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!!!!

wyllenn - you look AMAZING!!!

Ronnie! welcome!! you will find a lot of inspiration here. please feel free to jump right on in. tell us about yourself!!

nothing really exciting going on here. im still on a high from yesterdays WW meeting. i love meeting new people!

have a great week. i might not be on much because i have to work 730-430 then school from 6-10... its only for 2 weeks, but still...

Hey everyone I haven't posted in awhile. My computer decided to go crazy and not work. lol I really haven't been doing to good on the weight loss. I still weigh 330. And its so strange because I see weight loss on my body. And my husband constantly randomly says you look like you have lost weight. So I can see it...and sort of see it in my clothes. But the scale says nothing. So I am not sure whats going on with that. I have a digital scale and it goes to 340. Maybe I weigh to close to the max weight? I dunno I am not trying to be obssesed with the scale lol. I have been doing good with not drinking soft drinks and so on. But I am having a major problem with not eating enough and not eating balanced meals. I got into the bad mindset of not eating much through out the day and then eat to much at dinner. That is horrible! And its so hard to make myself eat during the day because I am so used to not eating. I know that sounds strange...but its really hard for me to make a point to eat. And also its hard to tell myself that I need 2000 calories at least. I get that stupid 1200 or less stuck in my head. And finally I am having a very hard time finding physical activity to do. Its so hard for me to do the work out tapes I have. I have been using some 5lb weights so my arms feel better. But what about the rest of my body? I just can not wait until we get a treadmill! Well another good thing I started doing was journaling . And I wanted to share with you guys what I wrote down to work on. Please if you have any suggestions or opinions please share them.
1) try to get 10-30 min of physical activity.
2) watch my carb intake. ( in love with carbs lol)
3)No soft drinks
4)watch portion control
5)Drink at least 64oz of water
6) eat breakfast,lunch,dinner and snacks in between.

Thanks for letting me share/vent. I hope you girls have a good day!

michelle

Wyllen, YOU LOOK 10 YEARS younger!!!! as well as slimmer & sexier!!!!
Nothing much to add except that DOGPAL WHERE ARE YOU ?!!!!(In a Shaggy/Scooby Dooo voice )I haven't 'seen' Ammi on msn, I've sent her offline messages but nothing yet, I hope she & Dogpal are ok & everyone else who's missing.
Ronnie, make yourself at home here , about the gym is there someone else who's 'larger' than average you can go with or a time when the gym isn't as busy? You could always just smile, take a big breath and say 'I know I'm big, that's why I'm here, to do something about it' to anyone who looks at you, what can they say? It should stop them staring & make them feel guilty about upsetting you!
Well I had an ok day yesterday, the boys are off school and Steve's on nights so we're off to the library and for a walk after my exercises, they are so noisy they are bound to wake him up if we don't go out.
xxxxsharon

***whoosh*** watches as the threads fly by...

Alright, I'm back (again). This past weekend, I took Jeff to Philadelphia for his birthday (his birthday falls on Easter this year), so my diet consisted of McDonald's, Dunkin Donuts, Subway (not horrible, but still very high in sodium), and a few poor convenience store snacks for the ride. At least I ended the weekend on a good note with whole-wheat pasta with homemade sauce last night for dinner, and we did lots of walking during our trip, so maybe that will help to balance it out slightly.

Anyway, it was a fun trip. We went to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philly and then yesterday went to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ (just across the river from Philly). A very relaxing and enjoyable time (except for all the traffic we hit driving up on Saturday morning in the rain!).

But, now back to work and back to sensible eating!

Hello!

Hope everyone had a great week end! We were at home and had nice peacefull weekend... watched icehockkey on tv and watched movies... nice and romantic...

surprise was HUGE when I saw the numbers on scale this morning 316lbs... down 4lbs. first time in long time I feel like I can do this... really! Thanks for the support all

Wyllen~Wow, what a change! And the good feeling shines from your eyes too! you must feel great!!!!

This weeks promise I made to myself is that I post more often! This site has helped me a lot and I feel that it's time for me to start being active too!

Well done Krisikka on the loss and GREAT for feeling better. You said the name means cherry, oddly enough a friend from Uni had Cherry as her middle name and she was embarssed, but her first name was Susan, I know which I would have used!!! I think Cherry is a lovely name. I'm so pleased that you are out of the dark place you have recently been in.
gotta go,
xxsharon

Just wanted to jump in real quick and say Ronnie

Good morning everyone!

Welcome to Ronnie and Sandi.... I hope that is all I missed!

Wyellnn ~ Your pics look great! What a difference a year can make You look wonderful!

Kirsikka ~ Way to go on your loss this week! Keep up the great work!

Jilly ~ good for you on enjoying your weekend. We have to "let loose" once in a while......now get back to work!

Hello to everyone else...hope all is well in your lives!

Things are OK here. I DID end up sampling some of my baking on the weekend. Evil stuff that it is. But I accepted what I was doing and did it anyway. I will be happy when all this is out of my house. Thursday can't come soon enough!

Well I am off for now. Think I will do my nails and bum around the house today. I DO NOT feel like doing anything except crawling back in to bed. Trying to not allow myself to do this but it looks very appealing. hmmm......
ok I must go do something!!!!! Have a great day all!

brenda

Good Morning Ladies,

I'm still here. I have been very sick with strep throat. I didn't make it to ww yet. I have a Dr. appointment on Thursday and she is my new Dr. the nurse told me she offers some kind of weight loss classes so I will check into those first before deciding about joining ww or not. Besides being sick with fever, I have been doing really well on the food stuff. I stopped stuffing myself with sweets and anything I could get my hands on and started being more conscience about my eating only when hungry and I am down 12 pounds as of last Friday. I fixed my tracker immediately!

Welcome to all the new ladies and to everyone doing well! Excellent. To those who are struggling, take it from me, it will pass. I have been having lovely support here and from some pms from some of you ladies which I thank you for so much all of the love and support. I know that I wouldn't be the same person without having 3fc for support and encouragment from all of you.

Blessings to you all,
Dogpal

Luan - So glad that you found some people that will make this journey easier....this board is SO helpful, but sometimes that face to face contact is helpful, too! I wish you much success hon...and CONGRATS on getting those pounds off this week!

Michelle - Welcome back! Those sound like very achievable goals! I wish you much luck.

Sharon - Did you have a good walk with the boys?

Jill - Sounds like a fun weekend! Glad you had a good time.

Kirsikka - on your loss this week!

Tracey - So glad that the teababy is alright. And I know how you feel about something not fitting, and you thinking it would...but just remember that all brands are different, and fabrics make a difference, too. I wear a size 22/24 in jeans, yet a pair of shorts I have size 28, and they are snug!

Ammi - I'm glad all came back normal with your tests....but did he say anything about why you weren't losing the weight when you were VERY actively trying?

Dogpal - You are ROCKIN'! That elliptical is doing it's wonders!

I'm in a bit of a better mood today. Last night, Andrew & I took a nice walk down by the river for about 40 minutes...very peaceful and enjoyable. I also weighed myself while I was there, as I haven't weighed in about 2 weeks, I think...and it showed me at 295, and that was with jeans/t-shirt on, and after I had eaten all day...so here's to hoping for a loss when I weigh in next. It's a nice day out, and Mom's out working in the garden. I haven't decided what I'm going to do yet.

Hi Michelle,

Well, my experience is that the scale is nothing but a tool, a barometer. Sometimes that is the tool you want to use to measure your progress, other times it is not. There are a few reasons why the scale may not be moving.

1. It's broken.

2. The battery needs to be replaced (if it's digital)

3. It is not rated for more than 300 lbs. Most bathroom scales are not!!

4. You are losing fat, not water or lean muscle mass. Fat loss is a slow process - 4/10 of a pound loss a week is not unlikely. If at the same time you are putting on muscle, your scale may not reflect it. Since mucle weighs more than fat, cubic inch by cubic inch, but takes up less space, you see the fat loss physically but not on the scale.

What I suggest is that you measure yourself, NOW. Measure your neck, chest, waist, hips, and your right (if your right-handed, L if left-handed) thigh and calf. If you have wide hips like I do, a regular 60-inch tape won't cover your hips. Get yourself to a quilting/sewing store and buy a quilting tape measure (up to 120 inches) or, if not available in your town, go online and have it mailed to you. Keep the measurements safe and revisit them in a month. I measure myself once a month on the 17th. Even when the scales doesn't move very much, I see progress with my tape measure.

Also, when I first started, I keep a journal for a week of how I felt physically. It was very basic. I had three times I was logging: 8 am, 3 pm and 8 pm. I used two or three words for each time: lethargic, energized, tired but not dead, too heavy to move. I do this once a month and then AFTER updating it, I compare it on how I felt the previous month, or the month before that. I suggest you do this too. It is really amazing what even ONE month's worth of better habits will help you feel better physically.

I also keep an exercise journal. Every time I exercise I write down the time and the distance (or the steps using a pedometer). When I am feeling down, all I have to do is look at my journal from last year (or last month) and see how much faster I can bike and/or walk, and how much more frequently I can exercise now withouth my body giving into massive pain and suffering.

If you absolutely HAVE to have a scale, make sure to buy one that is rated up to 350lbs or 400 lbs. They are out there. I bought mine online (400lb one since I weighed 360 lbs when I started) and it's pretty dead on. I'd be a hypocrite if I told you that I don't LIKE it when I show a loss, but I keep it in perspective. My advice is that you make sure you don't focus so much on the needle moving that you get discouraged if the needle is moving too slowly.

I used to have an "official weigh in" once a week. I've moved it to once a month. I step on the scale every day, but it doesn't drive me crazy like it does some other people. I have an eating disorder, and for me a good day is the day when I resist binging through a hard emotional time. And a small victory is when I make myself exercise despite the arthritis in my knees. I have my mind set straight on the weighing myself stuff, so a small gain, or a painfully slow loss do not affect my mood as much as they once did. I know that what I am doing is right - the food, the exercise, getting enough sleep, etc. so the weight will come off.

As far as your plan, it looks sensible enough. When I started I gave up both soft-drinks and every other kind of drink that was not water (sometimes I used to have an entire half-gallon of lemonade a day!!! can you imagine all that sugar?!?). Now, any kind of fruit juice is a treat (and I only allow myself one glass!) and I only do it once in a while . It's amazing what happens when you stop drinking your calories!

In terms of carbs, I try my best to not eat anything that is not super-healthy carbs. I buy bread, tortillas, pita bread, english muffins, and pasta - but only whole wheat. I make pizza at home - without cheese and using a whole-wheat crust. I buy ravioli, and tortellini, but only whole wheat (monterrey pasta company has a delicious line) and only those varieties that have less than 20% calories from fat. And, I don't eat any of those every day. I eat carbs every day, but usually in the form of brown rice, or millet, or quinoa or bulgur (if you want recipes, girl, I've got recipes!!!). Pasta and bread and such I eat mabye twice or three times a week. The rest of the time, it's grains and veggies for carbs.

It's taken some time to get used to this stuff - I mean, a year ago my g/f would have to force me to eat brown rice (as in, she doesn't keep any other kind in the house so if i wanted rice while at her house, I had to eat brown rice) and I hated it. But, it has become an acquired taste. I am loathe to admit it, but now I prefer brown rice to regular white. Who knew!?!

I think you're doing a great job. Staying on plan, especially at the beginning when all you're saying to yourself is "No, you cannot have that" is really, really hard. At least it was for me. But someone on these boards set me straight. She said "think of all the things you are saying "yes" to." For me that is better health, a slimmer body, the ability to move without pain. So, giving up processed foods, fast food, conviniece food, greasy restaurant food, etc. just gets easier and easier.

OK, I've certainly talked enough. Keep at it girl! You're seeing results. YAY for you!

Just dropping in. Now that TOM is ending, I'm feeling better and the funk is starting to lift. I think I finally have an outfit for this formal. I am going to wear the dress that I ordered from sizeappeal (once again, thanks Julee) and I bought this nice orangy coral sheer jacket that also has sparkles on it. I tried it on together and it looked really nice. With my hair done and the accessories, it should be a smash.