Quote:
Originally Posted by cheeseheader
how you got here?
what made you stay, what was different about this site than others?
what you like best about 3FC?
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1a. Originally, it was a search for information on Atkins and ketosis and Jenny Craig back in--get this--1998. I recall seeing a very simple forum with threaded discussions from a listserv type environment and I was able to search out what some terms I didn't understand (like ketosis) meant. I believe it was just a tiny little discussion forum and the journals of each of the 3FCs themselves, talking about what they were doing and how things were going.
I remember thinking the name of the site was very clever and that I would like to try and remember to check in on the sisters to see how things were going for them.
(I ended up doing Jenny Craig at that time and this was before I was really into "e-groups" or message boards, so I never really engaged, but I certainly knew the site was here a decade ago.)
1b. This time around, it was January when I was searching out the best home delivery diet programs (as well as which ones would support food allergies and sensitivities) and everything I searched kept landing me right back here. There were other websites that covered the basics of some of the various plans, but this site not only had discussion threads in a dedicated subforum for home delivery plans, but also reviews of the major plans as experienced first-hand by the 3FCs.
I decided not to be a lurker this time around and knowing the nature of message boards--the culture, the etiquette--I hopped in and introduced myself, patiently awaited my ticker and my first delivery of BistroMD, and have been here ever since.
(Not a long time, mind you, but I do feel this site is a part of my success.)
2. What made me stay this time was much more about how much more comfortable I am with online communities than I would've been a decade ago. Back then, it was all listserv and direct-email with a few actual web-based forums popping up, so I'm not sure there was much to "join" back when I first found 3FC.
Now, there was no question.
I've been a member of a diet-specific weightloss forum before and found a great deal of support and encouragement from the members there. But this time, I couldn't find a site that JUST welcomed people on *my* diet (which is the kind of forum I'd been a part of before), and I didn't want to go back to the "old" forum I had been a part of since I would be no longer following "that diet" and the people there--while wonderful--were all focused on THAT PLAN and it wasn't going to work for me anymore.
Here, I realized that I could try a kazillion plans if I wanted to and still find members whose interests and attempts might align with mine.
And that seemed appealing.
3. The diversity, probably.
At first, I stuck pretty close to the Home Delivery Subforum only, and then I realized I had something in common with Chicks in Control, I wanted to connect with people who posted regularly about Exercise, and I certainly could engage in conversations of the General Chatter-type nature.
So, I'm starting to feel more and more comfortable here, which is nice.
I would imagine that fitness and diet related message boards see a lot of people sign up every January and by March probably have a lot of abandoned profiles. I knew that I was going to give my fitness goals at least all of 2008 and so far I'm very pleased that my plan included online support.
I don't know that there are some challenges I *could* get through, on this journey, without knowing I can check in here and get advice, support, or a kick in the behind when I need it.
Strangely, this is the first message board EVER where I've not identified myself, which is weird for me. I'm always very open about who I am and what I do for a living and all that jazz, so it's odd for me to have committed to a relationship of over six months here and not have shared so much of who I am (but, yet again, I *have* shared so much, too... just... different stuff).
Anyway, that's my blah-blah-blah on the subject.
Good luck with your research!
more often, looking for things to cook, and she was tired of me buying cookbooks. So I talked her and the kids into showing me how to use this computer thing...they had been trying to get me to use it for a few years. I thought why bother...it's like 
rap music, it's not gonna stick around 
Anyway I was searching a recipe and it lead me here. I thought the name 3FC was kind of 
funny...had 
no idea what a site like this was, but somehow I found CHRISTIAN ENCOURAGERS...I thought it was so cool! I stayed in there for a long time before I "ventured out" 
THE WILD! 
talk almost 200 women into giving me about 1 hour of their time once a month. That is a VERY 
(it pains me to even type that name). But I felt like the people there were not very welcoming to newcomers and were very clique'ish. I posted about a struggle I was having and rather than support me, I felt I was being attacked. The kicker was when a week later one of their more popular members posted the EXACT same struggle, and all her responses were strokes and awww poor baby. THAT urked me. I went looking through their links and found this place. Once I got here, the name of the place made me stay! How funny of a name is that? I made a name and logged in but then I forgot it so I lurked for a long time and then made another name. 