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 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.
The challenges start every other Monday. There will be a sign-up started by someone on the thread and then you report in 2 weeks later with your losses!
Once the one challenge ends, a new one begins the same day.
We have a long term goal of losing 300+ lbs within our 300+ group in 2005.
(NOTE: We DID IT, We DID IT....and it's only the end of May!!!)

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.

WELCOME!

I know you'll all agree that we are really thankful for the free services here at 3FC. The sisters offer all of this support and information with no charges to us. There are a couple of ways though that we can help out.

If you are thinking about buying anything at Amazon, why not help out 3FC at the same time? You can do this by clicking on the button for Amazon on any page in the forum, or by clicking on the button on the main 3FC page at www.3fatchicks.com . A portion of your purchase price will be given to 3FC by Amazon. It doesn't increase your price at all, but it does help out 3FC. You can use any of the Amazon.com links that you see on the site in order to help contribute to the site.

Also, BTW, in case you didn't know it, you can view the message boards "ad free" for a minimal charge. I think it's like $15 for 6 months. A very small investment to be rid of the annoying ads and make your pages load quicker.

There have been some concerns expressed by the powers that be about copyright infringement. So please, if you are directly quoting someone else or printing an article in whole or in part, please give credit where credit is due!!!!

I had a really strange week. I had a hard time getting enough calories. I kept falling asleep in the early evening when I'd only had 900-1000 calories for the day. I try really hard to make sure my body gets what it needs so that I have the energy to get all my exercise in. On days when I spend 2 hours in the pool with my deep water aerobics class, I try to get near 2000, including a big breakfast. I'm hoping that this is just me, for the first time in my life, learning to listen to my body. That whole "eat when hungry and sleep when tired" thing has eluded me my entire life. I used to eat when bored, excited or upset, and sleep when depressed, so learning a new way of living is alien. I do get angry sometimes when I realize that I should have learned how to do things the right way when I was a child. I am trying to take responsibility for the mistakes I have made as an adult, and most of the responsibility for things I did starting at age 13, but the things I ate before then, I had little control over. As a child I learned that every birthday had to be celebrated by going out to an all you can eat Mexican restaurant. When my mother was "blue," she took care of it with pastry. I learned to eat ice cream every night before bed, to clean my plate, and every meal had to have meat. Forty years of habit and indoctrination are way hard to break, but it can be done. It is just so strange and alien at first. Very much like trying to learn a foreign language.

man I'm sore and stiff! I made a note today... use SUNBLOCK! We have June Gloom and I didn't stop to think that I can still get sunburnt. SIGH... I'm toasty now... no sun today again but I am using sunblock!

and lots of aloe vera lotion at night LOL!

Take care all!
Sue...

Hi

I'm new to this group. I'm happy to find a group like this, though. Sometimes I feel like I am the only person who weighs so much...that everyone else looks at me as though I'm some sort of out of control freak.

I started trying to lose weight about 3 weeks ago. I'm not calling this a "diet" since all the changes I've made have been towards a goal of a complete lifestyle change that will leave me feeling healthy, satisfied, and most importantly, is something which is maintainable forever.

Lately I've been struggling with portion sizes. I eat low-cal, low-fat foods, but I think I am still eating too much. Or really, too much in one sitting, because often I will eat what I've served myself and feel uncomfortably full. Yet I don't want to be hungry because when I get too hungry for too long is when I lose control. Also, I feel obligated to eat everything I make because we are really struggling for money right now and I don't want to throw something out only to be hungry later but unable to make or eat anything because I've so carefully budgeted our food to last until next paycheck.

Somtimes it's very hard...

Hi ladies,hope everyone is well. Well after a whole week of rain, today was sunny and 90 degrees and i was working!
Solus: welcome to the board. I definetly can relate to your feelings of feeling like people judge you, i think it is something all of us "big" ladies and men go through. I sometimes have a mental plan in my head of what i will wear, where i will go,etc, before i leave the house. I truly hope this is something i will get over when i finally reach my goal weight. Just remember, never give up!!! i have to tell myself this alot, but we are all worth good health, happiness, and a positive self image.
Have a good evening everyone

Good Evening all,

Welcome Solus and if I missed any other new people, welcome. I hope that you will find the encouragement you need here and be uplifted so you can achieve your goals. I have found this board a safe and wonderful place to be. It is like a family. Everyone cares about each other's struggles and success and we have all walked in pretty much the same shoes.

To everyone else, Congrats on the losses and on staying op. I have stayed op also and I will weigh in on Tuesday. I have been soooo busy all weekend with a huge 3 family yard sale that was held at my house. I am pooped. We did really well though. My hubby and I made about $200 on junk laying around the garage. My parents made about $200 and my sister made about $80. All in all it was a success. I have read all the board but have no time nor energy to write individuals. Hang in there to those who are struggling. Hugs to everyone.
Blessings,
Dogpal

Hi!
I am new to the group. My problem will be the EXERCISE. I need a good kick in the pants. Because rather than going to the Y after work this morning, I came home. I guess I need to get up early today pick up my neice and nephew who are to young to ride their bikes alone and walk behind them on the biking trail again. I have done this several times and it feels less like work than anything else I have tried. It is just so hard to work up the energy working 12 hour nights-I just need to stop whinning and DO it.
AngieB

Good Morning Ladies (and any gentlemen who might be lurking)

Well, it was a busy, busy weekend. Our week long medieval camping event starts this Friday and we are so unprepared! We are making a "Viking A-frame" tent to cover the kids bubble tent and all the sewing comes to me. I made covers that make our coolers look a bit like ottomans and new gowns for me and the girl going with us. Still have to finish that darn tent and shade fly and make new garb for DS as well as helping DH with some woodworking projects. As always, I should have started sooner.

Tashabella: Good for you! I'm so glad to see you had a nice loss. Keep up the good work!!!

Tinker: Did I ever welcome you?? If not, consider yourself welcomed! I agree with Biggirl, don't freak until after TOM is over with. Women just weigh funny at times.

Esmaraude: I like the "after" pic. Having never been thin, I don't have anything to show me what I could look like...I may have to try that myself!

Catherine: As always, you made me think. You said, "As a child I learned that every birthday had to be celebrated by going out to an all you can eat Mexican restaurant. When my mother was "blue," she took care of it with pastry. I learned to eat ice cream every night before bed, to clean my plate, and every meal had to have meat." That rings true. I remember growing up, we were expected to clean our plates in order to have dessert, and there was ALWAYS dessert. In fact, I remember my folks saying if everything on the table was eaten so there was no left-overs, tomorrow would be a sunny day! They grew up in the depression and lived thru times with little food...maybe that's why food was such a big part of their lives. Also there was the whole "farm-house" mentality, with the big breakfasts and lots of fried foods.

I worry about my own son and what I'm teaching him. I'm much better than my DH, who is far more the disiplinarian than I am, but I still hear myself telling him to clean his plate if he wants dessert. I try to temper that by saying if he doesn't clean his plate he gets nothing else for an hour or two following dinner, but still, I worry I'm instilling in him the habit of eating more than he wants in order to get a reward. He's a wonderful, skinny little boy and I so hope he stays that way!

Solus: Welcome! DH and I found portion control to be a BIG problem when we started this journey in February. You may find it necessary to weigh and measure your food to see what a proper portion is. I was amazed at how much MORE than a serving we were eating. It gets easier, and now I only weigh or measure on occasion, but it is a must for me in learning how to serve myself proper portions. You'll learn too. And it's very worth it.

AngieB: Welcome to you too! I know what you mean about exercise...I am the WORST when it comes to exercise. I hate it! Always! The only thing I've found I like is "playing racketball" with DH, which basically means we go to the racketball court and hit the ball around without any intention of playing like people are supposed to. That's fun! But even that I have a hard time getting to. My suggestion is just to try new things until you find something you like.

Well ladies, this weekend was busy, but good! When making garb I had to try things on and at one point I got into some easy to change clothes, capri's and a tank with a built in bra, and caught a glance of myself in the mirror. And I was pretty happy with what I saw! I even stopped and turned this way and that and I can REALLY tell those 39 lbs are gone! I'm just less lumpy and round in places. If not for my incredibly fat arms, I'd have considered myself perfectly acceptable in that outfit. It was the first time I've REALLY seen it, you know? It was a real good feeling.

And, I'm more sure than ever that Friday's WI was a water-retention fluke. I weighed at home last night, after dinner, and weighed exactly what the Dr. scale said on Friday, when I hadn't eaten hardly anything. And our scale at home weighs at least 1 lb heavier than the Dr. scale, usually. So I think I'm going to re-weigh and see what it says now.

I suppose I should get to work now...Onward and Downward Ladies!

Not a whole lot of time to post right now, but wanted to pop in and say hi! Hope everyone had a great weekend--mine was WONDERFUL! We didn't do anything particularly exciting, but I think my Jeff has finally gotten it into his head that I am HUGE. I think he's bene in more denial about it than I have But when I admitted that I didn't want to go to Six Flags because there was good chance I wouldn't fit in the rides, I think it finally clicked. I love him so much, and I'm SO glad he's finally helping me with my weight loss (he denied me Chinese food on Saturday night!--good boy ). not that he was hindering my weight loss before, but I don't think he ever really paid much attention to it, ya know? So I had a good weekend relationship-wise.

I also made a HUGE fruit salad--YUM--so I can pick at that all week (watermelon and green and red grapes and pineapple and strawberries and plums). I also bought stuff for salads, which I don't normally do becuase it goes bad so quickly, so now I have to eat salad every day--get the veggies while they're still good!

Welcome to the newbies, and hellos and hugs to everyone else! Gotta get back to work--I barely have time to BREATH anymore!

Hi ladies! On my way out the door once again. But had to drop by and say HOWDY!

Several of you mentioned trying to figure out what you might look like when you lose some weight. It made me remember a site I found quite some time ago where you can make a model of yourself. You pick faces, hairstyles, etc. Body types: round, big on top, big on bottom. It's actually pretty cool. It is FREE, which is even cooler. I did up one of my current weight and one of what I'd look like at 200 pounds (my goal, until I get there). You can find it at myvirtualmodel.com. I'm not posting an actual link because you can go on to buy stuff from there after you get your model done.

Hope some of you find the site interesting and useful. If you're like me, you haven't been 150 or 200 pounds in years and personally, I have no clue what that weight would look like anymore.

Well, my dears, I'm off and running. I have four luxury car dealerships to visit in the next two days. Can you say Lexus, Mercedes, BMW and Cadillac????

See you later. Love ya bunches!!!

HA! I KNEW IT!

I could no longer resist, now that I'm no longer retaining enough water to fill the Gulf of Mexico, and ran to the Dr. to weigh! According to those scales, I lost 3.5 lbs since last Friday. It may not be my "official" weigh-in day, but since WI's are going to be hit and miss the next couple of weeks, and since it was the right scale, I'm taking it and changing my slider accordingly!

Did the Virtual Model, at my starting weight of 328 and now at 285. I was surprized to see it does show a difference. At a certain weight that model doesn't really show any changes. Posted it on the picture page. Of course, my virtual me is younger and has no cellulite!

I now return you to your regularly scheduled program...

Hey ladies,
Went to the Virtual me sight. It couldn't get a "me now" model so I am not sure how accurate the after is-but I can dream. I have almost no weight in my arms and legs. It is all in my belly breasts and hips.( I think it is because I do alot of lifting as well as am on my feet for 12 hours a night when I work) There was no(-) the size of 1 body part to (+) the size of another. A great free site though for those with more normal body types.

Angela

Lilion, Way to go girl!!! 3.5 AWESOME!
Angie B, I was all over that virtual me site too and lemme tell ya the model it produced is like my 'dream me'. Man, I wish my fat was that shapely and cute! But, I think the point was to check out the 'future me' Strangely, I wasn't able to get around to it. I just dreamed and joked about the idealistic fat me There is a 'wierdness' I feel around the thought of myself thin. I have never, ever been thin and wonder if I would feel like I've been transported into a foreign body! I remember once dieting in college and when I started getting a lot of attention and interest from just about everyone, it freaked me out and very suddenly I started cheating, gave up and you know how that story ends...

Anyway, I really logged on because I wanted to share a very emotional moment with all of you and thank you for your support. Even those one-liners mean so much! This is a diverse, talkative thread yet you are all 'there' you know? That's cool... Anyway, as I was finishing off my last 15 minutes of exercise for today, I realised that I had so many more positive and proactive feelings about what I was doing than ever before. In the past, I have exercised with so much reluctance it really felt like torture and I have even cried during and after exercise just because I hated it so much! I can't believe how motivated and excited I am feeling aobut life, nutrition, and exercise and I had to wonder if I would be in the middle of my living room at 1 am finishing up those last 15 minutes if I didn't have so much support and motivation from this site. Thanks a million!

I haven't posted in a few days...things have been busy and I have ben trying to focus on a major project for work..which was finished up last night. *whew* is all I can say...especially after I nearly ruined it and was up until 5:30 am the other night fixing it...then got 4 hours sleep..did 5 more hours of work in the house and then was at work for the big thing last night. I slept 10 hours last night and it was amazing.

But through it all my food has been good..partially because I have been too busy to nosh. The big work project was my year-end banquet for my kids...it's a mammoth task..but it was amazing. But what really rocked was the fact I planned a really healthy menu...a bbq chicken chopped salad...which we did as a salad bar. The caterer also put out a little bit of pasta and some panko-breaded tofu..but everyone raved about what a tast and healthy meal it was..and I was able to eat plenty..since it was all salad...with one piece of bbq chicken breast. The fruit salad was lovely..and the desserts weren't even appealing...because they were parve (dairy-free because it was a kosher meat meal) and parve desserts generally are dry and lousy. Definately not worth wasting points on.

But now I am feeling a little more focused on life outside the banquet and all it entailed..and am enjoying the wonderful weather. Enjoy your week and take care!!!

Greeting fellow strugglers. It is a nice Monday night with puddles of rain at my door. It's a soft quiet rain that I love to watch . The cleansing kind, not the "run for your life" kind that we've had lately . Well I've been reading just not posting lately . No real reason, just peeping . I've been so on plan it's almost natural. I am posting a 2 lb. loss for this week. Not giant globs of yuk like I wished for but 2lbs are pretty gross chunks to drop. I'm pleased . I am useing the excuse that its TOM so next week should match or improve.


Newcomers: Welcome, welcome, welcome! I am so glad to have you with us. Please feel free to post any questions or stories you have that you'd like to share with us. We love sharing here . Hope your finding peace in your dissision to help your health improve. No matter how far away you set your goals, they are your baby steps to feeling better on the inside. YOU CAN DO IT.

Congrats to all of us reporting losses . YEAHHH! Strength to us all and may we all be on the down escalaters to the scales next week. WE CAN DO IT!!!

Enjoy your lives and hug somebody .