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That first week is tough! In fact, the first few weeks are a big adjustment. Having feelings like, "What did I do?"😱, came up a few times over those first few weeks. Recovery from the surgery was smooth for me, but drinking & eating weren't fun or easy. It gets easier & better as you move through the stages of the diet plan & can tolerate more foods & beverages. Seeing success on the scale or with NSVs will also help it all seem worth it. Right now, I am almost 2 months post op and slightly over 40 pounds down. My clothes are getting baggy. I am able to eat a variety of foods, but know when to stop. I feel like I am in control of my eating for the first time in my life. It is so much easier for me to make better choices & try to practice mindful eating. At this point, this seems to be effective for me & I would do it again. I hope it continues to be a helpful tool in successfully losing weight & maintaining it. I hope the surgery is successful in helping you achieve your weightloss goals & that you will be pleased with your decision. 😁

👍 I have wondered how long people continue to lose - How long after your surgery had you thought your weight had settled? And how much did you lose since that time? I wish I had thought to take a picture of all the clothes I donated because they are too big! I (gladly) lost 1/2 my closet! The rest are the clothes I thankfully didn’t get rid that finally fit again. NSV!!!!

Update: Getting much easier to deal with. My energy levels are coming back though I’m still as weak as a newborn kitten. Gas pains got a lot better, especially once I finally had a BM. I think it was backing up in there—take your Dulcolax or Miralax or milk of magnesia religiously! I do get grinding hunger pangs that feel like my stomach is literally twisting on itself. I made some protein jello (big box of orange sugar free Jello plus half a scoop of vanilla whey protein = creamsicle) for when I can’t handle the pains. They pass quickly but are debilitating. 8 cal of protein jello and I can sort of stave them off. I walk one minute every 15 minutes plus 5k a day which takes about 40-45 minutes. I’ll start running once I feel like I can sweat safely. Scale victory: down 9.6 lbs. in three days. NSV: Had to size down in shorts and throw out unders that are too big. Also my BP went from 145/85 with two meds a day before surgery to 123/68 with one med three days out.

I was on two blood pressure medications. One contained a water pill, and my PCP decided that since I'll be struggling to hydrate, I don't need to take the one with the water pill. In two days—TWO DAYS—my uncontrolled (pre-meds) blood pressure dropped from 155/95 to 134/75. I really don't understand how that would work physically, but I'm not going to argue with it!

Congrats! I remember how fun it was when I started fitting into smaller clothing. NSV's are everything to me. Keep up the good work! I always lost really really slow before surgery. And now almost everything I bought after surgery is too big. (And as much as I think it's a great NSV, it's a double edged sword. I hate shopping for some things, like bras. Now I'm having to shop again, but its less fun since I'm broke from surgery) Congrats again, keep up the good work.

I had a small NSV today. I put on a size large t-shirt and it actually fit! This is surprising to me as I am a slow loser and thought it would take longer for this to happen! I've had other victories but this one stuck me as the shirt I tried on has been in my closet for years....and I can finally fit into it!! I can't wait until I shrink into the rest of my clothes! Many best wishes and small NSV's to you all!

I bought a couple of sweaters from Ann Taylor Loft on sale because I have nothing for the colder weather. The size small was not the NSV - but the freedom to not feel like I “shouldn’t” wear a sweater with horizontal stripes was a big one! I didn’t realize how much my mom had instilled that in my head until I was looking at the website and purposefully skipping the ones with horizontal stripes because it would make me look bigger. Well, I got it in the mail yesterday and I think I can now say wearing horizontal stripes will be part of my life! PS - I think anyone at any size should wear what they want and what they feel good in - but my mom hammered into me all of these things about being heavy from like middle school on (suck in your stomach, be in the back behind people so your full body isn’t on display, no horizontal stripes, etc.) so this is just 30 years of baggage I’m trying to unload. Wearing horizontal stripes is major for me.

Surgery Status: 6 weeks post-op tomorrow. Sx 7.14.2021 VSG Phase: Regular foods Highest known weight: 218 Surgery weight: 200 even. Current Weight: 182 This morning. I gained 3 pounds 😭 Inch loss: 3 inches off waist, 4 inches off lower belly (Fupa), 1 in off arms, 1 in off neck, NSV: Went from a size 18 to 14 in pants and XXL to XL in shirts !

Checking in Surgery Status: ~4 weeks Post Op VSG (July 27th) Phase: week 2 soft food (tomorrow I am able to start regular food) Highest known weight: 241 Surgery weight: 229 Current Weight: 211 NSV: Some of my office slacks are fitting better, and even a bit too loose in some areas. I can also see a big difference in my face, especially when comparing photos side by side. I have been stalled on 96kg / 211lbs for almost a week now, but I am not too bothered since I fully expected this based on others' experiences. The hardest part for me has been the morning nausea and some lightheadedness. Otherwise, I keep on keeping on.

A two-for-1 yesterday; an OOTD and an NsV. OOTD of leggings and a tank to wear on a little spur-of-the-moment road trip to Niagara, where this statue of Nikola Tesla was screaming to be taken a pic with. The NSV being that it took no effort at all to hop on (and jump off!) that statue base to get the pic. 100+ lbs ago, this would have been very challenging…and i probably wouldn’t have even tried, lol.

Surgery Status: 5 weeks And 2 days Post Op VSG (July 13th) Phase: week 5 soft foods, introducing back into normal diet Highest known weight: 210 Starting weight: 210 Current Weight: 180 Inch loss: 6 inches off waist, 4 inch off hips. About 1-2 inch from legs and arms NSV: my face looks completely different in photos! Also got back into my favourite Barbour coat! 😊

Hey July Surgery People! It has been a while since we have had any updates in this thread. I can't wait to hear how you are all doing. Let's do another stats check! ✔📉⚖ How is your progress going? (NSV, inch loss, weight loss, pre or post op, phase.) Good luck!🤗 ________________ Surgery Status: 3 weeks Post Op VSG (July 26th) Phase: post op soft food diet week 2 Highest known weight: 291 Starting weight: 280 Current Weight: 253 Inch loss: 2 inches off waist, about 1 inch off most other spots. NSV: I fit into a pair of pants that I never fit into! (They are my current size but cut smaller & I bought without trying them on.)

I'm back with some new NSV. One of these gets me right in the feels. Comfortably sitting with my legs crossed, arms folded across my belly. This does not get old. One of you mentioned being able to see willy, well....female equivalent is being able to see kitty. Sitting up, lying down she is visible! 😸 Last weekend I had an auntie day with my 7-year-old niece. She loves to run and asked me if I would race her. The look on her face when I said sure! She looked completely shocked then so delighted. We ran three races, she won them all (for real - the kid is fast) and her delight in play racing me was priceless. Had to blink back the tears a bit because it meant so much to her that her auntie was running and playing with her in a way I couldn't just a few months ago.

It’s funny how I still find myself doing something & suddenly realise there was no way I would have been able to do it before surgery. Yesterday I was standing in one leg undoing my laces to take my shoes off. Not sitting & not heaving up my leg to try to reach the laces. Just standing on one leg with the other leg raised by itself & being able to balance & reach to undo the lace without even thinking about it. Even after two years you still discover little nsv.

I don't know where the other one is, but the NSV one is here:

My surgery was on 7/13, and I had my first day back at work as a teacher today. It went really well, and I didn't run out of energy even though we went from 7:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. (open house). I think it helped that I was prepared with plenty of foods and I ate a few times. We had a staff luncheon and I was a little worried what people might say because I haven't told most of them about the surgery. I ended up putting more on my plate than I plan to eat, and I slowly ate a small portion of those things. Nobody seemed to notice. One more exciting thing for me: I went shopping for some new school clothes yesterday and I had to keep bringing back the bigger sizes for smaller ones! I got a couple of pairs of pants that were 14s and a few 16s and some shirts that were either XL or 1XL. The scale doesn't move very rapidly for me, so it was nice to see this NSV. I hope everybody else is doing well and getting back into the swing of things!

First I want to say thank you to so many of the veteran posters on here. I hope you gals and guys know how much your experiences and feedback have helped me and I suspect many others. There's just such a fantastic mix of people and experiences - It's great knowing you aren't alone in this journey. The first few months after surgery were easy. The weight was simply falling off, there wasn't anything I couldn't eat or drink - And better yet, I couldn't overeat because of the restriction. I felt fantastic most of the time, had all sorts of NSV's and loved my new life. From August until January I lost almost 50lbs - I was so close to Wonderland I could taste it. THEN reality struck - Suddenly I was one of those "slow losers" - It took almost 2 months to lose 13lbs. UGH, I WAS going to be one of those slow losers. OK, fine, I'm 52 and it is what it is, right? From January until May, I "only" lost 33lbs. Again, every week/month I told myself that I would lose the weight, I was just in some sort of a stall and things would magically pick up. Well, they didn't, I would lose 2-3 lbs and then I would gain 2-3 lbs. Again, "it's normal" I told myself. Fast forward to a week ago - I jumped on here for some motivation (reading stories, etc.) and I took a hard look at what I was doing. Basically, I was being lazy - I was eating whatever I wanted and justifying it by saying "I only eat small portions" - Well, yeah, that was true...BUT I was grazing, I was drinking too much alcohol, and I wasn't tracking. I honetly have no idea how many calories I was consuming (especially on weekends with family and friends). I played mind games with myself and said "As long as I'm not gaining, I'm doing things right." - Well, that was a giant load of (@*$. This past Tuesday (after a weekend of Mimosa's, Crown Royal, and some really great BBQ), I woke up to a 5lb gain (BTW, yes I realize some of that was water retention). WAKE UP CALL. 5lbs? Seriously - Time to go back to basics before that's a 10lb gain. For the first time in MONTHS, I tracked every thing I tracked everything that went into my mouth (water, food, etc) - I did 3 days of liquid - In two days, those 5lbs were off. Rather than what I've done in the past, I didn't stop there - I continued tracking, I continued being cognizant of what and when I was eating. I said "no" to many things that I thought I wanted. I lost 6.8lbs from Tuesday to Sunday. What? I'm NOT a slow loser - I'm a LAZY loser. Folks, for many of us, it's EASY in the first few months, it's EASY to convince ourselves that we're doing OK, it's EASY to compare ourselves to others, it's EASY to ignore signs that you're falling into bad habits, and it's EASY to get lazy. In reality, it's HARD to stick to your plan when you're feeling fantastic and patting yourself on the back for losing so much weight. I'm choosing to be thankful that this happened now rather than 2-3 years into it. I'm glad that reality smacked me in the face and forced me to face the fact that i wasn't doing what I needed to do. Right now it was EASY to get back on track before I let it get out of control. For those of you experiencing the same - Buckle up buttercup, start tracking, weigh yourself often if you need to, and take a good look and when and why you're losing weight and when and why you aren't. Again, a very special thank you to you old timers for always keeping things real and giving out such fantastic advice.

Omg that's my DREAM to take a surfing lesson in Hawaii. The first time I went I was 6 months pregnant. The 2nd time I was almost 400 pounds, so I never was able. I plan on going back to Hawaii again, and I WILL do it. I turn 50 Monday, and I don't know when I will get back there but I don't care how old I am, I have to take a surfing lesson! Congratulations on such an amazing NSV! So awesome! Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

Congratulations on your success and for all of those sweet NSVs! You look amazing - and more importantly - it sounds like you FEEL amazing!

Congratulations on losing 116 pounds, that is awesome! I am 3 days out and it is inspiring to hear how far you have come. You can reach your goal! So glad you have also noticed the NSV's, too. Looking forward to more updates as you continue to get to your goal!

This has been one of my greatest NSV's so far. I have never told the truth on my license, and it says 350. Last time I had it renewed I weighed 393. Now I'm 126 pounds less than what driver's license says! I'm gonna tell the truth next time ha ha. Sent from my Nokia 7.2 using BariatricPal mobile app

I noticed today that I actually weigh 5 lbs. less than the wild lie that has been listed on my driver's license for the past 25 years! 🤣🤩 I guess it qualifies as a NSV.

These "small" victories are such big deals. Congrats on this NSV - it's a good one!

Hi everyone! Surgery Status: 5 days post-op VSG (7/19 surgery date) Phase: full liquids- mostly just protein waters though Highest known weight: 274 Surgery weight: 264 Current Weight: 254.6 Inch loss: I’m only five days out so I haven’t measured myself yet. I have SO much abdominal swelling from the surgery, that even though I’m losing pounds my belly is bigger than it was before surgery 😞  NSV: not really anything yet- I think I feel happier though 

Ok Highest weight 275 pre weight 256 Surgical weight 246 Now 227 Going well. NSV in 38 from 44 so not to bad