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.
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!!!!
Nightkatt- WTG on the loss of inches and pounds!! Great job!
Ammi- thanks for answering my question and Swansea looks gorgeous!! I've always wanted to visit Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England as my ancestors are from all those places. Maybe someday... but now Swansea is definitely on my list!!
Some of the mods in other areas are doing this and I thought it was a good idea. Especially with storm season just around the corner, I would like to start a "contact" list. Sometimes there are long periods that our friends are absent from the boards and we just wonder if they're ok. If you would like to be contacted in the event that you go missing for awhile, please PM me your contact information (address, phone, cell phone) whatever method/s you would like me to use to make sure that you're still alive and well. This list will be kept strictly confidential. No one will have access to it except me.
If you happen to notice that someone is missing for an extended period of time and would like me to contact them, PM me and I will be able to do that if they're on the list.
I hope you think this is as good an idea as I do. Sometimes we just start to wonder what happened to people.
Hi Ladies...I needed some help/suggestions/input on something...I posted it on the Calorie Counters area, but I thought I'd ask here since I'm here all the time. Okay, so I've found that not including water weight that I'm stalling alot lately....I eat under 2000 calories a day, and since Aug. 1st I have been walking for an hour a day, everyday, and doing upper body strength training for about 20 minutes every other day. My stats are: 21, 5'5", and my activity level is said above. I'm looking to lose 2lbs a week like I used to. The first 2 months were fine, but the last 4-5 weeks I lost nothing for 2 weeks, the 3rd week I made up for it and lost 6lbs, then after that, nothing the next week, and now here we are....what tweaks should I make to help me? I just realized that considering I take in 2000 but burn off about 500 calories walking each day I'm only really "keeping" 1500 a day. Does that matter, or is that okay? How can I get back to losing *regularly*? Thanks in advance everyone!
Vilandra I think it might just be the way your body works, if you're losing 8lbs approx per month I wouldn't worry, if it's less it might be worth looking into adding some other aerobic exercise as well as, or instead of, walking. Though it's good for you even when you walk fast it doesn't burn as many calories as 30 mins hard-ish aerobics. Hope it helpsxxxx
Tx/Sue was it you who was struggling with losing? I think, like some others have said that eating the same foods all of the time isn't good, trying new recipes , foods or ways of cooking them should help things along. I have been scared of eating potatoes; I'm doing South Beach; and I've got so sick of salads I decided to have fish (smoked haddock), new potatoes and mushy peas last night, it was great to have something different and hopefully the scales will show a loss on Saturday.xxxx
I did all that exercise yesterday, today I was going to walk into town today and exrcise but it has been raining really hard since yesterday afternoon so I might have to make do with exercise only. Steve is working overtime tonight and Sunday day so I will do some more exercises whilst I have the chance.
Kenya, glad you weren't offended by my comments about your name, I hope you get to visit your namesake some time. I wish I didn't eat when hubby isn't here!! But you know where we all are when you need some (virtual) hugs and support.xxxx
Brenda I hope you enjoy your camping and pack lots of healthy food for your trip, I'm sure you'll get lots of walking and other exercise in xxxx
I bought some new fat monitor scales and as postage was free I got the boys some snap cards and Wolfmother's new cd album (I still want to call them LPs, lol) they sound so much like Led Zeppellin, I had to try it. After all it's calorie/fatfree!!!! And maybe I'll take a leaf out of Kenya's book and dance around a bit to it too. I have to go & exercise now or I'll find something else to do instead, like being on the pc until lunch, lol!
xxxsharon
Melissa--Unfortunately, our bodies are not "regular" creatures, and there are SO many variables involved in weight loss there's no way to make it always do what you want to do. Some weeks your hormones may throw things off kilter, some weeks you may be retaining more water than usual, sometimes an illness can throw things off...if you go into the maintainers' forum and ask, I'll bet some of them will tell you they lost an "average" of 1-2 pound every week while they were losing, but they will also be first to tell you that that average includes, like you mentioned, some periods of steady loss, but many weeks with no loss (or even a gain) along with weeks of unexplainable big losses. I certainly wouldn't say you're at a plateau at all, so I would just keep doing what you're doing. If it get to be more than a month without a loss, maybe try shaking things up by trying new exercises, eating cleaner or more whole foods, cycling your calories...I know it's frustrating, but it's a fact of life that no one will see a drop on the scale EVERY week, evil contraptions that they are
So many here are doing so well...you're all so inspirational! And for those of you who aren't seeing the results you'd like, keep at it--even if you're not losing weight or even inches, I promise your body is thanking you in other ways on the inside, and it will all catch up on the scale eventually
Well, today marks the official ending of my first 11 days on the planned menus. I am down to 285.5 as of this morning 11 days ago, the scale was bouncing between 295.5 and 296, so I'll assume I weighed 285.75 and count it as 10.25 pounds lost
Goodmorning ladies! It looks like today is going to be a stressful day- I got a warning phone call last night from the evening half that my clients are bickering with each other over foyer space. apparentlly they are both pharmaceuticals and one thought they were partners while the other considers them a competitor. The one that thinks they are a competitor wants the other one to have their meetings in a different area than them, but they don't want to move, and they don't want us to tell the other one to move b/c of them, b/c they are supposed to be partners. How double faced!!! so my job today (in addittion to everything else I normally do) is to keep the group that is unaware of a problem out of the other one's way, without telling anyone upfront to move it. going to be fun!
Angie- thank you so much for the veggie tips- you really gave me some great ideas- I copied your post and saved it in word to come back to as I try different things.
Melissa- I'm not much of an expert- but it sounds to me like you are doing everything right. I would have to agree with the others who said that our bodies sometimes just don't do what we would expect whether it be hormones, water retention, etc. I would just make sure you're taking in plenty of water, and sticking to whole foods, and not too much sodium. The good thing is, while it may not be consistent weekly- it looks like you are stilling losing 6/8 a month, which is great! Keep it up-you are an inspiration to all of us!
Jill- 10.25 pounds in 11 days is awesome!! I'm sure having a few days to eat so foods you have to avoid will be good for you- keeping your body guessing- but i bet you won't eat that much anyway, because you've done so good establishing some good eating habits!! congrats!
Time to get ready to run off to work. Everyone have a great day.
good morning everyone though it is not a good morning here. scales say i am up by 3 pounds. oh well going to get strict back on program and run some of those suckersoff along with their friends.
I had a BAD night last night, and I am not even sure why. I ended up going to sleep at around 10:30 to stop myself from eating half a pint of Hagen Das ice cream. It is my BF’s and has been in the freezer for over a week. I wouldn’t normally go for it (it was cherry and I normally go for chocolate things) but I had this overwhelming urge to eat it. I even was lying there in bed, and then my brain convinced me I needed to get up to check whether or not I had turned off the oven and before I knew it my hand was on the freezer door. I resisted and went to bed, but it was quite disturbing. I still can’t figure out what was going on emotionally for that to have happened (because it was undoubtedly a completely emotional response). I will take some time to dwell on it today and see if I can’t figure it out.
Ammi - I'm with you on the Adrian Paul pics.
Nightkatt – Congrats on being down 2 pounds, but it isn’t an NSV – it’s an SV!
On your question about self-image, I feel mostly ok with myself. I spent quite a bit of time and self-introspection coming to terms with the fact that fat doesn’t equal bad. Sure, I’m not happy with how my body is now, but for me it is much more of a function question. Of course I would prefer the form too, but I am generally a confident person. I think feeling capable will make me even more confident, but I don’t feel undeserving because of my size. I think many people (I am thinking of the woman you mentioned on Dr. Phil) use the term and concept of being fat as a catch all for being unhappy with themselves. In some ways it is much easier to just label what we are feeling bad about as fat rather then delve into what is really bothering us about ourselves. That is my personal opinion, and maybe it only applies to me, but who knows.
Melissa – I wish I had an answer for you because I am in the same place. I am actually starting to think I might be pushing too hard with the exercise. Like going too low on calories, I am wondering if more isn’t necessarily better for where we are. For example, Ammi is steadily losing on 30 minutes a day. Crock was one of the most constant losers and she couldn’t exercise because of her leg, and if I remember correctly, Kayley’s stall coincided with her starting to do a lot of exercise. I know for each of these examples there could be dozens of other factors, but it has really go me wondering. Maybe I am taxing my body too much. If I figure anything out I will let you know.
Tilly – Don’t give up! There could be a lot of factors of why you gained. How has your salt intake been? Where are you in your monthly cycle (pms can cause major water weight gain)? Also, are you eating enough? You might want to figure out your calorie intake even if you are doing another plan to make sure you are getting enough. It seems counter intuitive, but not eating enough can also cause gains because your body is desperate to hold on to every calorie.
Kim – I hope you are able to work out your work problem with the least possible stress. I worked at a hotel for awhile and promptly discovered that any type of customer service position just isn’t for me.
Jill – Congrats on finishing your 11 days on plan. 10 pounds is amazing!
Jen – I think your friend is wrong. Actually in some cases vegetables are more easily digestible and therefore you get more nutrients out of them if they are cooked. Here is a small article about tomatoes from Cornell (if you need something to show your friend) http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases...s.Liu.bpf.html
Usually the best way to cook them isn’t boiled in water for hours, but either steaming or stirfry, as water leaches out nutrients. Also, sometimes frozen vegetables can have more nutrients than fresh because they are frozen immediately after harvesting, whereas other vegetables can sit around on shelves and lose some of their value.
Patti - Sorry to hear the scale is being unkind.
Once again I know I missed a bunch of people, but I really need to get to work.
Hi all! I haven't started exercising again but I have so many stupid excuses, I was sick, I'm tired, I feel bloated and I'm stressed! Tomorrow, I plan to go on a hike though so that'll get me some exercise. Also my latest Push DVD should be arriving soon so I can do that.
Jill - congratulations, you have done awesome.
Melissa - You are doing everything right, I'd keep up with it. Our bodies don't always lose from week to week for various reasons. The long term, overall loss is what counts. If you don't lose for over a month, I'd be concerned and try some tweaking.
Jen - concerning cooked vs raw vegetables. Raw vegetables are really good for you. You don't have to eat salads to eat raw vegetables. I often eat things such as carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers, etc with hummus. I will also eat tomatoes by themselves sometimes. The problem with raw vegetables is even though they contain lots of nutrients, our bodies can't always get at all the nutrients in the raw vegetable. Cooked vegetables are really good for you too but I'd avoid boiling vegetables as some nutrients do come out. If you steam or sautee vegetables, you are definitely getting a lot of nutrition even though some nutrients may be lost. Cooking tends to make other nutrients available for absorption when they wouldn't otherwise be available if eaten raw. This is especially true for tomatoes and other vegetables.
Thanks to everyone who responded to the cooked vs. raw veggie debate. I never boil, just stir-fry or steam, and I just don't believe that any heat to any vegetable makes that veggie nutritionally worthless. Thank you for the article, Nancy. I sent that off to her and maybe we'll have a discussion on it today.
Off to exercise. Hope everyone is having a good day.
Hi Ladies - Got in a walk REALLY early this morning...36 minutes. I'm not going to add it to the exercise thread right now though, but it will get on there today. Considering I walked so early today I only have 24 minutes left for my daily walking goal, woo hoo. On the stalling thing....it seems since LAST weigh-in I've only lost 0.5 (in 12 days)....I'm soooo NOT impressed, BUT, I will let it go and keep doing what I'm doing. I'm going to give myself 2 more weigh-ins to get back on track, and if I don't in that time (that'll be 3 weeks...the same time I "stalled out" for last time) then I will try to shake things up, and/or go see my DR for some advice...you never know, it might help. I thinking of a nice dinner tonight...chicken breasts (Boneless, skinless, soooo juicy!! We bought a box of them on sale.) with veggies (A frozen mix of cauliflower, snow peas, and broccoli.), and rice, with a mushroom sauce...it works out to be around 600 calories. Yummy and good on cals, woo hoo! So I will plan for that, but DH might have something else planned, we will have to choose when he gets off work. Well, I'm off for now! Hope everyone is doing well!!
Stay OP chickies!!
Busy with work today again but thought I'd stop in and see what is going on with everyone.
Melissa - you are trying and doing everything you're supposed to. Sometimes unfortunately your body does things that don't seem to make sense at the time, but I bet there IS stuff going on inside. You just can't see that part. Ask any body builder or fitness expert and they'll tell you to dice it up about once every 4-6 weeks (your exercise). Your body becomes accustomed and adjusts to what you're doing so you constantly need to shake up the plan to keep the body guessing. Like someone else said, you might need to change your exercise routine a bit.
Instead of just walking every day, try taking a whole day off, do no exercise. I know, sounds crazy, right? But your body works that way (I know it seems like I'm "new" and how would I know this, but this is certainly not my first time down this road) The 'pros' even suggest taking up to a week off every few months or so.
The next day after your one day break from exercise, do something different than what you normally do. Do some walking, and then do something else with it, like an aerobic high intensity sort of workout. If you don't have any equipment like an eliptical, try a dance dvd or something like that. I bet if you alternate with high/low intensity cardio, you'll get something going.
Heck it's worth a shot, right? ! You're doing really great and you need to give yourself credit for what you're doing, it's really tough!!
I decided to take today off and get an early walk in tomorrow. Got a lot of cooking to do tomorrow as well. My MIL is leaving (can I say Yea! without sounding mean?) and we decided to have a pizza party of sorts. It was originally just us and our son and his girlfriend, but the word spread among his friends and our friends that I was making pizza, so now it's a big thing. Oh boy. I'm making one a chicken and veggie, so I can have some that's lower calorie than your typical pepperoni, sausage, etc.
Nancy- don't stress over the Haagen Daz. Just get back OP and exercise it off. You'll be fine.
Had to try to catch up some on the board today as last night was crazy! Had a breaking story at work: a local police chief was busted for soliciting minors for sex on the internet. There actually were no minors involved, they wer undercover agents posing as teen girls. And this creep sent X-rated images of himself to "her" at times using the computer in his office AT THE POLICE STATION!! This guy is a real piece of work! Hope they lock him up for good. glad they caught him before he hurt anyone.
So, that kept me hopping until about 1 a.m. Why can't news happen early in the day? lol
300+ And Ready To Try Again...#983
Okay, so I've found that not including water weight that I'm stalling alot lately....I eat under 2000 calories a day, and since Aug. 1st I have been walking for an hour a day, everyday, and doing upper body strength training for about 20 minutes every other day. My stats are: 21, 5'5", and my activity level is said above. 
But you know where we all are when you need some (virtual) hugs and support.xxxx
lol) they sound so much like Led Zeppellin, I had to try it. After all it's calorie/fatfree!!!! And maybe I'll take a leaf out of Kenya's book and dance around a bit to it too. I have to go & exercise now or I'll find something else to do instead, like being on the pc until lunch, lol!
10.25 pounds in 11 days is awesome!! I'm sure having a few days to eat so foods you have to avoid will be good for you- keeping your body guessing- but i bet you won't eat that much anyway, because you've done so good establishing some good eating habits!! congrats!
Considering I walked so early today I only have 24 minutes left for my daily walking goal, woo hoo. On the stalling thing....it seems since LAST weigh-in I've only lost 0.5 (in 12 days)....I'm soooo NOT impressed, BUT, I will let it go and keep doing what I'm doing. I'm going to give myself 2 more weigh-ins to get back on track, and if I don't in that time (that'll be 3 weeks...the same time I "stalled out" for last time) then I will try to shake things up, and/or go see my DR for some advice...you never know, it might help. I thinking of a nice dinner tonight...chicken breasts (Boneless, skinless, soooo juicy!! We bought a box of them on sale.) with veggies (A frozen mix of cauliflower, snow peas, and broccoli.), and rice, with a mushroom sauce...it works out to be around 600 calories. 
