WELCOME TO THREAD # 999

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.

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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 posted at the same time as Xena closed the thread- wasn't sure if this got in, so if this is a duplicate- sorry
Boy do I have a lot to say!! but to start take a look at my ticker!!!! I'm down 3.5 pounds since friday- even with my slipups and TOM!!!! I don't usually weigh until Friday, but decided that I had to check on the damage done, and so far, it's quite the opposite...yeah!

Also- I had a couple great moments tonight. I did my hip hop class (like normal) and usually there are a few moves that I just can't do, so I modify and make them hip&sexy in my own way. Not tonight! There was even a move (and I may not describe this right) where you jump in the air, and while in mid-air you kick your right leg out, and land facing the other direction. When I saw it, I though no freaking way!! and then I did it!! I did it every single time we went through the routine which is maybe 50x! Then after class the instructor came up to me and said "girl- you were on it tonight! you and your sexy skinny self!" i couldn't believe that my instructor who I see once a week had noticed I lost weight!!! I am on cloud 9 (maybe 10) tonight!!

Jill- you're right- eating without realizing it is exactly how I got here, I just didn't comprehend how deeply ingrained that was in me until today! Good job walking! Just think, one day you'll be like misti hitting victory poles instead of huffing and puffing!!!!

Lillion- I wouldn't be surprised if that 1 pound you gained was simply water weight from eating saltier foods- don't sweat it- one pound gain on vacation is not bad at all! As far as the # of overweight people in US you are right, i see it everywhere now, and I can't help but wonder who can we blame besides ourselves? i'd really like to find someone else to blame!

Ammi- I'm trying to think how to describe pound cake, besides yummy. I guess it just like a loaf of bread only sweet- it has a lot of sugar and can have all kinds of flavoring- basic is vanilla extract, but there is chocolate, mocha, pound cake icecream sandwiches, etc. Any way- I am now going to have to be more careful of what I do subconsciously. I just feel better to know that I'm not the only one who's done it

Heather- Yes- I need to add Concsiousness (sp?) to my plan-- I can't believe I did that- but it could have been worse, the spinach alfredo pizza i've been craving this week! How exciting to be able to wear a medium!! Who cares if it's not all mediums- a medium is a medium!!!!!

Luan- on being down almost 2 pounds!!

Valerie- I'm glad you didn't get all the way up there on your walk to find you had to turn around!! I can't imagine the dread I would feel- stick to that map you got Good work on the calories- you are just about there!!! I know what you mean about wanting to save calories for later in the day- but actually it's healthy to eat less as the day progresses. My nutristionist once taught me a saying to help me remember " Eat like a king in the morning, a prince in the afternoon, and a pauper in the evening!" you've got the right idea- not eating after 6- keep it up! Not saying I'm good at it as I just ate dinner at 8:30p- not one of my strenghts!

Michelle- on the 30 minutes of walking! Don't you feel great now that you've done it? I never really want to work out, but I try to remember that feeling (the one I have now) after I've had an awesome workout. I feel so proud, and I don't know what the word...elated I guess- true satisfaction in something i've done! Keep it up- and when you don't want to just remember how great you felt today!

Jen- don't be too hard on yourself- if your goal seems to high just keep at it, and re-evaluate your goal for next month. As far as sleep goes- not that this will make you happy about your lack of sleep- but a new study says that it is actually healthy to sleep 6-7 hours a night, that to sleep more is not healthy- i still wish i could have 8 though, healthy or not!

Well- I've gotta run! keep it up ladies! Goodnight!

Kim~congrats on the loss! You are doing great!

Hey there ladies (and any gents who might be out there lurking ). Just wanted to share some things from my day. I had a pretty big slipup today. It started mid afternoon with some cake. I had finished my lunch and was feeling unsatisfied. Not hungry, unsatisfied. I wanted sweets. So I decided to go upstairs to our kitchen and see what kind of goodies were left over from lunch. I got some cake, ate about half of it then decided it really wasn't good enough for me to waste points on. I went back to my desk and tried to concentrate, but the chocolate/sugar monsters were calling me. So I ate a handful of M&M's off the receptionists desk and several mini Hershey bars to boot. Then on my way home I stopped at Sonic and got fast food for dinner. Jeez, I really got off track today. I am going to try to not beat myself up although I do feel pretty bad I let this happen. I need to remember that my current promise to myself is only that I will write down and count points for EVERYTHING I eat for 12 weeks. So while what I ate today was clearly not optimum dieting behavior, I am going to still say if I write it all down and count it, today was victorious. Because in the past when I ahve a lapse, I don't want to journal it. And then one day turns into two turns into a week....you know the rest. So anyway, it's done. Tomorrow's a new day, a clean slate, and a chance to try again.

Thinking about why I had this lapse I'd say alot of it has to do with my trip to KC this weekend. 1) I am somewhat dreaded people seeing me who last saw me 100 pounds lighter. 2) I am nervous about flying so close to the 9/11 anniversary. 3) My friend who normally babysits my dog when I go out of town is not available and I am having to board him for the first time. Maybe that doesn't sound like a big deal but Buster is my baby and in all his 9 years I have NEVER boarded him. I just almost cannot bear the thought of leaving him somewhere unknown to him where I picture him being scared and sad and thinking I have left him forever. I know I will cry when I leave him there and I wish I didn't have to. 4) I have so many things I need to get done before I go and I don't think they are all going to get done.

So I think all these different things compounded left me with some feelings of anxiety today and I ate to sooth them. Starting with the cake I don't think I realized that, but once I moved on to the chocolate and definitely by the time I was at Sonic I fully realized I was soothing myself with food. I know that is the point you are supposed to find another way to soothe yourself. Problem is, I don't know how. I really don't. So there you have it. I guess I should celebrate the fact that at least I know what I am doing when I am comfort eating. I just wish I could figure out a better solution in the moment.


On a happier note....(pay attention Ammi and Patti and any other American Idol lovers ).....I got 2 free tickets to the A.I. concert that is here tomorrow night!!! A girl from the office had won some in a radio station contest back while the show was still going and now that it is here she realized she cannot go. So I got her tickets and will be going with a friend tomorrow night to see the Idols. I can't wait to see my boy Elliott!!!!!!

I will be gone from the boards til Monday. Since tomorrow night's the concert and I leave early Fri. morning for KC and won't be back til late Sunday. I am taking Monday off too so hopefully I will have time to catch up then. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

One last thing, I wanted to congratulate Heather for fitting into that medium sweater. What a sweet victory!

Kim -- SOunds like you had the moves AND had fun!

Xena -- That's RIGHT, you gotta OWN the food you eat. Your body's gonna know you ate it anyway, right? Can't lie to your body, so why lie to yourself?

Just so you know it happens to me, I just had ANOTHER square of dark chocolate (my 2nd). I thought I had gotten to a point where I could keep chocolate in the house, but apparently I want some every day, and not just a little. I'm 200 calories over where I wanted to be and just could not motivate myself to exercise tonight! I wrote down all the food, including the chocolate and will try again tomorrow.

I don't know if it's TOM or something else, but I was hungry all day today...


Also, I'm oddly excited that this is thread 999 with 1000 to follow... am I a dork or what?

High all! I just wanted to say that I posted some photos on the photo thread...both from Chicago and from Lilies War in June. I hate all but one of the photos of myself. Makes me want to lose all the more!

Brenda said: Boy do I understant that! When I was a kid I was the fattest girl in school, and wasn't even that big, but I was teased something awful. It's funny how you remember those things your whole life. I can recall with perfect detail many of the mean things said to me or done to me still. I've grown into a rather thick-skinned person - I don't generally care about other's peoples opinions of me - but I still remember.

I ate pretty well today and did 13 minutes on the eliptical - just over 1/2 a mile. Time to get back OP and on track! I should amend that to say I ate THREE more pieces of chocolate tonight! But that's what those flex points are for. Hey! I didn't have any birthday cake! Heather I think you deserve a break!

Lilion said:
well, it was my 2nd piece tonight!! And I did just have a lovely break! But I'm not beating myself up about it either!

WooHoo for that elliptical!!!!

And I really LIKE the photo of you with DH in front of the fountain!!!

Hi everybody

I see you are all hard at work... good for you!

Deb, thanks for confessing about your bad day.... hey it's just one day but glad you were honest about it; now you can move on. You'll do great!

I am encouraged tonight... I went to see my doctor to ask some questions and get some guidelines, and she gave me some great info and also told me what natural supplements to take to keep things cranking right... especially I have been concerned about knee pain. My lab reports were ideal except cholesterol was 10 points over "desired" -- which she says is really no big deal and will undoubtedly go down as I continue what I am doing. I asked her about a couple of supplements and she was supportive of them so I stopped and bought them. She had told me before I didn't need to come back for a year but I know she understood my desire to get it even better... so she said I could come back in 3 months for lab work to see how much I can accomplish by then!

I am SO blessed to have the most wonderful doctor ever!!! And yes I told her that too.

I just want to throw something out there that will contradict what others have been saying. People have been saying that you shouldn't eat late at night, but my dietician friend actually told me that I needed to eat something later as I was having too long a gap between dinner and breakfast. She first of all had me eating icecream and jelly, but now I have a banana and some yoghurt. She has me do this so that my metabolism has something to work with overnight.

I think the king/prince/pauper concept is more for main meals. It is recommended that you eat a nice hearty breakfast and lighter meals later on. I tend to not be able to do this during the working week, so I have a hearty breakfast, smaller lunch and larger dinner, but still mostly vegetables.

I'm not saying that this theory is right either, just what my friend told me. There seem to be a lot of different messages out there and I think we just have to decide what is best for us as individuals.

Catch up with individuals later.

Oh, just wanted to mention that I got a call from the local newspaper today and they are coming to school to take my photo with a few of my students to put with an article about my weight loss and being in the competition. Now I just have to work out what I should wear tomorrow for the photo. I am thinking of wearing the top outfit I had on in the latest photos of Neil and I.

Take care,

Zelma

Wow that is wonderful about the article, Zelma!! I hope we will be able to access the newspaper article online!

Oh... and I always eat something at night. Works for me.

Oh again! Tonight when I got home from work my weight was 238! Yippee as it is usually up a couple pounds from the morning weight. That means that I am probably about ready to drop some, yay!

My doctor said that for the plateaus a lot of it is just patience but that it sometimes help to increase my level of exercise, as our bodies can adapt to it. Even if you think you are working out a lot, to vary it (as some of you have said) and to "up" the difficulty. It is good that I am being forced to do that anyway with the closure of the pool; I told her my new combination of walking, fitness center and deep water aerobics and she thought it was great! I sure would like to get down 4 more pounds and be on the downhill side!!!

Hi all ... its been a busy and stressful couple of days I yesterday I blew my intake completely and ended up adding about 3 pounds!! Very depressing .... BUT .. on the up side ....

Yesterday morning I wasnt feeling 100% and really wasnt wanting to do any exercise so when the Turbo Jam started I was thinking .. hummm ... nope not in the mood for that .. maybe I will just do a Richard dance or two ... so I put in the Richard Simmons dvd and did the warm up .. then the next song ... and the one after ... and the one after ... and before I knew it I was cooling down and had only missed 1 song! So I had actually done it for just over 60 minutes!!! And I wasnt even huffing and puffing either .. but my abs were sooooo sore rofl .... but then my headache came back with a vengence and I ended up having to go lie down in a dark room for a few hours ... but I still managed to do my exercise . .. in fact more than I had thought I would be able to do in one go rofl ... BUT ... last night I finished off all the chocolate in the house .... that was 6 of those mini bars of moro (sorta like mars bars) that you get in a multipack. And each one was 300kj Could have kicked myself ... what an idiot! So at least I know I deserved it .. and I will add ... I enjoyed every bite of the darn things .. but Im not allowing any more chocolate in the house for a looong time ...

Today I have been staying OP I had my cereal this morning ... then I did my exercises!! I did Richard again this morning for 45 minutes ... and my heart rate (which dad did after I had finished before I went and had my shower) was only 88!! A month ago 20 min of exercise and my heart rate was close to 140!!! Soooo .. while my thighs are getting bigger (argggh) and my arms are too (double argghhh) and my weight is up ... my chest, waist and hips are still lower and my stamina for the exercises is up and my recovery time is a lot quicker ... so maybe this month will not be so much Scale victory but just the change of abilities instead

I am trying to fit in posting this with doing about 3 other things lol .. but I just wanted to say HIII as I missed yesterday I think .. all my days are blending ... Im back in control of my cravings and my emotions are a little more level today so not craving the bad things .. I am using my rotisserie machine to do myself some chicken breast for dinner (as kebabs), and will have that with 2 little gourmet potatoes (skin on) and my steamed vegetables .. I have also got some WW jelly made up in the fridge if I feel like dessert ... not sure what I will have for supper ... but Im a believer of eating something just before bed cos I had the same thought about the metabolism ... if we are supposed to eat every few hours during the day to keep it moving .. then why let it drop right down while we're asleep??

Huggies all and for those that have some some great NSVs too .. WELL DONE!! I definitely prefer the NSVs to the scale ones ... I think when I focus on the weight more I get more upset when its not going down ... but when I manage to achieve something I did used to be able to its just .. WOW ..

Have a great OP day/night all

Hi everyone!

Hey nightkatt congrats on doing well with your exercise. As far as the cravings and that stuff goes.. hey that's gonna happen here and there. You're doing really great so just keep truckin.
I'm gonna try to post a pic here to this thingie in a sec.. the pic of the weight tracker you asked about a couple of days back. Sorry I didn't post it earlier but.. haha .. I took a pic of it yesterday and then deleted the pics in my camera by mistake. DUH huh? I forgot to actually transfer them over to my computer first. Oh well I took another pic. So if you see it here attached I was successful.
I filled in my first line with my total for the first weeks.
Tomorrow being weigh in day, I will put a big happy face sticker per each pound, and then at the right, the grand total. Next week will follow under that. I got big happy face stickers for whole pounds, and mini happy faces for half pounds.

Zelma congrats on your success and the upcoming article. That's great news. You worked so hard and deserve it all.

Misti congrats on your scale news. Sounds like you're doing really well after that long period of no losing for a while there.

On the topic of night eating.. kind of early for a solid report from me on this one but .. so far.. and I'm about 10 weeks in (this time around that is) I find that if I do not eat past 9 or 10 pm I lose better overall. I don't eat a LOT on the days I have eaten at night, so it's not that I binge in the evenings or anything. I try to "most of the time" not eat after 9/10 pm. I go to bed late though, usually around 1 or 2 am. Water is the other huge factor for me. If I do not drink enough, I BLOAT out.

Hope everyone has been having a good week. Sorry I can't type much more my hands get so tired, after working on a computer all day. Ugh.

hi all -- just popping in to say good night.

Valerie - thanks for kicking me into perspective. a 2 lb loss is a great accomplishment. i need to acknowledge that.

Mechalle and kim - thanks for the encouragement

the new pic is me and my "friend" who is going to disneyworld with me. i have known him since 6th grade (almost 15 years) and had a monster crush on him for the better portion of that time. we have both had relationships, but always manage to stay friends. hopefully... one day... more. im not rushing anything tho. its great like it is. tomorrow is movie night

Good morning ladies! I don't have much time for personals, but wanted to stop in and say Hi! Xena posed a really good thought about comfort eating- what to do instead? Honestly, that's my downfall typically too- and would love to hear some ideas- i've thought about writing, but typically I'm in a situation where i'm so frustrated (that's why I eat) I can't focus! Ideas would be great...

Oh, Zelma- I thought it was interesting about your dietician friend saying that eating late is good to bridge gap between dinner & breakfast. It makes sense! I think that shows why losing weight can be so frustrating, because so much information is out there, and it can conflict, and both pieces could be right, depending on the individual! I mean two dieticians saying completley opposite things, and yet by following either peice of advice we lose. Makes you wonder if anyone really has the secret- if there is a secret. Maybe it's all about getting to know your body, above all else?

I'll close in saying "No fair Xena- I want to go to American Idol!" LOL Have a great time!
Have a good day ladies!

Good Morning Ladies,

Well...it must be fall off the wagon week I ate a little bit of texas sheetcake and frosting last night along w/ havin pizza 2 days in a row, so i'm feeling a little bit down on myself. Went to see my doctor yesterday and she remarked that I was looking better, but she couldn't quite pin point it. But i'm taking that has a small victory. I did alot of walking yesterday for appointments and such. Man this post seems like I'm just rambling ha-ha...

Congrats to everyone on their losses, Congrats to Heather for being able to start wearing Mediums

Xena~~~I'm just sliiiightly jealous of you getting to see Idol I'd love to see Taylor!

Well i wish i could post more, but I feel scatterbrained so I'll post later

have a great day!