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 the Amazon "store" in the upper right hand corner of the screen on the PURPLE tool bar. 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!!!!

good morning everyone!Misti love the pictures you look great! well i am running behind on some major houswork so i got to get off here and get to it.

good morning everyone! i hope i started this new thread right and that everyone finds it. i didn't know how to close the last one, so if someone could do that, i'd appreciate it.

i had a whole bunch of stuff typed already, but then i did something and lost it all, so i hope i can remember what i had said. computers!!

so, i took some inspiration from katt and jilly--who amaze me with the times they workout and their committment to it--and got up at 5:15 this morning to do my WATP kick dvd. i can't go to my water aerobics class today or tomorrow due to work, so i thought "i'm not going to use that as an excuse this time!" and i actually got up! for someone who is soooooo not a morning person, that was quite an accomplishment! i just hope it shows up at next week's weigh in!

misti--great pictures! you look so much different then your before picture! you're working so hard! keep it up!

dazzleberry-- i'm pretty new on here too, but love it already! hope you like it as much as i do!

raven-- to you also! if you ever feel like you need to talk or get some support this is the place to do it!

luan--i'm sorry things are so stressful for you right now. i don't know what to say, except that i hope things get better and back to normal soon. i haven't been on here long, but i feel like i can say that we're all here for you!

katy--i'm sorry about your family's loss. i'm glad that even though you can't make the funeral, you feel like you're making peace with it. we're all here for you too!

mechell81--yep, i moved to st. louis from nebraska about 8 years ago. i love it here! there's so much to do and, compared to nebraska, i think it's warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer. i've had jobs i like and i met my husband--so that's pretty good! we actually used to live in o'fallon, which is a little south of st. charles. really, it's all pretty much one big city--you can't really tell when you leave st. louis and get to st. charles, but i love it. let me know what your husband hears about the job. it'd be quite a change from alaska!

i guess i'd better get back to work! have a great thursday everyone! lori

Thanks Jill and Wezi for the warm welcome. I do believe that I can find support here. Yall seem like a bunch of friendly women that will be great friends later on.

I get off work here in one hour. Im going to go home and workout to a video and then get some sleep and maybe grab a walk with my dog later.

I hope everyone here has a great morning and afternoon.

Thanks again

Me again.... I'm waiting on some pictures to upload so thought I'd drop another post.

Raven: Welcome! This is a fabulous place.

Wezi: Good conversion! Did it like a pro.
Congrats on am exercise! I find it hard to get up early to exercise but I have felt wonderful the times that I did. It starts your day out on a good note.

Jill: Congrats on getting your grown up stuff done, lol.
I hate being tired at work. Its the worst.

Here is the link to my DD's website. I just updated it if you'd like to take a look. http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/s/serenityrayne/

Andie-thanks for the support. Have a great morning
Hope to talk to ya soon!

Raven

Hello - I was referred to this thread by one of your members. I'll introduce myself as "Angel" - partly because that's been a nickname many people offline have used for me for years, and partly because I'd like to remain anon, at least for now. I added the "Fallen" part to my username because people really don't call me that now that I'm very overweight - I guess only slender women qualify for cute nickname status. I've joined this site a few times over the past couple of years, lurked a bit but never stuck around, but this is it - I'm not going anywhere this time!

My story may be similar to some of yours, or not, but here it is, as condensed as I can managed: I was never a fat kid. I was probably on the higher end of average, but never overweight. I still remember the first time I felt fat, though. I was 10, and my father and I were driving home from somewhere, and I asked him if he thought I was fat. I was so sure he'd tell me I was perfect as I was; really I guess I was just fishing for some affection. Instead he paused and said "Well......I guess you could stand to lose a few pounds." I was CRUSHED! My father had very high standards of weight where women were concerned - my mother yo-yo dieted for years, and he never let up on her. I wasn't overweight at all, but I started my first diet after that. I did pork up a bit in junior high and early highschool - I went up to about 160 lbs, at 5'8, by the time I was 14. I lost a few pounds over the winter that year, and met my future first husband at the end of that winter. By early fall, I weighed 132 lbs. Of course, I still thought I was fat! Compared to the pin-thin girls in school, I was chubby, but looking at pictures from that time, I was quite slim - nothing I'd call chubby even.

I became pregnant with my first child then (just after I turned 16), and put on almost 60 lbs. I weighed 190 the day she was born, and she only weighed 6 lbs. After she arrived, I went down to 170 or so, but struggled for the next few years, at one point going up to around 215. Finally I managed to get down into the 150s, just around the time I turned 20.

I left my husband soon after, since our marriage was very volatile and we had so many problems (most, I'm sure, due to being so young when we got together). I got into even better shape, and actually landed a job as a waitress in a strip club. Then I became ill, a bizarre thing really - a random tiny injury led to a massive infection that lasted for over a year, and led to the loss of 1/3 of one breast. Good thing I was way too big up there to begin with. Over that year, I gained a lot of weight back; in the year following that, as I tried to put my life back together and waited for reconstructive surgery, I gained even more, from the combination of inactivity and severe depression.

I then met husband #2, when I weighed around 230-240 lbs. I became pregnant, spent most of the time on bedrest, but really didn't gain much at all. It was after, when I had another health problem that became very obvious after the birth, that I gained the weight. My scale only went up to 300 lbs, so I have to find out from the doctor what I really weighed, since I always turned my head when the nurse weighed me.

So, last winter, health issue fixed, I was at a flea market with my family, and found an old copy of "Thin Within", the first edition before it became a Christian-based book. For some reason, this time it clicked a bit. The hard part is emotional/stress eating. I have been a smoker since before I hit the double digits, and having quit smoking, the urge to go clean out the kitchen is awful at times! But, I've made some progress so far. I've been at a plateau for a few months, but at least I'm maintaining, and not gaining this time.

Well, that intro took me over 24 hours to type - I had to type a bit and then tend to a toddler - so I'll post it now while I have a chance. Can't wait to get to know all of you!

Hey everyone-

VALERIE~I hope the New Balance shoes work. I used to have a pair awhile back. But I do like how they offer wide. I think it will make a big difference! I hope I can get on a normal schedule! Its been so hard! Glad you had a good first day!

DAZZLE~ This is a great support group! Hope to see you post more!

Lavandel~Sounds like you had a nice vacation! You have a good positive outlook on messing up with eating. The main thing that counts I guess is that we realize we messed up and do better!

Katt~I hope the shoes make a difference. They better! Congrats on being down another 2 pounds! You are doing great!

SANDY~Sorry you are up 1/2 a pound. But you can lose it! Sorry you are having a stressful time right now. Hope things get sorted out soon! Thats great you got all of the parts for the gazelle! I really want to get some exercise equipment if we don't move. Well we are assuming he didn't get the Job in Tulsa. Which is ok. We just put in for Spokane,WA and St. Louis, MO. So hopefully we will be moving from the top of the world soon!

MISTI~That is a great NSV! Sounds like you are doing great on the presidential challenge! Keep up the good work! I can for sure tell in your pictures that you look smaller in the second picture. You proably are losing inches.

ANDIE~You are doing great on the exercise! I hear ya about the relation between working out and food. I seem so much more focused when I am getting daily exercise in.

JILL~Good for you getting a good bank account. I just got a new one with bank of america. But they don't pay me! I feel so drained too. But I know its from not getting enough sleep. Hope you feel better!

KATY~Sorry for your family's loss. I know that is hard to go through.

LUAN~Sorry you are having to go through all of that with your mom. My mom is nothing like what she used to be. But growing up my mom had major manic depression. Life was rough to say the least. I hope things get better hun! Hang in there!:hug Like your new avatar pic!

RAVEN~ I see you live in Alaska. I live in Barrow. Its at the very top in the Arctic if you didn't know. I hear ya about being to cold outside to walk. Especially when its -100 with windchill up here! I literally do laps inside my house. Its way to expensive to ship a treadmill up here. So my laps and doing some workout videos work for right now. Glad you joined to group!

Lori~WTG on getting up early and working out! St. Louis sounds nice. I am just hoping to get out of here. Mostly due to medical stuff. We have to fly to Fairbanks or Anchorage just to get more than basic medical care. I will keep you posted if we get the job there. Thanks for sharing the info about ST.louis!

ANDIE~Your DDs website is too cute! She is such a cutie!


Well I am still on this crazy sleeping schedule. But good news! DH is going off the midnight shift as of 8 am today. And he has the next four days off so hopefully we will get back on a normal schedule! I was hoping my new tennis shoes would be here today but they were delayed in Anchorage. Well I hope you all have a great day! Stay OP!

Michelle

ANGEL Thanks for sharing your story! And congrats on the success you have already accomplished. A loss of 32 pounds is great!

Angel -- Glad you made it and that you took my invite! Feel free to join us on our exercise thread too -- ask questions if you need to.

EVERYONE is welcome to join us in exercise...

Ack. I am late for class!! (Not good if you're the teacher!)

Hey everybody!

Wow look at all the new people since I last posted!! Hi everybody!!
Nice to meet you all.

I am a slacker poster lately.. boo to me. I had a TON of work to do this last month or so but I have a bit of calm for the next couple of weeks at least.

I have yet to catch up on the posts of the last while so I can't comment much. I hope everyone's doing well.

I am getting a visit soon from the 'evil one' so no weight loss for me this week. I think I'm having a 'pause' while my body does whatever it is doing. I measured myself yesterday, the first time was at end of August. I've lost a grand total of 14.5 inches everywhere since then! 4.5 of that was off my thigh. WOW huh! I'm happy about that. So the pounds are slow but it's leaving me regardless. I will measure again in another month or when the mood hits. I was kind of feeling bummed yesterday so that was a nice boost.

I will catch up on some of the posts here now I think and check in with you all later.

~ Angie

Jill~I for sure need some new tennis shoes! I am keeping my fingers crossed that they will help me with walking. My ankles hurt so bad with just socks on!

Angie~WTG on losing all of those inches! That is really great!

And one more thing I wanted to add. The other day at the doctor I asked them what my weight was when I first went there a couple of months ago and it was 346. eek! But it was still hovering around 327/328 when I went in the other day. So I am going to change my ticker. 346 is the highest I have EVER weighed. Sort of depressing...but hey at least I am trying to do something about it right? Hope you all are having a good day!