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, inspiration, and hope. We are aware of the distinct problems that come with weighing over 300 lbs.

We want to invite everyone (roosters as well as chicks!) to join us in our journey. We share laughter and tears, heartaches and fears ... joys and celebrations. We also share what works for us and what doesn't.

We know the thread can move very quickly, and that people often make "personal" remarks and keep a number of conversations going. Please feel free to contribute even if you can't make personal comments all the time.

Finally, we also have several extra threads going on simutaneously such as Monthly Challenges, Weekly Weigh-ins, Recipes, Bios, Photos, Exercise, Info for Getting Started and more. Many of these threads are stickied at the top of the page. 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.

Annie - *HUGS* Will try more walking next time..I did go downstairs and sort of hobble around and breathe in the night air (cold and snowed in) and that did help I think more than I think it did. Being cold seemed to help me for some reason, but perhaps that was all in my head lol. I'm going to be buying some boots so I can go walking, right now I wouldn't make it down the driveway that hasn't been plowed yet...lol So much snow..my little toes would freeze.

Ratkitten - I did take something for gas..i dunno what...it didn't help, but I have this thing with pills. Sometimes I end up reacting to them, but yeah walking, bouncing, anything that works I'll try if this happens again! I've never had this experience so I'm a newbie with it. I did hobble about and bounce and other things, but nothing helped that night, or it didn't seem to. I'm sure it did, but I couldn't feel it as I was in that "zone" lol.

*******
Today is a much better day. So, I weighed myself during my bloat fiasco and I weighed 281 pounds. ACK! So, today I weigh 270 pounds. I'm amazed, how much can people bloat up? GOODNESS! I usually will like bloat up 4 pounds, not 10-11. So, yeah no more soy crap for me! Nooooooooo. I'll listen to my body.

Last night I was so hungry that I ate a giant salad and it was so good. Just plain, but I desperately needed it. I have been so neglectful of my body and have not been listening. Bad me bad. So, listening is making me feel better. Sometimes I wonder why I revert back to the bad things, almost like I'm punishing myself. *sighs* Now I'm feeling good and moving forward...I don't want to look back and repeat the past two months.

Out with the old, in with the new.

I hope everyone is well. LOL You all will get a kick out of this. So, apparently there is a family visit on the 26th and I'll be doing some things, but see this family is a bit "lazy" and they don't really get how to work a kitchen and get food out. So anyway, I finally ask about food plans and I get this email back suggesting that the holiday dinner is going to consist of "heating up frozen appetizers, deli meats, bread, and salad for dinner." I'm sitting there shocked lol...and now this is a holiday dinner with family members showing up. So, I'm a bit taken aback and think to myself, 1. I don't eat that crap, 2. Deli meats for dinner???? My god are we saying that people are driving to this house to have a sandwich??? So, I reply back and it turned out that basically they want to do pre-arranged platters for appetizers (deli meats, veggies, and shrimp) and then a frozen entree for dinner, with bread and salads. So, I can't eat any of that except the veggies, so they know I'm bringing food lol. But what IRKS me is I go OUT of my way to prepare foods that EVERYONE will like. When I plan a meal I go out of my way to make sure there is something for everyone. Heck I'm vegan and I roasted a turkey, if that isn't doing things for other people then I don't know what is. I kind of feel like they only think about what they want and do not think about other people like um let's see..me and my boyfriend? So, it gets a bit upsetting to constantly be up against a rock like that, well not upsetting but annoying. If I didn't bring food, I'm serious, then my boyfriend and I would have bread. There probably wouldn't be a salad, i mean one time I was told there was enough food so we didn't need a salad. I go "But that is MY dinner. I have to have something to eat!" Then I got the "oh yeah." Holy Jebus, can people be that thick??? lol... They do sometimes think of me, but rarely think of my boyfriend (and like it is his family) so that is odd. They pretty much left my boyfriend out of any plans for this upcoming shindig and when I told him about it he was a bit irked. I don't blame him. But I bring food to share, as that is my way. I do it for selfish and non-selfish reasons. To be honest, if I didn't bring food there wouldn't be much to eat at these dinners. Seriously...these people don't plan well. *rolls her eyes*

Just a vent...meh.

Hiya My Peeps!

Jacquie, I'm so sorry you are so sensitive to foods and additives. My Mom is too. The GasX stuff is something you dissolve on your tongue, like the breath thingies. Oh, even better would be the drops they give infants for gas. Both are gentle and I'd be surprised if you reacted to it because my Mom can use those drops. I'm so sorry you were miserable and glad you are better and busy munching salads. Regarding your family, I'm glad you are so considerate! My family is the opposite of yours; they consider dietary restrictions a challenge to find tasty things and still be within the limits of what people can eat. My Dad eats no sodium because of an inner ear problem and we are always coming up with interesting things to make for him.. and if we have to, we make low sodium versions just for him and have the sodium all calculated out.

I am coming down with a cold. BLEH! I went into panic mode when I realized it was Monday and I'm supposed to be going home on Thursday. I haven't gotten the ingredients for my casserole or wrapped my gifts. EEEP! So... all but 2 presents are wrapped, need more paper. Took out trash and cleaned the litterbox and am currently doing laundry. I still need to venturre out today and get ingredients for the casserole.

Hugs to all my peeps!

Luv,
Ratkity

good morning ladies

i went for a long walk this morning (long for me, about a mile lol) and put in a few apps. the walk really left me feeling good and wondering why i hate doing it when i feel so good afterward.. dumb huh?
im craving salt really bad today... i can take chocolate or leave it, but where i have a prob is salty foods like chips, peanuts etc... i dont salt my food at all tho... but i want a big bag of lays chips right now lol.. not gonna give in tho...this too shall pass

hope all of you have a good day

Good Afternoon Everyone.

I don't think I ever introduced myself in this forum, but I did post a intro in the main forum back in October when I started this journey. Things are going well for me, and I am amazed how well I am doing through the holidays. I'm not saying it's easy, but I'm not gaining and I actually lost weight over Thanksgiving and I am hopeful that over the next 10 days I can drop a little more.

I had been upset for a few weeks because when I started back in October I had set a goal to be under 300 by the new year, but that is not going to happen. I am currently down 37, , and I realized when I was reading a few other posts that I am now down 10% . That is such a huge accomplishment for me and I realized that the goal I initially set for myself was probably unrealistic. I don't post often, but I do read the forums quite a bit and I am going to try and be more involved.

My new goal is to start incorporating some more fitness and exercise into my life. I have been doing some walking, but I have not been consistent and I need to start ramping things up and getting some real cardio in place and what better time to start than this week! If anyone has suggestions on how to ramp it up, please feel free to shout them to me.

Other than that I am busy like the rest of you preparing for the weeks festivities and busy at work. I am pretty much done shopping except for a few odds and ends.

Happy Holidays to Everyone.

I found out yesterday that a week ago Sunday when it was so cold here, we were the coldest place in North America, and the second coldest place in the entire world. I guess I wasn't just imaging it. It's only -14 now. The problem with that is when it warms up above -20, then it snows. Below -20 it usually doesn't because it is too cold to. I need to shovel, but refuse to until it stops snowing, which it is refusing to do. Honestly, I've run out of places to put the snow anyway. You can only pile it so high physically. The whole building looks like one big snow fort.

I didn't do so good yesterday ending up around 2200-2400 calories. A friend brought over dessert, a low cal apple thing. Only after I ate it did I see that it had 900 calories in it. I could have had a big mac for that. Just bizarre that they can legally call that a "lite" option. Hammer in my head, "read every label!"

Good evening everyone..I had a great day it turned out to be an early xmas for me..see my husband and i decided to give each other money for xmas well i put his on the tree and he was suppose to do the same for me today casue he got paid today but we had some last minute holiday shopping to finish and well long story short i kept finding things that i really wanted so he bought them for me instead of the money which is great! I got them early so i can start using them right away but here is what i got from my husband for xmas...
speakers for my mp3 players that has lights that play to the beat of the music
biggest loser calendar
set of 8 lb weights
dirty dancing workout dvd
last chance biggest loser workout dvd

plus i got a digital bathroom scale from my exchange gift from the family get together over the weekend so i am super excited about everything i have gotten.

I am up 2 lbs since my last weigh-in but i think it is because of 2 reasons--its that TOM and i havent been drinking water over the weekend like i normally do when im home because i ate excellent over the weekend i didnt eat any junk food at the get together but today i didnt eat great cause we were shopping and we ate out for lunch and then we ate out for dinner too BUT tomorrow i am back to tracking my eating and back to my eating and exercise routine and hope to lose that 2 lbs really quickly and i did come home tonight and drink 2 big glasses of water which the water glasses i drink out of are the big slurpee glasses from 7-11 that equals 5 glasses each time you fill it up and i had 2 of those glasses tonight so i had 10 glasses of water so i feel much better.

Well, i have rambled enough i will talk to you ladies tomorrow
Heather

Hiya my peeps!

Heatherb, glad your gift exchange and DH gifts were great this year!

Catherine, I believe it from the reports you give.. That place is tooooo cold for this kitty. I did the same thing once regarding the calories with some pressed nut bars. I thought I was eating healthy and found out I could've had 4 candy bars for the 4 oz of seseame nut bars I ate! BLEH!

Wavies to Kayley as she flies by ~~~~~~~

Well, I have a holiday cold. This is the 2nd cold in as many months. I think it's cuz I changed up my vitamin regime. I've been miserable all day. BLEH.

Hugs to all my lurkers!

Luv,
Ratkity

I forgot belated welcomes for TWing and Chaos!

Hugs to you,
Ratkity

welcome to the new peeps!!! (waving)

Jacquie: Dont ya hate when you got out of your way and others dont..makes ya wonder why we even try at all.

Catherine: again girly I don't know how ya live in -40 degrees??

Kayley: Glad ya had a good time with your friend

As for me: I got a strange call today. It was from my biological dad. I have never met him..but have talked to him by phone,email,or snail mail since I was in the 8th grade. I am a internet relationship with his daughter. He wanted to know how my surgery went and how I was doing. I was at work when I got the call and we spoke for about 1/2 an hour. He told me some medical history. Turns out he had his gallbladder out in his 30's. SO sis his mother and father. We talked about what is going on with my son and the baby. We talked alot in that 30 min. He said we need to talk more..not email. I would agree. Life getting busy is no excuse. After we talked I went back to my cubical and could not work. There was a sadness that came over me. I was raised by my grandparents and am so thankful they did. BUt I often wonder how a parent could walk away. Both him and my mom. I seem to get emotional when i talk to him. Maybe its that emptiness that will never get filled.

So then I come home to a sick hubby. He has the same symptoms that my son had..the dr said it was probably the swine flu. Lets hope hubby recovers soon.

MY PUPPY Molly has been itching her nose for a few weeks. We have noticed that she has been loosing the hair on her nose and around the eys. Hubby took her to the vet today..they "think" it is fungus. So he gave hubby some shampoo, cream, and pills. If this doesnt work, then she could ahve some disease..sorry dont know the name..that dogs get. That is alot more money to cure ..if they even can. I hope this stuff will work.

The other side of the label battle happened to me today. I was doing so much stuff today, that I skipped lunch, and had peanut butter sandwiches for dinner. I figured I'd blown it for the day, so why bother writing down the calories. Then I thought, no, I need to accept responsibility for what I ate, and calculated it all out. I ended up only having 1665 calories today. 800 of it was peanut butter, but I didn't go over. I just assumed. Assuming, either direction, is stupid. I could have beaten myself up all day tomorrow about it, without knowing I was fine. Having the no sugar, no salt added peanut butter, no sugar added all fruit jelly, and low calorie bread in the house certainly helped. I learned, don't guess, know what I am eating.

Cyn it could be mange, sounds vile but our dog started like that then it spread, cost £1000!!!! Around $1,500? Ask the vet to do a scrape just in case, costs less in the long run, we had LOADS of creams, baths... before it was found it was mange. It's caused by mites which all dogs carry but puppies or older or sickly dogs get it, the mites multiply & their immune system can't cope hence the los of fur. Hope things work out with your Dad, remember that 30+ years ago single Dads were just about not heard of, especially to daughters.xxxxxxx
Catherine, boy so glad I fell in love with a localk guy, could NOT cope with those kind of temps!xxxxxxx
WELCOME NEWBIES! XXXXX
Well I'm TOTALLY OFF plan.... feel bloated, fat & sluggish..... oh well New Year, new start..... Bil is getting better, he even cleaned my microwave & sink down!! LOL!!! it's good to be appreciated & to get help.
xxxxxxsharon

Hiya Sharon! xxxxooo, good to see you.

Cyn, Sharon is talking about demodectic mange. All dogs carry it, sorta like our little mites on our eyelashes. When they are puppies, highly stresssed or sick, demodectic mange can bloom. It's really not a big deal just on the nose. Poor little pup. Give him lots of hugs from me!

Catherine, I'm glad you calculated everything for the day! I think I had 1500 calories in juice. I have a stupid cold that is moving into my chest. I think my family is gonna ban me from Xmas if I'm not better in a couple of days. hehe. I'll just go down next weekkend.

Hugs to all!
Ratkity

good morning ladies
not too much going on today except im going to be baking cookies all day for my sister. she wants oatmeal cookies as well as peanut butter cookies... the peanut butter ones are going to be my downfall im afraid lol. normally she wouldnt ask me , but she has been so depressed since our mom passed last mo.. i am sad too, but my sis has severe health and emotional probs which makes everything hit her so much harder. not to sound like a scrooge or anything, but i wll be so glad when the holidays are over. having the first holidays when your mom passes are hard enough, but a lil worse when she only passed a month and a half ago.. plus, no one is hiring atm, which sucks for me, and ill be glad to get all this 'bad' food away from me soon lol. i also feel an excitement about starting a new year.. this one sucked on so many levels.. my goals for next year are: lose 50 lbs, gt my teeth fixed, and date/make friends. i have been gone from my hometown for so long, i dont know anyone anymore. well, i should close for now.. i hope everyone is doing okay, and i hope everyone is enjoying the holidays(cept scrooge me lol)