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We are a group of individuals who weigh or have weighed 300+, or near there. This group was formed to provide a place for others like us to find support, inspiration, and hope. We are aware of the distinct problems that come with weighing over 300 lbs.

We want to invite everyone (roosters as well as chicks!) to join us in our journey. We share laughter and tears, heartaches and fears ... joys and celebrations. We also share what works for us and what doesn't.

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Finally, we also have several extra threads going on simutaneously such as Monthly Challenges, Weekly Weigh-ins, Recipes, Bios, Photos, Exercise, Info for Getting Started and more. Many of these threads are stickied at the top of the page. Please feel free to check them all out.

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Good Morning!

Good morning, all!

I can now officially say I am having surgery next month! Not nervous yet, but I'm sure that will come. I have 6 doctors' appointments (well, 3 are for the clinical study I'm participating in--so 3 are guinea pig appointments ), 2 support group meetings, 2 children's birthday parties, and a lunch with locals who have had the same surgery as me all crammed in the next 45 days!

Jeff and I got a new TV last week (52" 1080p LDC HDTV), and the cable tv looks kinda grainy on it. So we are going to switch from cable to Dish Network because with the dish, we can get HD channels, a couple pay channels (HBO and Showtime), and a 2-room DVR all for less than what we currently pay Comcast for just regular cable (no HD, no DVR, and currently "free" pay channels due to some promo). Our dish gets installed on Valentine's Day, of all days!

Angie, I don't know how you didn't bring that puppy home! I mean, I understand WHY you didn't, just not HOW Last time I went to get a puppy, I came home with 2 But we don't have any other pets (well, we have a toad now, but we got him after the pups, and that's a little different).

hello ladies.
i have been missing in action cause of my dumb arm.. have no idea what i have done to it or how, but my right arm hurts from the shoulder blade down to my elbow.. kinda like a nerve has been pinched or something.. well, because of that, i havent been able to type or anything.... since today is the first day i havnt had to practically bathe in deep heat, i thought id catch up a bit.
hubby was stressed all weekend cause they were gonna announce this am who is being made redundant from work.. he called at noon tho and he is one of the lucky few staying employed thank goodness.
i havnt really been on plan the last couple weeks cause i couldnt exercise, and the pain made me so nauseas i could only drink 7 up and eat carbs. that is all that would stay down.. im not gonna get on the scale tho, cause i may get depressed lol.. ill wait a week then check.
i hope everyone has been doing well

morning ladies...

First..I did watch the Superbowl. I really thought the cards had it. We were at my brothers house and there were about 15 of us on the edge of our seats the whole game! I know almost does'nt count..but I am proud of them. as they say maybe next year.

This weekend was busy! I had a slumber party friday..and did ok..I didnt fall or puke lol..I still get nervous doing the parties. My leader calls me at 11:00 am on sunday asking if I could do a party 2 1/2 hours away that another girl could not do. I was scared to take it..being new and this girl has had parties before. But I did it! There were 20 girls there and OMG sooo much fun!! I got 2 more parties booked and 2 girls that want to sign up!! WHOOHOO!

Here is the moral of that story: I was going to say NO to that party out of fear!!! Fear that the hostess would not be happy since I was not her regular consultant, fear that I could not handle a party that large, fear of susccess??? Had I not said yes, I would have missed out on a great time, fun ladies, and 2 more parties that I didnt have to work for! Why is it that I am sooo scared to succeed? I think part of it is because I have failed and given up in the past. I have realized even being sucessful is scarey! Exciting also but scarey.

There was also some sense of guilt! I swear that has to be because I am a mom. Although my oldest son was at his gf house and my other son was with my brother having a great time, adn hubby was at work and then home enjoying the peace and quiet lol, I still felt a little guilty for being out of the house , doing my parties, and having me time?? Ladies with or without childen.. does this happen to you?? How do ya learn to balance that? My kids are 18 and 14..they still need me I am sure. Is that jsut part of beinga mom/ woman. lol

Juliahood: I did take a bath sunday morning lol time for me!!

Annie: Thanks for rooting for the cards!!

Well I am up 2 lbs this week. TOM never came..maybe being a little stressed has something to do with it.

I am off to work..where things are a little normal lol

Take care ladies,

Hello ladies. :]
It's all chaos in the UK at the moment because of the snow. Apparently, it's been windswept from Russia over to the UK. At the moment, England, especially London, is badly hit and it is expected that the snow will move towards Wales during rush hour and tomorrow. The extreme weather hasn't been experienced for more than 20 years so I have to say, with all the chaos, it's pretty exciting!

I am happy to report that I have lost 3 lbs! I have lost a total of 15 lbs (1 st 1 lb). I think that's pretty good, considering I have lost 15 lbs in four weeks!

Debbie
I'm glad you had fun with my mam. :]
I will tell her that you said hi but hopefully you will be able to her that yourself when she finally come online.
Thank youu. I am positive that I will achieve the exercise goal this month!

JuliaDH
Sorry to hear about the +3 lbs but like you said, don't beat yourself up! Everything has it ups and downs.

purpleorc
Oh, your husband sounds so lovely! You are very lucky to have him. :]
My mam was in the same boat when her health began to fail and she wasn't long together with my step-father but Daren's been an absolute God-send to my mam, and even though I'm not Daren's daughter, he still took care of me. I appriecate that now because I have been a bit selfish in the past (I was ten) and I didn't like not having the full attention from my mam when Daren first came into our lives.

How is the snow with you now? It looks so bad in London, but beautiful as well. :]
There's been some snow in Wales, a bit of on and off, but it's expected that Wales will be badly hit during rush hour and tomorrow. I am not in school today because I travel to school by the motorway so it's not worth the risk.

Annie
I hope you had a good time at the Superbowl party!

kayleystar
Aaw, thank youu. :]
Your job sounds very interesting - something I would like to do. I won't be able to take up a photography course in college or university because I didn't take art for GCSEs and now apparently, I need a portfolio from art if I want to take photography?!
I bet it will be lovely shooting lots of photos for a wedding - what's better than seeing a couple happily married?
Your pink hair sounds fun, hahaa.

Beth
xx

First and foremost, purple is my favorite color, so I love seeing your name and posts on here

Yeah, the TV is huge--Jeff picked it out! The tube TV we replaced was a 32" standard (not widescreen), which I thought was fine, so I was thinking 37", maybe 40-42" for a new widescreen, but no, the boy went with 52". It's huge, but I like it!

My WLS procedure is called the Duodenal Switch (DS for short--also referred to sometimes as the biliopancreatic diversion with duodenal switch, or BPD-DS). It has a larger remaining stomach than the gastric bypass, but more malabsorption because of a different intestinal reconfiguration.

Hello again! :]
It's been a very crazy day. My boyfriend Michael went to school and the heating was shut down due to the freeze so the school was closed early. Since there is no heating, the school will not be open for the time being. I have been watching the news all day to catch up on the update with the snow chaos. The people of London are looking like they are having loads of fun and they even made a giant snowball. :]

purpleorc
Aaw, thank you. Some of my clothes are getting loose, especially my school trousers, which are made to fit to the skin. My mam and my boyfriend have noticed that I am a bit slimmer.
It was very hard to understand, indeed. I thought I was being ignored on purpose but as I grew older, I became more understanding and I could see why this was happening at the time.
It's been snowing on and off in Swansea today but it's expected to be worse overnight and tomorrow.

Beth
xx

Jill – That’s exciting that your surgery isn’t too far away! And the DVR is great! You’ll love it.

Cyn – That’s great that you had a successful party! And since this is just the beginning, I can only imagine how successful you’ll be after a handful of them! I don’t have children, so I don’t know what it’s like being a Mom, but at that age, I definitely think it’s okay for you to be having ‘you time’. And you’re earning money, so it’s all good! As long as you are still home more than you are out, I think it’s fine. But that’s just my perspective.

Beth – Yikes! I hope you all stay WARM! And congrats on your loss! I absolutely adore photography. It’s truly my passion, and I plan on making it a second source of income once I’m working in a law firm. I’ve never taken a photography class. I do better and learn more just by doing. That’s kina crappy that you can’t even take a CLASS, because you don’t have the pre-req’s, though! Bleh.

I’m pretty happy! Even though I drank a bit too much this weekend, and had REGULAR pop….I still lost! I lost 5.6 lbs this week! Yay! I’m quite giddy. Lol.

I’m about to go get a workout in, and then get back to my homework, and work on edits from a shoot I had on Saturday.

Have a good Monday, all!

kayleystar
Thank you! And congrats on your loss as well! I did post on the WI thread where you posted your loss. :]
That's a good idea - it's always good to have two incomes, it helps with the rent and everything, as well as making living life much easier! It does suck that I can't take a class. ¬¬
I am taking time off from education after I finish my A-levels this year and I am planning to travel so it's a good opportunity for me to take photos.

Beth
xx

Biggest Loser results are in!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*HELP!*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Hi Ladies, I need your expertise, LOL! (Yet another calorie question, I apologize, heh.) So I started at 383 and gave myself a limit of 2000 calories a day. And everything seems to be going verrrrry slowwwwwly. Am I too high, too low, or what?? My average for last week was 1800. (1794 average, some days were 1380, some were 1990, etc) I figured at my starting weight, and even now in the 360s that I should be easily dropping with 2000/day. I barely pulled 1.6-1.8lbs a week, and now, after 2 weeks...I only dropped 1.6lbs TOTAL for the whole 2 weeks, and I was getting quite a bit of activity (about 30-60mins of light walking about 5 times that week, usually it's 30 mins twice a week, if that.) So....help!

Drop my cals, up my cals?? What should I do?

Thanks for any responses, I just don't know what to try, at my weight I shouldn't be struggling for 1.8lbs a week when I'm on track everyday...

~M

Vilandra--congrats on the weight loss, even though it's tiny. (It's better than weight gain, right?) What are you eating as calories? I find my body burns through natural foods much faster than processed... could that be part of it?

And to share my own success story: Ladies, for the first time in YEARS, I went to the doctor's office today. I did not let it bother me when the scale didn't read my weight. I openly told the doctor right off the bat that I hadn't been to a physician in so long because I was tired of doctors telling me I had the flu because I was fat and if I lost 50 lbs I'd never get sick again.

She was kind, understanding, and best of all--non-judgmental!! I left her office feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Like I actually had permission to lose weight!

If that sounds strange, I'm sorry, but I always feel defensive when people are anti-fat and it kind of makes me want to stay heavy as a response. Do you know what I mean?

Anyway, today was a great day. I hope you all experienced a success within!

I'm getting around a bit better today, which has improved my mood considerably. Every time I hurt my back, I worry that this is the big one that will put me back in a wheelchair. So when I start to get around again, I really feel relieved. I'm not going to the pool tomorrow. I know better than to push it too soon, and re-injure myself. I guess I don't have an excuse to avoid working on my paper if I don't have to go to the pool tomorrow.