This thread is Dedicated to a very special, strong minded friend of mine!!!

**tazgirl31** · July 4th, 2009, 05:34 AM

Hey Phrends!!! I just wanted to do this thread for a VERY SPECIAL FRIEND of mine'!"! Who has been hear pretty much from the beginning of my weight loss journey!!! Im telling you all shes REALLLY worked her butt off and has had great success with her weight loss journey!!! It hasnt been easy for her always and like many of us she has had her ups and downs, But still kept pushing through each and every day and now all her hard work has paid off and shes like a whole brand new girl!!!! I really felt this was a VERY special thing to do for her as well as for all of u!!! cause Looking at these pictures will give YOU all alot of hope and inspiration as it has for myself!!! I have saved this little collection of her pictures from day one when we first met on here which was back in october of 2008 I belive....so U will see many different phases of her weight loss journey up until today!!!! Its amazing to see the changes in her and to see how happy she is today and how she just glows!!!! Soooo please sit back and enjoy this wonderful, successful, weight loss journey of my special, awesome friend BRITTANY!!!!!!!!!!!

This is where Brittany first began!!! watch as she melts away!!!! before ur eyes!!!!

**tazgirl31** · July 4th, 2009, 05:37 AM

Amazing isnt it!!!!! this Girl has kicked butt big time!!!!!

**tazgirl31** · July 4th, 2009, 05:43 AM

I mean loook how amazing this body looks!!!!! I hope this really encourages you all to keep on going no matter how hard the journey gets for u!!!!

Doesnt even loook like the same girl we seen in the beginning!!!!!!

This was taken on her 23rd birthday on may 31 2009!!!!

Im telling you I love this girl!!!! Shes been there for me through it all!!!!!

**tazgirl31** · July 4th, 2009, 05:48 AM

Beautiful smile and a heart of gold!!!!

Brittany and her lil brother Cole!!!

Brittany and cole havin some funnn hahaha..

AWWWW arent they soooooooooooo cute!!!!!

**tazgirl31** · July 4th, 2009, 05:57 AM

hahah she may kill me for these ones she sent me privately hehehe....

ahhh this is the little face that ALWAYS makes me laugh when were chatting lol...love it!!!

The cute little dresses she can now wear proud!!!!!

Im just totally amazed by these pictures and it for sure makes me work reallly hard!!!

I sooo love these dressses!!!!

Ok now these next pictures are the final ones!!! That she just took this last weeek....soooooooooooooooooo enjoy!!! And be sure and leave her lots of love!!! Shes worked very hard and deserves to be in the spot light for a change!!!!

**tazgirl31** · July 4th, 2009, 06:03 AM

This pic was taken last week at her moms birthday party....the prettty lady in the red is her mom, and the lady next to her mom is her grandma...and then of course brittany and beside brittany is her moms friend!!! We can all see where this girl got her good looks from hehe..Shes hot one hawt mom!!!!

And heres my BFF Brittany!!!!!! Loookin soooo young and skinnny!!!!!!

Ok now the Ones we been alll waiting for hahahah....Ahhhh I sure hope she dont kill me for these ones!!!! Im reallly nervous hehehehe........But She loves me tooo much to be mad at me lol!!!!!

**tazgirl31** · July 4th, 2009, 06:15 AM

Now this is what Im talkin about!!!! All her hard work has for sure paid off!!!! Shes not done yet with this journey but will be soooon!!!!

WOOOOHOOO Brittany!!!! wtg!!!!! U r for sure rockin this body!!!!!

I give this girl a 5 STAR RATING for her entire weight loss journey!!!!! I am sooo blessed to have a great friend like you girl!!! I no ur always there for me anytime I may need you...even if its at 4am hehehe...We spend alot of time togather and alot of late nights and early mornings heheh.....But hey long as were havin fun right????!!!!! lol ....Just no Im always here for u also and I love u to peices!!!!! I am sooooooooooooo blessed to have such a wonderful friend in my life!!!! Keep on going strong with this weight loss journey and u will be where u wanna be soooon......Togather we can do this girl!!! AND WE WILL!!!! Now Im offf to bed and I hope u will enjoy this thread as much as I did making it!!!!!! love and hugssss!!!!!!! mary

AKA Taz!!!!! Oh wait gotta add one more picture heheheh......

This is sharky the whale and puppy snake!!!! hehehe....nite girl......

xoxox...

I Really hope all u phrends enjoy this journey!!! Let it give u the hope, support, and encouragement u need to make ur goal!!!!! U can do it also!!! AND U WILL!!!!! ALWAYS REMEMBER never give up!!!!!!!!!!! TAZ

**tazgirl31** · July 4th, 2009, 06:33 AM

ThIs was on Brittanys 23 birthday!!! And since her lil brother couldnt be here to celebrate with her she took a picture with him!!!! I no If Tyler were here today he would be SOOOO VERY PROUD of his big sister!!!! He will forever be in her memories and her heart forever and always!!!!!! Love 2 u both!!!!!!

**saversmurf** · July 4th, 2009, 09:40 AM

i think your are both vvery lucky to have found such good friends in each other. i am so proud and excited for you both. i think its great to share stories like this.

**waiting2xhale** · July 4th, 2009, 09:56 AM

Brittany looks amazing!! Just curious, how much weight has she lost?

**gummylumpy** · July 4th, 2009, 10:35 AM

WOW! She looks SOOO great! Thanks for posting, these pics will keep me motivated today.

**Ash3232** · July 4th, 2009, 10:55 AM

WOW Congrats ladies... you are definitely inspirations!!!! wow.. I hope I look like you britt when I am done!

**brittsmile** · July 4th, 2009, 12:50 PM

Wowwww Mary thank you so much for doing this for me!! You were the first person that I spoke to when I had first learned I may be given a R X for phen back in the middle of november. Since then you have inspired, motivated and encouraged me to be the best I could be and get the weight off. You inspired me because of your strength to keep fighting despite the battles you have had to face and you truly understand what it is like to have to try to put everything behind and start new. The past 7 months have brought blood, sweat and tears and I'm still no where near where I would like to be. I look in the mirror and see a whale, a balloon, and this ugly shell looking back at me - however you have somehow given me the ability to believe that ONE day maybe I will achieve my goal. At 167 lbs I am in the BMI category of Overweight, yet I feel Obese. When looking at these pictures I couldn't believe what I had looked like a little over 7 months ago and 81 lbs lighter, I still find myself thinking "WTF, I'm STILLL huge" - but at least I have someone like you to try and knock some sense into sometimes and snap me back into reality that it could be worse...had I not taken the initiative to lose weight, I may have ended up gaining more and more and more...

For those of you who think this comes easy for me, it doesn't. I have set backs just like all of you, I'll indulge myself in ice cream, chips and candy just like all of you do. I feel like giving up when the scales don't move & have brought myself to googling victorias secret models, actresses and music artists WISHING i could snap my fingers and look like them.

Hopefully this concoction of photos of myself that *TazGirl* has put together will help you realize that this is not something that happens overnight. None of the pictures have been edited to make me appear something different than what I'm not. When Mary said she was going to do this for me, she asked for my approval to post some of the pictures I had only sent to her because she knows how self-concious I am. I told her to go ahead and post them. I feel like we are all in the same boat, we look at magazines and see the before & afters of some people & we know that they are airbrushed - and it's so discouraging because subconciously we believe that we can realllly look like that in such a short time. But, this is me...all 5 ft 5 inches and 167 lbs of me. I still have about 35 pounds left to lose, so these pictures are definatley not the "after effect" - but hopefully they encourage & motivate you to find the strength to believe in yourselves, just as TazGirl has given me and continues to give me the motivation, encouragement & strength to believe in me.

**jazzygal72** · July 4th, 2009, 12:57 PM

You look fantasic and your weight loss is nothing short of a amazing.

**Mary-Mary** · July 4th, 2009, 01:10 PM

I have to say that both of you girls have done an amaizing job, pictures tell us how hard you guys have worked for this and its paying off.

Britt girl you look great, I dont know how you cant see how amaizing you look and I know that we are our worst critics.....but I mean look at you!!!! 81 pounds are not easy to lose and you have done it and I am sure you will get to your goal really soon.....look at your self in the mirror and see the positive things you have done.....congrats on you weight loss and I know you can do it!!!

**Princessbride** · July 4th, 2009, 01:26 PM

great job!!!

**tazgirl31** · July 4th, 2009, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by waiting2xhale

Brittany looks amazing!! Just curious, how much weight has she lost?

Brittany has lost a TOTAL of 81 pounds soooo far!!!!! I agree with u she loooks amazing!!!!!!!! Shes got a little ways to go but I no she will get there!!!!! She is very determined!!!!!! Taz

**tazgirl31** · July 4th, 2009, 01:48 PM

Originally Posted by brittsmile

Wowwww Mary thank you so much for doing this for me!! You were the first person that I spoke to when I had first learned I may be given a R X for phen back in the middle of november. Since then you have inspired, motivated and encouraged me to be the best I could be and get the weight off. You inspired me because of your strength to keep fighting despite the battles you have had to face and you truly understand what it is like to have to try to put everything behind and start new. The past 7 months have brought blood, sweat and tears and I'm still no where near where I would like to be. I look in the mirror and see a whale, a balloon, and this ugly shell looking back at me - however you have somehow given me the ability to believe that ONE day maybe I will achieve my goal. At 167 lbs I am in the BMI category of Overweight, yet I feel Obese. When looking at these pictures I couldn't believe what I had looked like a little over 7 months ago and 81 lbs lighter, I still find myself thinking "WTF, I'm STILLL huge" - but at least I have someone like you to try and knock some sense into sometimes and snap me back into reality that it could be worse...had I not taken the initiative to lose weight, I may have ended up gaining more and more and more...

For those of you who think this comes easy for me, it doesn't. I have set backs just like all of you, I'll indulge myself in ice cream, chips and candy just like all of you do. I feel like giving up when the scales don't move & have brought myself to googling victorias secret models, actresses and music artists WISHING i could snap my fingers and look like them.

Hopefully this concoction of photos of myself that *TazGirl* has put together will help you realize that this is not something that happens overnight. None of the pictures have been edited to make me appear something different than what I'm not. When Mary said she was going to do this for me, she asked for my approval to post some of the pictures I had only sent to her because she knows how self-concious I am. I told her to go ahead and post them. I feel like we are all in the same boat, we look at magazines and see the before & afters of some people & we know that they are airbrushed - and it's so discouraging because subconciously we believe that we can realllly look like that in such a short time. But, this is me...all 5 ft 5 inches and 167 lbs of me. I still have about 35 pounds left to lose, so these pictures are definatley not the "after effect" - but hopefully they encourage & motivate you to find the strength to believe in yourselves, just as TazGirl has given me and continues to give me the motivation, encouragement & strength to believe in me.

Your Quite Welcome girl!!! I had a great time staying up until 5am doing this for u hahaah....But for real I enjoyed doing this thread for you!! U have been through soooo much and You just deserve all this Recognition!!! Ur an amazing person and have given us all alot of hope and strength to keep on going no matter how hard it gets or how many bumps in the road we hit!!!! As Eleamtech said the other day this forum is more then just a weight loss forum...this is a place where we can connect with real people who are going through the same things as ourselve and Knowing we can make a difference In someone elses life is worth MORE then any amount of weight we could ever lose!!! This is a place not only for support and advice but A place where we can truly make some of the most geniune lifelong friends!!! And I am soooo Blessed to have met you here!! U have changed my life more then u will ever no!!! I no we have shared alot of ups and downs, frowns, tears and Just the most horrilblest day we could ever imagine getting thro but togather we got through them all....Its always great to have someone u can confide in and someone who TRULY understands u!!! I think ur an amazing person and u are going to soar in life!!!! I wish u nothing but the best through out ur life!!!! You WILL get to that happy place and when u do there will be no more sadness in ur heart!!! Just always remember this!!!!!!!! Now Im going to stop here before I make myself cry!!!!!! Just no Im always here for ya and will be Forever!!!!!!! Love ya girl!!!!!!!

**Sus65** · July 4th, 2009, 03:05 PM

Wow what an amazing journey you have been on Brittsmile! I absolutely LOVE this thread..so inspiring! You have truly transformed yourself and it's obvious that it came with a lot of hard work...you are tight, toned, well-proportioned and beautiful. You look about 25 lbs. lighter than your recorded weight of 167. I am the same height and weight as you and I can tell you I don't look anything close to that! Can you tell us what you're doing in terms of diet, calories, and exercise? I am frustrated b/c I have stalled AGAIN...I am working really hard at it in terms of diet/exercise and the scale will not budge and I've been stuck at the same place for 2 weeks--this seems to happen to me at about every 4-5 lbs.--almost as though my body is fighting the loss and I guess I feel more discouraged about it today. Sorry, I don't want to take anything away from your thread but I thought it would be helpful to all of us out here in this battle to hear some of the things that helped you get to where you are now.

You have come a long way and have so much to be proud of...Great job!!!! And Taz, thanks for posting this--this is super inspiring, you both have had outstanding results and look fantastic!

**sassychica** · July 4th, 2009, 03:07 PM

Brittany girl I love you! And you've done so well!!! You've always been an inspiration to me!! And mary, girl, you are tooo flippin sweet! This thread was so nice of you to make for brittany! Love ya both and you both are doing sooooo very well!!!

**tazgirl31** · July 5th, 2009, 01:38 AM

Originally Posted by sassychica

Brittany girl I love you! And you've done so well!!! You've always been an inspiration to me!! And mary, girl, you are tooo flippin sweet! This thread was so nice of you to make for brittany! Love ya both and you both are doing sooooo very well!!!

Awwww we love u toooo tara!!!!!!!! Thanx for always being soooooooooooooooo sweeeet backkkk!!!! hahaa....

**wanab40&fab** · July 5th, 2009, 11:15 AM

Okay so now I am crying reading this, first cause my heart knows the pain, frustration, the desire to be that small person that is inside of me and the hopelessness of not knowing how to get there and the great bond between two friends. That said I am incredibly inspired by this thread and I do know now how to reach my goals since I have been on phen... This journey is not going to be easy but it is people like you Brittany that truly make me feel like I can do this... Thank you Brittsmile and Tazgirl31 for being brave enough to put this thread out here... Oh and Britt for doing all the hard work!! You really are very, very beautiful. You look great!

**Mels** · July 5th, 2009, 05:57 PM

Taz thanks for posting Brit journey. I also lost my brother 2 years ago. The first six months I was a total mess, drinking, smoking cig, fighting with DH and not wanting anything in life. I then came to realize my parents who are in their seventies needed me along with my other brother, DH and my kids. My brother Richard would have wanted me to be happy and to make sure my parents especially my mom would always have someone in there lives to keep them going. Sorry for you loss Brit, you look great and thanks Taz.

**LuvMyMastiffs** · July 5th, 2009, 06:33 PM

You look great girl!!!

**brittsmile** · July 6th, 2009, 12:12 AM

Thank you everyone so much for your kind words!! I know we are all our worst critics & thats why we all come to the forum, to get support we often don't get from ourselves. I thought the hardest part was actually starting the journey, but it's really not...it's now. When you feel like you just aren't getting anywhere and you want to give up...ugh, I know the feeling - boy do I know the feeling! Sus - I know it must be super frustrating to get stuck, at this point I would change something up. When I lost only 2 lbs in a 3.5 week time, my doctor asked me what I had been doing & when I didn't mention anything different from the month prior he said that was why. Our bodies will get super routined and thats when we stall or come to a plateau. I say add in a "cheat day" which will help you rather than hurt you (i know it sounds strange..) and in terms of exercise, I don't know what you are doing, but maybe substitute fast paced walking or walking with jogging intervals (ex. walk to lightpost, jog to next lightpost, walk to lightpost, jog to the next....etc), the intervals will keep your body moving and mess with your heart rate (which is what we want!). To my Tara & wannabe; I am glad I can be of an inspiration to you. I know the heartache all too well. You both are so determined & beautiful women, and I know that you both want this BAD, just like me. It is so hard to find people on the outside that we can talk to about this and share our failures & our successes and I'm really glad that you both can reach out to me enough to let me know that I have helped you in some way or another. & My dear Mels

I am so sorry about your brother Richard. My brother passed away on april 1 of 2007, a little over 2 years ago. I have dedicated my journey to my brother because I know how much he would want me to be happy, healthy and proud of who I am. I keep his picture next to my treadmill & when I want to get off, I look over and it gives me strength to keep going. Richard will be forever missed, yet remembered for who he was in life & I know he would want his sister to stand tall & proud and know she is beautiful.

**kelmhand** · July 6th, 2009, 08:23 AM

Brit-i am so proud of you girl!! you have really come a long way!!!
you look like a totally different person now!!! Keep going strong!!!

Taz-you are such a great person!!!! everyone needs a friend like you!!!

good luck to you both!!!

**tazgirl31** · July 7th, 2009, 02:40 AM

Originally Posted by kelmhand

Brit-i am so proud of you girl!! you have really come a long way!!!
you look like a totally different person now!!! Keep going strong!!!

Taz-you are such a great person!!!! everyone needs a friend like you!!!

good luck to you both!!!

Awww Thanx girl!!! Hey did u get my Pm I sent to u with the number and everything? My comp has been acting so weird so just wanted to make sure u got it!! let me no if not ok?! And I SOOOO agree with u Brittany does look like a entire different person.....Im always telling her this

her transformation just amazes me every time I see new pics of her!!!!!! Shes an amazing girl!!!!!!! Taz

**tmreese** · July 7th, 2009, 11:13 AM

WOW!! This thread is just what I needed today!

Britt: You have done a wonderful job and you look so awsome. Congrats, my hat is off to you. Honestly, look at those pics, you look so pretty. You deserve a thread all to you!!

**LovingThis** · July 7th, 2009, 11:44 AM

WOW!! Brit your pics are amazing!! I would have never guessed that you weigh what you do - you look alot smaller. I understand what you mean when you say that you look into the mirror and see a fat person and you feel like a what (which you do not look like at all!!), I have never had such a problem with my weight as I have had these past few years. I have always had to watch my weight but it has never been a problem for me. When I was smaller I would always think that I was fat, which looking back I was not fat at all. I think that with the media and such we think that we need to look like the unrealistic people that are on TV and magazines. This is not true and I have come to learn lately that most men really do not like really skinny women, they want women with curves. Brit you are doing a great job and you have a great friend for posting this friend. Your pics are amazing and it is really inspiring and motivitating me that I can do this!!
THANK YOU
Lisa

**HopefulHeather** · July 7th, 2009, 06:20 PM

I just wanted to say BOTH of you have done a great job, Brit and Taz.

Congratulations on your success so far and i hope the friendship lasts forever.

**tazgirl31** · July 8th, 2009, 02:47 PM

Originally Posted by HopefulHeather

I just wanted to say BOTH of you have done a great job, Brit and Taz.

Congratulations on your success so far and i hope the friendship lasts forever.

Awwww Heather thanx soooo much girl!!!! And I realllly hope our friendship lasts forever also!!! Im just amazed by how many great people I have met on this forum...Its for sure changed my life in a good way!!!! I feel soooo blessed to have met some of the nicest people on here!!!!! I have missed ya girl...do u have myspace at all? I no Im on myspace more then anyplace else but yea I miss hearing from u!!!!!! Hope ur doing ok and losing tonss of weight girl!!!!!!! Taz

**LOLA'S A VIRGO 72** · July 9th, 2009, 04:19 AM

I have been wondering what had happened to Ms.Brittney..... OMG<<<< she has just been melting away..... GIRL you look amazing,,,, I cannot even believe what a drastic change, you have made,,,, you look so happy,,,,, i hope to be there one day too!!!!

Taz,,, you are an amazing person and Congratulations to YOU 2.... YOu have come a long way too!!!! You are both very inspiring.... THANK YOU so much for this THREAD..... tAKE CARE!