Hello everyone!
I am starting that new thread now...the other was getting pretty long, I guess.
DITOFW is a group of ladies that are losing weight through regular exercise and by following a balanced eating plan. We do not use pills,prescriptions, quick fixes, or any crash diets. Anyone on balanced eating plans are welcome here-calorie counting, Weight Watchers, FoodMover, etc. any plan that is a lifestyle and healthy that includes lots of fruits and vegetables.
We are currently at the beginning of a new challenge that started at the first of the year and will go until the end of the month. We are really stressing the regular exercise and the drinking of plenty of water during this challenge.
Please join us for friendship, motivation, and the occasional kick in the rear to get everyone going!
Aphil

Hi all! Happy New Year! Just reminiscing that two years ago yesterday I started a wonderful journey and have had the support of the people here at 3FC for a whole year now! We have all written about how much better we feel, but when I tell you that loosing 103 pounds has changed my life, I am telling the truth!! I wish you all the same success and positive experience this journey has been for me! YOU CAN DO IT!!!

Just wanting to get in on the notification for this new thread!

I'll continue the baby name discussion but anyone popping in here without reading the last thread might wonder how random I am..

With my daughter, I heard the nickname Lexi and really liked it so I looked for a name that could be shorted to Lexi and came up with Alexa.. less common than alexandra or alexis at the time.. although now I find out it was in the top 100 for 1999 ..

With her middle name, we were in the hospital after having her and watching television and Michael Jordan was on announcing his retirement (one of many apparently LOL). MJ was my hubby's favorite player and so my daughter's middle name became Jordan

With her, we knew we were having a girl so we didn't even bother with boy names.

As far as a girl's name this time, I think we've agreed on Kairi. It's actually the name of a character on one of his video games. The minute I heard it, I really liked it... but we've not gotten the best response from our families about it.. blah! Too bad for them!

Unfortunately we aren't even sure about that yet.. and for boy's names we have nada so far!! I been wracking my brain but so far, no good!!

Anyway, off the name topic.. I had a dr appt today and actually lost a pound since last appt 2 weeks ago.. I'm certainly not complaining!! The nurse wanted to know if I'd been sick or not eating as much.. but I dunno why she's so concerned because I'm well aware of the fact that losing a pound or two in the last month is normal! (I thought I might point that out to her but was not up for a debate). Anyway, I still have a few weeks to gain it back plus some.. lol.. and actually, I am sick (a nasty cold) so she figured that was why I'd lost... whatever!

Ok.. now that I've written a novel here.. lol...
I have another dr appt tomorrow (actually get to see a real DOCTOR this time too.. wow!).. I wish I could convince them to give me an ultrasound but thats looking doubtful

Ok, and thats my 2 cents.. or perhaps a whole nickle.. for today..


Christine

Hello everyone


AMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Way to go on the pounds lost !!!!! You are doing just grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat ! I am so happy for you and just to show you ....here are the happy dancers
Keep up the good work !!! So close to the 180's yahoo!!!!!!

Christine,,, I love the name Andrew for a boy, as a matter of fact I had a dream that my son and dil had another baby boy and named him Andrew, and of course I adore the name Alexander, that is my little grandson's name. He is just over 2 years old. I think the name Andrew for your baby should it be a boy would go perfectly with big sister Alexa!!!!!!

Tryin'hard, Holly, Kina, DNW a big hello to you all...

Ok I am outta here, a late day for me,, I need my beauty sleep.

ciao for now

Nancy
198.8/180.9/150

Silly ol' bear! I had no problem finding you all.

I am feeling a bit better but still having trouble swallowing and all that. Okay well in case we get some newbies...I have a horrible sore?soar throat right now and it is getting better. I joined 3FC in June of this year and lost the most weight since my life change journey. In 2002, I lost a total of 31.5 lbs...wow I hadn't actually calculated it! I did start out with using Slim Fast but was Doctor instructed to get that out of my system. So now I am trying to do it the right way...afterall I have to live with food throughout the rest of my life! I plan to get rid of the same amount of excess baggage this year as I did last year BUT hopefully more.

Amy~~~I really enjoyed your path of naming your children that was so interesting. I really liked the Thor part--very funny. A part I didn't know about you.

Let me not forget Woohoo! The 80s just over the horizon!

Nancy~~~Andrew is a beautiful name. And to have all your children named in the same alphabet! Like my grandma named all her girls with a "S" Sonia, Susie, Sarah, Sylvia, and San Juanita then the 6 boys were just random letters.

Christine~~~You are going to find the perfect name for your child because whatever you name him/her it will come straight from your heart. By the way the girl name you mentioned can you give me a pronunciation. I am pronouncing it as Carrie (Care-eeee). I am thinking I am wrong on this. It sounds interesting. I like different names for girls. I have stuck old fashioned bible names to my boys.

Tryin'hard~~~Glad to hear from you.

Okay...well I did actually get to eat dinner this evening very slowly. Who knows maybe I will show a loss this weekend after all I have been really drinking plenty of water since I figure water is a natural healer of all ailments. Quite honestly I am scared to pass anything larger than water since my throat is just on fire. It's like swallowing pins and needles. Ugh!

Tomorrow is "pinky day", my 6yr old, reminded me. That means she has been counting on her fingers (since she doesn't know how to read a calendar very well) as to how many more days until grandma comes to pick her up to take her to the "shop" (another of her terms which means shopping). I love children's lingo they are just so interesting. Right now my 6 yr old thinks she can stop a toy car in motion by twisting her fingers a certain way in the direction of the oncoming toy car. I just adore her. All my kids have been so wonderful to me while I have been sick bringing me water and such. Giving me hugs has been a wonderful natural remedy. Today was my first big day out of the bedroom and Vianca (the infamous 6 yr old) follows me into the kitchen. I know how much she loves to mimic my every move so I muster up the energy and do a bootie dance and she just carries on with her own mirror image of me. Sometimes my 12 yr old joins in. The other day I was teaching my 8 yr old to dance, arm in arm with a girl. Of course his eyeballs are near chest level and his giggling away of embarassement because his sisters are watching him be silly with mommy. I tell him "...and whatever you do, don't look at my boobs!" He giggles and says "Nuh-uh!" So then I say "What did you learn?" He says "To dance?" I say "Yes, BUT most importantly find a girl a little shorter than you or as tall as you." He just giggled and ran away before I asked him for another dance. I just love my kids and I hate being bed-ridden and unable to do for them. I guess that is why I went on this tangent.

I better get out of here or I will use up all the thread.
Bye. Kina

Good morning everyone!
Kina-I love to hear all of the goofy stuff you do with your kids!!! Don't forget, dancing counts as exercise-so be goofy with them dancing all you want!!! My exercise yesterday was bellydancing, and my kids have a Teletubbies exercise video that they do-(which I totally recommend for anyone who has kids 1-5 years old)-and my 1 year old boy is getting really good at following what they do...well, I am dancing yesterday, and Jasmine is on the couch watching me, and I look down, and Raiden is standing beside me trying to do the movements in his little yellow sleeper! Jasmine just started cracking up, and then he got emberrassed and ran down the hallway...it was too funny.
Kina, I also wanted to add that this past year I have been so proud of you, you have been doing so great losing 30+pounds, and doing what you can to try to learn about exercise and healthyier eating habits. Things may be going slow at times, but do not get discouraged, slow and steady teaches lifetime habits-and that is what wins the race!
Holly-I just emailed Nancy, and mentioned you, and I thought I would tell you what I said. When you first emailed me last year, you sounded like a totally different person-doubtful, depressed, and unhappy with your body. Now you are happy, energetic, and have so much confidence since you lost the weight. You didn't have as much to lose as the rest of us, but it just goes to show that even being 20 or 30 pounds overweight can have the same effects on a person who needs to lose 100 if they don't feel good about their body. I am so glad that you joined us, because you have showed us all the great changes that getting fit can have aside from the obvious physical. Many many hugs...you motivate me!
Christine...I hear you about family not always liking the name you pick for your child-I went through that! My advice is not to tell those family members what you have chosen until the child is born and it is in stone on the birth certificate. They won't hassle you when they know it cannot be changed!
I hope everyone is having a great morning! I am in the process of trying out a recipe I made up...I will let you know how it goes!
Aphil

Hi ladies, mind if I jump in and join you? You sound like such a nice group. I'm a 42 year old mom of two, ages 11 (for one more week, he keeps reminding me!) and 13. I'm a teacher's assistant in an elementary school. I'm a Weight Watchers lifetime member, and I worked there for year after making lifetime. My slide back into old habits and complacency started to happen before I left the job, so I can't say I gained the weight back because I quit, I was on my way before then. Anyhow, I find myself now facing the need to lose at least 35 lbs, I've kept off 28 of what I lost. I only want to get back down to about 140, that's above my WW goal but that's where I was most comfortable with myself, how I looked and felt and where I found it the easiest to maintain. I hovered there around 140 for a year or so, beating myself up the whole time because I was over goal, but I looked good and felt wonderful. So that's what I'm shooting for, 140.

I really like that the focus of this group is on the basics, because while I am following WW plan, I'm not fooling myself in believing I can do it religiously, to the letter, at least not yet. So I decided to also just focus on water, exercise, and making healthier choices, with portion control along the way for good measure. I'm not weighing and measuring my food, not even journaling yet, I will, but for now, to begin with, I'm taking baby steps to get me started.

Thanks for 'listening', and I look forward to getting to know you all.

upandaway

Welcome upandaway!
You are most welcome to join us! You have brought up such a good point with your post, and it got me thinking about something I wanted to say.
It is hard to lose weight and to get fit-but as hard as it is, it is actually the easiest part of the journey. It is exciting seeing your clothes get too large, and getting compliments, and watching teh scale go down...but the hardest part is keeping it off, and continuing with the healthy eating habits and regular exercise after you get to where you are most comfortable with your body. It is very important that we see these changes as LIFELONG, and not temporary. If we revert to old habits and slack on our exercise, our body will go back to the way it was before. It is so important to keep motivated, and to have a support system that keeps you on the road to a healthy life forever, especially when the world is used to seeing you fit and strong, and all of the compliments we loved recieving when our loss was brand new have died down...that is where the hard part begins.
You have to put yourself and your body first all of the time. You cannot take care of your children, husband or partner, or your job 100% unless you take care of yourself. When you are eating right, exercising, and doing those little things "just for you"-everything else will flow along much nicer.
upandaway-that is great that you have caught yourself slipping before you gained all of your previously lost weight back. I would recommend that one of your first baby steps to getting back on track, along with the water, would be to ease back into some form of regular exercise, and to begin journaling again. It is so important to see where our "slipups" are happening...it could be something as simple as a daily soda habit...knowing exactly what we are consuming, and "owning up to it" by writing it down is a wonderful step.
Welcome!
Amy-Aphil

Welcome Up and Away!

This is a great group and I always look forward to listening to their successes and their struggles. It kind of keeps it all in prospective. I hope that you find exactly what I found when I joined...Support, Understanding, and Lots of Friends!

I will tell you honestly and I'm sure you know this yourself...IT'S NOT EASY-none of it is! I have never counted calories; I am just learning. I have never done portion controlling; I am having a hard time adjusting but water makes it easy. I never looked at the food pyramid so investigatively as I do now. But you know I screw up alot and luckily I have this really bad throat infection because I have been so good . Once I see a lost I run with it like the dickens. LOL All of this isn't taught in Slim Fast well maybe a little but their thing is to push their shakes. I try not to think of this as a diet but more as a new way of improving myself in the long run.

You are going to like it here on 3FC.

Thanks Amy, I usually don't count that dancing for exercise because...(who knows it might be a mental thing) then it won't be as much fun LOL. How cute Raiden enjoys you so much. Is this interesting or what our children's name are similar?...Raiden vs Raevin.

Well I am getting better as the days go by. I am going to be doing laundry today the kids will be back in school Tuesday. Talk to you all later.
Kina

Hello all

Had another dr appt today... and I was a pound less than yesterday but I'm sure that is because it was at 9am rather than 3 in the afternoon.. lol According to MY scale this morning though, I am up only 38 pounds total at the moment. 38 is good... I can live with 38 ..

I too like the name Andrew (and the nickname of Drew) but unfortunately I dated an Andrew before I met my husband and that kinda knocks that name off the list I also love the name Alexander but I figured having an Alexa and Alexander was a little TOO close.

The name Kairi is pronounced like Kylie but with an R.. Ky-ree. Its both Japanese and Australian in origin I believe. My mom was kind enough to say it sounds like a little kid trying to say "kylie" and my sister says it sounds like an oriental person trying to say "kylie" ... they will just have to deal if we do have a girl and choose that name!

Welcome upandaway... these ladies truely are an inspiration.. even though I've been a little less active due to my pregnancy, I still have to check up with them because I know I'll be back on the diet bandwagon asap and I know these ladies will keep me there!!


Christine

Hey everybody so good to read about everyone's successes and I love to hear about the kids...I was never able to have kids...but do enjoy the stories..reminds me of my nieces when they were young.

My food hasn't been totally clean...but I am doing my best since I have had the throat thing, although not as bad as Kina...but the weather in northeast Jersey where I live is all ice, sleet, and freezing rain so I didn't even go to work today.

I will go back to the gym Monday morning, because I have no strength to speak of right now, if I feel better tomorrow I will do my exercise tape.

A quick food note for those who love pumpkin pie:

I took a long shot an used only non-fat evaporated milk (receipe calls for regular evaporated and whole milk mixed) and substituted the sugar with Splenda but added 1 1/4 cups of it, instead of the 3/4 called for with regular sugar. I am finding with Splenda you need about a 1/4 more than the receipe calls in terms of sugar, when baking.

Well, it was fabulous, and you really could not tell the difference, in fact I found the pumpkin mix to be richer and creamier than the regular receipe....now I am going to make it as a pumpkin pudding. The fat and sugar calories savings have to be very substantial...Try this is you have a real urge for pumpkin.

Take care and I will write soon.

Kina-I didn't know you had a child named Raevin...that is just gorgeous!!!! If Raiden had been a girl, Raven was a name that we tossed around her, which turned out to be "him"...
Well, the recipe I was making up earlier today turned out GREAT, so I have decided to share. You will have to figure up the calories or points for yourself, because the brands of ingredients and choice of fruit used may cause that to vary.
SINGLE SERVE BERRY COBBLER
1 serving of frozen berries (either blueberries, rasberries, or blackberries-my bag of rasberries said 3/4c. for 60 calories, so that is the amount I used.)
Splenda sweetener-(it tastes much better than Equal or SweetNLow when you used in recipes)
skim milk
Reduced Fat Bisquick or pancake mix
ground cinnamon
Put the frozen berries in a microwavable bowl, and sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of Splenda over it, and stir. In a separate small bowl, put 1/4c. skim milk, and 1/4c. Bisquick-stir until blended well. Add in a dash of cinnamon and a dash of Splenda and mix again. Pour over berries and microwave for 3 minutes, until pancake mix is cooked. It will not brown like in the oven, but it will taste just fine. Cool 2-3 minutes before eating.
The Splenda and cinnamon add no calories, and 1/4c.skim milk is 20 calories...you will have to see your fruit and baking mix package directions to see the calories in those items. If the pancake mixture is too thick, you can add a touch of water. This has the wonderful cobbler taste, without all of the sugar and fat. On the food pyramid, it would equal a fruit serving and a bread/starch. I had it for breakfast, and it was WONDERFUL! I felt like I was cheating, and it smelled so great when it was cooking!!! YUM!!! (When I made mine, it added up to be about 220 calories-to give you an idea)
Trust me, you will not be disappointed!
Well, I better get going...I have finished my upper body strength training and abs...it is time to get my lower body done...it sure needs it!
Have a wonderful afternoon!
Aphil

DNW-we were posting at the same time!!! I also play around with regular recipes that I love to make them healthier! It is so great to hear from you again, and I hope your throat is on the mend!
Aphil

Welcome Upandaway~~,,, glad to have you aboard!!!!! You are bound to feel at home with the great group we have here. the more the merrier and we are a merry bunch!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kina~~! Look at you and the weight you have lost this past year. You have to be feeling so good about yourself. And to have the discipline while going to school, working , taking care of a husband and little ones, you totally rock!!!! I am so happy for you !!! And I do hope you are feeling better!! Oh by the way Kina, I am a dancer also, but that is only when I am by myself and that is when I turn into Nancy,,,, the "Solid Gold Dancer" I dance like I really know how too !!!!!!! But who is to tell me any different, I never do it when any one is around !

DNW~~ So good to see a post from you! So sorry to hear that your throat has been bothering you also. I hope you will soon be in tip top shape !

Christine~~ I bet as soon as that little one arrives you will have alot of those 38 pregnancy pounds off!!!! Dont stress about it one bit. You will be just fine!

Amy~~ Are you ready for this???? Are you sitting down???? Now listen very closely, because I am sure you never expected to hear this from me,,, Are you sure you want to know ?????????? Ok here goes,,,,,, I joined Curves today!!!!!!!
Amy are you there?? Did you faint??? Some one get the smelling salts and help Amy out ......... What I am trying to say here is that I actually made a commitment to exercise !!!! I figured that since I am so out of shape, this would be a good way for me to start some kind of program. It isnt as intense as some people may like. But for me anything is a plus! As you know I am a true exercise hater!! I do believe that exercise is the work of the devil
But seriously, I took the money that my FIL gave me for Christmas and went and joined. I did not sign the year contract but choose to do it on a month to month basis. I really enjoyed the session today and my heart rate did go up of course I could feel muscles working that I did not know were even there

I believe by taking this step , Ill be able to work my way up to bigger things eventually. What do you think? I think you have got the message into my head that I have to exercise. We all know what happens when you do, just look at that last pic that Holly posted of herself!!!!!!!!


Holly and Tryin'hard~~ A great big hello to you both !!!

Well , ladies gotta run for now, I am going to meet a girlfriend of mine for coffee(yuck I dont drink that stuff, but I ll have tea) and then later on when I get back . Ill scan a picture of me at my top weight of 304 pounds and then a recent one,,,,hmmm I wonder if there is enough bandwidth on this site to do both????

Hugs to all!!!
Nancy

What song is that from? That's all I can remember that one line "come Saturday morning..." Oh well.

Thanks so much for the warm welcome. It makes such a difference to have the support of people who know what you are going through. My DH is supportive, unbelievably so, but he's thin as a rail and can eat whatever and never gain an ounce. Yesterday he offered to take me to Outback, our favorite place to eat and I said well I'd love to but I'm trying really hard and I only have so many points left and he okay, fine. I'm not sure I'd have been so sweet and understanding if it was reversed.

I have to try that berry cobbler, a single serving recipe is just what I need. It sound delicious. Nancy, I know just what you mean about exercise being the work of the devil! I hate it too, mainly because I'm so uncoordinated I usually end up hurting myself! I can do the Richard Simmons Sweatin to the Oldies tapes, but by the time I'm able to keep up and not feel like I'm just flailing around foolishly, I'm sick of the people, the music and Richard, who I love. My exercise is a stationary bike that I ride at least 20 minutes a day, more if I can make myself. I believe the "calories burned" function is misleading so I just time myself and call it good.

Kina, I too dance with my son, he's 11. He's a good sport about it, for my sake. It's mostly me dancing and him smiling and swaying and saying "go mom!" He paid me the ultimate compliment the other day, he said I was a cool mom. Wow.
Great day to all!
upandaway