Welcome newbies - lovely to see you all here! This is the one place where you can come where you know you'll get laughs, support, a shoulder to cry on, more laughs, more support, and a completely non-judgemental audience. We love new people (and all the old 'uns too :p ), so I hope you stick around and join in regularly.

Good luck on your journeys!

Janey :D

Whoops, just started a new topic introducing myself! Did not see this...

I am Mazarin, aka Alison :bubbles: and if you look at my siggy you'll see I need all the help I can get! :tread: :ebike: :dancer:

I joined a gym yesterday, hopefully it will motivate me a little more to control what I eat!

Hello to you all!

hello Alison :)

i joined a gym to almost a month now..make sure you get a 1 on 1 session with an instrutor...it will help a lot!!
the first week i did that i lost 3 pounds..and i NEVER changed anything different with eating either
anyways welcome to the board!!!!

Hello, I'm Amber and I'm 23 years old. I was born and raised in rural, upstate New York and thought I'd live there for the rest of my life. But a few years after I graduated from high school, I had the opportunity to move to southern California with some friends I met online. Somehow I managed to muster up my courage and take the plunge. It turned out to be the best decision I ever made.

After the move, I broke up with my boyfriend of 4 years and was thoroughly enjoying my newfound independence and freedom. Work was easy, my friends were great and my bedroom was mine and mine alone. Then I met a man with a sexy English accent whilst playing an online game, and before I knew it I was back in New York saying "I do" and applying for a visa to live in the UK. Our first anniversary is next month. :)

We don't have children and don't plan on having any for at least 7 years. We're not ready to start a family and our two Tonkinese cats take up most of our attention right now. In fact, Nai (male) has just draped himself across my arms and Ying (female) is waiting for me to leave my baked sweet potato unguarded. I'd be annoyed if they weren't so damn adorable!

I'm one of those 'jack of all trades, master of none' people. As a result, I don't have a life-long passion to give my life direction and managed only one semester in university before I became incredibly bored. But I do have many varied interests, from video games to psychology, gardening to politics, cooking to theology and almost everything in between. I spend a lot of time on the computer, reading the news, playing sci-fi or fantasy games and researching whatever has taken my fancy this week.

I've been fat since I was 6 years old and my weight has become both an excuse and a protective shell. I've always been ashamed of my body and refused to participate in life until I lost weight, yet I would sabatoge myself every time. I finally kicked that destructive cycle when I gained 50 lbs last year and hit 300. My health had deteriorated so much that walking up a single flight of stairs completely drained me. I'm young, this is supposed to be the best time of my life! So I went back to the only diet that worked for me (McDougall, a low-fat vegan plan), began exercising daily and promptly lost 35 lbs.

My goal for now is just to get under 200, which is what I weighed when I was 18. Oh, to be in the 100s again... ;)

:D Welcome to the forum Amber. I wish I'd of stuck with my diet at 23. Don't spend the next 10 years yo yo-ing like me! Believe me it is painful. ;) Congrats on your loss so far. :cool:

Hello,
My name is Liz & I'm from Southend, I have always had a weight problem (since I can remember) and was badly bullied at school which is why I had a terrible attendance record. I really don't have a lot of confidence so I find it hard to talk to people (face to face). I hit my biggest at 24 1/2 stones and although I have tried every diet I know of, I decided to try one more time before approaching my doctor for a gastric bypass. I have lost 41lbs so far following the weight watchers diet at home ( I joined twice before and got fed up of listening to my leader talk about what holiday she had been on). I'm finding it really hard to keep on track with my diet and need all the help I can get I've got a long way to go!

I am currently looking for work and have no children although both of my sisters give me thiers on a regular basis :) So I'm at home for a substantial period in a week trying to resist the calls from the fridge. I am a recovering chocaholic! and have given up diet coke as this encouraged the intake of such things as mars bars and crisps. I am living on w/w foods and supermarkets own range of dietry foods. Its quite hard because I absolutly detest any form of vegetable! Its not that I wasnt encouraged as a child to eat them I just cannot stomach them.

Your probably really bored of reading my complaints now so I'll just say one more thing PLEASE HELP ME!

:wave: No not bored ;) Well done on the 41lbs :lol: @ the leader talking about what holiday she had been on, they do seem to forget that you're are not there to listen to their life story at times. :rolleyes: Please stick around WE LOVE NEW PEOPLE. :cool:

Welcome Liz.
Congrats on the loss of 41 pounds... that is BRILL!! Be proud of yourself.. come and chat often with us.. we're all in the same boat, grab a paddle and start rowing to a healthier you and us :)

Hey Thanks guys, I feel stonger already :)

Yes, welcome Liz :wave: ! I look forward to hearing more of your triumphs and tribulations over the forthcoming months - well done on the 41lbs :bravo: !! :D

Janey :dizzy:

Hello everyone. I've been here before in a different guise, (smiling sal) and came back for a nosey. I feel I need to talk about my weight, I hide my true feelings about my weight from everyone apart from Ray (hubby) but he only hears when it all gets too much for me and I gush it all out, along with tears and everything else, bottling it up doesn't help.

3 & a bit years ago I introduced myself on the first page of this thread and posted for years and had fun chatting here. I'm 3 years older, 39 now and the boys are 10 and 7 and still as cheeky. My weight has gone up and down and up again. Am currently at 16 stone 10 pounds and want to be much lighter, my weight is starting to get me down ( think the nice weather hasn't helped) and I want to be more healthy. Losing weight for me is only one part of what I want to do, not the main thing. If I eat better, lose weight, exercise more and enjoy myself I will be healthier, that is the goal.

I'm not following a definite plan at the moment, am trying the common sense approach. I am trying to eat when I am hungry and stop when I am full. Have done Weight Watchers so many times before I am bored of it and yes it does work for me when I work at it, but as soon as I stop the weight just comes straight back on. Have even done slimming world, but found I missed my food combinations. I brought a book by Paul McKenna and listen to his mind programming CD a couple of times a week. I am very determined and when I am determined I am incredibley stubborn

There are a lot of new people around here, but then it must be over a year since I posted, so I look forward to getting to know you all a bit better.

Carol ;)

Hi Carol,
Welcome back luv, I was just thinking of you yesterday and wondering how you were and why you'd not been around for ages...

You are a woman who has given me so much hope humour and help on this board, it's wonderful to see you back :)

OMG :woo: :high: Carol I have missed you so much please don't leave again. :cp: Welcome back :D

blimey its been a hot day, I've done lots of exercise and I'm all buzzy (feel like I cant stop) I'd better rest though or I'll probably regret it in the morning when I cant move :hysterical: Anyways how's it been where you are & how's it all going ?

Hi Liz come and join us on the other threads. :)

carol welcome back, really nice to see you back

Hi. I've never had the guts to post on forums because it always seems that I'm too young and have no business joining in on other people's boards. It usually feels akward. However, I've just stumbled upon this site and everybody appears to be very friendly and encouraging so here I am... introducing myself for the first time.

My name's Osh. I'm 5'5, 158lbs. I suppose I'm not grossly overweight but I stick out like a sore boulder among pebbles when with my family (or friends). It doesn't help that my relatives give us nicknames and mine for years has been 'Fatty' simply because I've always been chubby. It isn't particularly polite to tell your elders what you like or do not like, in this case the nickname, so I've been laughing it off and poking fun at myself all the while.

I consider myself a rather athletic person, attributing it to good genes. Before moving to the uk, I played a sport at national level, just missing the cut for the national youth team. Everybody who labels me as a 'jockette' always ask me why I'm still overweight and I never know how to answer them. I don't know why either. I guess it's because I enjoyed my food a tad bit too much when I was younger; when I couldn't care less about my looks and now all that has come back to bite me in the rear.

I do believe that I'm fit, in the sense that I have no health problems (yet) but I definitely want to rid myself of excess blubber. So far it's proving to be very tough and I'm losing the motivation over a couple of reasons.
1. I've been stuck at roughly the same weight for two years now - plateau
2. My sister.
She's a year older and much fitter. Whatever I do, she does it 10 times better. I used to jog a couple of miles in the evening and I never like doing it alone so I asked her to join me. While I crawl at my snail's pace, she sprints ahead and I lose sight of her. It's very demoralising. I gave up jogging after a couple of months.

That's basically it about me. Mainly a lot of unessential information. I'm fighting my weight and a lack of confidence so I'm hoping that by joining this forum and posting regularly, I'll manage to hold on to whatever motivation there may be and eventually reach my target of a healthy BMI. Thanks for reading!

Welcome to the forum. :) Tell your family you're Ms Skinny compared to me! ;) Don't let them get you down. :(

Well, I made a new chick post yesterday then today I see this sticky... doh! :lol:

My name is Lynne, I'm 31 years old originally from Leeds now living in Tennessee in the US. I married an American 3 years ago and moved over here. I miss home a lot, all my family and friends are over there and I still suffer small bouts of homesickness. Thank god for BBC America! We don't have kids but one day I would like a family.

I work as an administrator for Kentucky Fried Chicken in Alabama (we live 30 mins from the Alabama border). It's a great job and I work with a great team of people. The only drawback is the fact that my office is situated not 50 yards away from one of our restaurants! To add insult to injury, there is a McDonalds next door and a Wendy's (great burgers) over the street. I face a lot of temptation every day :lol: .

I've yo-yo dieted for the past 3 years. When I moved over to the US I was a happy UK size 16. I got to my biggest size in 2003 when I tipped the scales at 208 pounds and was a UK 22. The breaking point for me came when I visited home at Christmas 2003/New Year 2004 and my mum commented that she "didn't want me to get much bigger". My mum has never commented on or critisised me about my weight so it was a real wake up call.

Since then I've changed my way of thinking and eating. I eat in moderation and concentrate on low fat. I joined a gym (my first) in March this year and have lost 23 lbls since that fateful trip home. My husband goes to the gym with me and although I really have to push myself to go, I feel better for it. I'm almost in a UK size 16 again too! Currently, at a UK 18 and I would like eventually to be a comfortable UK 16, if I could make a UK 14 that would be the acheivement of my life :lol: . I am still an emotional eater, if I get upset or depressed I immediately think about going for some ice cream. I am managing to curb these urges more and more though and am switching ice cream out for fruit.

Since losing the weight I'm able to fit into low rise boot cut jeans for the first time in years! That moment made me very happy indeed :). I'm coming home at Christmas for a two week stay so am counting down to that trip.

Fat American in London
 

Hello all, and especially to previous poster Lynne! I'm in the exact opposite situation, I'm 29, from Wisconsin, married an English man and moved to London nearly three years ago. My weight has been a struggle for as long as I can remember. Now when I look at high school photos, I realise I didn't look that bad, but I certainly remember how I felt and how I looked compared to all the skinny girls in my year. I would kill to be a U.S. size 12-14 again! Oh and the bras. . .to have a pretty bra and knicker set that doesn't cost a bomb.....I would love to be a 36C again!

Enough nostalgia. . .I've probably be gaining more or less steadily ever since. I turned 29 last month and weighed in at 16st exactly. My highest ever was 17 stone, 44D bra, UK size 22. I'm 5'3 and a solidly apple shape with a gianormous abdomen. I think at my wedding I was a bit below that--not at all what I wanted, but just being in love doesn't get rid of pounds.

Twice in the past 7 years I've had successful runs with Weight Watchers where I've dropped 25-30 pounds. Last year I lost 2 stone and was at a low of 14st 13lbs, but am now back up to 16st 2lbs (yes, in my first week after my birthday I managed to gain 2 lbs!).

I'm hoping the difference this time is that I've decided I do want babies. I have PCOS, and losing weight is the only thing I can do on my own that might increase my chances. I've just stopped taking Dianette (for good this time), and am going to hope that given a substantial weight loss I might ovulate somewhat normally for the first time in my life! Every time I've not been on the pill my periods have been very irregular, so it's a lot of hope for. It would be lovely if I didn't have to resort to drugs to conceive! But I'm afraid that will be my future if this weight doesn't come off--so I'm giving it my all this time, nothing half-assed. We won't be ready to have kids for another year or two, so I've got a bit of time to whip myself into shape.

I'm doing the weight watchers points thing on my own, with weekly weigh-ins at home. I've convinced hubby to weigh in as well and set a goal to lose a stone before the end of the year. My own short-term goal is to lose 2 stone before the end of the year. Long-term, I'd like to be 10 stone, which is the high end of the range for my height. I can't even remember when/if I was ever that weight in the last 15 years!

One last thing--I am hopeless when it comes to McVitie's chocolate digestive biscuits. For my sake, can we all pretend they don't exist? Please do not mention them, hint at them, or bring them within 50 metres, as I am likely to go into a frenzy and eat the whole packet, plus your hat. Hubby has learned they must not be brought into the house under any circumstances. :lol:

Hi Sarah, :wave: I can hide the biscuits for you if you can hide my crisps? ;)

Hello and welcome Sarah, from one Yank to another. ;)

Walker's crisps are the devil!
 

I could hide them, but you'd have fairly bad luck in ever getting them back! They're my second-worst binge-frenzy food. I blame growing up on crap American potato crisps--they were easy to avoid when I didn't like them. When I arrived here, I had no idea crisps could be so good. And the flavours! Wow! I'm sure other Yanks can attest to this :D

Not just crisps, but a lot of American food seems like crap to me now. When I first arrived here, even the meat and vegetables tasted so much better, so much more real and full of flavour than anything I've had before. Granted, there are some things they don't do very well (like pizza or Mexican), but for the most part the food here is tastier. :T

How very interesting!

On another board they are always dissing English food!

I always laugh when American bands whine about food in Europe and they say they went to Macdonalds or Burger king!!!!

My first time.(posting)
 

Hello everyone,
My name 's Shush and I am a 40yr old mother of one. I have lost 6 stones over the last 3 years unfortunately it has been the same 2 stones 3 times over :( :( :( and having put it back on for the third time I am about to start again.I really want this to be the last time I do this (C.W 238lbs). as it is beginning to affect my health.(self esteem and confidence hit rock bottom a long time ago). I'm hoping to find inspiration amongst all you lovely people who manange to keep on going when I'm reaching for the biscuit tin. :^:

Shush I have yo-yo-ed 3 stones many a times! Welcome to the forum. :D

Peacock HELLO ;) :cool: have you been hiding?

Miranoron, I totally agree. Every time I go back to the U.S. I find the food less and less tempting. I'm not sure what it is, but I think it's the preservatives and vast amounts of salt. There was an article in the Guardian just a day or to ago talking about this--how bread and milk spoil so much faster here. Last time I was back I got two huge bottles of Lawry's season salt, which I used to love, and now it's too salty for me!

Oh and remember how I complimented my husband for knowing better than to bring McVities chocolate digestives into the house? Well I take it back!!! I was home ill from work yesterday with a cold, and when he got home, he says "I have a surprise for you. . ." and pulls out a packet of them! He was trying to be so sweet, so I told him I really appreciated the thought, but that he knew I have no self-control around those things. He seemed a little disappointed and said he just wanted to do something nice for me because I was ill. But I think I got him to understand I REALLY REALLY mean it--they have to stay out of the house. Of course I ate the whole stupid packet--hubby got a few, but I hogged most of them. He has agreed that nice gestures must now come in the form of non-food items (i.e. flowers). Anyway, I will stop beating myself up about the biscuits because for two days in a row now I have ignored the call of the ice cream van that stops two doors down from me every bloody day!

Hi Everyone,
I have just joined 3 fat chicks. My name is Carrie I am 29 and married to John for 5 years. We have no kids yet but hopefully we will have soon. We have two very spoiled Cavalier king charles spaniels called Charlie and Toby. We live in Perth in Scotland. Im following the Weight Watchers plan and have already lost 15lbs. After moving house I found it hard to get back in to the way of things again but this week I plan to really stick to it.

Take care Carrie

Hello Carrie :wave: jump right in!

New Here
 

Hello,

I am new here today, but unfortunately not new to dieting. I started my first WW diet 5 years ago and I weighed 306 lbs. I was shocked at my start weight and I quickly lost 28 lbs. Then I gained them back, and some more, and then I lost them, gained them, lost them, gained them, and now five years on I weigh 329 lbs. I am disgusted at myself for all the yo yo dieting.

Right now my body hates me so much, it aches, my back kills, I can't even do up my own shoe laces. I can't believe I let myself get into such a state.

So I am back, and this time I AM going to keep off all the weight I lose. I want to change my eating habits so that I don't feel like I am on a diet, and so that I can eat like 'normal' people without feeling like I am losing out somewhere.

That said :dizzy: I am am 37, British born, raised in Australia, and am now living back in the UK. I was married, had a daughter, got divorced and am now married again, this time to the RIGHT man and I gained a step daughter too. She is the same age as my daughter, so they are good company for each other.

I have had 3 surgeries in the last two years, all pretty nasty, and after getting MRSA I am having a terrible time with wounds healing. Exercising therefore is very difficult, but the more weight I lose, the more I think, wounds or not, that I will at least be able to walk more.

Hoping to make some lovely friends here and to give and receive support in our weight loss efforts.

Hugs,

Ammi

http://www.3fatchicks.com/weight-tra...9/168/329/.png

Welcome Ammi :wave: My back hurt loads at my highest weight I could barely make it up the street. Poor you getting MRSA. :( :grouphug:

Hi again
 

Thanks for the welcome. I am sorry that you have suffered with the dreaded back pain too at your highest weight. How much weight have you lost now, and how long til the back pain eased off?

As for the MRSA yep it sucks big time, the only good thing about having it is that they won't put me on a ward when I have to go to hospital, so it's a single room with TV for me and unlimited visiting times :^: of course I would rather not be in hospital at all, but as long as there is a plus side I won't complain too much.

Hugs,

Ammi

http://www.3fatchicks.com/weight-tra...9/168/329/.png

Hi Ammi, I was raised in Australia too, English dad Australian mum, and now live over here, been here over 3 years now.

MRSA is not fun, I had a similar infection (golden staph and pseudomonas) in my ear, caught from a patient I was nursing. It hurt!!!!

Hi I'm Clare
 

I'm new to this site as have been using the Weightwatchers one as I've started doing their No Count programme, but your posts all look much more fun.

I live in Warwick with my lovely boyfriend.. I'm 32 and 5'2" and was the heaviest I've ever been in my life when I moved in with Paul (and I don't carry the weight well, as it goes straight to my chin!!) I used to have a high pressured job as a Sales Manager for a courier company and put on loads of weight erating rubbish and eating in the car etc... but gave it up for a better work/ life balance (and less cash!) :)


I've lost 15lbs through exercising and following WW but am starting to struggle with motivation. I try to exercise 3/4 times per week but at the moment any excuse not to (it seems although I'm a lot more active than I used to be)

I could do with any hints, tips, advice that anyone has- there are some fab weight losses on here and I want it to be me!!

Thanls for reading.

Welcome to the forum Clareh :wave:

Hello Clareh!

I used to live down in Warwickshire, come back and post often!

Welcome aboard, Clareh! :D

Hey everyone I am Jads!
I joined yesterday but didn't have time to post! I don't really know what to say I lead a pretty boring life!
I am 22 I work in Greggs bakery and I am engaged to a guy called Nick Kershaw! I am a vegetarian and I'm teetotal so my life is mostly work and home! My main love of life is Music, I wish I could play but alas I just listen! I am really into the 80s and I love Morrissey to bits! (Who couldn't love a guy who sings 'you're the one for me fatty') I have a few eccentricitys like I have bright red hair and only wear red shoes and I never use full stops unless I am being deadly serious!
I am a real family girl! I am always hanging at my parents house, I have two sisters who are 11 and 13 and a brother whos 20! I would love to have a load of children of my own but for the moment I am second mother to those lot!
Getting to the diet and the reason I am on here to start with I am finding it really hard at the moment! I started just before christmas last year and I shifted a bit a weight just by cutting back and cutting out but recently I have piled some back on!
My wedding got cancelled twice (which is a bit of a blessing because I didn't quite fit in that dress yet), I have neighbours from **** who wouldn't let me in my house last night so I slept on my parents floor, and my little borther until yesterday was in intensive care!
I aren't a negative person but all these things coming along at once has driven me to comfort eat! In fact I comfort ate for three people!
I have to rush off to get to the hospital but I would really like to meet some new friends who I can support and I hope can support me! I am ready to get stuck back in and look at the positive side of life and it would be great to help each other out!

So please message me or whatever you do on here!
Thanks guys and I will be on again asap!!
Love to you all!
You all look like you are doing really great Keep up the good work!

:wave: Hello Jads. I'm 22 too! And engaged, but not to Nick Kershaw! :lol:

Mmmmm Greggs! Do you sell iced splits at your Greggs...? You just can't get 'em in the sarf! :T

Jump in wherever you feel like!