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 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!!!!

MBoeh: Congrats on your News. That is wonderful!

Ammi: Thank you sor your good wishes. I am feeling better again.

Goingtoloose: Thanks for the good wishes. I hope Baily gets better soon too.I love your picture. You have such a lovely smile.

Valerie: I am so happy for you. -11.5 is so great.

Swallowedup: Welcome. Please don't feel ashamed or embarassed. We are all in this together and we are all here to support each other. Please come back and post as often as you would like to. We would love to take this journey with you and encourage you in getting healthy.

Please keep me in your prayers. I got a phone call yesterday eve. from one of my sisters. My oldest brother has passed away. He lived such a horrible life and I am so sad that things couldn't have been different for him, us, our family. He had A.I.D.S. from intravaneous drug use for ever and he was so terribly on Heroin. It is so sad. My older sisters (10 years older and 8 years older) and my other brother (6 years older) and the one who passed away all come from a different Father but my Dad raised them and they were all much closer than I was to him but I feel so badly for the loss of a sad man.

Blessings to you all, stay strong and healthy and tell someone you love them!
Dogpal

Yea!!! JuleeCee. Congrats to you and Jason. May you be very happy for ever together.

Blessings,
Dogpal

(reposted from another board)

Hey girls, I need some advice! I can't seem to figure out how many calories I should be consuming! Here are the facts:

40 year old woman, 5 ft 6 in tall, 320 lbs, with sedentary lifestyle. My BMR is 2170. If I subtract 500 cals from that it is 1670 cals. My question is--if I do 30 min of cardio 3-5 days a week, do I increase my daily calories to compensate? If so, how much?

This is so confusing!! Any help is appreciated.

Dogpal, I am SO sorry about your brother! It's hard to lose someone no matter how close you may or may not be. At least he will not be in pain or distress any longer (as I'm sure the AIDS caused plenty). Know you and yours are in my heart

As for you, Julee, how dare you come in here with such an announcement and no details Hehe, just kidding--congratulations!!!!

I mentioned this on someone elses thread not sure but I don't think it was yours so here goes. In my opinion if you up your intake to compensate for exercise then you might as well not exercise at all.

Just my opinion.

Good Evening Ladies!!!

Yeah Julee!! That is wonderful news!!!! Being engaged is so erxciting! It is a wonderful feeling knowing that you are committing yourself to another and they are as well in return!!! I bet you are on cloud 9 today!!! I wish you and Jason so many years of happiness!

Yeah Valerie!! Almost 12 lbs??? Way to go!!!!!! That is amazing for you!!!!!

Dogpal ~ So terribly sorry to hear about your loss. Knowing that he is no longer in pain and no longer suffering only makes it a little easier to cope. You are in my prayers!

I had a phone call today. Our insurance agent is out sick... indefinately. Yippee (sarcasm galore!) Now we have to wait until they find us a new one. Poop! I will never get this finished!

On a brighter note, Steve and I have a free evening. I tried to convince him that we should go to kickboxing. No such luck *L* I would get more accomplished if he wasn't so lazy! (jk)

Hope you all have a nice evening. I think I will try to convince him to burn calories one way or another!!

Night all!

Brenda

oops I missed one!

Swallowed up ~ Please remember that we are all in the same boat and no matter your age or your weight we are all standing beside you. That is the purpose of this wonderful place. We help each other get through tough times, share experiences and help to hold each other accountable. Through doing these things, you will also make wonderful friends and hopefully, lose weight. Can you think of anything nicer?

Night again everyone

Brenda

hi agian, thanks to all...feel a bit better...i never fit in well in school ,so its probably a bit of that uncomfortableness and akwardness coming back. plus its as if im intruding on a close knit group of friends =/

i dont know what else to say for the moment...so i think im gonna go work out

Hey, Swallowed Up! Welcome to the neighborhood, and don't worry for a second about anyone here not understanding how you feel! I felt weird when I first started posting, too. But if these great ladies put up with ME they'll be happy to hear from YOU, too!!! I'm just REALLY glad you're working on controlling your weight NOW, instead of waiting as long as I did! (45 years) Stick around - and don't worry if you don't know everybody yet, or don't have time to reply to everything - just jump in cuz we like to hear from you!

JULEE - YEE-HA Awesome!!! I'm SO happy for you and Jason! My deepest heartfelt wish for joy for both of you!

Dogpal, I'm so very sorry for your loss, and for the hardships your brother faced in life. I'll keep you in my prayers.

Brenda, have you considered USING the kickboxing to GET him moving??? Just kidding of course.... I have certainly never considered such a tactic on my DH

Thank you everyone for the kudos on my November WI. You shine a light on it that makes me appreciate it more! Perhaps I should tell my husband... but right now a little kickboxing is somewhat more likely How DO men learn to be so ornery? Or is it me?

CONGRATS JULEE!!!!!!!!!!! I know you are just soooooo excited!! You will have to fill us in with details later.

Dogpall--My thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family for the loss. So sorry to hear that.

Ammi--You had asked in an earlier post about us putting up our Christmas decorations before December. Usually we just do it Thanksgiving weekend because it is a long weekend and I just can't wait....I really love putting decorations up and I am a little impatient. There are actually a lot of people in my neighborhood that have all their lights up. Only a few more days and you all put up your decorations.

Hello All,

Finally I can get on here and post. I have had terrible problems getting the pages to load tonight.

First of all,

Julee - CONGRATULATIONS on your engagment I am so thrilled for you and I can't wait to hear all the details of how he proposed. Thank you for coming here to let us know the wonderful news.

Swallowed Up - We are a close knit group but we welcome all newcomers, and you are very very Please do post often, you will find that just coming here and being able to talk to people who know how you feel about weighing so much and having a long journey ahead to lose it. I know I couldn't stay on this diet if it wasn't for everybody here. Never be embarrassed about anything you have to say, we are all here for you and no matter what your age, we do know how you feel. I may be 37 in age, but really I have the mind of an 18 year old Take care and don't be shy, we are here for you!

Christine - I hope the sleep study goes well and that perhaps now they can find a way to help you get a better quality of sleep.

That pumpkin pecan cheesecake sounds delicious. I think it would be too nice though, so even if I made individual sized ones I would want to eat them all in one go.

Brenda - I LOVE your new photo, you look so great and I love your hair. You might remember that I am in the middle of trying to grow mine a bit, fed up of having a pea head after a short cut lol. I like your cut though, it's really pretty.

Well done you on eating one of those Caribbean squares and then throwing the rest away. That was so great of you. I don't think I could be so good. So what are in these delicious treats anyway?

That's a shame about your lovely pearl and gold necklace being so fragile. Is there anyway you could get the pearls put onto a stronger necklace? My mum had some beautiful pearls from my dad, he bought them on a holiday. They needed a good clean and I thought as I was a surprise I would get my boss to clean them up and restring them. Turns out they weren't real pearls as they were sold to my dad as, they were fakes and it wouldn't have been worth me paying to have them cleaned etc. Instead I had the difficult job of telling mum that they weren't real. She was so upset. I love pearls, but they just don't suit me.

As for your Christmas tree, yes it's lovely to have a real one, but the good thing about artificial trees is that you don't have the needles dropping AND you can use them year after year. I like a nice green tree, but Daren wanted to go all modern and we got a white one last year. We decorated it with pink and purple decorations. It's pretty, BUT I much prefer a green tree with gold and red decorations.

Valerie - woohoo that's a great first weigh in isn't it. You should be so proud of yourself. Fingers crossed that when you go back on the truck you can keep up the weight loss. I am sure you will do great, and if not, you sure can make up for it when you get back.

Dogpal - I am glad that you are feeling better at least physically right now. Wow you get better quick. Wish I could do the same.

I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your brother. I don't think it matters how close you are or aren't, it's still a big upsetting shock when you lose a relative. I haven't spoken to my brother in 8 years, but if I found out anything had happened to him I would be devastated. Take care, and I guess you need to focus on the fact that the AIDS virus isn't making his life a hard one. He is at peace now.

Sharon (voodoo) - I had MSN a LOT today and I didn't see you at all. Are you ok? I hope you haven't come down with that tummy bug. I will look for you again tomorrow.

Lori - I hope the funeral wasn't too upsetting today. Take care and know I have been thinking of you.

Time to get this posted, take care all, and Julee once again CONGRATS on your wonderful news

Hugs,

Ammi

I made to the sleep lab last night, but it seems they had canceled my sleep study & forgot to call me I was not happy- driving 90 miles round trip on a cold, rainy night is not my idea of fun. It seems that, because I have to use such a specialized machine, only a couple of the sleep techs who are also respritory thereapist can do the study; plus my doctor wanted it to be done 1:1, instead of the 1:2 or 1:3 they usually do. Now they have me rescheduled for Tuesday night- I just hope they can figure something else out. I know I'm doing better then I was before I was diagnosed with Central SLeep APnea & started treatment 2 years ago, but I am still so tired all the time- even with taking Provigil (stimulant med). The good thing is that since I starting on BiPAP ST 2 years ago, my weight has basically stayed the same; as I had been gaining weight for about 18-20 months before that- 100#s in such a short time ....now I just hope I can lose it as fast

Swallowedup- you have nothing to be embarressed or ashamed about- you are taking charge of you weight when you are young, and not sticking your head in the sand & hoping it will go away like some of us did for years. Are you in college? Living on your own? Take this opprotunity to learn from all our mistakes so you don't have worry about your weight 10-20 years from now. You & I are starting at about the same point, and I understand how hard it can be when dealing with health problems. I'm here is you need someone for encouragement

Dogpal- Its still hard to lose a family member, even if you didn't agree with the choices they made in life. I hope your family is doing okay

Jen415- I'm losely doing WW, based on the stuff I have from when I was a member a few years ago. At your weight, you would have a point range of about 30-35, which would be around 1600-1900 calories per day. With WW, you can earn exercise points, but ~if I remember right~ you can only count them after you do the recommended 30 minutes of exercise. It is more of a back up plan in case you are really working out a lot- if someone is exercising hard for 2-3 hours a day, they will burn more calories then someone who is a couch potato. The number of points you earn is also based on the intensity of your exercise, in addition to the duration. I hope that makes sense somehow

JulleC- Congrats on your engagement You have to be on cloud nine


That's all the time I have for now...I am litterally falling asleep at my computer since I didn't get a good nights sleep last night~

Ammi, last year was the first time in years we'd put up a tree. Several years we were lucky just to get home on Christmas Eve, and then there were still lots of other preparations to be done - often we saw Christmas morning with little or no sleep, so adding a tree just wasn't doable. Besides, of the little time we were "home", I was off to see my dad in NY so I still wasn't really home. This year we're coming home around the 17-19th of Dec, so we'll get a tree again this year. Yeah! I even bought some new ornaments this year. I have a beautiful collection of crystal somewhere, but I haven't seen it in 10 years since I started trucking. Maybe I'll be able to dig it out of the basement this year.

In my past life, however, before the Big Truck, I was guilty of keeping Christmas trees, LIVE ones, WAY past reason! Usually I had them down by St. Patricks Day or Easter, but one year I moved in June and.... Well, I couldn't very well just roll it out to the curb where I'd been living in the city - What would the neighbors say??? So I put it in the truck with my stuff intending to toss it on the pile of brush my new landlord (who was also an old friend) had piled up. It was a place out in the country and he'd been clearing brush, so one little old Evergreen would hardly be noticed, right?? So, nice guy that he was, he INSISTED on helping me unload and move in. I came out of house from carrying in a load and he's standing there staring into the back of the truck. "What's up with that tree? That's not your CHRISTMAS tree is it?" he says. I looked at him totally straight faced and said "What tree?" My girlfriend helping me about busted a gut laughing. I just flat out wouldn't admit that there was a tree in my moving truck. What can I say - I have a talent for denial. Probably how I gained 60-70 pounds in a year without quite noticing.

Oh, well, I promise you I don't do that anymore... I get them down by the end of January. Really. ... Now SHOPPING, THAT's a year-round event!

Christine - hope you're getting a good night's sleep as I type. I'm not far behind you, even tho it's early. It had to be really annoying to waste an evening like that, plus the fuel, for nothing!