cakebatter, thanks for the welcome!

i am sorry that you are having body image issues. you have to do what is right for you b/c it is your body and you have to feel comfortable in it! a fellow attorney friend is having $60k of surgery after losing 100lbs, and the way i see it, after all the work you did to get where you are, you deserve to have a body in which you feel comfortable. you will have *yourself* for the rest of your life, and all that running and eating right is extending your life, so you're in it for the long haul! :-)

re: surgery - personally, i would encourage you to wait to see if your skin adjusts over the next year or so. you have two advantages on your side: your youth and you're brown-ness :-) (both of which typically result in higher skin elasticity, from what my friend's plastic surgeon says). also, from what i've heard, over 6 mos to a year, you'll be able to see significant improvements in the amount of sagging, particularly in the boob area.

3fc actually has a section dedicated to post weight loss body image and skin surgery/body lifts, so check that out. http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/body...skin-faqs.html

good luck!! and just remember how much you've accomplished in a *relatively* short period of time. that loose skin is a battle scar! at least until you get it removed. LOL

Feeling much better this morning. Still sore but not as bad as yesterday.

Cake- My dear sweet cake. I can imagine how frustrating it is to have worked and sweat and sacraficed real cake to get the pounds down and the skin is stubborn. I am also in support of a tummy tuck to get rid of unwanted skin. You should feel good about your body and unfortunately there is no exercise for sagging skin. As far as your BF, having a baby should be something you're both in agreement on. Otherwise you could grow to resent him. i do see his point about waiting until after the baby to get tucked.

Matilda- duvet is nice...been there once. I got some family in Jersey too but I don't get out that way as often as I should like.

Loryivey- That's what it's all about, staying with it over time. Keep it up girl!

On that topic, I never did get to the gym yesterday. Had a fight with the BF and then had an even bigger fight with some lady at the laundrymat (they had to call security) Funny thing is my second fight took the heat off of BF so he was kinda happy about it

Off to work, and definately the gym after. TOODLES!

Thanks Ladies. I appreciate ya'll reading my long a** post.

Dips- WOW two fights in one day. What a day. Sorry it was so tough but you gonna get all the frustration out at the gym. I know BF was excited you weren't mad at him anymore. Funny. And yes I know I should wait until after a kid....i mean if i wanted one....*sigh*.

Lori - *whining* I don't like my battle scars....lol. i understand where you are coming from but I guess two years has been long enough for me. Did you work out today? You have been doing so well.

Hi, ladies! I haven't worked out today, but am about to start a 30 min cardio video. I've had a terrible headache today, so decided against doing the workout the bro and I had planned.

In other news, I'm down 2lbs today, though my scale reported a higher water % than usual, which is probably b/c I took a supplement with creatine in it yesterday, and that usual makes me retain a bit of water. (I have been off of creatine-containing supplements since mid October.) So I will weigh in again tomorrow, and we'll see.

Heeeeyyyy Gurlz!

What's good Cake? You are sooo funny with your posts, I could picture your cute little whiny voice ' I don't like my battle scars' Girls, I'm with you, streatch marks are all the battle scar you need and I say zap those if you can! However, don't let the body image make you lose focus. Stay with it and in time we will take care of the other stuff. BTW you must have been floating in my mind before I went to sleep because i had a dream that i found out I was pregnant and I was NOT happy although everyone around me was. I think BF and are sleeping in separate rooms for a while lol

Loryivey You GO ON GIRL! 2 pounds is major. I hope I do as well when I weigh in on wednesday

So picture it, New York 2009- I'm called st the last minute to go to my aunt's house for her daughter's b'day party (she's 5) so all is going well and then they bring out the cake! I tell you a little angel and devil appeared on my shoulders and the convo went just like this

- go on Angie, you know you want it. doesn't your auntie make the best cake in the world?

Noooooo girl! do you really want to undo all that you did with one stupid piece of cake?

Yes, that moist sweet melt in you're mouth cake, c'mon just one slice

resist babe, you can do it. Your hips will thank you and you can tell the girls how good you did!

and that was my deciding factor, You guys. its sounds sappy but i couldn't bear to come here and tell you that for no good reason I ruined my plan for cake. so thank you guys for being my strength. *sniffle* I love you guys *sniffle* lol I'm so silly.

TTYL

You are SO silly, but I'm SO proud of you!!!! That's a MAJOR accomplishment! More later, but wanted to salute your excellence.

Hello All!! I am a long-time lurker of 3FC and finally decided to get started in the 3FC community. I came across this thread and would love to join the conversation.

My name is Tracy. I'm a 30 year old attorney from New Orleans. (I'm trying to relocate [ATL, DC/MD/VA, NY, East Coast] so if you know of any jobs, let a sista know! Send a msg to my inbox!) Ok, now that that's out of the way, I am still trying to get serious about this weight loss thing. I'm not saying that I'm NOT serious, but I realize that I have been going about it all wrong. So, I'm buckling down and starting (and finishing) STRONG! I've discovered that this weight loss thing is highly technical and much more complex than calories in v. calories out.

My current weight is 228. That's a good 15 pounds down from my starting weight/highest weight. This tiny weight loss has occurred over the matter of months, MUCH slower than I'd like. I think it's due mostly to the fact that I have NOT been doing what I need to do. I haven't been eating right. Haven't been exercising properly. I haven't had a clue about real weight loss. My overall goal is (currently) 160 pounds. I'd also like to be a size 8 or 10. Why? Because when I go to stores to shop, there are ALWAYS a TON of 8s and 10s left on the rack. I figure I'd have no trouble finding clothes if I'm between those sizes. It's a quite arbitrary goal, but hey... LOL!

I am currently reading the Abs Diet for Women and plan to start tomorrow. I'm not so concerned with have a washboard stomach. I'm more concerned with not having a potbelly! However, the tips provided in the book are helpful for all over weight loss and weight loss success. I am trying to make lifelong changes and get my body into shape. I look forward to hearing from others that are reading/have read and follow this plan. I also look forward to sharing our successes and struggles.

I'll be here every day so I can help encourage everyone to stay on track!! Let's lose this weight!!

Well Well Well, looks like I'm the first to welcome the newbie.

Tracy. So glad that you can join us. I really hope that our forum grows to be one of the most popular, tell a friend girl So now we have a legal team with us, HOLLA! Tell me what type of law you practice so that I know which ones to break while you're aiming for 8-10 sizes, I'm working toward 5-7 because that's all the ny stores seem to carry. I'm not familiar with the abs diet, what is the core principle? let us know how that works out.

Loryivey- Thanks for the support. I need it! That cake is just one of many hurddles to climb. Temptation is everywhere ! What is a foodie girl to do??

Okay so I'm taking off from work tomorrow and i'm going to do a group class at my gym. Maybe step, haven't decided yet. I just hate being in front of a mirror and watching myself jiggle but, I can't hide from myself forever so let's work it out!

What a relaxing evening! I gave my a pedi that lasted an hour and a half. Then I deep conditioned my hair and cornrowed so it can go under this week for the next week. I had tacos for dinner followed by Remy and SNF owww! Great evening

Tracy - Welcome. I was thinking the same thing. A freaking legal team between you and Lori. **** yea! I am gonna need ya'll. I am glad to have ya' here. We need as many WOC as we can get. Just get up here and post each day or close to it, so we can give and get support. It truly helps. I have been a member of this site since I started my WL journey and I have gained it back yet!

Dips-Yo arse is crazy! I am so glad you fought the cake...unfortunately I didn't. I had a small piece at my nephew's party yesterday. Ah well. I start again right! That dream was crazy BTW, I am sure I would have been crying in that dream. "LAWD no don't let this be true...." LMBO

Cake- I was soooo depressed in the dream. all I kept thinking was, "i'm not ready" I can't tell you how releaved i was when I woke up and realized I wasn't preggo for real. I didn't have the heart to tell BF. He would take it personally so i figure no need to go and upset him over something that hasn't really happened.

Now hold out the hand that you took the cake with... {slap} Now don't do it again until after the new year

take some of this and call me in the morning honey!

Night Night Ladies

OMG this board is so funny. Dips'n'twists I need some of that will power dust.

DH brings out the Entemanns cake that I hid from him for a week, but I was good I didn't take not one bite.

Doesn't compensate for the McDonalds I had or the Chinese Buffet.

Some people say that go to weight watchers just to get them on track then they can follow them. Hmmmmmmmmmmm maybe. I have no will power and sometimes just to lazy to exercise.

Okay enough of my pity party

Welcome Tracy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and good luck on your journey.

Cake I totally understand what you are going through I have a few relatives that got surgery they actually went to DR and they all have had great experiences. I would wait until after the child I know you arent in a rush but eventually you will probably get preggo lol and to be honest with your new way of living you may not even gain as much weight. Now many women are being very active through out pregnacies. Many are maintaining! Good luck hun.

I hope everyone has a grew weekend!

Yay for attorneys! Tracy, I just joined this thread too, so we can help each other out.

This week has started out great - did my chest/shoulders/tri's and abs, food has been on point, and tomorrow I'm going to a interview for an associate position in New Jersey! Should be interesting. I may end up with licenses in 3 states and DC by the end of 2010! LOL

I definitely needed that willpower dust yesterday - I had a weird food breakdown, which is pretty unusual for me, and ended up eating ice cream and ramen. (I did throw a broiled chicken breast onto the ramen, so I got my protein!) LOL SOOOO WEIRD!!! I ended the day with 2600 calories, which was about 200 calories above my "high" calorie day max, so it wasn't the end of the world, but still, I was really annoyed with myself afterward b/c it wasn't like I was eating foods I *wanted*. Just food that was around.

I think that that is a signal that I need to stop trying to restrict the calories so precisely, b/c my workouts have been suffering since I started doing the 1600-1800 days. Today, I had one of my best lifting workouts and when I was doing 2400-2500 calories every day, I was totally focused on my workouts.

Oh! My resting heart rate is lower! yay!

McDonalds, Chinese buffet, Ice cream and Ramen?? what the **** is going on here?

Okay lets talk about it:

2feelbetter- You have got to tell hubby that he cannot be bringin Entemanns (the devil incarnated into food) inside the house! that's what i told my BF with his junk food. You have to surround yourself with nutrition and as much as we all love Mcdonalds and Chinese [yum] we have to avoid it for a while. they aren't going anywhere for a while so we can get fit and then visit them every once in a blue

Loryivey- You're in contempt, Counselor! There is absolutely nothing nutritionally valuable in ramen. Ice cream is not as bad in small quantities but just like cake, I'm forbidding you to eat those things until after the new year! That's my final ruling (Besides, the new year is right around the corner anyway)

Okay so I'm on my way out into this horribly cold weather to go to my gym which is only 6 block away. Hopefully there will be some more hot muscle-y menz. (just to look at ofcourse,

LOL @ Dips! LMAO - While I agree with your general point, I must say that there were in fact both 3g fiber and 8g protein in my noodles. Additionally, ramen (Indomie brand, at least) contains a significant amount of both Vitamin A and Iron. LOL

But yeah... those were really weird foods for me, especially b/c I don't generally like carb-y foods: potatoes, pasta, bread, sugary stuff. Today I had NO appetite, though (except after my workout) and had to force myself to eat a scoop of chocolate protein powder mixed with peanut butter to finish off my day, and I was still a few hundred calories below where I wanted to be.

Going to bed.... hopefully tomorrow will go smoothly.

Wish me luck! :-) Good night, chicas!