Hey everyone!

I'm back! I just flew in late last night from visiting with my family for a couple of weeks. It was really nice to see them but I am definitely glad to be back home. It wasn't the company so much as the eating... things get out of control very easily when I'm not able to stick to my specific eating schedule and foods, especially for this past week when we were visiting my grandmother and were eating out for every meal. I'm up a total of 10 lbs, but I know most (at least half) of that is water weight (and that's actually down from what it was Christmas Day!) considering I did at least attempt to be healthy when eating out and I know restaurant food is super salty, plus I have a body fat % monitor on my scale which tells me that as well.

Tomorrow I drive back to D.C. to pick Jed up from the airport and then Friday night we're going to see Spamalot. I'm excited about that as well, but mostly just because I'll get to see him!

I also picked Muffin up from being boarded at the vet and he said that he monitored her closely and didn't notice any strange seizure-like behavior, so hopefully she's done with that!

I'll hopefully have more time to catch up with all of you later! Hope you're all having a wonderful start to 2008!

Happy New Year!!!

Welcome back to all our returnees and welcome to all the new people!

Thank goodness I had to go back to work today because I let myself slide into a real funk! It wasn’t necessarily bad eating wise (in fact two days I barely ate at all, which was really weird), but I just kind of checked out mentally for a few days. I guess my brain needed a vacation.

I did go shopping and it was a somewhat mixed blessing. I didn’t find anything I wanted to buy except for a GORGEOUS skirt at Macy’s, but it was $90 and I would be hard pressed to spend that kind of money on one item of clothing even if I thought I could wear it for the next 10 years. I am kind of cheap that way. I went to a bunch of different places and didn’t find anything, but I was amazed at the sizes I was trying on. I was mainly looking for skirts, and at the plus size places (Avenue, Lane Bryant) mostly the 22/24’s were too big and the 18/20’s just a bit too small. But I did fit into the 18/20, which for someone who had been wearing a 32 blew my mind. The fab skirt at Macy’s was a 22. I ended up getting a better idea of what size I am and then ordering a whole bunch of clearance stuff online.

I have to admit that it was a bit tough to see myself mostly naked from the waist down. I don’t have a full length mirror at home and it was a bit shocking actually. I always thought the whole skin thing wasn’t going to bother me and now I know I have a lot of more work to do. I wouldn’t trade my weight loss for the world, but I think my self-perception right now is getting worse as much as I fight against it. I still feel WAY better about myself than I did when I was younger, but I wish I didn’t get down on myself for how I do look. It is crazy and I hate the fact that I am doing it. I think as long as I maintain that realization then I am safe and I can continue to work on any self esteem issues that arise. Please don’t let me get too down on myself. I know it isn’t healthy and I hate when other people do it. If we don’t love ourselves then who else is going to?

Oh, I almost forgot -

helnzhere - Check out www.collagevideo.com. You can do a search on the keyword "sitting" and there are a bunch of choices. You can even see little clips from the videos to get an idea of whether you will like it.

Nancy... great! Thanks for the lead! I'm gonna go check it out!
Helen

Nancy ~ You certainly arent the only one with issues like this. I cant look at myself when I am out trying on clothes or I get depressed and lose my will to shop. I have 1 full length mirror in the house but I have it on the wall turned sideways. I dont WANT to see what I look like from the waist down. Its horrid. I am so saggy and wrinkly it reminds me of an elephants skin. I turn myself backwards in the fitting room until I have the bottoms pulled up! I just have to keep telling myself that I look FAB with them ON

first of all thanks Voodoo i am back to stay! Thanks catherine for your words i get so discouraged about my sloooow progress on the gazelle .. it seems to be more of a workout than my treadmill but i think i am slowly getting there with it.

OK you DDR ladies, you convinced me. I had my husband hook up the PS2 (the Wii had taken its place), and I dragged out the DDR mat and game. My oldest daughter and I have been playing since she got home. I thought I had rhythm, but I'm having trouble getting the timing exactly right. Nevertheless, so much fun!

Battleax - that mindless eating! I think about it a lot because I'm so aware that I will ALWAYS have to work, to be mindful, to keep the weight off. Why does my size 4 sister have a pantry full of cookies, chocolate, chips and it goes stale? Mindless eating is just not something she's prone too. No amount of therapy has helped me figure that one out. That's probably why I regained the 80+lbs I previously lost.

Zelma - thanks for including the link to the pics. You are an inspiration. Would you mind sharing if extra skin was an issue? What did you do about it? I'm such a worrier - even about things that might not happen - but I'm trying to make a plan for postively dealing with problems that could be potential setbacks.

Saggy skin issues are really common. I struggle with that too. There are so many things I don't like about my body and I really do have to work to see all the positives -- and there are many.

Here's a great FAQ on the subject on the maintainers forum. I encourage people to read it. Speaking for myself, it was definitely a concern of mine going in.
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36040

Hello Ladies and Happy New Year!

I tried not to go too overboard over the holidays, indulging but not gorging although I still ate way more than I should of, not to mention zero exercise. I threw out some chocolate and stuff that was given to me rather than keeping it around the house and giving into it. Like the majority of people I resolved to start the new year off fresh, so along with my husband we are setting ourselves a goal to lose 100 pounds by July 1st.

The great news for me is that I started a new job today! I finally got my much-wanted job at a library, and I'm so excited. It's brand new, actually hasn't even opened yet, so there's a lot to do and it sounds all very challenging and exciting. No more desk job for me! Plus, it's with the county, and they offer a discount with the local YMCA, so I'm going to join.

I had to have a medical done as part the hiring process and learned that my weight has gone up over 300 lbs. again. Still, no one to blame but myself, and I'm not going to dwell on it but just get back on the wagon and keep looking forward.

Nancy, not having gotten to that point yet myself, all I can say is that yes, this is worth it, your body is so much better off now without all that excess weight. Yeah, your skin may not look it, but really, in light of all that you're gaining by losing, you know it's worth it.

Here's a big and plenty of to all of you as we begin a new year and renewed determination to get (or stay) healthy!

Hi Peeps - wow this has been a busy place. Welcome to everyone and welcome back too! Peggy - I've thought about you and missed you - great to see you.

Nancy - sorry about the shopping experience - this will get better with time - because you will need to shop for a new outfit for next Christmas' pic - how awesome that was!!!! Hugs to you.

Long day today but good OP. I'm excited - tomorrow is my first cardio class at the hospital taught by the guy who lost 170 lbs. I'll keep you posted.

Need to fix a bite to eat.

Hugs to you all,
Carol

Hi everyone. So nice to see the boards hopping again as everyone returns from their holiday breaks and we meet some new friends too!

Debbie - I bet you are right and their is a DDR somewhere with my name on it . I have been trying to think of something for my 50 pound reward and maybe a DDR will be it. Right now I am doing bootcamp in the mornings for exercise. My sessions are up the first week of March and I am not certain I will renew as it is rather expensive. So a DDR might be a good reward for my hard work and incentive to keep working hard and having fun to boot!

Patti - Good for you working on your Gazelle today. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day. You will work up your stamina over time. Keep up the good work!

Torister - Glad to see you back. Being healthier and lighter than you were last year at this time is a huge accomplishment!

Catherine - I totally buy what that article said about clutter. It just can mess up alot. That is why getting organized is one of my 2008 goals. Even though I am an extremely financially responsible person I have paid bills late accidentally simply because it had gotten buried under a stack of "stuff". I also find that being surrounding by clutter makes me feel depressed and unmotivated to do anything. I would love to be clutter-free by the end of 2008!!!

jeanne - Don't beat yourself up over your slip. It was a learning opportunity. In addition to eating a more substantial breakfast, maybe you could plan to bring a healthy snack to tide you over when you get the mid-morning hungries. I almost always have a snack mid-morning as well as mid-afternoon. If I go too long without eating it sets me up for bingeing.

Battle - It must be rewarding doing your job. I know there are so many people in our country who are not in very good shape financially and probably really benefit from your advice and guidance. Bravo! Sorry to hear you are struggling. Thankfully you didn't do too much damage before you became mindful of what you were doing.

Nancy - on being a smaller size. As for the skin issue, I haven't hit that point yet but I know I will. I don't know about you, but I sometimes feel disappointed in myself for permanently "damaging" my body this way. Sometimes when I see a young girl wearing a midriff top with nice smooth skin I mourn what I have done to my own skin. But, that being said, we will be healthier for having lost the weight. And we can have skin removed if it really bothers us. Maybe we should think of the skin as our "battle scars".

Lesley - on the job at the new library. I bet you will love it, being a "LitChick" and all.

It was my first day back at work since the holidays and I had a hard time getting into the swing of things even though I had lots to do. School starts up again next week. My classes are on Tues and Thursday nights. It will be Finance and Economics this time. I think they will be tough but I am looking forward to them more so than the classes I did last semester. What can I say? I am a numbers girl.

Brenda: Welcome back sweetie.

Kayley: good job staying away from drinks and pizza!

Angie: Hiya.

Catherine: I like your getting organized little at a time plan. I purge my filing cabinet each year and I actually look forward to starting fresh. I did that on the 1st cause, well, I didn't have anything else to do while hubby watched bowl games.

Sandy: Love your avatar photo. Great job being on south beach today.

Zelma: I love your new avatar photo. You are so pretty!

Donna: Hiya girl.

Patti: Glad you are back.

Sharon: I hope when TOM comes you will loose any extra weight you have gained.

Judo: Great resolutions. Thanks for sharing them with us!

Peggy: Hugs and welcome back. I've missed you!

Val: Yipee for walking at work today. I took a 10 minute walk at lunch time. It felt so nice to break up my day with a tiny bit of movement instead of getting all my exercise in before work. I'm going to shoot for doing that daily.

Jeannie: Hope Thursday is a better day for you. HUGS.

Battle: Hugs and I think it is wise to wait for after TOM to weigh.

Lindsey: Glad you are back and Muffin seems to be doing well.

Nancy: Woo hoo for new sizes. I can so relate. Seeing a size 24 on my body amazes me every time I try one on and it fits. It would be more amazing if so many of the 26's were bigger on me. lol. Hugs to you though. I"m so happy for you.

Leslie: Congrats on the new Job!

Carol: Have fun in the exercise class. How is your hubby's shoulder doing?

Xena: I think you and I are the only ones on here without a DDR or plans to buy one. lol. I may just have to look into that. I really want the Wii so I can do the boxing thing. I lovvvvvve to box.

Well, today was such a hard day at work. I felt like I was begging my supervisors to spend time with me to assist me on a few cases. I just had an overwhelming day today I'm sure tomorrow will be well, more of the same, lol. It is intake day and depending on how many people show up is how crazy it is. I will go into it with a good attitude and I am trying to do something nice for me and walk at lunch time.

Blessings all,
Annie

Hiya ladies! I won't have a chance to do personals until the weekend, but know that I'm cheering you all on and celebrating your fantastic victories, scale or otherwise!

I am doing well. I started journaling everything that goes into my mouth again. Today I made the effort to get up off my bum and do something constructive at work (rather than sit at my desk and twiddle my thumbs). I'm below target for my calories, and I have tomorrow planned out. I can do this!

Just a fly by this morning. I worked 10 hours yesterday and I'm beat, still.
Yesterday wasn't a terrific food day, but it wasn't the worst either. Today is a new day and it'll be better!
Hugs to all!