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I did the BIG closet purge today . . . cleaned out ALL the 3x stuff (HURRAY!!) and organized everything else by size. I was previously wearing a size 24 jean and I got into my old size 20s . . . and they were LOOSE!! I also put on a dress I wore when I first met my husband (I think I was around 200-210 then) and it fit . . . snugly, but it fit. I'm SO excited!

Woke up and my former fat girl anytime knock around sweatpants are (drumroll.....) falling off!!!! Not falling all the way to ankle but loose and not wearable!!!!! Yay!

Oh what an eye opening NSV just now. I'm here in my office today and the place is like a freezer. Cold as all get out. I have a long sleeve blouse on but I'm just frozen to the bone. My very slender colleague comes into my office to chat and I tell him how cold I am and he offers me his fleece jacket that the company gave out a couple of years ago. I got one of these fleeces also but quickly gave it to my son because even the extra large didn't fit. So when Claude offers me his fleece, I take him up on it hoping it isn't too small because I still think I'm fat damn it! Well...I'm sitting here typing and warm as can be....and zipped up to the neck. Not only does the thing fit but it's got extra room as well. This is what normal must feel like. To be offered an item of clothing and not realizing the person offering isn't wondering if it will fit....they know it will fit. I need to remember this NSV to help me to see what everyone else does....

i was sleeved 9/12/12 like mgsmith. i have lost 19lbs prior to surgery and 35lbs post surgery total of 54lbs. my NSV is my work uniform was way to big for me, my daughter gave me some cute jeans that at first i couldnt fit now i rock them. my feet are much smaller which means i can wear my smaller shoes. my face is way thin and younger looking i love it, and ppl tell me how good i look almost everyday. i get down because i see ppl that had surgery around the same time as me and they have lost way more. but my nut said i am on target, they expect 30lbs lost in 3 months i did that in 2 months. i dont eat bad at all i eat all good healthy foods ive had maybe 1.5 cookie at work since surgery. i dont crave sweets anymore and when i do eat them it taste like sugar to me. i get all my protien through food my carbs are under 100grams a day, my only problem is i cant get enough calories in thats the hard part. the down side is i go through periods of naseau for days and then i feel better after a few days. i can only eat 2 -3 bites of dense foods. soft foods i can get in with no problem (exp) cottege cheese yogarts, cheese chili. but whole meats like chicken i get really full. some days i feel like im not going to lose all of the wieght but i guess thats a normal feeling, trying not to feel like im on a diet. trying to just be normal.

My hubby tells me today... I don't know if I should mention this...BUT your clothes are starting to look really baggy... DUH...OF COURSE I want to hear that you notice!!!! :-) I am down 39 lbs....he totally made my day/week... :-) :-)

I do high intensity Water aerobics most every Tuesday and Thursday. On Tuesday, my swimsuit about fell off (I bought it in February when I was still about a 24W or thereabouts) so when I saw that Macys had clorine resistant suits for 50% off I had to snap one up. I was so excited to pick a black suit with hot pink trim including a zipper up the front! My inner thighs are gross so I wear these sorta bicycle short things under the suit. the total effect isn't too hideous. The suit I had before was a tankini worn with shorts which was great at first, but when it got too big, it was a little bit of a train wreck. It did cover my thighs, but I was in danger of stepping out of the pool and leaving the suit behind - something I DON'T want to have happen! Anyway, NSV #1 - I fit into and 18! Not an 18W, and actual honest to goodness 18! I started in the 26W range, and what a difference! NSV #2 - I had 3 people in my water aerobics class come up and tell me how good I looked, how i must have lost weight suddenly and how much they liked the suit. I saw these same people on Tuesday, but wearing a dumpy looking too big suit just isn't flattering and they really noticed the difference. I am starting to feel so much closer to "normal" sized even though I still have a lot to lose.

While getting dressed a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a hard lump in the sternum area between my breasts. I had my 3 month post op visit coming up, so I figured maybe it was from my hiatal hernia repair and I'd ask about it at my post op visit. I went yesterday and told her about the bump. She said that wouldn't be from my hernia, so she'd better take a look at it. The hard bump is my sternum, I just had so much fat tissue there for so long that I had forgotten what it felt like. I practically had myself signed up for chemo after reading WebMD! The internet can be the devil lol Sent from my XT1565 using the BariatricPal App

Congratulations!! That is such an exciting NSV to achieve. Sounds like it was a vacation to remember.

I'm down 62 lbs since surgery, 93 lbs total! I weigh 204 today : ) I've gone from a 24/26 jeans to a 15/16! My shirts from 3xl to L or XL. I am feeling great and having new NSV's daily. 5lbs to onderland, 7 lbs to century club! Hoping for both by Christmas. Yay me!!

Congratulations on your weight loss. This is a great nsv.

Hi, let me start off saying this is the best thing I've ever done for myself. It wasn't easy...but so worth it. I think a few key things for me were: 1. Look at the band as a tool and not a magic cure. 2. I used this site for information. I did not get into any debates with anyone. (back when i was banded there were some pretty nasty people on here. It seems to have gotten much better...people are more supportive) Each person's opinions and journey are their own. -I tried to follow people that were banded before me that we're successful. These people journaled their food (myfitnesspal is a good one), they exercised and when they fell off the wagon....they worked to get back on track. -i was concerned before being banded because I noticed some people hadn't lost weight after having the band for a pretty long time. But after investigating I noticed they talked a lot about dairy queen, taco bell, etc. and they thought the band was a magic cure. You'll be able to see the people that are working hard at it.... Connect with them My plan was: 1. Journal food 2. Exercise (3 aerobics/2 weight training per week) although when I started out I could barely do one class a week) I had to build up to this. 3. I only weighed and measured myself 1 time a month. I did both (weigh/measure) because I was losing inches fast. So I could see a complete picture. In the beginning I was weighing myself a lot and it drove me crazy. I actually put my scale at my sister in laws house so I couldn't get to it easily. 4. I wrote down my NSV's (non scale victories). Like the first time I rode in an airplane without the belt extension or when I first saw my collar bones. These helped me to keep going. 5. I also met up with other bandsters in my area as support. 6. I read LBT stories for support. Anyway let me know if you have any questions or need more info Best of luck in your journey... Josie

Well, I am back to make another entry. I had another "Aftercare" visit yesterday. My Official weight as of yesterday (per doc's scale = official) was 289. My last official weight 1 month prior was 293.5 - so I have officially lost 3.5 pounds. My unoffical weight (unofficial = my scale + 4 lb) this morning was 287.5 pounds. Not exactly supermodel fitness - but a damned site better than the original 357 pound that I started at when I first joined LBT. I was pretty gung ho going into March - but I must say that a number of life's little occurances stood between me and my motivation this month. 1) 1 week of vacation. Vacations are always a trap for me. I am out playing - and I don't want to do anything that resembles work... including exercise. Plus - road food leaves something to be desired in the nutrition and fitness category. I would have been ok - cause I had planned to come home and get back on it however.... 2) DH was sick - REALLY sick - with a high fever for 10+ days... First his temp spiked up to about 103 - then he started throwing up and was unable to keep any foods down - then he got delirious from the fever and lack of food... I took days off to take care of him - and because there were only certain things that he would/could take into his system without throwing up, I had to shop a lot. The longer he was sick, the more desperate I was to get some calories into him - which led to less than stellar foods making their way into my kitchen. Plus, the constant worry about him took all my energy. I just didn't care about diet & exercise at all with him so sick. So by the time he was better enough to start taking care of himself - we were already thru week three in March. 3) Job Hell all month. Lay-offs, program changes, uncertain as to whether I would/will have a job in April. Nothing like worrying about your financial future to stress you out. And what does Irene do when she is stressed out? Well, she EATS, of course. And she eats nachos and donuts - not veggies. *sigh* (spoiled, lazy AND weak.) 4) And just for shits and giggles - my refridgerator stopped working 3 days ago (repairman comes today) which meant I had to throw away almost everything in it and clean it so the repairman can fix it. I have been eating take-out for the last few days, and there is this lovely "rotten food" smell in my house... Hopefully the rain will let up so I can hang the doors open and air the place out, soon. 5) Last, but not least, somebody rifled through my car last night while it sat in the driveway. Nothing like walking out to find all your stuff strewn around the inside of your car to start your day off right. Thankfully, either the door was unlocked (maybe?) or they kids who rifled it just happen to have an electronic lock gizmo that works on my car (somewhat worrying). So, they didn't really do much damage - they didn't even take my crappy stereo, although they broke a piece of plastic facing trying to - and there wasn't a damned thing in the car that they wanted. So far as I can tell, nothing is missing except 20 cents from the change slot. So aside from the worry that they do have an electronic gizmo that opens my door locks, it was just a pain in the ass to have to clean up the mess before I could leave for work. I guess I won't be leaving the Hope Diamond in my car overnight any time in the near future. *sigh* So, the trick now is - what the hell do I do with this big ol' pile of stress? I want to curl up into the foetal position and suck down a couple of boxes of chocolate - but I think that might be somewhat counter-productive to both my attempts to retain my job and my attempts to lose weight. I really can't feel too badly about losing 3.5 pounds last month. March has been FAR too much drama for me. Any one of those things would have been too much drama. All of them is practically overwhelming. I am trying to be proactive at work. There isn't any actual WORK to do (can you say "Sub-Prime Mortgage"? - sure you can) but I am working on an alternative career selection as I wait to get laid off with the rest of my co-workers. I go tomorrow for an informational seminar on getting certified to be a Teacher here in Colling County, TX. I have been spending my days at work researching how to go about that, and brushing up on my once-fluent Spanish. I have a degree in Psychology, a minor in English, and plenty of Spanish Language credits on my transcripts. If I can get certified to teach English & Spanish, I should be able to get a job teaching full time. I want to do Math, too - but I don't think I have the credits for it. I would have to go back to school for that. I guess I might have time to do that if I get laid off! *sigh*. I need to be more proactive about exercise, too. The Aftercare gal reminded me that exercise helps with stress control & relief - so I guess I am going to have to get to the gym and hit the elliptical machine. My eating has been sporadic. Some days I eat proper bandster portions, some days I don't. Unfortunately, I have been making some less than stellar food choices. It would be so much less irritating if I didn't KNOW better - but I DO know - and still choose the wrong stuff. How crazy is that? I am going to have to see a counselor of some kind. I really am. I could be so much farther along in my weightloss journey if I didn't sabotage myself at every turn. But stinking counselors cost money - and I am trying to SAVE money right now - just in case I have to live on unemployment... *shudder* I really, really wish that I could regain the motivation I had when I was battling the insurance company. I was so into the whole thing... I went from 357 to 331 on my own prior to surgery, doing low carb and exercising 4 days a week. But it's hard to do the right things when the weight is sliding off anyway. It doesn't go away FAST - but it goes, even if I eat carbs, even when I don't exercise..... So, for now, I will just keep creeping downward... 3-4 pounds per month... It certainly beats creeping upward. I hope things even out, soon. I planned on needing 3 yrs to get to goal... not 10! NSV's **Weird one - I can feel my port for the first time ever. It was too deep under a layer of fat to feel it, before.

I just got engaged this weekend, one day before my birthday!!! However, my size 7 ring doesn't fit. We're looking into sizing options, but this is one of those things I NEVER imagined going through. I think for now, I'll just use a ring guard until I'm at goal, then we'll resize it permanently. Though I haven't lost a pound this week, this has been one of the best non-scale victories I've had. Best to all on this journey!! Lauren

I went to my surgery support group that we have every other week with some ladies from my Options class. When my friend opened the door she looked at me and said "oh my gosh, where's the rest of you?!" Totally made my day!

Dang your (running) with this (band) I guess in your case you can say band on the run lol not only is the band helping you but you are also helping your self not to seconds lol but to days this is a great NSV.

I love it... congrats on your NSV ... let there be many, many more! =]

NSV Alert! Great job!

I'm 6 weeks post surgery, down 29 pounds and had my first fill of 3 cc in my 10 cc band yesterday. Had to go shopping for a dress for my stepson's wedding and I walked out of the store with a dress 2 sizes smaller!! I first took my "old" size in the dressing room, then asked hubby for a size smaller, and finally another size smaller. I couldn't believe all the dresses I was trying on were 2 sizes smaller! I also bought a new pair of jeans, a top, and undies (all 1 size smaller). Talk about feeling on top of the world! My doc says not to buy too many clothes because they won't fit for long. From his mouth, to God's ear.

I've gone from wearing a size 3 in tights/stockings to a size 1. Not since infanthood have I worn anything with a 1 that wasn't followed by a couple of X's. LOL

Awesome NSV!

My jeans are to big already! And I went to Walmart...just looking around in the clothes to see what's out there for when I need to buy a few staples...and I found this really cute black and white printed maxi dress in a size 22/24...only one they had. So I bought it. Came home, tried it on..just to see how much more I needed to lose for it to fit...and holy balls it fits!!!!! Have to wear a smoothing garment under it...but it fits!!!!

Took my blood pressure tonight for the first time since surgery on 4/9 . . . And it was 112/68. Halle-freakin'-lujah! My BP has been high for over four months and I was put on pills through my surgery date, my PCP didn't think I'd need them after surgery. She was right! Also, today I tried on a pair of shorts that I haven't been able to wear in over three years, and they fit with room to spare. 9 lbs down since surgery date, but I really should have started taking measurements because I've dropped a size. Only unexpected event was that TOM showed up 10 days early (which NEVER happens) and I've been in a lot of pain. Had to take some of my post op liquid pain meds to make it through. Oh well, small price to pay. Today was a good day. Sent from my iPad using VST

That is such a great NSV! Congrats. I am sure you were smiling all day.

I was washing my hands at work today and, when I got ready to dry them, there were no paper towels. So I started to shake my hands off a little and... My wedding rings flew off!!!! I've lost 33 pounds since starting the pre op diet, but I've lost 63 since I got married in August!! I had to put my rings in my pocket for the rest of the day and I guess I'll be either putting them in the jewelry box tonight!

Oooh the dehydration could be a factor. Between the head cold, the Nyquil, and an experiment with the blender and a decaf coffee smoothie last night I may have needed some fluids. I had some applesauce, some watermelon, and some yogurt today so I think things settled down later in the morning. The GREAT news is that I finally get it! I made a variation of Eggface's ricotta bake for dinner and put two tablespoons on my plate. I was thinking a tablespoon would be about an ounce. I ate half of what was on my plate and I got that "don't eat another bite" feeling. I used to have a problem with binging so I really had to think about not putting the next bite in my mouth. My brain said "do it" and my stomach said "don't you dare". I cleared my plate and have been fine ever since! I am gonna count this as an NSV. It was the first time that I really felt like I was having a normal meal since the pre-op diet. I can see light at the end of the tunnel and it is SO great! (I have a 2 year old and so I use the same plates and silverware that she does. It helps me feel like I am having a "right size" portion. LOL!) This board ROCKS!