Hello

[stormy]

I haven't been posting lately. I guess I have felt a bit odd about talking about my struggles on here since my post about a month ago. I have found that there are several people that were banned from here and they have returned. Two have sent me emails that were not very nice talking about how I have failed with my band. Which for the record, I have not! This had made me feel very uncomfortable about expressing my concerns about fills and where I should be at this point. I have lost 46 pounds and I am at a stand still because I need a fill. But found it very hurtful when an email was sent to me telling me that I am really not working the program. I was shocked to see that both who contacted me had been banned from here, I dont know why and that is not my business. But it is hard to feel comfortable now. I am not sure where to turn now because I feel like I am being judged. Everyones journey is different. Mine has been something that I have been proud of. Yes, I have had things stuck. But I think it is unlikley that these people have not. I dont feel like this is a contest to see who the winner can be. I dont care how wonderful and how perfect you are. That is not what this is about. I have never come on here and been rude to anyone. I am not perfect. But I am trying and I dont feel like hurting other people is what makes your journey better than mine. This site has been something that I could turn to. When I felt like I did not know the answers and I could be free to post and not be judged. Unfortuately, I am not feeling that way right now and I think that is sad. Anyway, I just had to say something. Thank you

[funmama707]

I would hate to get an email like that! I am totally new here--so I don't know the back story. I feel the more people I can talk to--the better, but only as long as people are respectful of everyone. Good luck getting back on the wagon and getting a fill.

[nothereanymore]

Stormy,

I’ll let the moderators’ deal with your question.

However I want to add that you are 100% correct, we all move at different rates and have our own personal struggles. Lord knows I’m going through some really difficult ones myself right now, that’s why I’m laying low for now. No one should ever judge anyone; karma has a good chance of coming back and biting you in the ass for that.

Stay strong, you’re doing great – I’m proud of you – you’ve changed your life in such dramatic ways, you’re a friggen awesome/sexy pole dancer chic! (Come on now, who else wears that badge)?!

We should be able to post anything here, (that’s appropriate to the site) as long as it’s not hurtful to others. We should understand that there will be different viewpoints and respect that – which you always have.

Keep on trucken and posting – don’t give a rat’s ass about what others say – I think you’re doing great!

Lisa

[Clynn]

To my knowledge, no one who has been banned from the forum has had their account reinstated. They can however make a new account and start fresh. Stormy, if you're being harassed by other members, let us know about. We're a bit limited with PM's however due to the Private in Private Message. Since there's no way for us to peek into that system it's easy for things to turn into a he said/she said situation with us caught in the middle trying to do the right thing. For this reason we had toyed with the idea of disabling the PM system, but this idea proved exceedingly unpopular.

If you look in your inbox you will see next to the sender name an option to block. Don't bother arguing or appealing to their sense of decency - those types of people have none. Block & move on.

[RevyD]

Hi Stormie. It is so good to see you back. You were one of the first posts I read when I came to this forum trying to decide whether to be banded. You have been an encouragement and an inspiration. Please do not let someone make you feel uncomfortable. We need to hear what you have to say. I heard and made up my mind to be banded. Thanks for being a part of that process.

Debbie

[stormy]

I did not know that I could block people from emailing me. I am going to use this function right away. I do see that people can change their names and start a new account. Pretty unfortuate that people have to be that way. Thank you for letting me know how to do that so they can not email me again. I appreciate everyones encouragement along this long road that I have to travel. We all know how tough it is. I hope that after things settle down I will feel ok with getting more involved with telling you all what is up thanks again.

[MyNewLife]

Stormy,

You are 100% correct, we all have different results! I think this is the place you need to be more than anything. It keeps you plugged in and helps SO much to be able to vent and ask questions. I am sorry you received the emails you did but somtimes things can come across really different on an email, I dont know. dont know what they said, HOWEVER I know for myself sometimes I take things the wrong way and maybe they really did not mean to come across bad, maybe just trying to help, I am trying to be of a positive person these day and that is hard to change but I guess I would just hope everyone on this board would be encouragaing. I know sometimes EVERYONE needs some "roadside assistance" but there is a tasteful way to tell someone that and some people have a problem doing this......

Congrats on the 46 pounds, that is AWESOME! You might be lossing slow, but as long as you stick to the rules, and lord knows I dont always do this, they will come off!!!

Good Luck to you!

Carrie

[Kristi]

:lb14: Stormy,

I am glad to see you back online too.

It is so true that everyone's results will be different. 46 pound loss is wonderful, and for anyone to tell you different is just a sad sad person. Because if you think about it, that means the only way to make themselves feel better is by making someone else feel worse. Does that make sense to you? I believe if you are honest with yourself and who you are, it doesn't matter what others think. I know it is easier said than done, I am guilty of not always following that advice myself.

Keep your chin up and like I said already, I am glad that you are here again. >

Hugs,

Kristi

[Chad]

As far as I know there has only been one member to have their account completely banned (beside spammers). Most of the others left on their own. If you're getting bad PMs from people you can click on their name in the message and you should see an option to "Add to PM Block List" and that should stop it.

Edit: You can also do the same thing in most email clients and webmail sites if they're sending things directly to your email address. Just create a filter to send all email from that address straight to the trash folder.

[orockz99]

I did not know that I could block people from emailing me. I am going to use this function right away. I do see that people can change their names and start a new account. Pretty unfortuate that people have to be that way. Thank you for letting me know how to do that so they can not email me again. I appreciate everyones encouragement along this long road that I have to travel. We all know how tough it is. I hope that after things settle down I will feel ok with getting more involved with telling you all what is up thanks again.

Stormy, let the haters be ur motivators. I have never lost 46 pounds at any one given time in all of the five years that I have been tring to lose weight. That is an awesome accomplishment that you should be very proud of. Never let people who don't have positive things to say affect you in any way. When I came on here as a newbie I read the post of the older members and the information was invaluable. I looked at ur pics and read ur posts and they were very helpful to me. Thank you. And please come back to us, we need u.

[Smiley]

There is a difference between tough love and meanness. Those who chose to be mean to others need more than tough love, they just flat out need some love. It is sad when people have fun putting others down, but that is unfortunately how some people play the game, we just need to ignore their tackiness and do our best to love them in hopes of helping them better themselves, even though they have no intention of doing that for us.