
KEEP PUSHING ALL!

I don't think our cat thinks she's human (far too beneath her), but I think she does think we're very dumb, very large kittens. She is always trying to keep tabs on us. Reminds us to take our medications and go to bed on time. Scolds us if we've been out in the rain (We got a three minute lecture yesterday, when we came home from shopping during a rainstorm). She's my diet buddy, because she needs to lose about 24 oz according to the vet, shes a bit of a snack fiend (will stare at the treat jar and meow) and she loves being weighed (some of you may have heard this story), but when she hears the beep of my digital scale she tears around the corner of the hallway to get on the scale before me. I thought I was training her to get on the scale to be weighed, but it turns out she was doing the training. I have to now call my husband to call her and give her a treat so that she'll get off the scale. If I push her off, she'll just climb back on while I'm trying to weigh myself.

I love that I can share these stories (not just about the cat) and not get blank stares. Someone will relate.

Amazing how many of us have cats!

Support for me comes in many forms.
I gain wisdom from the varied and diverse posters here. They tell me when I am right, and also when I am wrong.

I gain courage to try new things and go places I can't go alone

I gain insight into my failures and struggles

I gain perseverance from reading all of the success stories

I gain acceptance even though I am having a bad day or posting a rant

I gain friendship with folk I will probably never meet

3FC is an amazing place, where we all gain so much - which makes us such successful losers!

I have to agree with sirak. What I read on here gives me ideas and information on ways to improve my life that might not have occurred to me, otherwise.

I also mostly like to read, there is so much information on this site! And so much inspiration!

kap
oh i remember the first time we had shower doors instead of a curtain. My cat was outside the door batting at the door and screaming. When i got out of the shower he yelled at me for 10 min. I could hear him I COULDN'T HELP YOU, I COULDN'T GET IN AND SAVE YOU, NEVER DO THAT AGAIN lol

CountingDown - What a great response! That captures my feelings perfectly.

I get so much of what I consider support here - great advice, commisseration when things aren't going quite the way I'd want them to, congratulations when they are, new ideas to get from the "commisseration" to the "congratulation" phase.

I have 2 cats - one who is "The Bug Hunter" - if a bug comes in and he can't reach it, he sits under it and cries until one of us lifts him up to eat it, and one who sometimes tries to catch bugs, but just plays with them and never actually kills them ("The Bug Torturer").

How did I get the only "bug-phobic" cat? She actually lept up in terror when a gnat so tiny I couldn't see it at first, flew into her face. When we first got her, after we had been fishing we had a couple live minnows left, and brought them in for the cat (yes, it may seem barbaric to some, but we don't have a problem with feeding a carnivore live prey - but apparently the cat had more of a problem with it than we did). She was curious, but kept a "safe" distance from the butter dish. She batted at the dish (I don't think her paw even got wet) and the movement of the minnow startled her so badly she jumped back and decided that the "safe" distance was about another foot away from the dish.

I love everyone's cat stories. Well any critter story really. I've had pet dogs, cats, birds, and even rats, and I loved them all. I'd probably have a menagerie if I could. Whenever someone complains that they can't have a pet because they live in an apartment, I always recommend a couple pet rats. Though I always suggest they be vague when asking the landlord. If they ask permission to get a "guinea pig or a hamster or something small like that," they may get a better response than if they ask for a rat. (Too bad too, because they're great little critters, with personalities and intelligence sort of like tiny little cat-dog).

Oh my your cat is just to funny. Ours has tummy problems like the rest of us. Can't have fish, can't have milk unless it is my daughters lactate milk. Won't eat anything but one kind of cat food. If you use anything but one kind of cat litter, he will bring it upstairs and scatter it all over the house. He is AFRAID of the dwarf lop bunny.

We have 3 dwarf hamsters ( saddly we lost Sally a few weeks ago ), a fish, a cat, a dog, a dwarf lop bunny and a llama.

Support is getting a pat on the back when you need it the most.

Support is allowing threads to get hijacked and no one cares!!! (BTW--my dog catches the crickets that make it inside the house. He chews them up and spits them out.)

Support is seeing what each other has to say about weight loss and about themselves and having the ability to take what you like and run with it. It also means being able to see what you don't particularly like and move on without letting it get to you.

Support is lending a hand to someone who needs it. Clapping with the victorious. Lending a shoulder to those less victorious. Sharing the joy and pain. Encouraging everyone.

Eww regurgitated cricket!

Yes I love half-hijacked threads, where there's actually three or four topics being tossed around at the same time. Kind of like sitting in the back of a classroom and yaking, while still trying to pay attention to the instructor.

I even love when people tell me I'm wrong. Maybe I will agree with them (eventually) and maybe I'll be more committed to my choice than ever. But the sharing of different opinions, even when the argument sometimes gets a little heated, I learn so much. It's so nice to now that we can disagree and even argue with each other in complete acceptance. I have gotten PM's from "opponents" either taking the argument to a more private place, or just reassuring me that they enjoyed the intellectual "tussle." I LOVE that!