Search the Community

I was sleeved on 12/4.. 2 mos. today!! I haven't been on a scale since my 6 week appointment. I only lost 3 lbs and I just got off of a stall the week before that appointment. But I'm hitting my protein goals water is close carbs are a daily struggle I haven't went over but it stresses me out to no end. I go back to the doctor in the 18th and I don't want that same feeling I had then. But I have been working out 5 days a week doing Zumba kickboxing and weights. I have had a lot of NSV so hopefully that scale has moved and I have hit that under 300 goal I want soo badly!!

I am almost 4 weeks post op. Although my NSV's are not as huge yet, I can say that: I'm down 31 lbs Friends and family can SEE the difference in my face and chest. Measurement wise I am down 2 inches in both waist and hips, AND 4 inches in the chest. Although I haven't tried on jeans yet, I can tell a difference in the stretchy waist pants I've been wearing. And when I went to buy new sports bras last weekend, I have gone down a size (huge accomplishment). My next appointment is tomorrow and hopefully I will be cleared to do more exercise as I was told to walk 30 min. a day... Only! However, I am so pumped with the weight loss right now that there are not enough words to describe my excitement and motivation! Especially since I have done every diet imaginable and countless exercises in the past and lost nothing. Granted my thyroid problems haven't helped, but this surgery is helping me to change that and get back to a healthy weight.

I am almost 4 weeks post op. Although my NSV's are not as huge yet, I can say that: I'm down 31 lbs Friends and family can SEE the difference in my face and chest. Measurement wise I am down 2 inches in both waist and hips, AND 4 inches in the chest. Although I haven't tried on jeans yet, I can tell a difference in the stretchy waist pants I've been wearing. And when I went to buy new sports bras last weekend, I have gone down a size (huge accomplishment). My next appointment is tomorrow and hopefully I will be cleared to do more exercise as I was told to walk 30 min. a day... Only! However, I am so pumped with the weight loss right now that there are not enough words to describe my excitement and motivation! Especially since I have done every diet imaginable and countless exercises in the past and lost nothing. Granted my thyroid problems haven't helped, but this surgery is helping me to change that and get back to a healthy weight.

I am almost 4 weeks post op. Although my NSV's are not as huge yet, I can say that: I'm down 31 lbs Friends and family can SEE the difference in my face and chest. Measurement wise I am down 2 inches in both waist and hips, AND 4 inches in the chest. Although I haven't tried on jeans yet, I can tell a difference in the stretchy waist pants I've been wearing. And when I went to buy new sports bras last weekend, I have gone down a size (huge accomplishment). My next appointment is tomorrow and hopefully I will be cleared to do more exercise as I was told to walk 30 min. a day... Only! However, I am so pumped with the weight loss right now that there are not enough words to describe my excitement and motivation! Especially since I have done every diet imaginable and countless exercises in the past and lost nothing. Granted my thyroid problems haven't helped, but this surgery is helping me to change that and get back to a healthy weight.

I am almost 4 weeks post op. Although my NSV's are not as huge yet, I can say that: I'm down 31 lbs Friends and family can SEE the difference in my face and chest. Measurement wise I am down 2 inches in both waist and hips, AND 4 inches in the chest. Although I haven't tried on jeans yet, I can tell a difference in the stretchy waist pants I've been wearing. And when I went to buy new sports bras last weekend, I have gone down a size (huge accomplishment). My next appointment is tomorrow and hopefully I will be cleared to do more exercise as I was told to walk 30 min. a day... Only! However, I am so pumped with the weight loss right now that there are not enough words to describe my excitement and motivation! Especially since I have done every diet imaginable and countless exercises in the past and lost nothing. Granted my thyroid problems haven't helped, but this surgery is helping me to change that and get back to a healthy weight.

Had a NSV moment with this past weekend's snowstorm. Put on my snow pants that I couldn't even snap up last year and they were too big. Yeah!????

so, a huge NSV for me this weekend, I went shopping at the mall for the first time since surgery for new clothes. (bypass surgery 7/4/14 and down 101 pounds so far!!) (I've been to places like Savers and goodwill buying things here and there, but this was my first mall outing). I went into stores I've never stepped foot in... and I BOUGHT there too! WOOHOOO! I went to H&M, Aeropostale, Forever 21,just to name a few. So, since this is a whole new shopping world for me, where are some stores that you like to go in now that you're on the losers bench? My old go-to store was Dressbarn for Women, and I'm so happy to have a new variety of stores to shop at. Please share your new favorites- whether in store on online- I'm in the shopping mood!

so, a huge NSV for me this weekend, I went shopping at the mall for the first time since surgery for new clothes. (I've been to places like Savers and goodwill buying things here and there, but this was my first mall outing). I went into stores I've never stepped foot in... and I BOUGHT there too! WOOHOOO! I went to H&M, Aeropostale, Forever 21,just to name a few. So, since this is a whole new shopping world for me, where are some stores that you like to go in now that you're on the losers bench? My old go-to store was Dressbarn for Women, and I'm so happy to have a new variety of stores to shop at. Please share your new favorites- whether in store on online- I'm in the shopping mood!

Sorry to the guys, but my biggest NSV's are girl things. 1. Buying pretty, lacey underwear size 7 vs. presurgery size 10 2. Yesterday I bought 5 new bras in Victoria's Secret and I haven't been able to shop there since 2005. Then there are all the other greats like no more medications for high blood pressure & high cholesterol. Having a BMI that is Overweight vs. Morbid Obese. Having my daughter tell her friends that her Mom is now "skinny". Thanks for posting this topic. I love reading everyone's posts.

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to me. I plan to maintain my workouts. More so to make sure that I am consistent. I think that is one of the main reasons I am on this see-saw. I am trying to work on being consistent with logging my food on my fitness pal. And I will do better to focus on my NSV. Thanks so much.

Did you take a picture? Did you call Guinness? Thanks for sharing. I've gone through the same thing, but was too afraid to share such a vivid description of what I went through! I've had to strain so hard that I was afraid I'd have an anurism and die on the toilet - like the constipated gangster in the TV series, The Sopranos. I had to train myself to relax my neck and face while on the toilet! I think you deserve an NSV award, just for surviving!!!!

Congratulations! I would chalk that up as a PRE-OP NSV!!! No matter what happened yesterday, no matter what mistakes you feel you made, no matter what setbacks may have been dealt to you, no matter what obstacles you struggled with, today is a new day to start fresh, to return to your journey, to do what matters, to change what needs changing, to improve upon old habits, and to get better - as you are committed to doing every day. Stay strong and keep on pushing on...and never give up on what is important to you, even if yesterday it got further away from you. Pull it back towards you today. Stake your claim. Change your ways. Do what is right for YOU!

New clothes, new coats, new shoes, cute underwear. Lol. Met my goal last week and need a second job to support my shopping habits. My big goal was to wear a pair of Ms Me jeans. I now have two pair. Bought a new Malibu to celebrate. It's sporty and yes I am one of those "old people" who drive a car that's a little sporty. Now my challenge is to stop losing weight. Harder than I thought it would be! Good luck fellow sleevers on you NSV's.

wonderful nsv. I also had a hump neck for years. It would get so bad that my neck ached all the time. I am so happy for you to get rid of that. Mine started shrinking after a few months as well. keep up the good work.

So today marks 9 weeks since my surgery and I've lost a total of 14kg (30lbs for those that don't use metric). This week also marked my first real NSV (Non scale Victory). I made a visit to my hairdresser (who also happens to be one of my besties) and she made the comment to me that when she grabbed at my hair it felt like the back of someone else's head. That might sound weird but she was referring to the fact that the nape of my neck has changed and the 'hump' at the back of my neck has gone!!! great feeling...

Nsv I'm looking forward to: 1. Less back pain 2. More clothing options 3. more shoes!!! 4. Getting on a plane and not worrying if the seat belt will fit 5.not being winded when I walk up the stairs 6. People not saying " your cute for a big girl" 7.no more cuddy chasers( they can be creepy ) 8. I can go zip lining

@@samcat681 Yay! Good for you! The Wedding Ring NSV is a good one.

The Doc: Fast-forward two years after surgery. The weight has melted off! The scale, of, course, never seems to reflect a low enough number. No matter – people are taking many fewer medications than they had to prior to surgery. And they are riding roller coasters and Ferris wheels and they are going on airplanes and not needing seatbelt extenders. They are going bike riding and hiking and playing with their children and grandkids like they have dreamed of doing. In other words, the majority of post-ops at around the two-year mark, do have improved health and do have a better quality of life. The Post Op: Losing large amounts of weight in a short period of time really messes with your head. One day, you’re buying double-digit stretchy pants and tops in the plus-size section, and the next, you’re venturing into the foreign world of single-digit labels on non-spandex jeans and fitted suits. Yesterday, you couldn’t find a single “before” photo but today you’ve got a thousand “after selfies” and attention from people you aren’t even sure you like. It’s exciting and new… and confusing… Somewhere along the way, you lost the plot, stopped focusing on your health and started focusing on your image. Like so many post-ops, you’ve learned that losing weight doesn’t guarantee happiness, hopefulness or health. So, with that said, can you refocus your focus and choose to live in Recovery From Obesity? What do you think, Doc? The Doc: It’s been really interesting observing the journey of post-ops, two of whom are my closest friends. After the initial weight loss and the joys of experiencing many of the NSV’s (non-scale victories, on the off chance you don’t know what NSV stands for, many people start whingeing (pronounced win – jing), a term the Post Op and I learned on our trip to work with bariatric folks in New Zealand. It means whining! “I don’t want to exercise.” “I’m tired of restricting myself.” “But sometimes I just need chocolate.” And then there’s the gossiping. “Have you seen so-and-so? She’s regained so much weight.” “Do you think I look smaller that that woman?” And, of course, there’s a continued? new? renewed? obsession with numbers! ““If I could only fit into a size smaller.” “Just ten more pounds and I would be satisfied. Really.” And what I actually find the saddest is the addiction to food… “I watch all of the shows on the Food Network.” “Look at the ‘bad’ food I ate… I posted it on Facebook!” My, how the focus changes! No longer do people seem to remember the reasons they had surgery… they appear to overlook the fact that their health is improved and the quality of their lives is vastly improved. All of a sudden the numbers on the scale, the size of the clothing and how they compare in size to other people are the focus. And maybe the saddest part from my perspective is that no matter how much weight they’ve lost, so many people are dissatisfied. They either want to lose more weight, hate their body just as much as before weight loss, or find some other thing(s) to focus on that were never mentioned as being important prior to surgery. The Post Op: I’ve seen this play out a thousand times, Doc, and it makes me so sad to realize that many people who desperately want to be free from the prison of obesity actually imprison themselves by the tyranny of numbers, the scale and their clothing size! As you sagely point out, far from living a life in Recovery, many post-ops lose sight of what they said matters most and focus on the food, the food and the food! You call it an unhealthy obsession – I call it addiction, but either way, it’s not the goal of life after weight loss surgery…at least, not in my book. What’s missing from the equation? The Doc: Where’s the gratitude? Somehow, the life-saving, life-enhancing weight loss surgery that was done to improve one’s health and improve their quality of life, and that DID exactly those things, often morphs into what we believe are simply manifestations of that same disease of obesity. Because, as Cari often points out, “obesity is all about the food but not at all about the food.” And she’s right! Obesity includes a mindset, an attitude, an obsessiveness on food, size, and weight. Perhaps most tragically, there is a self-defeating component that lives on when one becomes obsessed with their eating, their weight, their sizes and/or what others are eating, what others weigh and what size others are wearing. Again, I ask, “Where’s the gratitude?” The Post Op: In my case, genuine gratitude was a mystery. I mean, I’d spent a lifetime focusing on my compromised health, physical limitations, poor quality of life, disappointments, shame and failures. Clearly, going to the doctor wasn’t a reason to celebrate, because I believed I’d be “blamed” for my condition, then blithely be told to “move more and eat less.” And I know I’m not alone – I talk to many post-ops who share my misunderstanding about the power of gratitude and the importance of practicing it in everyday recovery. Of course, when the focus is on the negative, it doesn’t even occur to you to consider something positive! Maybe that’s why I view gratitude as the unsung gift of Recovery and work hard to work on it every day. The Doc: Maintaining what is commonly referred to as “an attitude of gratitude” can have a positive overall affect on your life. By focusing on the ways your health has improved, you feel pleased and grateful for the changes in your life, regardless of the weight your body has settled at. Focusing on the ways the quality of your life has improved after weight loss results in being grateful for being able to participate more actively and fully in your own life! Take the time and literally make a list of the things your weight loss has resulted in regarding your health and quality of your life. The Post Op: I get it. Lists are usually filled with work you have to accomplish before the day ends (things to do today), or before you die (bucket list), but they aren’t usually things you look at to feel good. I say it’s time to change that paradigm and start making lists of things you’ve already done (or, get to look forward to!) Your gratitude list doesn’t have to be a thing of literary genius (which means it doesn’t have to rhyme, be written in haiku or iambic pentameter, and doesn’t even have to include complete sentences!) Your list can include positive words, pictures, names of people you love – whatever – but it has to be a real list…so why not start now by considering some of the things The Doc mentioned? In case you’re wondering my list starts like this: 1. I’m eternally grateful for the opportunity to work with an amazing and compassionate friend to help others find the joy of Recovery From Obesity. How about you? ACTION STEP: Download a GRATITUDE APP (any one will do) for your smart phone and make a practice of typing in a minimum of three things each day that represent your improved health and/or the improvements in your quality of life. If you’re open to it, you will experience an overall improvement in your daily attitude.

The Doc: “What made you decide to have Weight Loss Surgery at this particular time in your life?” I ask every patient I see for a pre-surgical psychological evaluation. The responses to this question nearly always revolve around health. “I want to get off so many medications.” “I need to get rid of this diabetes.” “I want to be healthy enough to see my children/grandkids grow up.” “I want to be able to do things I can’t now because of my weight.” “I want to be healthy enough to walk/go places with my family/ride amusement park rides/not have to use a seat belt extender on an airplane.” The vast majority of the time, when people make the decision to have weight loss surgery, their health has become an issue that interferes in their quality of life. Sure, some people are interested in the benefits of being able to wear smaller clothing, many are interested in being less discriminated against, and most are enthusiastic about seeing the scale show a much lower number. It is safe, however, from my experience of having completed over 3000 pre-surgical evaluations, to summarize people’s reasons for wanting to have weight loss as being 1) seeking improved health and 2) seeking an improved quality of life. The Post Op: All I know is, by the time I dragged my size 30 behind into the doctor’s office to talk about getting the weight off, I was sick…and I was tired…and I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. It sounds trite, but it was true. My obesity was mentally, physically and emotionally exhausting, and every day represented weight gained and battles lost. At 320 pounds, I was Alice, and I’d been stuck down the rabbit hole of obesity and poor health for so long, I was willing to do anything to get out – yes, even take a swig from that bottle on the table with the “drink me” tag. In my mind, weight loss surgery was a magic potion and I was about to get really small. I didn’t know how it would feel when I got there, but I knew I’d be set free. I believed my life would get better and I’d be healthier if I could just get…smaller. The Doc: Fast-forward two years after surgery. The weight has melted off! The scale, of, course, never seems to reflect a low enough number. No matter – people are taking many fewer medications than they had to prior to surgery. And they are riding roller coasters and Ferris wheels and they are going on airplanes and not needing seatbelt extenders. They are going bike riding and hiking and playing with their children and grandkids like they have dreamed of doing. In other words, the majority of post-ops at around the two-year mark, do have improved health and do have a better quality of life. The Post Op: Losing large amounts of weight in a short period of time really messes with your head. One day, you’re buying double-digit stretchy pants and tops in the plus-size section, and the next, you’re venturing into the foreign world of single-digit labels on non-spandex jeans and fitted suits. Yesterday, you couldn’t find a single “before” photo but today you’ve got a thousand “after selfies” and attention from people you aren’t even sure you like. It’s exciting and new… and confusing… Somewhere along the way, you lost the plot, stopped focusing on your health and started focusing on your image. Like so many post-ops, you’ve learned that losing weight doesn’t guarantee happiness, hopefulness or health. So, with that said, can you refocus your focus and choose to live in Recovery From Obesity? What do you think, Doc? The Doc: It’s been really interesting observing the journey of post-ops, two of whom are my closest friends. After the initial weight loss and the joys of experiencing many of the NSV’s (non-scale victories, on the off chance you don’t know what NSV stands for, many people start whingeing (pronounced win – jing), a term the Post Op and I learned on our trip to work with bariatric folks in New Zealand. It means whining! “I don’t want to exercise.” “I’m tired of restricting myself.” “But sometimes I just need chocolate.” And then there’s the gossiping. “Have you seen so-and-so? She’s regained so much weight.” “Do you think I look smaller that that woman?” And, of course, there’s a continued? new? renewed? obsession with numbers! ““If I could only fit into a size smaller.” “Just ten more pounds and I would be satisfied. Really.” And what I actually find the saddest is the addiction to food… “I watch all of the shows on the Food Network.” “Look at the ‘bad’ food I ate… I posted it on Facebook!” My, how the focus changes! No longer do people seem to remember the reasons they had surgery… they appear to overlook the fact that their health is improved and the quality of their lives is vastly improved. All of a sudden the numbers on the scale, the size of the clothing and how they compare in size to other people are the focus. And maybe the saddest part from my perspective is that no matter how much weight they’ve lost, so many people are dissatisfied. They either want to lose more weight, hate their body just as much as before weight loss, or find some other thing(s) to focus on that were never mentioned as being important prior to surgery. The Post Op: I’ve seen this play out a thousand times, Doc, and it makes me so sad to realize that many people who desperately want to be free from the prison of obesity actually imprison themselves by the tyranny of numbers, the scale and their clothing size! As you sagely point out, far from living a life in Recovery, many post-ops lose sight of what they said matters most and focus on the food, the food and the food! You call it an unhealthy obsession – I call it addiction, but either way, it’s not the goal of life after weight loss surgery…at least, not in my book. What’s missing from the equation? The Doc: Where’s the gratitude? Somehow, the life-saving, life-enhancing weight loss surgery that was done to improve one’s health and improve their quality of life, and that DID exactly those things, often morphs into what we believe are simply manifestations of that same disease of obesity. Because, as Cari often points out, “obesity is all about the food but not at all about the food.” And she’s right! Obesity includes a mindset, an attitude, an obsessiveness on food, size, and weight. Perhaps most tragically, there is a self-defeating component that lives on when one becomes obsessed with their eating, their weight, their sizes and/or what others are eating, what others weigh and what size others are wearing. Again, I ask, “Where’s the gratitude?” The Post Op: In my case, genuine gratitude was a mystery. I mean, I’d spent a lifetime focusing on my compromised health, physical limitations, poor quality of life, disappointments, shame and failures. Clearly, going to the doctor wasn’t a reason to celebrate, because I believed I’d be “blamed” for my condition, then blithely be told to “move more and eat less.” And I know I’m not alone – I talk to many post-ops who share my misunderstanding about the power of gratitude and the importance of practicing it in everyday recovery. Of course, when the focus is on the negative, it doesn’t even occur to you to consider something positive! Maybe that’s why I view gratitude as the unsung gift of Recovery and work hard to work on it every day. The Doc: Maintaining what is commonly referred to as “an attitude of gratitude” can have a positive overall affect on your life. By focusing on the ways your health has improved, you feel pleased and grateful for the changes in your life, regardless of the weight your body has settled at. Focusing on the ways the quality of your life has improved after weight loss results in being grateful for being able to participate more actively and fully in your own life! Take the time and literally make a list of the things your weight loss has resulted in regarding your health and quality of your life. The Post Op: I get it. Lists are usually filled with work you have to accomplish before the day ends (things to do today), or before you die (bucket list), but they aren’t usually things you look at to feel good. I say it’s time to change that paradigm and start making lists of things you’ve already done (or, get to look forward to!) Your gratitude list doesn’t have to be a thing of literary genius (which means it doesn’t have to rhyme, be written in haiku or iambic pentameter, and doesn’t even have to include complete sentences!) Your list can include positive words, pictures, names of people you love – whatever – but it has to be a real list…so why not start now by considering some of the things The Doc mentioned? In case you’re wondering my list starts like this: 1. I’m eternally grateful for the opportunity to work with an amazing and compassionate friend to help others find the joy of Recovery From Obesity. How about you? ACTION STEP: Download a GRATITUDE APP (any one will do) for your smart phone and make a practice of typing in a minimum of three things each day that represent your improved health and/or the improvements in your quality of life. If you’re open to it, you will experience an overall improvement in your daily attitude.

Quite a while back I lost an inch somewhere -- I went from 5'7" down to 5'6". At my last check-up I had gained back half an inch and recently I just got my other half back. Because of my shape, I just wasn't standing as tall as I once did. Now I can throw my shoulders back and stand against the wall with my full height, all 5'7" of me. There's so much less in the way not only for standing up straight but for bending and folding, curling up, etc. Meanwhile I have lost nine inches off of my waist alone. No more Mrs. Winnie-the-Pooh. These non-scale victories -- NSVs -- make me so happy!

You know when you had weight loss surgery when..... NSV...You finish jogging on the treadmill at the gym. The person on the treadmill next to you say's thanks for motivating me to stay for an hour. They introduce themselves and you find out they are a high school physical education teacher.

@@Folly I hope you posted that in the valentines thread for Alex. Fantastic story. Ok I'm open for this conversation. I have been with my husband since I was in my 20's. Sex was amazing then. We got older and my weight increased and my health declined. Sex honestly became a chore. I lost my drive. My amazing husband has stuck it out through some tough times with my health issues. To have me back means more to him than the weight loss. Don't get me wrong. The weight loss has been a great thing for our sex life. He has seen me at my heaviest weight so loose skin is nothing to make me self conscious. I'm loving dressing up for him and going out on dates. I'm still getting used to him telling me I'm hot. Very sweet but I don't see it. He has taken me to Victoria's secret and walked out with size small pantie's big NSV. I'm very open, adventurous, loving life and in love with my husband. The sleeve has done a big turn around in our lives. SOOOOO thankful. The hair issue...Pulling my hair in bed in my 20's was hot..Now that I'm loosing hair with weight loss hair is precious to me.

@@joatsaint wwwwwwonderful NSV and the NSV's keep coming i'm sure you and Franensleeve are very proud/happy 171 lbs down!!! that is an amazing accomplishment keep up the good work 4 lbs til GOAL personally i would lose 5 more lbs to be in onderland thats just me kathy congrats

@@Countrygrrl the most common wonderful NSV's deal with clothing mooning people?? great feeling getting rid of those big clothes I also used to keep some old clothes "just in case" you/me/we can't think that way anymore we never/won't want see those "big" clothes again!!! pre and post op down 41 lbs!!! welcome to twoderville keep up the good work kathy congrats