Hi All Can't believe I am FINALLY writing

F

finally

New member
Hello
I can't believe I am here finally writing and becoming a part of something instead of all the countless years I have sat on the fence just reading everyone else's story and not wanting to share. Well the truth is I have been an overweight person who has felt (big in body) so small and insignificant for so long that I didn't feel good enough to include myself and I just read what was going on for other people on these forums to make myself feel better. Like I wasn't alone and there were others out there that could relate to how I felt.
Truthfully I want to thank all of you, because there have been some really bad times, you know Dark Days and just reading and seeing how you all support each other has helped me so much.
I wasn't always overweight and I am not sure if that was a good or bad thing because when I put on weight I always had something to compare myself to from the past and it sort of made me feel even more helpless as it just seemed so impossible to ever imagine feeling that good again.
I have literally locked myself in my house and wouldn't socialise for years. It cost me my marriage as you can imagine what sort of company I wasn't for my husband. Of course he gave up on me and went and found someone who was a companion for him. I don't blame him at all. In fact I take full responsibility for pushing him to do that.
My children have kept me going although I feel that my misery and selfishness about how I felt about the way I looked (which has literally taken over my life) has impacted them and I haven't been much of a mother for them whilst sitting and crying and refusing to go anywhere in case people judged me.
Gosh it feels so good to be writing all this out.
I have had some wonderful girlfriends as well that have been a constant support and source of encouragement to me.
One particular girlfriend has been instigational in changing my life recently, although she has always been there and has always been an optimistic person looking for ways to help me feel better, she recently came over for a visit and as we were having coffee and not sure exactly how we got on the topic of weight loss (because that is something she has always avoided with me) but we were talking about a friend of hers who she hadn't seen for ages as they had moved dowm the coast and she had run into her with her daughter. This friends daughter had suffered terribly from a weight problem and had been bullied that bad that her mother had taken her out of school and home schooled her because of the effect the bullying about her weight had caused.
My friend said when she saw the daughter she didn't recognise her as she looked so beautiful and slim and happy. So she asked what she had done and the girl Tayla is her name told her that another friend of hers had also lost a lot of weight and had in fact gone on to become an international model and she had asked her what she had done and this other girl told her and she followed the same thing and whammo in about 5 or 6 months she had lost 36kgs and she is now at a new school and has lots of friends, has loads of confidence and even writes and sings songs and apparently has a really beautiful voice.
So of course I was interested in how these girls had done this and wanted to know more. So my girlfriend said she would find out more for me and she found out that this other girl, the model has a website and she is trying to help other young girls with self esteem issues and weight issues.
I guess part of me was like being cynical like oh yeah did she throw up and have some eating disorder as that is what the press say about models and I was thinking how could a young girl help me because I am 41 with quite a bad weight problem and could never hope to look like a model and really don't want to but getting slim again and going out in public, I could relate to that.
Anyway, my girlfriend told me that Tayla had told her that it wasn't a diet that she went on at all and that it was mostly about how she thought and how she changed how she looked at food and this got me quite puzzled, but more interested. I still was negative because I thought what is it some magic potion or something and how much was it going to cost, because I have spent probably 10s of thousands of dollars on every diet and tried every conceivable shake and body contouring device and wraps out there. Just ask me I have tried literally everything and I was still fat, so how was some young model going to help me.
Well I have to apologise to her for being so negative and I want to thank her with my life, because I am following her plan which she has written in a book and in the first week I lost a dress size and the weight is falling off me. My face is getting noticeably thinner and I have even felt so good that I have gone out with my friends and been confident in public.
I AM NOT ON A DIET FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LOT OF YEARS and I feel so terrific. I want to yell it from the roof tops and I am going to write to Oprah about this young girl because I think through her own journey of losing weight she has stumbled on something that we have all been missing for years. Who would have thought it could be this easy. I know I am going to be thin again and I never thought I would hear myself think that because all I could do was look at myself in the mirror and see fat fat fat and I would look at food and see fat fat fat. I actually thought that even thinking of food made me fat (how embarrassing to admit) but I did and now I know that it had very little to do with food and a lot more to do with my thinking.
So I sat on the fence reading all your stories feeling so insignificant to even start a conversation and now I am feeling like I have my life back and am sharing it with you because I feel like you are all my friends from reading your journeys and the way you put yourself out there and share. Now I have this new found way of thinking I want to share and let you all know as I owe it to you and I want you to feel the way I do.
I still have to pinch myself to think that someone so young and someone I would have been so negative about has turned my life from misery to feelings of blissful hope and positives. If anyone of you are interested, her name is Brittaney Johnston and if you google her you will find a lot about her and her site. I swear I will never judge anyone else ever again and this girl even writes to me and wants to know how I am going. She is a treasure and i want the whole world to know it. Talk about Beautiful inside and out. I think she is an ANGEL.
Anyway all Just wanted to share and can't believe I have gone on so much. Truly am so excited.
Warmest Regards
Finally
 
Hey there and welcome.

Im fairly new here, well actually ive been here three days but i can tell you know what your talking about and this place is a fantastic place to come for support. Im glad to hear that you are getting happier with yourself as a person and are in turn becoming happier with life, its good to know!

I just want to wish you the best of luck and hope you can keep going and reach your goals and become the person that you want to be, i know you can do it and so do you.

Best wishes from Australia :)
 
Hey there and thanks for the welcome. I keep pinching myself everyday at the moment as the weight seems to be plummeting off and my whole shape is changing, so I am so happy and mostly because of how I am feeling about me for the first time in a very long time. I just so want to help others now who are in the same place that I have been in for years and now thankfully are no longer in. Gosh if only I had known how easy it was all these years.
Anyway thanks again and all the best
Regards Janice (finally)
 
Hey Finally! Welcome to the forum. Glad to hear that you're making the decision to take care of yourself! Can't wait to hear about your progress!
 
Hi, welcome to the WLF, im new here too and the positive encouragment ive been getting has really been helpful so im sure it will be the same for you, best of luck with your weight loss, i look forward to reading your progress
 
Hey All
Just wanted to update you as to my progress.
It's been only around 1 month since I began on this new method and I have lost just over 10 kgs. I can't believe it. Hadn't weighed myself because I was too scared of failure and then today I thought this is it and besides my clothes were hanging off me so I knew I had lost weight. But 10.2 kgs to be precise. I am so happy and could skip to the moon. I so want all of you to feel this way. Gosh I love you Brittaney Johnston. You have changed my life forever.

Start Weight 98kgs Current Weight 87.8kgs Loss 10.2kgs in a month
 
Hmmm...if this girl is such a saint, why does she charge people for telling them her 'secret'???
 
San said:
Hmmm...if this girl is such a saint, why does she charge people for telling them her 'secret'???
Click to expand...

she is donating the money to a cause called the amira project to help other girls with self esteem issues and I think asking for $20 a book so she can raise money and awareness is a wonderful thing. Besides I've paid out thousands on all sorts of diet programs as I am sure many others here have and this is working for me, just as it did for her girlfriend who lost 36kgs and is so full of happiness and friendships now. So sad when someone so lovely and kind gets shot down for trying to do some good and yet all the diet companies making a mint and I don't hear anyone making these sorts of comments to them and are they donating Money to help others????? I think not.

This girl has changed my life for the better and I will continue to sing her praises. She is beautiful inside and out.
 
According to her website, she is donating to the Amira project, but not specifying how much.

I think raising awareness without making a personal gain is a wonderful thing. 'Raising awareness' and charging for it is making money. It's not as if she's some run of the mill person who couldn't afford donating money to Amira out of her own pocket.

Sorry to hear that you've paid thousands on diet programs, but that is, at least in part, your own fault, isn't it? Once the first one and the second one didn't work, shouldn't it have made you wonder if those 'programs/supplements/whatever' might be useless?

I am weary of people selling stuff though, and essentially, she is selling her biography (so far) with a bit of added 'advice'. It is nothing more or less than any other person that comes here and tries to sell their book/program/supplement which usually contains 'the secret of weight loss'.

Personally, I think she looks a bit on the skinny side on her pictures as well. But that's just me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that whatever this girl is suggesting works for you. I really am. All I am saying is that if your post had contained a link to the girl's website, it would have been deleted as spam, and rightfully so. You might just be over-enthusiastic when it comes to this particular person and her book, but personally, when I read your post, every single spam alarm-bell in my head went off. That was confirmed when I went to the website. It's nicely sugar coated, but in the end, all she does is sell a book. What stops her from donating the money from one of her photo-shoots instead of 'some of the money made from the book'? Just wondering.

In any case, if it works for you, keep on doing it. Since there is no indication on the website, I really hope it is something healthy and sustainable that you can keep up for the rest of your life, and something that will help you to achieve your goals.
 
Wow San!
When I read your response I was a little taken aback and then I remembered how not so long ago as the miserable negative helpless feeling person I was, I also looked at things in the negative and judged people harshly and amazingly this girl who I also would have judged in this same harsh manner, is the one that has turned me around. So I get your cynicism.
A couple of things I am not really getting here is firstly how you said my write up rang loudly of spam and I am not sure what you mean by this????? I am a person who is having success and feeling positive about it. I have nothing to do with this girl and her book other than I bought it and it is working for me and I am excited about the effects it has had for me both physically and emotionally, so I am sharing that, just the same as anyone here who has had success with any program would share.
Secondly you made a massive assumption about who she is and what she can and can't afford to do, as if you know how much money she has. I don't know how much money she has or hasn't got and quite frankly it doesn't matter to me either and if she has a lot good on her. I don't hear you making comments about how much money any diet company makes and yet people on here have groups set up regarding these diets.
If you had read her book then I think then you would be in a position to make comments about what is written in it and has you obviously haven't, then perhaps you shouldn't comment either way.
As I have and it isn't about her with a little bit of advice, it is a total and new way of thinking and eating and is more healthy than anything I have ever done in my life.
I totally take my hat off to her as obviously she is out there trying to put something back into the community in an area that badly needs it and personally whether it is a lot or little I don't care. The fact that she is bringing awareness and doing something about it, instead of just standing back and saying "oh that's bad" negative negative negative comments or isn't that terrible but I will just look the other way because it doesn't affect me etc etc.
Oh yes and I have wasted a lot of money on weight loss programs (and I am sure I am not alone as it is one of the most lucrative billion dollar industries in the world) and I am not complaining at all. In fact I take full responsibility for that and I certainly made those choices coming from a person who felt desperate and alone.
That is one of the reasons I am so grateful to this girl, because I no longer feel that way and if you think she is out to take from you or anyone else than that is just a mere reflection of how you are viewing the world from how your feeling and I feel sad that you obviously haven't found joy and happiness with the perspective you are showing.
Isn't this a forum where we are here to share our experiences and journeys and to support and encourage each other????????????
Fortunately for me I have found this to be mostly a place like that.
Thanks for sharing though and I wish you all the best and happiness.
I am happy with my progress and will continue with my journey and also try to make a difference for others just as this lovely girl is.
Regards Janice
 
I am neither negative nor miserable. The reason why I look at things 'harshly' is because every day, I am removing tons of spam from this and a few other websites, and a lot of that spam is coming from people who tell me 'how great this new product/book/program' is etc.

Which brings me seamlessly to point 2. Why did your post ring alarm-bells? Well, it ticks pretty much every box in the book. It went something like
'I have this girlfriend who is overweight.....and then she told me about this wonderful <insert book/program/pill here>. ... At first I didn't believe it, because I have tried so many things, so how can this be any different? ... So this girl told me about somebody else who had tried this <book/program/pill> as well, and how great they thought it was, so I thought I would try it as well....it was the best decision of my life, and I lost <insert random weight> in <insert random time span>...I am so excited, this is the best <book/program/pill> ever...really, you need to check it out, just google <insert name here>'

Does the above look the slightest bit familiar? A lot of spam post look exactly like that. So forgive me for being a little suspicious, especially since upon checking the person's website, all I found was 'Buy my book for 20 quid'.

As for the rest, I know what she earns because I do my homework and check. It's not an assumption.

I do not make comments about diet companies because they are not the topic of this thread. If anybody from a diet company comes on here and spams, rest assured I will comment on it.

No, the way I look at things has nothing to do with my 'personal, negative perspective' as you put it. For one thing, I don't have such a perspective, I am simply critical and look into things before making an educated decision.

You cannot deny that this person is selling a book, and making money with it. Right? And yes, she claims to donate some of the money, but apparently not all of it. So she's making a personal gain.

And no, I haven't read the book. I refuse to pay for stuff I can get for free. I lost over 120 lbs without any books, programs or pills, and I am utterly happy with that.

Yes, this is a support forum. Sometimes support also means telling people to be careful, critical, ask questions and not believe everything, even if it sounds just great.

On a personal note, please don't feel sad for me. I'm quite happy and usually have a reasonably positive outlook on things. I've lost piles of weight, I am a hell lot healthier than I was 2 years ago, and the best is, I've done it all myself, in my own way, and didn't pay a dime for it. I'm fine, really. But thanks for the concern.
 
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Dear San
Firstly I want to apologise for any misunderstanding you may have taken from what I wrote as I certainly was not personally attacking you, only reflecting on how badly I felt recently and how negative I felt. I was only stating that I understood your being cynical as that is exactly what I was like. I do not know you personally, so I could not comment on you personally. I was only commenting on the perspective you were showing from your comments. So I just wanted to clear that up as I am not a person to attack others. Quite the opposite I am rather shy.
I was just so upset about being accused of spamming when I am merely excited by new changes and results and so want other people to feel as wonderful as I am feeling now, considering how awful I felt for so long.
I can certainly see how you compared it to spam with what you have written, however it is not spam and it is my story and what actually has happened for me.I guess this shows never to assume as you could be wrong.
I would be so interested in knowing how much this girl earns, because I wouldn't have a clue where this information could be found and it would be great if you could share it with me, because I would love to know, out of interest. I still say good on her. I am always happy to see people have success in this world and there should be more of it quite frankly.
Talking about success, you have certainly had a huge success story yourself and I would love it if you would share how you did it as I am sure so many others here also would love to know.
Once again my intention was definately not to be personal directly toward you although it does sound a little bit like you are being personal toward this young girl and I would have thought you would have felt supportive and empathy toward someone who overcame some obstacles herself from being bullied and made fun of from being overweight and then has gone on to make a success of her life and then wants to help other young girls who are suffering. I definately want to support people like this and the fact that she has helped me as well as obviously others and wants to do more, I think is admirable.
If you only can look at this as spam (when it most certainly is not) then that is your perspective and I can't change that. I would love to see the world full of young girls who love themselves and treat themselves in a loving manner rather than ending up feeling the way I and many others have (fortunately for me I now feel great).
Truly San if you feel great and are as happy as you say you are, then I will take your word on that and am very happy for you.
Take Care and all the best
Kind Regards
Janice (finally)
 
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