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!!!!

Katt -- I'm glad to hear the ankle is healing. We want you fully healthy!!

Valerie -- heh. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to get a man to say something stupid, but perhaps better for your mental health not to encourage it. I did see you post on the exercise thread, tho, so yeah!!! So, either he did say something stupid or you did it anyway!

Actually Heather, I have to give him credit - he's been a peach. But I actually counted some of the minutes I worked loading, unloading and stacking sawdust bags, and some of the walking I did around the farm where we cut our Christmas tree. I don't get any kudos for the treadmill... yet. But it WAS cool to hike around the treefarm and remember the years I was puffing and having such a hard time just keeping up, while this year it was a pleasant, invigorating walk that didn't have me chugging steam like an locomotive climbing a mountain!

OK, OK... I'm heading for the TM right NOW!

...EDIT: I did it. Only 16 minutes, but it's the first time I've sweat in a few weeks. I'd have never done it if I hadn't made the commitment here, so I'm once again very thankful that y'all are here to be accountable to.

*sneaks in*.........

Hey girls.

Things have been rough here at home. We've been moving and I can't be sure but I think I've gained weight.

I'm sorry that I haven't been here in forever. It seems like I'm just becoming depressed. Hope that things are well for you all!

Erika Leigh

Hey there Erika Leigh hun .. nice to see you on the boards .. never think you have to sneak back .. loud and proud .. we're just happy to see you here with us again Moving is always a stressful time (Speaking of .. has ANYONE heard from Amy yet?? Getting a little worried havent seen the lass for WEEKS!), dont be hard on yourself, just do the best you can to curb the negative and keep as close to OP as you can manage until you can get fully focused back on the journey again

VAL - Good girl gettin on the TM .. I have my elliptical next to my chair lol .. and I do get on it .. but still cant get past 2 min before my legs are screaming at me .. grrr .. very frustrating! Great news about your ring ... that is something I have had happening .. none of my rings fit right lol .. my hunny has said he will buy me an engagement ring when I am closer to my goal .. that way we wont have to get it resized .. maybe I should tell him to get it a size smaller so it will encourage me to keep going lol .. still .. my fingers have gone from a V to an S! Keep up your great work hunny .. I always enjoy reading about your day

Well .. I was just gonna watch TV tonight (I did a lot of cleaning today) and then go to bed .. but after reading how Misti and Val got their exercise in I thought I better be a good girl lol .. I wasnt in the mood to do any walking so instead I boogied with Richard I still have to adapt some of the moves slightly for my ankle .. but I managed to do the whole thing .. havent done crunches for a while and boy did I feel those rofl.

Okee .. 5 positives today ..
1 - My hunny rang me this morning to wake me up so I heard his voice first thing .. and then he rang me tonight to say night night .. still miss him heaps through the week but hearing his voice makes it a little easier (esp harder now that I am working late Friday and Saturday nights .. even less time together!)

2 - We have had light rain most of the afternoon and now that I have put on our outside fairy lights that I put up with Ash last night there are lots of extra sparkles where the lights hit .. looks magical

3 - I have finally folded up and put away all the washing that I had been putting off doing lol .. living in hope that someone else in the house would do it as I have been busy at work lol .. unless I specify a job it rarely gets done hehehe

4 - I had my favourite ice cream tonight lol .. not too much but enough to make me happy ... love my rocky road caramel and its only available at this time of year over here for some reason lol ..

5 - I THINK TOM is finally leaving!!! Only 18 days later!! hehe .. gotta be grateful for the small mercies too!

So Im gonna get ready for bed (have a shower) now .. its almost midnight and I have a few jobs to get done tomorrow too...

Have a GLORIOUS Monday peeps ... be happy and proud of your journey- regardless of the ups and downs .. love & laughter in your day and never forget how special you are ... to us if you cant think how special you are to yourself

LOVE AND LAUGHTER!
Huggies!

What is with me being soooo depressed. Me and Amanda finally layed down last night on the Mattress and Boxsprings and I just layed there and cried in her arms. She kept asking me what was wrong because she was worried I was sad because we moved. I told her nothing really was wrong, that I was just horrible sad today.

I've just had this wanna cry all weekend thing.

I haven't been here in forever. I stopped counting calories, no exercise, and I'm back drinking soft drinks and fast food.

What happened to the 'On the way to being healthy Erika'.

I did go to the dr about my PCOS and she done alot of blood test and tomorrow I have a DR appt to get a Pelvic Ultra Sound. Then i have to see her again and hopefully get meds to get my body on the path for a baby ( in a few years we want one!)

Girls, just please keep my in your prayers. I couldn't even tell you my weight right now. My scale is packed as is most of my life right now.

Packing and unpacking is going to be the only exercise that I am going to be getting. OH and at work I switched to the 3rd shift for school. (11pm-7am)

Just please please please please please keep us in your thoughts. I'm scared I can't take all of this and I'm about to break!

good morning everyone just saying hello.. back on program and off to do some serious exercise this morning ! see you later!

Good Morning Chickies~

I thought I'd start Monday off right and pop in on you all!

Erika - Nice to see you posting and here is a BIG ! I hope you feel better dear. Moving and health concerns are two BIG downers and I can certainly see where they'd make you just want to sit down (or lay down) and cry. You aren't alone.

Jilly OP all Weekend! With a concert! WTG!

I feel a bit better about things than I did last week. I started off healthy this morning and plan to do my BEST to stay OP! I just really have holiday problems with food! It was the holidays that stalled me out in 2005 and I really haven't gotten the momentum back. But I WILL!

I did the Christmas decorating thing Sunday. Didn't go all-out like I often do, and the outside is a bit bare...thanks to all the snow...but it looks nice and I figured out a way to keep the dogs away from the tree, so that's good. I've been scouring the internet for Low-Cal, Low-Fat yummies to bake. I've always been big on baking at the holidays, but I refuse to fill my house with that stuff this year. Still, I need to do some baking. Doesn't feel like Christmas without it.

I'm off for now ladies! Take care!

i'm finally back! i was all excited saturday morning doing my workouts, finishing my weekend challenge and posting on here to keep out of the kitchen before my blood tests (which were nothing--just need to make sure the dose of med's for my hypothyroidism is right), then, right before we left, the power went out at our house and hasn't been back on since. we finally had to go stay with my in-laws as it's only 42 degrees in our house right now! brrrrrrr! so now we've been eating out a lot and, it's been hard to get to the gym (it was closed due to the storms for awhile) and i can't do stuff at my in-laws since there's no room for doing a dvd at their house. i got on the scale this morning at work and i'm back up 3 pounds. i took my measurments on saturday too and the only thing i've lost is 2 inches from my hips. i feel like i'm doing nothing and getting nowhere with this! just keep losing and gaining the same 3 pounds! it's incredibly frustrating and made even more so with everything else going on......hopefully the power will come back on soon, we can go back to our house and i can get back on track!

so, i'm way behind on the threads, so here's just a couple personals.....

ammi--i've only tried one of the workouts on one of the dvd's. it came with 4 dvd's and i think they all have 3 workouts (beginners, intermediate and advanced). i just did the beginners on one of them, so i can't really recommend them yet. it was ok, but while i was doing it i was thinking i'd rather have the tv on or some better music. also, during the one i did, he said he'd put on some visuals to help motivate you, but all the pictures are of women in bikinis and not very handsome guys. the pictures were also very dated and were not motivating, to me anyway. i'll give them a few more tries and let you know.

erika--i'm sorry you're having such a tough time right now. i think we all have times where you just need to have a cry--i know i do. and i know when i was in college, it seemed to go around the dorm. every once in awhile you'd see someone in the hall with red eyes, ask what was wrong and they'd say they just needed to cry. i think it's a common response to stress. i say, just go with it. if you need to cry, do it. it won't do you any good to keep it in. heck, sometimes i'll put in a movie i know makes me cry and just get out the tissues and watch and cry til i feel better. look at all the stuff you have going on right now--new jobs, new schedules, moving (which always sucks! i've been in and out of dorms, apartments, houses, moved to a new state, moved in with my husband, bought a house..i think i counted once that i've packed boxes and moved about 20 times..i can relate to that stress!), dr's appt's and the holidays! who wouldn't have some stress? don't add any to yourself thinking you have to apologize to us for not being on here--we're always here when you need us, don't worry about that. take care of yourself, make good choices when you can, cry if you need to, cuddle with amanda and the furbabies and things will look up soon. pm me if you need to---

well, since it stormed, i haven't been to work since last wednesday and the house is a mess. i'd better get the kids stuff picked up and the dishes done (i know that sounds like i'm at home, but i'm really at work. that's why i dread doing the dishes and picking up stuff at my own house! ). everyone take care and i'll be back tomorrow. lori

Lori, so sorry to hear about you being without power! We got more snow here I think, but no one is without power here. What is it with U.E. in St. Louis? You guys got hit this summer too! Don't feel too bad about the 3 lbs. You did lose inches after all, so you know something is working! Keep it up! And try to stay warm!

Hi ladies,

Jilly: You really inspired me I just wanted to let you know. I made a list of things I can do every day for certain time limits so I can not be sitting on my butt all day. Thank you for sharing.

Mechelle: LOL. Yes, there are times I have to admit that I think the weather guys are just looking outside and guessing. lol.

Val: Yea girl: I'm so happy for you. -5, smaller jeans, wedding ring too large! You are on a roll.

Melissa: Oh, I hope things do work out for you to get a puppy. Nothing is better than puppy kisses!

Patti: Okay here is a for you and a for me and one for anyone else here who needs it. lol.

Clneen: Yea! Congrats on the jeans fitting. You go girl.

Erika:

Lori: Hang in there. I am so happy for you loosing 2 inches on your hips. That is wonderful news. The scale will follow.

Ammi: Good luck on the scale today.

Sharon: Hope your eyes are better soon

Misti, Shadie, all the other chickies, hope you are all doing well and having op days.

Blessings,
Annie

thanks dogpal i need all the kicks i can get. i am doing much better today though i mught add .. always do during the week.. weekends are so hard though! lol1

GAH!!!!! I absolutely cannot get a post of any decent length to go through even when I do it in Word first. I have been having problems with my computer logging me out of 3FC in the middle of things and I think that is what is causing it.

I wish I could do all the personals I wanted to. For now, it will have to be enough to say I am thinking of all of you.

just wanted to quickly jump on and say.....our power is on!!! i don't think i've ever been happier to see our porch light on when i turned onto our street! so.....since i'm back home and have no excuses, i'm back on track tomorrow! is it possible to lose 9 pounds before dec. 19? probably not....but i'll try my hardest. i have to get one mini goal done!

lilion--ameren is on my list, i can tell you that! i don't know what the deal is, but to make it worse, they are the only electric company here, so it's them or no one. i guess it's all about how they trim or don't trim the trees that are too close to the power lines and it's too expensive to bury all the lines. all i know is, we lost power in july too, so you'd think they'd have realized the problem then and taken care of it so it wouldn't happen again. who knows what they're thinking over there. i did hear that they cut back on tree trimming to save costs, but if you're a monopoly like they are, why do you need to save? there's no competition! i just hope everyone else gets power back soon. there are a lot of people still without and i really feel for them. sorry to , but it's so frustrating!

annie--thanks for the kicks--i can sure use one too!

xena--i don't know what's going on with your computer, but i had that happening to me too when i was typing long posts and this is what i did. i started taking notes when i read the posts so i didn't have to remember everything or open a new window to reread stuff. then i'd sign in, click on post reply, and type. when i'd click on submit reply, it would tell me that i didn't have permission to do that because i wasn't logged in. right under that message is a place to sign in, so i would sign in again. a screen would pop up saying "thank you for logging in, redirecting" or something like that, then it would go back to the thread and my post would be there. maybe the same thing would work for you? i'm not very computer savvy, but that worked on mine. hope that helps.

anyway, gotta go clean out the frig and take out the trash real quick. then i'm crawling into my own toasty bed and getting some sleep! take care, lori