Morning All

Hope you all are doing great...I got 3 points yesterday, no exercise of course, I am so bad about that, I am going to have to start making myself do my Walk Away the Pounds DVD daily or least start out every other day...

Faye - recipe sounds good, might try that this week...my husband is doing the Atkins though and I do not know if he could have that...maybe if I used the Splenda he could....

Julie, how ya doing? I keep looking at your CW, you and I have been close in that all along, we were at the same place before I went on my holiday eating spree, now I look at my 226 and see that i could be back down there with you at 218...ah well I am working on it...Keep warm!!

Well will check in later, everyone have an OP day!!!

2 points yesterday for me. I did not stay OP.

Today has been a food day as well. I also do the sweet then salt cravings and its bad.
I've been checking in regularly.. just not much into posting. Feeling down about my giving in to food.

Chat soon...

POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS POINTS:

Kimmy :bravo:
Julie :bravo:
Dorothy :cp:
Carri :cp:
Faye :dancer:
Debbie :dancer:

Hope everyone is having a good afternoon.

Carri: I am trying the chicken for the first time myself. Just make sure you boil the marinade before pouring over the cooked chicken since the raw chicken was in it. I am plannning on thickening it with a little corn starch and water but if your dh is on Atkins that would be a definite nono.

For anyone that is interested: www.campbellkitchen.com has a bunch of good recipes and you can adapt them using lowfat or ff soups and broths and other ingredients like the Splenda instead of sugar and the low sodium soy. This is the website that Gordon Elliot exposes on his soup commercials and it has some great recipes.

We have some ladies here who need a lot of encouragement right now. I am not going to put them out there by name, but if you are doing particularly well, give a thought to those ladies here who are struggling at the moment and just give a general rahrah speech or something. We want everyone to get back on the horse and be doing well again now that the holidays are over and some of us are stalled at the gate so to speak. Ok, with that being said, I will go first.

To our mystery ladies:

First of all, know that I love each and every one of you and want you to succeed far beyond what you even thought you could do.
A) when you were doing really well, what was it that kept you UP? Was it losing, exercising/endorphin release, or what? Now, think about how you can get it back!
B) Start out like it is your first time if you have to. Don't try and do too much if you have really fallen behind.
C) Start journaling again if you have to. Write down all that you eat, how much you exercise, your water and what you feel like. Then go back the next day and see what you have written. See where you have fallen short, see what your emotions were, then work to change them or it.
D) Know that everyone here wants you to succeed. We want to see you lose that weight and get healthy and be happy with your life.
E) Look in the mirror. See the woman that is staring back at you now, not the one that was 20, 30, 50 lbs heavier. See how your face is thinner, your eyes shinier, maybe your skin is in better shape, your tummy is flatter, your legs more sculpted. NOW, replace that with the picture of your former self. Do you REALLY want to go back there? Do you want to give up and just chuck in all the hard work you have done? You know you don't.
F) REMEMBER WHAT MY MANTRA IS: YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL, NOT JUST INSIDE BUT OUTSIDE TOO! GORGEOUS NOW AND MORE GORGEOUS EVEN LATER!

Faye :)

Wow, I am really amazed today. The topic really hit home for me in a way I never thought about before, which doesn't happen that often. When I am really stuffed on chinese food or pizza or whatever, I pretty much ALWAYS want candy or something, so much that certain salty foods followed by certain sweet foods has become kind of a ritual for me. I always thought I was "balancing my blood sugar", really. Now I realize it is my compulsion to eat looking for different avenues once one is saturated.

I am particularly moved by Faye's encouragement speach, and I am very thankful that I have found this thread right now, as it has broadened my thinking already in a number of ways. My goal today is to get 4 points!

To everyone who is slipping right now, I empathize, sympathize and everything else, and I just want you to know that You Are Successful Now. By wanting to improve your life you have made the ultimate statement of how much you love yourself. Just by wanting to have a better life you make the ultimate statement of how much you mean to yourself, and that is really powerful. There are all sorts of reasons that following through is hard, but know that it is hard for everyone. You are supposed to make mistakes, but don't make the mistake of giving up on yourself.

OK, that was really a note to myself!

Kim

PS, didn't join the chat last night, hope it was great. I went to see Lost in Translation. Very nice.

Hi Ladies,

Only 2pts for me yesterday..i went shopping so did'nt get the water in and i'm not giving myself an exercise pt because i only did 15mins :( but today i'm aiming to get 4 too :D i've just started on my first pint of water and i'm going to exercise in a minute :)

Faye , I emailed you to let you know I finally got the email, Thanks.
Just got in from work, just wanted to check in .
Will try to post later this evening.
Donna

Hey girls I am back.

First I want to say I really wanted to join in thew chat last night, but I just really find it hard to find extra time in the evening. Especially now, I am really trying to put in some time towards the graphic design...I would like to start up small business set up at home( for extra cash). So far I have set Sundays, while Andy is working to work on my stuff. Boy, I wish I had more time :dizzy: . Anyway hope it was a good chat for you girls.

Second, I would like to tell all of us that 1- we shouldn't give up on ourselves.
2-Let's not beat ourselves over the bad days, but instead try to make the next day a good one. Even if you do go a bit overboard in the afternoon, try and stay op during the evening. We all have bad days and after the holidays its been hard for all of us to get back on track, but let's focus and take it baby step at a time if we have to. Let's think of the before and after results. Once again I'll mention that myvirtualmodel.com website it was great for me to create a virtual me, print it out and tape it right on my refridgerator door. Each time I go for something I see the the "starting me", the current me", and the "final goal me"...and its helped me a lot turn away from overeating, etc.

Hope this has helped.

As far as exercise....grrrr that's been my big downfall. I get home at 6pm or so and then I cook dinner( I don't let Andy do it anymore becuase I'm afraid he mess up on the points and I'll "overeat" without realizing it), then I sit with him eat and talk, watch a bit of tv, then go to bed. Now I know I could fit in 30 min of exercise somewhere in there, but I guess I don't want to sacrifice "our together time" and also because I've never liked to exercise :( . What I do do is walk during my lunch break, window shopping or if I go out with him we'll walk a lot instead of taking the train...like 10-20 blocks, more in the summer. I don't know maybe I'm just being lazy.

Okay girls gotta run, but take care and I'll check in tomorrow.

Wrap up points:

Cathy :dancer:

Dorothy: Great idea about the virtual model. I will have to check that out!

Keep your chin up ladies and try hard to work at your program today! I know you can do this!

Faye :)

Can I Join In Too?
 

I was just seaching the 3FC forums looking for someplace more I can post. I need all the encouragement and fun I can get! This group looks awesome and seems like a LOT of fun!

I'm a SAHM (with two parttime businesses) to two wonderful children, 14 and 6. I'm very fortunate to have a super supportive husband, but I need to lose some more weight. My highest was over 235, my lowest in ten years has been 185. I've been hovering back at 200 again, and want to get down at least 20 lbs initially, 40 ideally. I have hypothyroid and PCOS which makes the struggle even more frustrating and slow.

So that's me.....I hope you don't mine me jumping in and riding your shirttails for a bit!

Talk soon!

4 points for me today! Looking forward to tomorrow!

Hello Friends,

Bet you think that I dropped off the face of the earth, eh??????????? Well I didnt, just feeling ashamed for having to come back in with the proverbial tail tucked in between the proverbial legs.............. :dizzy: I gained 3 lbs, since Christmas day, and the motivation, the desire, the strong will and resolve that I had previously just flew out the window!!!!!!!!!! :o

But, I am back, and I have decided to post no matter what comes my way. Faye, I thank you my friend for your loving and kind words, and the friendship that you have always shown me since I started posting here.


To all the rest of you gals, I love you too!! and to the newbies, Welcome, these ladies are some of the best friends that you will ever have.

Talk more later, hopefully at a decent hour. It is 1:30 in the morning my time.

Nighty night ;)

WEDNESDAY: Today is Wednesday's Woes, so let us have it girls. What is troubling you, how can we help?

Kimmy: I will do your smiley/points that didn't get posted yesterday with today's totals.

LisaZ: We have another Lisa that may or may not be able to come back and post, so we will call you LisaZ. We want to welcome you to the group. Please participate as much or as little as you like. The first post of every thread contains the info on all our topics, point system, challenges etc. Just jump in and feel free to ask any questions. I am available all the time by pm and also e-mail. Below is some stats on a few of us:


Hi, my name is Faye, I am 50, have been married 31 years to a wonderful and totally supportive man, have two grown children, Jack, who is 30 and getting married April 10, and Kelly, who is 26, married and has given me an adorable grandson, Thomas who is 3 1/2. I have a Yorkie named Fortune and a cat named Butterscotch. I am not working right now, but have been looking. I exercise at least an hour 7 days a week and my stats are at the bottom of my posts. I have a website: www.freewebs.com\trexnonny/ Please visit it and let me know what you think!


Julie

35 year old, stay-at-home mom of 3 (9,8,and 4). I live in Maine with my husband and the kids. My highest weight ever was 265 (I was pregnant at the time). I started at 3FC at 241, am currently around 238, and my goal is to be in the low 160s. I am working toward a smaller goal of being under 200 pounds by the end of the year.

Carri ( Satine ) - Hi! I am a 30 year old female, married to my high school sweetheart for 9 1/2 years, no kids but one adorable little westie dog named Les. Have lived in Indiana all of my life. Started to gain my weight right after I was married, I got comfortable and lazy...anyhow have been doing a great job lately, focused and need to lose about 90 pounds for goal. Great to meet you!!!

Hi my name is Amanda. I am 30 years old and live in Sheffield, which is in the north of England, although I am hoping to move to Ireland soon. I have a long term partner, Nigel and a cat called Marley.I am a qualified social worker,currently unemployed. I am a Christian and a vegetarian. My hobbies are reading, especially thrillers, watching comedy on T.V and making cards. I also enjoy going to the gym, although I feel it is too early to call that a hobby!

I have just over 100lbs to lose, but seeing all the successes on these forums is a great inspiration and I know I will do it - and you can too!

Hope you can join us

43 years old-lived in the South all my life...and love it! I live with my partner Jane of 8 years. We have a booth at local antique mall, and we enjoy going on treasure hunts to find more....I enjoy reading, mostly books by Southern authors, but will read most anything except Science Fiction, or Harlequin Romances...I enjoy writing, cross-stitching, and other crafts. I love to cook....and now I love to exercise!!! (well I don't really love it....but I feel so much better, so I do it whether I want to or not, and it makes me feel great!) I am ever so thankful that I am able to do it now. I spend a lot of time with my mother, sister and my 2 beautiful neices, Nikki and Angie (21 and 19), they are the joys in my life. I currently work as a Switchboard Operator at an answering service where I have been for the last 2 1/2 yrs. Next fall I plan on returning to college (have to exercise this old mind too!) to obtain my Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology...I graduated from Athens State University....waaaaaaay back in 1985!! Well, ladies that's me in a nutshell!! I am loving life these days, and so very grateful to have found this forum and all of you wonderful gals!! Couldn't do this without you. Together we are a united force! Pam

single mommy of one lovey soon to be 7 yr old son going on 30. Lost over 40 lbs back in 2001 weight came back in 2002 when i discovered that I had endo. the pain meds and the lupron helped with that matter. restarted my weight loss on 2/6/3 date of hyst. sw 213 cw 177 goal 150. i am realistic in my goal i know with a large bone structure i will look awful if i go lower. i do ww bbut since june when i found out that richard was leaving i have just been aiming ot eat right, i am now able to get it back on tract and the workouts are in the process of getting to where they need to be but it is hard working 2 jobs and being a mommy to get it all in. Sandy/Gigglez

Hello,my name is Joy Lee,and I currently live in Sylvester,Georgia. I am 46 years young and I weigh 258 lbs at this time..I have been working out and watching what eat ,keeping it low fat and healthy as possible..I started out at 329 lbs,which was my highest weight ever...I have lost down to where I am now in about 8 months..mainly by the exercise and healthy eating..I do a lot of walking and strength training ,sometimes adding an exercise video..I am very active,as I have 5 children ,ages 27 to 7 years old,and a 2 year old grandchild{ girl}...I have 2 boys and 3 girls,2 of which are still at home...we do a lot of family activities,sports,family hikes and theme parks,so I really stay on the go and stay very busy. I have a goal weight of 180,which I hope to be there by summer of 2004 . I am looking for all the support I can get,and be able to give all that I can.

My name is Sandy, and i am 40 years old. I have been married to my best friend for going on 11 years. We have 3 beautiful kidlets... a 10 year old daughter and 2 sons 7 and 4. I like to read and play on this machine... but my passion these days is painting and redocorating... i think i have painted almost every piece of furniture in my home...lol I only have a couple more to do... and i have to redo my kitchen table as my daughter and her friend decided to "do" their nails on it... so there are a few bald spots...Oh well... I am determinded to loose this weight and come out of my shell. I wish everyone the same ...


JUDY: I am 43 yr old single mom of Billy, my 13 year old wonderful son.
I have weighed as much as 308 when pregnant, and have gained and lost the same 50 pounds of the last few years. I was slowly and steadily losing weight until my husband died last March. At that time I had so many other things to take care of, I kind of got lost in the shuffle, and now I am back up to 298. things have settled down now, so I can take care of me again.

I am a Real Estate secretary, so I sit most all day.


My name is Susan and I've grown up in the North West. I'm a sophomore at (transfering for winter term) the University of Oregon. I love Music, theater, and being silly with my friends. I have no significant other, but a large family the imediate of wich includes my parents and 4 siblings, all about 10 years older, but we are still close and I love them all dearly.
I've bee a chubby girl for as long as I can remeber and the time has come to stop my bad habbits. I'm not quite sure what my all time high was because I wasn't weighing myself at the time, but this July I weighed in at 218 wich is the highest I've ever seen the scale. I'm now at 194 as of last friday and am working toward 150 by my 21st birthday in January 2005. I drink water and go to the campus gym 3-4 days a week. On other days I still have to ride my bike and walk around campus. I want to drop the weight so that I can FEEL young and be the 20-something I know I can be.


BETH :I am 40 divorced for the past 4 years, no kids and at the moment no pets although I am a big dog lover. I am going to school full time at a private university in Florida. I have a degree in accounting which I don't use and instead work for myself pretty much part time at home. Currently I am majoring in writing - drama. I would like to go to Brown to get my Masters when I finish in writing drama as well. A relationship with someone I loved dearly ended last week and I am trying to move on but the circumstances that caused the ending is making that a bit hard. I have a week and a half of school left before Christmas break and then six weeks off. I plan to use that time just for myself. Putting me first and spending my time on ingraining a healthier life style. My long term goal is to be in much better shape and at a much lower weight by the time I start graduate school which is about a year and a half from now.

I like the normal things, movies, tennis, bike riding, photography and art in general. I'm looking forward to being part of your group.


Donna: Married for 21 years . I have two sons ; oldest is 29 lives in Kansas
Then there is my youngest who is 20 lives with his girlfriend.
My oldest is going to make me a Grandma for the first time in April
[ I am so excited]
I reached my all time highest weight last month 242.5lbs.
My current weight is 238 as of this morning.
This time I am going to lose this weight for ME.

Hi, my name is Dorothy and I am 25 years old. I live in New York City and work as an operations manager in an advertising agency. I also do graphic design on the side. I have a tiny black chihuahua, Gizmo and 2 cats, Kit & Nemo(Seriously, they're lik emy kids). I love animals, going out to eat, the movies, scrabble, computers, and other board games(recent interest discovered-lol). I started weight watchers at home on 9/22/03 at 175lbs and hope to reach my goal weight of 115-120lbs by end of 2004!

About me: I am Kim; 26 years old, and just started
Nursing School. I have a degree from the University of
Oregon in biology (2001). I currently live with my
b.f., who will be leaving me to go back to work in
March (which I am scared of!) He works overseas as a
performing artist-comedian-juggler, and for the past 4
years I have been spoiled enough to have lived with
him half-time in Europe. It has been a terrific
adventure (but not cost-effective), and since I am in
school now, I can not go back for a while. I have
struggled with weight for a while, I have about 21
pounds to lose now to reach my goal weight of 158 lbs.
But who's counting? I am on a very lax plan now
focusing on exersize and eating awareness, not eating
control, and plan not to weigh myself for the next 16
weeks, as long as I stick to my plan. I have two
kitties on loan until march, and they are making life
very fun. I also have 2 goldfish, Beaky and Spot.

BTW: If you don't see any stats for yourself, pm me and give me the info you want included and I will include it on the the stats we have currently.

Lisa (if you can visit, we miss you), Joy, Judy, SandyB, Sangy/Giggle, Amanda and Susan. Some haven't been here in quite awhile and you get an personal e-mail to check up on you and the others we haven't seen in a few days so I just want you to know we miss you.

TODAY IS SANDY/GIGGLE'S BIRTHDAY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SANDY AND HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT DAY! :hb: :cp: :hat: :dance: :gift: :flow2: :grouphug:

Later, Faye :)

Happy Birthday Sandy! :hb: :gift:

Well, I was all set to have a 4 pointer yesterday and then I ended up only having water points. :( Not really sure what happened, I had a ton of errands to run and I think I just ran out of day before I exercised. (GOT to do it in the morning!!) and then I polished off a couple of servings of mint chip ice cream after dinner. I normally don't have "bad" stuff in the house, but this was my "birthday ice cream" from last weekend and I felt like I wanted to eat it. I asked for that instead of a cake because I enjoy it more. I DID think about whether I wanted to eat it or not before I did......so, that makes me feel like I was in control. Plus, there wasn't much left in the box (thankfully) so I couldn't really binge.

But today is another day. I've been running across a lot of threads lately about excuses. I realize that alot of my moodiness lately has been about me making excuses for not doing what I need to do and then feeling crappy cuz I get no results! Someone wrote on another forum "If you want it, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse." That hit me right in the gut, cuz it's so true. I'm gonna quit with all the excuses right now and "just do it". Do what needs to be done to reach my goals........and not just the weight related ones! One step at a time, one step at a time....I keep wanting to just leap over the hard parts and magically show up at the end and that just ain't gonna happen!

Welcome back Pammie!!! We miss you.......and don't worry, you can jump back in anytime anywhere.......You are doing this thing, what's a few weeks in the grand scheme of things anyway??? When you look back and say "Yeah, I lost a ton of weight." You're not even going to remember the little setbacks because you always get back on the horse and charge through them!

That goes for all of us, too!!

Welcome LisaZ! you're gonna love it here......


Nice peptalk Dorothy! Thanks...........

Well, gotta fly.......I'll try to check in later.

Julie

Hey Carrie.......
I notice that our weights are very similar, too. In fact, I had CW envy a while back when you were losing and I wasn't. Don't worry about the past, Christmas etc....it's over. Hop back up on that horse and get your butt down here with me! THen we can race to the finish together!

Julie

About me: I am Kim; 26 years old, and just started Nursing School. I have a degree from the University of Oregon in biology (2001). I currently live with my b.f., who will be leaving me to go back to work in March (which I am scared of!) He works overseas as a performing artist-comedian-juggler, and for the past 4 years I have been spoiled enough to have lived with him half-time in Europe. It has been a terrific adventure (but not cost-effective), and since I am in school now, I can not go back for a while. I have struggled with weight for a while, I have about 21 pounds to lose now to reach my goal weight of 158 lbs. But who's counting? I am on a very lax plan now focusing on exersize and eating awareness, not eating control, and plan not to weigh myself for the next 16 weeks, as long as I stick to my plan. I have two kitties on loan until march, and they are making life very fun. I also have 2 goldfish, Beaky and Spot.

Faye, I will email this bio to you. Good morning everyone!