Torrister, Chimichanga and gosh...EVERYONE! thank you! You guys are all so sweet!

Sharon and Lisa - Good luck! I personally can't even imagine doing a liquid diet. I like chewing too much! I couldn't even do slimfast twice a day. I kept thinking of the shake as a beverage - something you have WITH a meal! But my SIL once lost a lot of weight on optifast or something like that. I hope you do very well!

Catherine - I'll swear with you! What a shame. But it will get done in time!

Got to run ladies. Busy, busy day!

Having just registered, it is all so overwhelming. I can't figure out what to do or where to go? I have never "blogged" before or posted on any website, EVER, so any tips will be greatly appreciated. I have battling this weight thing, it seems forever. I guess like everyone here. I stay motivated for a day, a week or month and then I just give up, only to start again, over and over, it just goes on and on without any real results. When I was in my 20's I lost 84 lbs. Weighed 124 for about a minute. I've lost and gained myself to a whopping 294 lbs. as of this morning. I have the knowledge and I know how to lose weight, it's just all the emotions that are attached to the food. Happy, sad, nervous, frustrated, WHATEVER, it all makes me eat. Easier said than done, to get the root of this emotional eating. I saw this site in O magazine and thought I would check it out. I'm hoping I can figure out so I don't have to go this alone anymore. Thanks! (I posted this same thing another thread? but I think this one suits me better? I just don't know what I'm doing, so please bare with me!)

Take a breath Breathless! We're all really friendly here!

First, We love having new people! I started posting here in Feb 05 and I totally believe having people who really understand the struggle to lose large amounts of weight is KEY to success! It's knowing that you AREN'T alone!

There is a "Sticky" post at the top of main page that you should read. The Old Hens board moves a lot slower than the other 300+ thread and is definately easier to keep up with. Both are great for encouragement and motivation. One day at a time and one meal at a time is the way to do this. It's long-term thinking. Don't look at the scale and say "I want to lose 160 lbs." Your brain says "That's too much! - I can't do that!" But you CAN lose 10 lbs. Then another 10. Then another 10! Before you know it, you'll see a real difference. You will see the scale move but more importantly you'll see yourself get stronger, firmer, be able to work-out longer, walk more, the list goes on and on.

One more time and we're glad to have you here!

Thank you for your encouraging words. I see you have had such wonderful success. I will take your tips and read the "Sticky" posts. This weight loss thing is all so scary sometimes. I think it's the whole fear of failure....again. BUT, I will take it slow and try not to be so hard on myself.

Thank you again, Lilion, and continued success to you.

Karen

Hi breathless, before joining here I'd never 'blogged' or been on forums or anything, apart from EBay, lol. Good luck with whatever plan you use, there is lots of advice, sense, hugs & fun to be had here!xxxxxx
Well I had my chocolate shake, yum, then a mushroom 'soup' for lunch, lovely, got spicy tomato 'soup' for dinner & a mint chocolate shake for 'supper'. My poor tummy is growling like a pride of hungry lions!!!lol BUT once ketosis kicks in after a couple of days I've been told I won't feel hungry! Roll on!!! I've drunk 2 litres of water & 6 mugs of green tea AND yes I've spent a lot of the day 'spending a penny'!!!! or rather several £s!! I'm feeling ok & enjoying the 'drinks/soups' whatever SO FAR!
Lisa do you know what flavours you will get, do you get to choose them or are they plain?xxxxxx
Gotta go & drink more tea as it's not time for soup yet & my my tummy's EMPTY.
xxxsharon

Karen, WELCOME!!! This is a great place for support, inspiration, and ideas!

It really is overwhelming to start. I too, knew what to do, but couldn't make it happen for the longest time. In the meantime, I ate my way (weigh) up to 295!

I believe this is a mental journey -- maybe more than a physical one. I also know that it is something I will have to deal with for the rest of my life.

I don't know if I have any great advice for sticking with it, except that I DO think you have to try to do your best to find something that WORKS for you. For instance, did you keep giving up because you put yourself on a really restrictive diet??? I'd fail in a second if I did that.

I like to look at the bright side and find something positive to come out of what might be a failure otherwise. So, I guess my question for you would be: why do you think you've given up in the past?

Hello ladies! I'm alive and well, and just don't know why I haven't been here. In just a few minutes to skim parts of the thread, I can tell I've missed so many important things. I simply don't have time to catch up right now, as I'm off to work in 15 minutes, not dressed and no makeup on yet - yikes! But I've been gone so long I at least wanted to peep up and let you know things are OK. I miss you guys.

BRENDA - THANK YOU SO MUCH! You don't know how surprised I was, or how much you've held me up these last days with your kind gesture. Thank you, and thank you again.

LILION - WooHOO GIRL! You DID it! Bravisimo!!!

ANNIE - I'm glad to have read that you were coming thru on the new job so strongly. I hope things keep going smoothly and you're on PT soon. Best wishes on your decisions to made about the surgery. I support whatever you choose 200%!

CATHERINE <HUGS> Both the funeral and the immagration/MIL issue must cause you heartache. Your sweetness and good heart make me so regret that you are facing it, but I also know that you have a core strength and will rise above.

SHARON - No update on Gabe lately, but I'm sure there will be soon. I did ride the mustang yesterday and ALMOST had a spill when she spooked and flew sideways, but HOORAY! I stayed on!!

LISA & MsONE - WELCOME! I'm glad you've found us! To other newcomers WECOME also - I haven't caught up in a week or two and I'm sure I'm missing other newbies. I look forward to coming back here and catching up with new and old friends!!!!!!

Snow is almost gone here all night rain washed it away. Temps are up in the high 30's to mid 40's. Horsebackriding season is around the corner and I'm glad to be reasonably back OP at the moment.

I wish everyone a very happy, OP day!

Shari~OMG, You're exactly right! About that sadness and feeling excluded. BUT, I'm so, so proud of you for holding fast to your program!
And what a wonderful hubby you have. I want to thank you for sharing
this experience. It's gonna help me analyze my own emotions. How brave you were to think about your emotions. I want you to know, its a big, big help to me.

Sharon~Good girl for trying something new! I wanted to ask you something. I thought I read somewhere that someone lost like 32 pounds really, really fast. Like just a couple weeks. Is losing muscle mass a concern when you lose weight that fast??? How does it affect your organs, like your kidneys, liver, etc. I'm toying with the idea of looking for a program around here. I have been informed yesterday, that I don't have just ONE wedding this year, but two. The sd who pushed her wedding back is now planning for a summer wedding, ....and has most of the $$$ to pay for things herself (w/her bf), my son's wedding is in September. And. dh's middle daughter, the one who was in my dd's wedding last October, is having a baby and is due mid October. I think it's really cool that the program has a support group. Didn't one of you girls also say there was a counselor/dietitian assigned to you specifically??? I think that's really cool. I know it would be helpful to me.
I wish you lots of success on this and look forward to hearing about your progress.

To our Jersey girl! You're gonna love it here. I found this site accidentally but am so glad to be part of a wonderful, supportive and UNDERSTANDING bunch.

Thank you are all for your kind and encouraging words. This is sort of strange for me to think that there are people out there that actually care. I think I have given up so many times in the past becasue I would get so frustrated from not seeing results. It always seemed no matter what I was doing, it was never enough. I realize anything worth while is worth waiting for and I am generally a very patient person. I guess I just don't allow myself to go through normal emotions and actually "feel" them. I usually just run for the "medication" (food) I think that is where my biggest problem is. Afraid of feeling whatever it is I am feeling at the moment. I guess I should just be taking more deep breaths!

On another note, where do we get the increment scales so many of you have at the bottom of your posts? Thanks!

Linda – Welcome to 3FC! Food as sedative is a VERY big problem for me. That is great that you recognize that and can now work with it. This journey definitely takes some patience. One thing I try and remind myself is that in 5 years time (or however long this takes – I am trying not to put too much pressure on myself) I will be 5 years older. I can be 5 years older and healthier or 5 years older and heavier. Either way 5 years will still have passed.


Things for me were BAD last night. Worse than I can remember them being in quite a long time. I was extremely on edge and I knew it. I started crying several times for seemingly no reason and then I decided to binge to stop the feelings. It was a conscious decision and one I am not terribly proud of, but I just need to move on today. Unfortunately a night’s sleep didn’t dissipate the feelings. Luckily a trip out this afternoon for lunch and some time in the near spring conditions outside (it is 55 degrees!) helped a lot. I am now feeling much more myself.

I did exactly what I talked about in my post yesterday and let my expectations of the apartment get way too high. When I saw it and it wasn’t that great, it ended up being a really big blow – much bigger than it should have been. I was so eager for action and change that my disappointment in having this other apartment not be suitable, and therefore having to delay moving by another month (I could have given notice yesterday for April 1) really threw me. I need to learn how to control my expectations so as to let myself be somewhat excited about things but not so much that I land up hugely disappointed when something doesn’t work out. This is really a theme for me in a lot of areas and I see it will need some real work.

I am really looking forward to a good workout tonight and am also determined to keep up with exercise over the weekend, which I haven’t been doing recently. I will also try and do some more sorting of stuff to trim down what I will actually need to move.

Nancy - I'm so very sorry that you are having such a rough time. I can really identify with you. I was married back in the late 90s for about 3 years and got divorced. It was my idea to separate but when the day finally came, I freaked out. I would go to work everyday, sit at my desk for 15 minutes, start to cry, and go home. I was a mess! It is so hard to leave someone you once loved and to start a new life away from him. But you can do it. Just remember that you did this for a reason, so try to keep focused. I understand about the binge and don't kick yourself. You're not super human. Everyone needs a break once in awhile. Hang in there and my thoughts were with you!

Sharon - Big Day! Your selections sound pretty good. I hope they taste as good as they sound. As far as I know, my program has a variety of flavored shakes (chocolate, vanilla, banana, pineapple) and two soups (chicken and mushrooms and tomato basil). I am thinking that I will have hot chocolate in the morning, a shake in the afternoon, and a soup and shake at night. I get four servings a day. However, I am pretty worried that this stuff will tasted pretty yucky! I hope not. I talked to a friend of mine who was on it. She said that she found one of them that she liked, but that the soups tasted like chalk! Yikes! I hope she is wrong. I have heard about the ketosis thing too and I sure hope it's true that you lose your incredible hunger after a few days. I can't imagine that, but I'm hoping for the best. Did I tell you guys that this is an 800 calorie per day diet? If I can't lose weight on that few calories, I am clueless as to what to do next! Keep me in your prayers, ladies. Keep the faith, Sharon! I know you'll do good!

Hope everyone is doing well. Until next time . . .

LKBHouston (Lisa)

Hello there lovely ladies - hope you are all doing well and have a fun weekend planned!!

I have just been swimming again with the whole family Did 30 lengths this time, so getting better

Nancy - wanted to say MAJOR WAY TO GO ON THE 80 LBS LOST!! OMG that is soooooo good Can't wait til thats me too I understand what u are saying about wanting to be more measured with expectations etc, but also u are human and feeling excited in your situation is only to be expected really, some dissapointments are unavoidable.

Sandy - hey hope u are starting to feel a little better than u did last week? All these weddings coming up must feel like a pressure; I am not very good actually when I have things coming up like that, they can make me worse, how strange is that? Goals are meant to help,. but sometimes not that easy...

LISA - Good luck with the liquid diet, really hope they taste okay to you as that will be half the battle eh>? I have been in ketosis doing low carb and altho yes I was not hungry , I felt sooo sick and ill that only lasted a couple of weeks, really hope its better for you. Great that u and Sharon can compare notes too.

Sharon - big huge good luck with the next phase of your weight loss mission, hope they taste good and also hope the hunger goes quickly to make it easier for you. I am sure the weight will fall off chuck.

Brenda - good luck for your weigh in, hope its not as bad as u think due to TOM> I no longer have that problem being menopausal, but know it can really make u fluctuate with water retention. GOOD LUCK!!!

Annie - hope u get the go ahead for the surgery, the lap band is the option I would chose. I got the go ahead for WLS but decided to give losing weight with diet and exercise one more go, but I did research it lots. The gastric bypass surgery did scare me a lot as it seemed so extreme and a huge op- but it has the best results from my reading, so can work for some. Good luck with all the thinking u will be doing and I am so glad u feel supported here hunny. Hope your health calms down while u make your plans. Hugs

Ammi - hiya!! Hope u have a great weekend

See y'all

Em

Hi everyone,

Catherine: I am so sorry that immigration screwed things up for a longer wait for you. Damn guys! There, I cussed with you I hope it is quicker than six months and I am so proud of you for having such a great attitude about eating right and exercising. I pray the 6 months will pass by really quickly.

Sandy: Hope that your meds are kicking in and your depression is getting less and less daily. I just had my meds upped too and so far am feeling much better. Maybe you could put the scale in your bedroom closet? Glad you got it and congrats on another -1 pound and reaching your March 1st goal! I love it when goals are reached! Wow that your Dr. is having you exercise for 1 hour a day when you are not at work. Is that one hour straight of cardio or does weights and sit ups and stuff like that count? I am doing about 45 minutes a day but in that time around 31 is bike riding and the rest is weight lifting and sit ups. I will add walking in the water hopefully this next week because the surgeon said it would be wonderful to do. I really didn't think walking in water was doing any good. I guess I was wrong.

Ammi:You have come such a long way. I remember when you didn't think you would ever go to the gym. You rock. Keep up the wonderful work my friend.

Zelma: Thank you so much for the encouraging words. I am so insecure about why people would even like me. I think it is becuase I grew up with a mom who didn't like me and told me often that she didn't like me and I expect most people to not like me. So, what a wonderful thing to have so many people here that care about me. I feel so loved. I am going to continue to diet and exercise no matter what. I am in the grove now. lol. I have been doing it since Dec. 4th of 06 daily missing only 3 days at the end of February due to depression and chest pains. I'm back at exercising again and I didn't stop dieting so I don't want to let it go. Thanks for your support. Hope you are doing well my sweet friend.

Shadie girl: Wow 3 and 1/2 inches is sooooo great. I have to do my measurements tonight and I hope the results are so much better than my scale results. I will pm you my email address. I would love to chat with you via emails. Anyone who wants my email addy can have it. just ask So very sorry that you were sad about not participating in your dd birthday cake. Just think that forgoing them now may allow you sooooo many more chances later in life to have more bd's with them.

Lisa: Thanks for the support. I have read some of those stories about people loosening their lap bands. I can't imagine wanting to loose weight so badly that you would go through surgery and then sabatoge it with loosening it. It blows my mind that people do that. I know I wouldn't do that ever. I am a chicken number one and numer two I have worked sooo very hard to loose any weight I have. Not gonna blow it now.

Kymberly: Congrats on the -2.3. Any loss is awesome especially on the eves of TOM! You are doing wonderful my friend.

Nancy: Wow: 80 pounds! Congrats. You are so close to giving us another reason to celebrate another 100 pounds lost! I 'm so happy for you. Please hang in there honey. Try not to get caught up in giving notice on the 1st of the month. Any time of the month that you find a place then give notice. I'm sure they will prorate your rent for you. Good luck honey finding a perfect place soon.

BrethlessinNJ: all the ladies here are so wonderful and supportive. I hope you post often. Looking forward to getting to know you.

Val: Hi girl. Long time no see. Unfortunately I don't have a job anymore. I couldn't go back to work after my tests Dr. orders. so, I am not looking for work for a while until I get things in my body feeling better. Still plugging away at exercise and staying op. Hope you are doing super. You sure are missed here. GIve the cavios hugs for me. (horses)

Blessings to you all,
Annie

Emily: You are doing so well with all the exercising and stuff. Way to go. Thanks for the support.

Lisa: When do you start your non eating days? I will be praying for you.

Sharon: I am so impressed by what you are doing. I hope you have a huge success and love the program you are on. Good luck sweetie.

Okay,
later on,
Bless you all,
Annie