COME JOIN US!

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 and hope. We are aware of the distinct problems that come with weighing over 300 lbs.

We want to invite everyone to join us in our journey.
We share laughter and tears.
We share what works for us and what doesn't.
We often use a "Topic of the Day" for discussion.

Motivational Monday
Tuesday Tips
Wednesday Wish List .. and What you are doing to obtain it.
Thankful Thursday
FUN Friday ... don't wait until you lose your weight.
Sit-up Saturdays - any physical activity
Share your Success Sunday

These are not required topics ...just ideas to share. We often find them very helpful. We also share heartaches and fears ... joys and celebrations.

We have several extra threads going on simutaneously such as Monthly Challenges, Weekly Weigh-ins, Recipes, Bios, and more. Please feel free to check them all out.

We have a bi-weekly 2x2 Challenge.
Our goal is to lose 2 lbs in 2 weeks.
We have a long term goal of losing 300+ lbs within our 300+ group in 2005.

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.

Errrr, if we talk about it, we're not suppressing our cravings and like....ummm...yeah

HI ALL,

Since Apprentice is a rehash episode I have a sec to stop in.

Sounds like some of us are going thru what I call Seasonal Change Traumas. I swear anytime we approach a change in seasons strange things happen that create more challenges than usual. Be strong. Take a step back and try to see the big picture. Make adjustments to help you go forward calmly and in control.

Wave good bye to Winter and welcome Spring with joy .... except for our friends Down Under who are entering Autumn ... my favorite season.

So let me tell you how bad TODAY sucked!!! So my boss has been sick for about three months now she has not been to work. And you never realize how much one person does till they are out of work. This has put such a stress on me it is unbelievable. Today I inherited the job of getting the company ready for accreditation from JCAHO. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA This office manager **** is for the birds. But I know that this to shall pass. Its just other members don't seem to be carrying their weight...but you just have to let it go and just get your stuff done. I try to talk about it with my mom because she is an office manager and it some how always ends up with her explaining how her job is worse Not much help. Tomorrow is Friday so I should work is almost gone for the week and I can relax and try not to stress. I never realized that some people you work with just don't listen.

I hate standing in front of people and talking. And now I get to go to the local Home Healths, Dr offices, Pt etc. and give them a speal about our products. I didn't sign up for this. But the other guy said he couldn't get up in front of people. ME NEITHER. but I am nice so I am doing it (that and there was no choice

Also now that I am assuming the role as leader at TOPS I have to wear a dress at SRD . I wore a tuxedo to prom. Sweet mother of good what more could go wrong in one week. So now I have to find a dress.

I am sorry I am just b!tching. But seeing Shop's BF dressed up like a girl helped me mood Does he know he has a picture on the internet of himself dressed up like a girl.

I did pretty good today except when I went Olive Garden. I only at 1.5 bread stick ( I used to eat 4 or 5) But I had the Ravioli Portabella and I ate more than needed too. But jeez was it good.

Loki: CONGRATS on the lose. Good luck with the 6 week consec. This week was my 6th. This is my first and I was so excited. I am rooting for you!!

congrats scoot on your 6th week! That is SO awesome! I hope I can join you in a few hehe.

I'm sorry today sucked for you. I know EXACTLY what you mean about the dress. When they told me that the banquet was 'dressy' I went into freak mode as some of you witnessed. hehe. I'm crossing my fingers that you find a great dress that you love. A tux to prom huh? LOL! That ROCKS! I never even had the courage to go to prom so you got one up on me.

You'll have to get lots of pictures from SRD to share with us! I'll try to do the same. We're doing a skit called "The Wizard of TOPS" (instead of Oz). Our theme is "A night on broadway" for SRD, so I hope it turns out cute. I'm the wicked witch who gets to tempt everyone with greasy cheeseburgers and cakes and pies! HEH! What fun!!!!!

Julie

The wicked witch with cheeseburger and pies. That is so cute!! Our theme is Under the Big Top so our group are going as the ring master and I am going to be a dog with a hoop of fire.

Just checking in before I got to bed...damn Zoloft...it has me craving the bed at ten o'clock every night. i don't know if it's putting me to sleep or if it's doing its thing by taking away my anxiety and therefore regulating my sleep.

Scoot just wanted to say I hear you on the public speaking front, I can seriously psych myself out about it at times. I remember in college i took an ethics class and we had to present an arguement in a debate for one project, for the last half of the semester we had to draw our names out of a hat each day we had class, the person who's name was drawn had to give their arguement as well as the person who gave the opposing arguement. talk about stressful, having to worry for an entire TWO months about when i was going to have to get up there and lead the class into discussion.

Howdy All!

Just checking in before beddy-bye! DH and DS and I went to see The Incredibles tonight. Yeah, I know it's been out forever, but we have a "cheapy" theater that runs older movies for $2.50 a ticket. It was GREAT! I'm glad we went...although we did eat WAY too much popcorn. At least I talked DH into getting it without butter! And I did have only about 25 points before, so I figure I'm fine....

Well, getting late. Off to bed with me!

Lilion

Good evening ladies. Just popping in for a quick updating.

Melissa... thank you for starting our new thread.
Shopaholic... You can't stop a thread if you don't start the new one. It doesn't leave anywhere for people to post. LOL
Next time you might just suggest that someone starts a new thread.

Julie and Scooter ....Lots of fun stuff going on in your TOPS groups. So cool.

Judy... "seasonal change trauma" .... yep ... I never thought about it ... but that makes total sense. Our eating habits change too. Thanks for the reminder.

Terri... thanks for keeping track of our total weight losses.
I hope to contribute next time.

Tracy .. sounds like you got a great pup. My SIL had a small blanket that her dog knew was his. If it was not on the couch... he knew to stay off. That way if company came he was not on their laps. Dogs are soooo smart. You just have to be patient and train them.

Lilion... I had no desire to see "The Incrediables" ... but I keep hearing great things about it. I guess I will have to go and see for myself. We have it showing at the 50 cents theatre here. We also have a theatre that shows NEW movies for $2 before 6pm and $4 after 6pm.
I try to avoid the theatres that cost $8 each.

It is late and I am tired. gotta get to bed. Good night

Square dancing. I spent tonight square dancing. My high school group had a program tonight and they decided they wanted a Western Night. So I found a professional square dance caller and away we went. I tried to eat well..but didn't do so well..on the other hand..it could have been worse. We had burgers and for my vegetarians, falafel. So I had 2 burgers (they were small) and a heap of salad and carrot sticks...the burgers were points I am sure..not sure how lean they were (although they were kosher)...but that's ok. The falafel would have been much worse.

But the good thing is..I actually wound up dancing for about 45 minutes or so...and not ocne was I out of breath...my feet hurt..but that's because my shoes were just not made for dancing. But it was a hoot and a half. Yee Haw.

So...what AI Mario theories are you subscribing to? I have heard serveral...a better record contract (which he can't sign b/c he is already under certain contractual obligations to the show), he is gay and HIV positive and the show asked him to leave instead of dealing with the stigma and backlash (oh please...live and let live already)...who knows. His mother keeps insisting she doesn't know what "personal family situation" there could be. The producers know the real reason but have declined to comment...they are going to respect his privacy. In any case...at least Nikko did well and proved that he can be a contender.

Scooter..good luck with the dress. I did finally find one for the wedding..actually it is a top and long skirt, but together they look like a dress. I went to a specialty boutique..and I was shocked at some of the prices...and also peeved when the saleswoman kept telling me that so many things were running small. HELLO...you are a plus size store...it's bad enough that I am wearing the sizes I am without having to buy it a size larger because it's cut small. In the end, the dress I thought I was going to love...I hated when it was on me..it was just too much fabric and I was engulfed. Plus it was $328.00. The dress I wanted to try on they only had in a 16 (dream on kiddo) and then she kept asking me to try on these uuugggggglllllllyyyyyy dresses "just to check the sizing on you". Uh huh...I see. She handed me a dress with a deep plunging neckline and a halter style top...it was also floor length with beads all over it. I told her it was just "too much dress for me." I did try on these very dressy pants though..they were black lace capri length wide leg with white satin underneath. They were really cool but I couldn't find a top that I liked with it.

I am hoping for a restful weekend...I do have to work tomorrow for a little while (I usually have Fridays off) but should have enough time afterwards to go to the bank, get some groceries and find a recipe for tomorrow night. I think tomorrow night's fun with the BF will be taking my boxes down to my storage bin and maybe loading up my car for Goodwill. Maybe.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get refocused after yesterday's episode. I am feeling a lot better and am not contemplating quitting anymore. Thanks for your support and encouragement

Happy Weekend!

Scoot: JAACHO Accreditation!!! WOW you have your work cut out for you. I was the Business Manager of a Home Health Agency a few years back and we started it up from scratch, so I understand all you are going through. If you mom won't understand PM me, I sure will.

2Cute: How's your sister? You are still in my prayers.

Well my sis just called and said she's leaving for the club to exercise, so that means I have to get up and leave too. Have a great day everyone

Hi Gang!
I'm back! I know I have missed a ton and don't have time to read 2 weeks of threads so I'll try to pick up from here! It's great to see some old familiar faces as well as many new ones!

DH and I had a wonderful vacation. It was some much needed time alone to reconnect and relax. We went on a cruise with stops in Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Martin. Now that we are back I feel a little re-energized, but it obviously didn't take away difficult times and saddness we are experiencing right now. We are now back at work, back to medical stuff getting ready for our next IVF, back to grieving over mom. It's all still there, but we also have the wonderful memories of our vacation. Does that make sense?

We do have some things to look forward to....I am going to visit my dad and brother in FL the first weekend of April, we are planning a trip to Vegas in June with some friends, we have another IVF opportunity in April (that's good and stressful). We have so much to be thankful for, I just need to continue to focus on each day and focus on the positive things in my life.

Today is my day of serious refocus on my health. I stepped on the scale, faced the number and am now making a plan and setting goals for myself. I did a 30 minute pilates tape this morning! I am going to start counting calories again. All the things that worked for me before will work again. I am very disappointed in the weight I've gained over the past year. It's been a crappy year, but that's not excuse. Time to get it back off! I can't change the past, but I can certainly do something to change the future!

To update those of you following our IVF journey....we will be starting up again somewhere around April 10th. That means starting the 2x/daily injections, constant Dr. visits and then another egg retrieval surgery, followed by an embryo transfer (hopefully we get that far this time).

I should be working right now so I better run! I hope you are all doing well and I look forward to spending more time with you!


Barb

Sorry about the confusion with the two threads guys, I came in and there was already a "STOP DO NOT POST HERE" message, but no thread to post on so i just started a new one, and like two minutes later Judy also did. ;p

Good morning from Spring Break ****. There are drunk college kids sleeping on my beach. I wouldn't mind so much, but my dog is a hound trained for medical assistance. He feels the need to check each one for signs of life, and with my luck, he's going to find a dead one. It's like some kind of corpse obstacle course. Most of them don't want to be awaken at the crack of dawn with dog slobber, go figure.

Julee-What we have been doing for holidays and celebration is going to the local health food store and getting take out. It has a large deli, everything is labeled nutrition wise, and you buy by weight, so no portion control issues. We then pick a nice place to picnic. The price of one restaurant bill would pay for a cool picnic basket, and a meal you could enjoy that night, and not feel guilty about the next morning. This year was the first in my life that I didn't gain weight over the holidays.

Judy-I believe in seasonal changes, even down here where the leaves don't turn colors. I think it is primal. Our cavemen ancestors that survived the winter feasted on the first growth of spring and all the little mammals just waking up from hibernation. I think that's where the whole groundhog thing comes from.

For me, I'm going to celebrate spring by getting on a bike. I have one in storage that belonged to one of the boys. I have to order a new seat. I used to have an exercise bike with a hobson seat, and I'll never use another one again. It's a "two cheek" seat, not a saddle. It's like two smaller seats, split, each one rotates independantly so each side rocks as you lift the leg on that side. It's adjustable so you can split it as wide as your *** happens to be, and no more having your weight all on your crack. The cheapest place to get one is camper world which means a trip across the bridge. I can't wait.

Catherine