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just 19 days out from surgery and my uniform is way too big. Today I used the tightest hole on my belt too! that feeling is great. My first NSV

write yourself a letter with your hopes and dreams for the future also remind yourself how well you are dong and anything positive no matter how small. The reason you want to write the letter is to remind yourself when you want to give up how well you are doing now. Start keeping a list of NSV's (Non Scale Victories)

The band is amazing and like many others have said it is no magic cure! It takes work and commitment…as does most good things in life! I am one year out and down 93 lbs. I have had no fills and no stuck episodes. Everyone is different and needs to make their own path down this journey. There are no comparisons of how much one person lost over another or how much they have in their band or whether you are walking around the block or doing a 5K. You MUST do whats works for you, in conjunction with your doctor and their protocol. This is not a sprint to the end…it is a marathon….and in my opinion, anyone who is trying to only sprint their way to goal is going to feel bad about so many things. Enjoy every pound off of you when the scale moves down…if the scale isn't moving don't cry PLATEAU feel how your clothes fit. See how much more energy you have …see what other NSV's (non-scale victories) you can see BESIDES just the number on the scale. Don't get me wrong…seeing that number go down, down , DOWN is awesome and what WE ALL WANT….but it isn't going to move down every day or every week…its just not always going to happen. I don't even read the negative nellies on here anymore…and its one of the reasons Im on here less and less…it is sad but true….sometimes those people get the best of you no matter how hard you try. Best of luck to all…we ALL deserve the BEST!

@@angierue i walked between 2 cars that were parked very close to each other there was very little room, but then again, so was I (little i mean ) nothing like a good ol' NSV to put a smile on your face kathy

Haha, I literally just had a debate with myself today about buying knee high boots online! I've always had thick muscular calves, so boots never fit me, even when I was thin. A few weeks ago I bought a pair of thigh high boots for my Halloween costume and those suckers didn't even come close to fitting my thighs. I'm sure it is all in how you lose weight, but for me, my legs are very muscular, so short of losing all my fat in other places and then eating away at the muscle, I doubt that I will fit in the cool boots until I am very thin. Fingers-crossed for everyone that has this as one of their future NSV goals- I'm right there with you!

Hi there, congratulations on everything -- you're doing beautifully. It's so hard not to get caught up in the instant results game. Enjoy each day and the healthy new you! The scale is one thing but what we call "non-scale victories" or NSVs -- wow, those are the things to watch for. Take your measurements, notice how your jeans are fitting, watch for ways you feel more confident and happier. I cannot really tally the points for JOY in my life now, and the relief at not thinking about food all the time. That's a huge NSV for me. The scale will move and you'll be astounded over time, but it may take a little while to get going or you may have some weeks with a loss then one or two with nothing.

great nsv. it's nice when clothes fit the way they are supposed to.

I wish I had measured at the start ... I didn't at all and so when I go thru a stall I don't have much to go on in terms of if inches are coming off ... I am someone who has had a sugar issue from the start as most of you know ... I try and control it but it's there ... It's def a tool this sleeve and not the solution I have to be verymindful of what I am eating Another issue I have as me is that when ppl tell me oh you lost weight I seem to think that means oh yay now I can eat crap again hahahaha I wore shorts to the beach yesterday for the first time in maybe 6 years so that was An amazing Nsv! I hate how flabby my thighs and bum are that's really something I need to work on exercise wise

Follow your pre and post op diets to a T. They are designed for your health and safety. You will feel very empowered with confidence once you make it through without cheating. Don't weigh yourself everyday. In fact, twice/month for the first 3 months is plenty . It will save you the frustration of stalls. If you stick to the meal plan you WILL lose weight. Measure your success by NSV's, how your clothes fit, and how you feel. Stick with thrift stores until your weight stabilizes or you will be out a lot of $$$$. Eat until you are satisfied, not full.

Bought a pair of shorts and felt very comfortable in them. I wore them out in public and this was the first time I have done this in over 10 years!!!!

That is one of my favorite NSVs still to this day. Wait until you see the hollow under the collar bone too. Congrats!

I need a smile break. Anyone have any recent NSVs (non-scale victories) to share?

I vote don't weigh. It will save you a lot of stress. Better yet, you won't even know if you have a stall or not. You can concentrate on drinking, getting in Protein and making healthy food choices. Judge your success by how your clothes fit and NSV's. F... K the numbers on the scale. I don't even own a scale. I weighed myself at the doctors office maybe 4 times in the first 2 months. After 4 months, I have stepped on the scale at work about once a week so I have something to post on my ticker. And I've always lost weight whether a I weigh myself or not.

Tuesday one year ago I met with my surgeon for the first time. What a wonderful year I have had for health and rediscovering me. For those of you just starting out, you may feel like I did that your surgery is too far in the future and waiting all those months will be unbearable. When I first started to research WLS in September, I thought I might be able to have surgery before Christmas. Ha ha ha. Not only was it not before Christmas, but it didn't actually happen until March. And you know what? I needed every single day of that time period between September and March to prepare myself for this enormous life change. First, I met with my clearing psychologist. And I didn't get cleared! Nope. I needed to change my habit of eating in front of the TV. Until I did that, the psychologist was not going to clear me for surgery. He told me that I needed to make lifestyle changes. When I first heard that, of course I said, sure! Everybody knows you need to make lifestyle changes! But when I went back to him the following month for clearance, and I told him I had not been exactly able to give up TV eating, he told me point blank that he didn't think I was ready for WLS. He told me that unless I actually made the lifestyle changes, I was not likely to succeed with the LapBand. Of course, he was right. I'm glad that my little wake up call was so minor, and not a bigger deal, like if I had been denied surgery at the last minute. His denial made me face facts. How was I going to live in a new way, if I wasn't even willing to change a little bit? After I gave up TV eating, the next hurdle was the holidays. I grieved my way through Thanksgiving. I was very sad that in my mind, it was going to be my last enjoyable holiday. I sat in the kitchen the night before Thanksgiving, after having roasted the turkey, and binged on the crispy turkey skin. It was the weirdest experience I'd had in a long time. I knew what I was doing, and simultaneously I knew it was the last time I was going to do it. I knew that Thanksgiving 2014 was going to be different. I was going to have lap band surgery and I was going to be eating like a normal person. I was working toward that goal with excitement. So why was I so sad? I was getting ready to pay somebody thousands of dollars to help me recover from binge eating. And I was grieving not being able to binge eat anymore. Fast forward to February 2014. My personal life took a terrible plunge. My marriage, which was in bad shape before my WLS process began, took a terrible blow. Constant stress became my normal everyday life. I had one anchor in my life. My upcoming surgery. I was banded mid March 2014. I complied with all of the doctor's orders. My surgery was a breeze, and my weight began to come off right away. You can see by my ticker that I have had a lot of success this year. I am almost 2/3 of the way to my goal weight. I have not been the weight I am right now since my second child was born 19 years ago. Through it all, I have received immeasurable help and support from this website. I do not have a supportive spouse. I do have two very supportive daughters. But when it comes right down to it, we must do this for ourselves. Nobody can do this for us. And more importantly, nobody, nobody, nobody can prevent us from doing this for ourselves once we are ready to reclaim our power. I'll save my long list of NSV's and great experiences for when I write my 100 pounds lost post soon. And it's almost here. This post is just a reflection back to that first week when I walked into a WLS orientation meeting, followed by a meeting with my surgeon. The fearful, beaten-down person that I was one year ago no longer exists. In her place is a strong, confident woman who knows that she is worth it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This is about so much more than weight. Nothing changes until everything changes.

Oh my goodness! That makes a world of difference on your back! I am only four days post op, but those are the kinds of NSV I'm looking forward to the most! I haven't been able to buy a bra at Victoria's Secret in decades! I can't wait!

@@LipstickLady what a pleasant read! The hip story had me dying laughing. It's so good to be able to get on such a forum where I find people that can echo some of the experiences I have. Just yesterday, I had a NSV in that I packed up my gym bag to attend a Zumba class right after work. So I got to the gym and changed into what I had grabbed - tights and a t-shirt - that used to fit me really really snuggly. I thought it would fit since what the heck? It was lycra. Boy was I wrong, I spent the entire class pulling the tights up cause they were slipping so couldn't go full out on the moves and the t-shirt was EXTREMELY loose on me. Although the inconvenience of not being able to hop around for fear of dripping my pants, I chuckled as I was reminded that I have indeed lost 73+ pounds!!!! The girl I see in the mirror at the gym has defined legs and a small waist!

I was told by my Dietitian today that I look like a model. I was so taken back! But thrilled. Later after my scope I was told by the nurses on my old floor that I looked like a model. Okay now I was surprised but thankful. Next I was told by the lady I visited that I looked so amazing and wait for it-------Like a model..... It was a good day guys!!!! LOL Is that a NSV. They were lying but it was so nice of all of them. none knew the other said it!

Proud grammy, I just had the exact same thing happen to me just this morning ! Weird !!! Another person parked their car too close to mine at the Y, I had to move my mirror in to get to my door. I slid right through this small space like it was nothing ! I got a swim workout AND a NSV , not a bad way to start my day !! Woot! Woot !!

unexpected NSVs have me LOLing in public. @@LipstickLady was in a parking lot the other day there was very little space/room between cars had no problem walking through such a small area then again, i realized i have a "small area too" kathy

It has been 2 weeks.... How is everyone doing? Anyone still feeling pain? How are your incisions healing? And NSV's to speak of? I am doing great.... I had my first follow-up appt with my surgeon. Everything is fine and on track so I see him again in 2 weeks. I saw him before but it wasn't a follow up as much as to take the drain out. Still pain free and completely comfortable but still itchy around my incisions sometimes. I have a few NSV's.... 1. I can wear my wedding rings and they are comfortable. 2. I am almost a full size down. 3. I am wearing undies that were too small before 4. My feet are changing and shoes are already getting loose. It's a start and I am over the moon about #1 And my surgeon says that I can start doing ab work and weights in a week. Yay!!! What about you?

Welcome to the forum. You will have amazing non-surgical victories as you go. We call them "NSV's"......things like being able to trim your own toenails, tie your own shoes, run for the first time in years, or getting into a lower size that you haven't seen since you were 20. Keep in touch and visit us often. Congratulations for taking control of your health and happiness.

Admit this may be a long one so I apologize upfront for that! I was ridiculously out of control in my eating habits therefore I was also crazy worried about my ability to make the change. I did begin changing my habits before surgery. I began walking short distances as the 8 stairs up from my basement had me huffing and puffing. Initially I dreaded having to walk the 3 blocks to pick up my children from school. For almost 2 decades I never really dealt with hunger because I often ate so consistently I don't think I ever allowed myself to get hungry. I woke up and thought about what I would eat for Breakfast, after breakfast i focused on lunch but had Snacks, etc... I literally ate from wakeup, to my head hitting the pillow and often got up to eat more before I actually fell asleep. I remember eating 2 footlong subway subs in a sitting, and this wasn't a one time marathon thing; driving to 7-11 at midnight for junk food and then eating most of what I thought I would eat over 2-3 days. So I get it completely. Frankly I was scared sh**less that I would fail, or sabatoge myself along the way. Shortly before my first meeting with my center I had gestational diabetes but it went away immediately after my pregnancy. I admit when I am pregnant I am completely in control and anal about what I put in my mouth so lose weight throughout them. Of course post nursing forget about it! So after finding out I had no choice but to switch to formula I actually managed to become a full blown diabetic in about 5 months. It was a flurry of chocolate, fries and slurpees! My point being you and I are very much alike in being obsessed with food 24/7. So if I can do it anyone can do it! I found out I had become a diabetic at my first appointment at my bariatric center, March 12, 2013. That was the day the light went on for me, even if it was dim when it started. I walked 15 minutes that first day and I hated it lol. That night I completely lost all control of my sanity as every emotion under the sun came out over every little thing. For a second I thought OMG I am pregnant!! But no, apparently I am an emotional eater so now instead of eating, all of a sudden I was feeling everything and it was completely overwhelming. For this reason I strongly recommend trying to get at least 2-3 days of healthier eating out of the way prior to your liquid pre-op. The mental part of this is by far the hardest, so getting a small advantage before really does help. So expect to be very hormonal when you start out. Tricks of the trade pre-op.. I chewed a lot of stride gum especially during my liquid diet (3 weeks), lifesaver, that is my biggest thing to this day, although no I don't promote it post op as we all know it is a no no and I was 6 months out before I tried it. I drank a lot of low calorie fluids and I planned ahead for meals (before liquid pre-op). For the first little while I kept junk out of the house. I have kids so that's hard, so I chose to buy things they like but I don't, like all dressed chips, or cotton candy ice cream.. My fave thing being a large cup of lite hot chocolate with fat free hazelnut creamer in the evening as a treat and it kept me pretty full.. so I would do it at my peak struggle time. I started keeping fruit that I really liked around, cherries and raspberries and I would go to town. Not ideal but it was certainly better than the alternatives.. smart pop was another fave pre-op. No I was not perfect I had bad days, still do, but I started to convince myself that it didn't have to be a bad day.. instead it was a bad couple hours and then I let it go, guilt has no place on the road to success. It will not motivate you, it will only make you feel worse!! I made a list of all those things i wanted to be able to do post op... and a list of all those things I never wanted to feel or have happen to me again. That was emotional, then I put them up in a cpl places around the house where I thought they would most benefit me. I also included a list of the consequences of failing to follow my liquid diet. Number one of course being a cancelled surgery! So I actually made it through all 3 weeks or 22 days as my nutritionist miscalculated lol. A ton of gum, broth to break up the sweetness, I was allowed 2 cups of raw green veggies/day added garlic salt or seasoning salt.. no dressing allowed! It makes you an idiot about a week in, prepare to write things down as you won't remember them. Drink tons of fluids as the day 3 headache is a nightmare and will likely last a cpl days and nothing will touch it but hydration so stay on top of that. Post-op hunger concerns... I have hunger, boy do I experience real hunger. Now I am not trying to scare you, I didn't experience hunger like this until about 7 months out. So I have had a lot of time to work through better choices and options when I am hungry, the nice thing about being early out is that it won't take much to reel in said hunger if you are one who feels it. Have a cup of broth, some greek yogurt and boom it's gone for another couple hours. Also remember that your intake is soo limited that it is okay to feed it. Sometime just choose to feed it with fluids. That is the biggie, learning to decipher head hunger from actual hunger from thirst!! Once you get that straight your life will quickly become much easier. So pay attention to what each of them feel like, not as hard as it sounds I promise. Further out you can eat more, and I fall off the wagon the last time I was off for almost 4 weeks, stopped exercising too. I gained 5 pounds. The difference is that this time the weight gain actually scared me, having been a 'normal' size for a bit now I got comfortable and this was a well needed reality check. Now considering how much I was eating 5 pounds was kind, so the surgery really is just a tool. You still need to fight those demons for life but when I think about how much weight I could have gained in that same time period preop.. no comparison. I also dropped those 5 pounds during my 'taking back control' week. But what I didn't do is beat myself up for it, I went on a fabulous food vacation and when I landed back in reality I dealt with it. No guilt, just moved on and smartened up. So being kind to yourself is something that gets easier as you go through this process. It's also one of my favourite NSV's.. Sorry so long I admit I am horribly wordy... hope that helps alleviate some of your fears

I don't know if this is an NSV or an SV, but I'd like everyone to Celebrate with me, by knowing that I completed the Spokefest Half-Century (50 mile bike ride in Spokane County WA) on September 7th! That was a huge accomplishment for me. It started out as "friendly" competition with two co-workers (who haven't had bariatric surgery and are 13 and 17 years younger than me) and myself, riding bikes during our lunch hour, at the beginning of last summer. Since then we each individually rode the Hiawatha Trail (in the north Idaho panhandle and Montana Bitterroot Mountains), one of us has been downhill mountain biking at the ski resorts nearby, and I rode around Lake Washington, both ways, once south and once north, the weekend before Spokefest. Then all three of us did the Spokefest Half-Century together. We didn't do it for time or a public placing. We did it as a personal victory. Since then I've also been riding from my home in to my office on in Spokane WA, a distance of 17 miles. So far I'm up to about 15 - 17 miles an hour by bicycle! We still bike during our lunch hour, or run, or walk. I'm simply amazed at the health improvements, (FINALLY!), that this decision to have the gastric bypass has given me!

Today it was so funny, at lunch I went down to the canteen a bit earlier than my close friend who I have lunch with everryday for 7 years, I got my food but he had not yet arrived so I went to sit with my friend's boss who usually would join both of us if he didn't have company. I waited so long but my friend didn't show up, then the colleague I sat with told me that my friend was there already but he went sitting with other friends. Then after lunch I went to see my friend and he confessed that he saw that his boss was eating with "someone' but he didn't recognize that the person was ME!! that's why he went to sit at the other table!!! Oh la là, I laughed so hard!! This is huge!! my best friend couldn't recognize me from behind!!! He also mentioned that my dress today is already hanging off me! Well, I'm still mostly between sizes (dropped from 16-18 to 12-14) I don't want to buy new clothes just yet, luckily I still have some old clothes of size 14 kept from a few years ago and I am now trying to wear the clothes size 16 that hanging fully in my closet before I really have to give them up :-( I also shared this in the other topic (funny NSV) but I had a stressful day and this story is really funny, totaly made my day hehe.

I'm only four weeks post-op and down 40 lbs starting from 338. I air travel for work every week, so my favorite NSV has been the ability to sit in the middle seat of a plane without a belt extender or angry looks from my neighbors