WELCOME!!!


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.

We have found this thread to be more than just a support group... we have found it to become a home. We invite you to join us!

Justwant My thoughts are with you. Any idea in when surgery will be?

Mw Wow I can really see a difference in your pics.

Finished decorating my tree today. Also did chores.

How was everyone's weekend?

PEAR ~ thanks, not yet; my doctor is currently searching for a team of surgeons who would be willing to take on this challenge. I just found out on Thursday, so it will take a bit of time. Like others said, waiting is hard but there will be some prep needed, I think.

Just- you are in my thoughts and prayers.

This weather has my sinuses all messed up. I spent most of the day yesterday sleeping.
Temp is suppost to hit 75 today. YIKES...this is december right??

hoping I feel better today and can get some exercise in.

mountainwalker - what lovely progress pictures! You're lovely, with a great smile, and you look so great in your progress pic. Thank you for posting them!

Rosebud - I'm so relieved to hear that it is not cancerous, but my goodness, that is still really frightening. You have been going through so much, I'm even more impressed that you are sticking to your goals while going through the testing. Sometimes I think the ambiguity of the testing process is harder than the diagnosis, but that's not always the case. I've been getting cold lately, but I hadn't considered whether it was related to my calorie intake.

Oh, and yes. I think that you should put the tree lights on every night. I helped my parents put up their new tree last night. We will decorate it next weekend. I told my brother (who is away at college) that all his homemade ornaments will go on the back & that is what he gets for being a messy seven-year-old, but I don't really mean it.

Please check-in when you can. You'll be in my thoughts and prayers. I hope your doctor finds the surgeons you need really, really soon.

pear - I did chores this weekend, and some cooking, and volunteered on Saturday. I was going to get my outside lights up, but Saturday's volunteer gig went on longer than anticipated, and then I spent all evening out shopping and did not get home until 11ish. Then Sunday - I was going to put the outside lights up, but it started raining and then rained ALL DAY.

dgramie - we have that weather here, too. It will be 70 today, but it is supposed to go back to normal on Wednesday, I think. Our weatherman thinks that we will have a harsh second half of December but I don't believe him. Global warming.

I cleaned out my closet again, this time ruthlessly excising everything that was too big and schlumpy looking. I got a few new things on a big sale this weekend so now I basically have a winter wardrobe that fits. Which is nice. I had these $25 off a $50 purchase coupons at Lane Bryant. Sweaters were also 50% off. All this coupled with an old gift card from the mall that I needed to spend soon (did you know that many gift cards, if they sit too long, will start charging you a monthly fee and reducing the value of the card?) so my final purchase was nearly free to me.

But the sweaters I liked all needed camisoles under them, as they were deliberately super low cut, see through, or cardigans. Which is a great way to make people buy more stuff, I suppose, but also complicates trying things on. We were there until... after closing, and even when I left there were loads of people still shopping. I felt sorry for the employees, and guilty! I would've wrapped it up sooner had I realized how late it was (or you know, had they not had 1000 permutations of options with just one cardigan/camisole).

I made a red lentil & orange soup for lunch this week. Haven't tried it yet, but I think it will be good. I usually put lemon in it, but the only citrus I had in the house was the orange (and grapefruit, but cannot imagine grapefruit-flavored lentil soup!).

I have a cold, hope to recover soon. I plan to get my outdoor lights up tomorrow evening as it will be warm again, but tonight I have tickets to a concert and won't be able to do it.

Have a great week everyone!

Thanks for the postive feedback on the pics....it is the first time in a longwhile I haven't run away from the camers screaming!
Justwanna...what a terrible worry for you...praying that things will work out for the good soon.
Had a letter from my ex about seeing my son. He is of course denying all bad behaviour so it is off to court we go. Mericfully we will be able to claim Legal Aid as my little boy s adamant he doesn't want to see his Father again...and I don't blame him.
On plan for the most part not exercising as much as I would like to but doing OK.
Take care ladies/gents

THANKS, EVERYONE ~ I really appreciate your prayers and support. Tomorrow, I am going to the nearest city for the gynecological assessment for the surgery, so things are moving along already. My BIL will come up and get all of us (myself, DH, and our furry baby) to stay with them when the times comes; to take us to appts and the hospital. That is a big load off our minds too; and, yes of course -- that the tumor, although humongous in size, it is benign ... yay!!!

Lots of positives will come out of this --- I will get a whole new wardrobe; and there are so many things that I will be able to do that I can't now becuz the tumor is hindering me. I will lose a pile of weight; I will be more balanced, so may be able to get rid of my canes; I will be more mobile -- to climb stairs and get into vans & other high vehicles; walk so much better and farther; and so many more that I just can't mention them all.

Food was good today; went shopping and got almost all our gifts and some groceries (some for Christmas time too). Forgot a couple of gifts that we can get another day; so almost done now.

MEM ~ yes, I have been putting the lights on every night; they are so pretty and uplifting, I think. DH still hasn't found our decorations yet, so think I'll be buying a few when we go pick up the other gifts.

Justwant hope your appointment goes smoothly tomorrow.

Mnem your soup sounds good

WI down 2.6

I felt so much better yesterday. I even felt up to giving blood last night. Our church was hosting a blood drive for the Red Cross. It always makes me feel good to give blood. I did get a bit dizzy this time. I wonder if I hadnt drank enough during the afternoon. Next time I will be sure and drink extra water before giving.
Scales are looking better!

mountainwalker - I hope you will be able to get a court date soon, although being somewhat familiar with the American system, that can take a while. I wish you a swift and positive resolution, for sure.

Rosebud - you are so positive. You're right, too, of course! I'm pleased that your brother in law will be able to host you and your family while you go through the appointments and assessments - and the surgery, too. That makes it so much more position. My mom had ovarian cancer so she went through the radical surgery. It was tough to recover from, sure, but she had a great surgeon and I'm sure you will find a great surgeon/surgical team to take care of you. (As an aside, she's more than eight years cancer-free now. Maybe nine!)

pear - wow. 2.6 lbs! That is awesome, congrats! I am still holding, haven't lost more since the big woosh, but that is to be expected. I make variations on lentil/bean soups pretty regularly. This one was good! It was pretty basic: sauteed 1.5 onions, 2 carrots, 2 sticks of celery, 2 cloves of garlic in some olive oil. Added some orange zest, thyme, a bay leaf and some stock and brought it to a boil. Added the juice of 1 orange. Added 1 cup dried lentils and simmered for 20 minutes, then pureed it about 50% with the hand blender, finishing it off with fresh italian parsley. It is tasty, although to be honest I don't really TASTE the orange. Hah.

dgramie - I haven't given blood in a while, you probably needed to eat something afterward, too? I hope you did, and am glad you felt better and the scales are looking good!

I went to a concert last night, the "Three Irish Tenors." It was pretty good, though two of them seemed to have colds; they did my one of my favorite songs - Fairytale of New York by the Pogues during the Christmas section in the second half. Haha, even better, though - the concert was at a really old theater built in hte 1920s, which has the original seats. They are SMALL and frames are made of worked iron so the armrests are hard. I went to see Arlo Guthrie there last spring, hoping that the weight I had lost would make it more comfortable for me to sit. But no: the metal sides of the seats were still acutely painful and I had bruises on both thighs after the show. Last night? I FIT. No pain at all. NO bruises. I have avoided that venue for years because the seats were too small for me to the point of being painful. Well, no more. I FIT.

Mnem Great nsv.
I can relate to the fear of not fitting in seats or coming home with huge bruises on my hips from squeezing into tight spaces.
I love Arlo Guthrie.

I am making a bean soup with dried beans, onion, garlic, carrots, chicken stock, bay leaves and canned tomatoes.

pear - heh, yes. Arlo Guthrie was great. I remember going to see him when I was a little kid. He had two of his own kids (or maybe, his son and grandson?) as his backing band, which was also cool. And your soup sounds delicious! I think I will make a black bean soup this weekend. Or maaaybe a vegetarian chili.

I did not get my Christmas lights out last night, but did get home in time to get them out of the garden shed before it started raining. They are 'staged' on my porch and I will put them up tonight, even though it will be cold. Did a few other chores, but nothing exciting. I also tried on a skirt I was going to wear to a party this weekend. I bought it the LAST time I lost weight, wore it once, and kept it all this time but haven't worn it yet. Well, it is too big. That's an NSV of a sort, but I kinda wish it wasn't too big. It's a really pretty black velvet skirt. Now I kinda want another, but it's not like I'll have THAT many opportunities to wear one. I might see if my mom can alter it for me, but it would need new seaming in both skirt and lining, which might be tough.

menm For sure a skirt that is too big is a nsv. Anyway you could wear a belt with it to cinch it in? I have to lose so much to really make a difference in clothing size. But my pants that were snug are fitting more comfortably now. Which is nice.

Justwant2BHealthy That's awesome! You have so much to look forward to!

I went for an ultrasound to diagnose possible pcos yesterday. No news on that front yet but I was informed I still have a 7mm stone in my right Kidney, but they won't do anything unless it causes pain. I've been hospitalized twice for stones, and was supposed to have surgery, but it passed on it's own and I didn't want to wait another week in the hospital on nothing but IV.

I wish I hadn't asked. I don't want to live in dread of the stone!

Mnem- Hearing about you fitting into those once-too-small seats is a great story to hear about! I flew shortdistance last week, and was dreading it, as I've had no issue with longdistance flights (I think the seats are bigger/more leg room/longer seatbelts maybe?) but shortdistance is always an uncomfortable 2 hour trip for me. I was pleasantly surprised to find I could do the buckle up easily below my belly flap on the way up, and that my haunches didn't automatically lift up the arm rest between me and my neighbour. On the way back I decided to throw caution to the wind, and attempted to buckle it around my actual waist, right over my belly button. And it worked! It wasn't the most comfortable in the world, but it's been a long time since I could do that! It was a fantastic feeling, especially since my weightloss has seemingly stalled (apparently I need to seriously cut calories, and do exercise every day to see a loss, which sucks when I'm too busy/exhausted at the end of the day to do much).

Today I'm sitting in bed after having a wisdom tooth extracted, throwing the diet to the wind and eating mashed potato and icecream, and enjoying catching up on this forum.