1 - We are beautiful, incredible women (and a few cool men!), whether we're at 350 pounds or 122. For example, Robin - I know that when you look at those "before" pictures you posted, you see a fat woman. But I trust that you also see a loving, incredible wife and mother who is gorgeous both before and after the weight loss.

2 - This journey is tough for everyone, but the knowledge we gain, the tools we find, and the skills we build make it possible to succeed.

3 - None of us is safe from setbacks, or even relapse. Yet, none of us is doomed to stay in relapse forever. I don't think any of us has been 100% successful 100% of the time, yet everyone seems to be heading - ultimately -in the right direction.

4 - Weight loss is not the answer to all of our problems. Yet, earning success through faith and hard work spills over to all aspects of our lives and makes us stronger in dealing with other issues. (Yes, I am thinking about the snake incident!)

5 - It is worth it. Once I topped 200 pounds, I "realized" that I would never be thin, so I might as well enjoy the "advantage" of having as much cheesecake as I wanted. Forty pounds and multiple health and lifestyle consequences later, I am wiser, more realistic, and 3FC has helped give me the faith I need to know this is a mountain I can conquer.

The statistics on obesity and ability to maintain weight loss are grim and overwhelming. I am so grateful to have a place of shelter from the many voices informing me what I can't do. This is not the first time I've lost weight, but I'm hoping it will be the last time I have a need to lose this much weight.

Very inspiring, thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Those are WONDERFUL! And, I think, all true!

I started my journey before I found 3fc, but I credit this place with helping keep me on track, despite my setbacks. In fact, I know that in the past, setbacks KEPT me back. Now I am learning how to work through them!!

What an awesome post!!

Thanks!!

The greatest thing for me about 3FC is that I am now in touch with soooo many people who are going through the same exact thing as me. That they can relate to me so very well and I to them.

Sometimes I'll be reading a post, many, MANY times in fact, and I'll just sit there and nod my head in TOTAL agreement. I love that. Though my family is super, inredibly supportive, they have never gone through the torment that I have due to my weight. So to be able to "talk" with people who have is so very helpful and so well, just, wonderful.

I can also share my inner most weight related stuff here. I mean nobody in my at home world knows what I weighed when I began this journey. Nobody knew about my binging. No one knew how miserable I was and how I feared - gulp - seats and chairs. To be able to talk about that has been extremely helpful to me.

My family, though again, very supportive can't really listen to me night and day about my journey and my eating and exercise habits. If I feel the need to do that I can do that as often as I'd like here. People could either read about - or simply ignore it. No harm done. So, it's a great outlet.

I've learned that maintenance will be just as hard as losing it and that it CAN be done. I don't think I realized beforehand that maintenance would be quite so difficult. I was not a yo-yo dieter, so maintenance will be something new for me. But that's okay, I'm prepared for it.

I found 3FC about 10 days into my journey. I don't know how this journey would have played out without 3FC, but boy am I glad I never had to find out.

LaurieDawn, thank you so much for the compliment. But I will tell you this. I don't see a beautiful woman or an ugly woman when I look at that before shot of myself. All I can see is very, very sad woman. An unhappy woman. An unproductive and inactive one. One who's missed out on so, so much - all because of her weight.

Heh great posts. I thought it was a different kind of thread and I was going to post "balsalmic vinaigrette on strawberries!"