Hi All,
This is why I love 3 fat chicks;

I was getting so depressed as a fat chick!
I hated myself for gaining so much weight.
I hated skinny girls for being smaller than me.
I hated fat girls for getting fat.
Worse, I really, really hated myself!

Anyway, this site makes losing weight FUN!
The discussins with everyone are great!
I mean there's carrots and stuff!
You really can't go wrong there.

Seriously though, being overweight is so hard to talk about with family and freinds, that it is sort of, ignored. In here we can talk about anything and I realize that we are all facing similar struggles and achievements! When I saw someone that was overweight, I just thought they were happy to be that way, and they just accepted it. I couldn't figure out why I had so much pain surrounding my self image. Now, I know that I am not alone. Thanks, for showing me that there are other people like me!
Thanks everyone for your support!!

Why do you love 3FC?

3FC - how do I love thee, let me count the ways...
LOL - ok, I won't wax poetic, but the following words come to mind
1. understanding
2. acceptance
3. knowledge
4. support
5. encouragement
6. enthusiasm
7. patience
8. prayer-partners
9. challenge
10. ideas
11. friendship
12. humor

I was gonna start a post like this, well sort of. I was going to ask how often people visited 3fc daily. I know I stay logged in all day b/c sometimes I just need to come and read, read, read for some inspiration.

My Reasons:
1. Everyone has a common goal and we all applaud each other and want to see everyone succeed.
2. Tons of information!
3. The atmosphere around 3fc is so positive, encouraging and insiprational.
4. RESULTS!!! Seeing others' results and weight loss victories does a world of good.
5. Ideas - food ideas, workout ideas, general ideas, IDEAS!!!

Just want to say Amen I agree, before I found this site I was a real YO YO dieter lose it put it all back on. But being able to come here and get inspiration, encouragement, understanding and most importantly NO judgement it is just incredible. I have learnt heaps and have made friends along the way to, I,m like you Kim I,m logged in all day, when I,m tempted to eat something I shouldn,t I come here read something positive or post and for me that is just great. Thanks for asking this question vixjean and I would like to congrat you and countingdown and Kim on the incredible progress you have all made with your weight loss I hope I do as well...JULS

When the doc told me all the meds were out of my system and I could now " try " to lose weight I was a bit lost. I had never had to diet before. Really had no idea how to do it. I new diets didn't work. Had heard people all thru my life that were always on one diet or another. Wasn't sure what I was going to do.

I just happen to find this site and I am sure glad. I read posts for a few days and asked a few questions. What I found was such a surprise to me. Everyone was interested, everyone cared and were so encouraging. I found what I thought was best for me and have never looked back.

I am not doing as well as some people but I am not working as hard as some to lose weight. Slow and steady is just fine for me. I really do look at, think about and eat differently than I did before. Taking the good eating habits I had and tweaking everything I knew to make things work for me now.

Everyone here has been more than wonderful. Not sure I could have done it without all the wonderful people on this site. I love chatting with everyone and it makes me feel so good when I have advice to give to someone else.

The ticker is so important to me. I get so excited when I get to add another little smiley for another 5lbs lost lol.

Ah...my love affair with 3FC grows stronger every day . I seriously think that this site has kept me going when things have gotten tough. It's nice to see others struggling, too...not that I want others to struggle, but it's nice to know that I'm not the only one having a hard time. Here, lets make this official...I love 3FC because...

1. the tremendous amount of support that I get
2. sharing in triumphs and tragedies
3. interacting with people that have successfully lost weight and actively work to maintain their loss
4. knowledge
5. accountability...if I publically claim that I am going to eat a healthy dinner, go for a 30 minute walk, drink 8 glasses of water a day, etc; then I am more apt to work harder for it...I don't want to not be a person of my word!

There are probably a lot more things that I am thankful for. 3FC is invaluable to me and I am thankful to the ladies that started it and keep it going for all of us.

I start every day off with 3FC because it keeps clean eating and exercise at the front of my mind. Everyone else in the world seems to ignore the fact that we are all eating ourselves to death, but coming here reminds me that there are people who care and there are people who are making some kind of effort to change.

I agree with what everyone posted!

It's hard to go too far off plan when you have an entire community behind you!

No one in my real life cares about my weight loss, dieting, or exercise regimen, but on 3FC, we all care about each other!

I know tons of people in real life who say they want to lose weight, but never followed through when I offered to work out with them or stay on plan with them. With 3FC, I have countless diet/exercise buddies who are determined to succeed instead of one or two that I can't rely on.

We're ALL "obsessed" with losing weight here and we all understand how annoying it is when uninformed folks think we're being obsessive just for being dedicated.

It's a beautiful thing (very inspirational to me) to see people who were once morbidly obese become more fit than almost all of the population... and not for monetary gain, reality TV, or anyone but themselves!

Being here has allowed me not to gain a single pound back because I want to only change my ticker in ONE direction. Oh, and I LOVE that ticker and how far down it's gone since I've been here.

I could go on and on and on about why I love 3FC - it's been here for me since the day I started my weight loss (May 31). I'm pretty sure that without the support I've gotten here (I've learned SO MUCH, too! I had SO many misconceptions about losing weight before coming here!), I'd still be sitting here depressed and twenty pounds overweight.

....no one here get's tired of hearing about my weight loss.
....anytime I feel I've done good there's someone ready to cheer for me.
....the ticker is really encouraging and fun.
....there's always new ideas here.
....there's always someone who can relate to any problem I'm having.
....it's just SO darn fun to be here!
....and the best reason ever.....

...I'm actually working my BUTT off!!! LOL

i just joined yesterday but
the reasons i love 3FC are:
1. accountability... i didn't have anyone to tell when i lost weight or when i cheated which made it easier to cheat
2. fun discussions
3. people who are going through the same stuff as me
4. the awesome people and awesome personalities i've encountered thus far

pretty much everyone has said what i feel...but here it goes
1. all the cheers/support for weight loss
2. the hugs on a not so great week.
3. the humore that people bring.
4. suport supoprt and more support
5. great food and exercise ideas.
6. When i'm on the computer (which is upstairs)...it keeps me away from the kitchen and snacking!

I can admit that I actually weighed 182 lbs when I started out. No one else knows this but you and me.

I can talk about weight, food, and exercise without boring anyone to tears. My DH thinks it's great that I am loosing weight, but he is not interested in all the technical details.

Accountability - I feel like I need to do what I say I am going to do.

It is here for me late at night when I have more difficulty

Accountability

People being so excited about your achievements

Information sharing

Acceptance

Understanding