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I know what you mean. I gained 3 lbs last week, but then I read the article posted in this thread about stalls and it all made sense. I did check my measurements and I have lost 18.5 inches so far. NSV. My husband tells me to stay off the scale, but it is so hard.

Congratulations! What a great NSV!

I am almost 3 months post RNY (Tuesday will be the official 3 month day). Today I am feeling really good about where I am. I am down 41.8 lbs since surgery (83.4 since starting). In addition I have a few great NSVs: Lost over 25" total (including 5" off my waist and 4.5" off my hips) My arthritis pain in my knees is virtually gone I am walking 2 miles a day with ease Almost all my clothes are too big. A bunch I've had to pull to donate because they simply aren't wearable, and the rest are getting close. When we are out of social isolation I'm going to need to do some shopping before going back to the office. In addition, I had my 3 month group appointment last week and was released to drink caffeinated coffee again (just need to ensure I don't add a lot of high calorie items). SO Excited. I hope everyone else is doing well in their journey and staying positive during this trying time! Lori

A couple NSV’s for spring! I ran 11 miles today 🙌🏽 Still working towards that 13.1, but I’m taking my time and preventing injuries along the way. I also ran a 33 minute 5k. My next goal will be to run one under 30minutes. I’m able to run up 4 flights of stairs at work to get to bed meeting (I’m an ER nurse) and only be semi-winded. I used to dread walking up even my own stairs in my house (I seriously would avoid going upstairs at all costs) and now it doesn’t really bother me. Still working toward the goals on the scale at 18 months out so any little NSV keeps the motivation going. 🧡 Shout out to my slow losers, not getting to goal before 1 year post op doesn’t mean you aren’t working just as hard.

You are still recovering from surgery so your weight will likely fluctuate for a few weeks (although overall should be going down). I think as we start using up the glucose in our fat cells it can cause some fluid retention which causes our weight to go up temporarily. Don't weigh yourself everyday - it's the fastest way to de-motivate yourself if you don't see any movement, or only upwards movement. I "gained" five pounds after surgery but have been slowly losing since then. It's best to pick one day a week for an "official" weigh in (for me it's Monday morning) - don't worry what's happening the other days (easier said than done!). Stick to your post-op diet, walk as much as you can, and distract yourself by doing other things. Make a list of non-scale victories (NSV) that you can track or look forward to, like fitting into smaller clothes, being able to sit on a bus/subway seat with enough room for another person to sit beside you (and not touch them!), seeing your collarbones again, being able to fit into smaller/former shoe sizes since your feet may have been too big/swollen from years of being overweight (this was a big one for me), being able to wear heels again without being in pain, not needing a seatbelt extender when flying, etc, etc. You can also make a list of "rewards" or future plans to look forward to. Like, when you lose your first 10 or 20 pounds. 50 pounds. 100 pounds. Making it to "onederland" (under 200 pounds). For example, for me, once I hit goal weight (or near it), I'd really like to do a physical challenge that I really couldn't do before because of my weight (and therefore my knee and back problems). So climbing Kilimanjaro and walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain are two bucket list items that I would like to do once I lose the weight (and save the money) to do so. Having a really great makeover (hair, makeup, clothes, everything) is something else I'd like to do. Another thing to remember is that (I think, for all of us), we didn't gain weight every single day as we were overeating or making poor food choices throughout our lives, it was a gradual, but steady, increase over time. Same with losing weight. It's not going to happen every day in a steady decline. Some days (or weeks! It will happen eventually) the weight may not move at all, or may go up a little. But stick to the plan, try not to fall off the wagon no matter how tempting, and the weight loss will be steady over time. Not every day, but it's happening.

Hit a stall last week, they are bound to happen. I actually gained 0.6 lbs over last Friday's weight, but still under 300 lbs. NSV, I bought a couple of 2XL shirts in December as I had a bogo coupon. Put one on today and it fits! I haven't worn 2XL shirt in about 20 years.

I had some blood work Monday and was so excited to see my cholesterol levels! Total Cholesterol 175 < 200 200 HDL 65 > 40 52 LDL 96 < 100 124 Triglycerides 70 < 150 116 the numbers in the middle are what they should be and the numbers to the right are from October 2019

So, yesterday was my 6 month gastric surgery anniversary. And Holy Crap. Yesterday was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I started the day feeling pretty good. Went to the Cardiologist. He was so happy for my weight loss. He wanted me to lose weight, but didn't know about the VSG. He was impressed with how much weight I lost so fast. He also commented I look great and was shocked I don't look "sickly" at all due to the rapid weight loss like many patients he sees. He was thrilled with my increased physical activity and my plans to hike the "Camino de Santiago" in Spain this summer. (It is a "pilgrimage" where you walk literally across Northern Spain or another route to Santiago de Compostela). We discussed my tachycardia and sometimes low blood pressure. He is having me reduce my dosage to half a pill (YAY!). We discussed my cholesterol and medication for it. I told him of my desire to attempt to go off it for a while to see if I can keep my lipid panel numbers in check without it now that I lost all my excess weight and am eating much healthier. We agreed that I will stay on it for 6 more months and then do labs. If my numbers are good, he will let me go off them and see how my labs hold up. I acknowledged to him that I know if they do go back on them, then I will have to take it for the rest of my life... he was happy with that compromise. On top of all that already great news... I asked him about my EKG which I had already looked at myself (I am a former trauma nurse, I know how to read them). He confirmed what I already knew... my EKG was NORMAL!!! Now this is HUGE because the reason I decided to look into WLS in the first point was because I was worried about my heart. At my appointment with him in fall 2018, my EKG showed that I had an enlarged Left Ventrical for the first time. I had an echocardiogram several months later that confirmed the EKG findings. THIS is the reason I insisted on getting weight loss surgery in the first place. My heart was working too hard and was beginning to enlarge. This was unacceptable. This was my reason to stop "trying" to lose weight and for making sure I "did" lose weight. So here I am... 1 1/2 years after identifying that my heart was enlarging.... and all my excess weight is GONE and my enlarged heart is GONE TOO! OMG, I left the cardiologist office on such a high note, I practically floated home lol. And I called my husband with so much excitement. It was a great day. Until..... During the drive home from my cardiologist I got an e-mail from the radiology office. I saw the e-mail when I stopped to exchange some pants at Old Navy. Some of you may recall I posted recently that my bilirubin levels had been rising since surgery. I normally have a high normal to slightly high bilirubin level. It is something that I have monitored my entire adult life. But since surgery, my bilirubin keeps getting higher. I saw my lab results before my bariatric surgeon did. I printed the results, wrote a note to my regular nurse practitioner, and dropped them off at her office. She called a couple hours later and agreed that we need to do an ultrasound to check my gallbladder and liver out. I did that Tuesday and was told that the results would not be available until Friday. Except now it is Wednesday, the next day, and I get a text that my results were available online. Again, I saw the results before either my general nurse practitioner or the bariatric surgeon. And what I read was devastating. My liver and gallbladder are just fine (weird... so why is my bilirubin elevated?). But I have a fairly large mass in my Left Kidney! I have a flippin TUMOR in my kidney! And they recommended on my report that I get a CT Scan or an MRI to further assess it. They used 2 terms to describe what kind of mass it appears to be. Both terms used, are the kind of masses that are cancerous 85% of the time. And even if it ISN'T cancer.... the mass is big enough that I know the first line of treatment is either a partial or total nephrectomy. Holy Crap. Add to that, I know that my grandfather wasn't much older than me when he had kidney cancer and had HIS left kidney removed. And I figure out all of this within 5 minutes, because as a Registered Nurse I already know too much. Still... I keep my **** together and calmly (but unnerved) drive home. I get home, I refill my water, I sit for a minute quitely before I call my husband over to talk. He is a Registered Nurse too... and I told him there is a mass on my Kidney and he made the same assessment I did... only he is much more panicked about it than I am. He wants to rush over to the nurse practitioners office NOW. I told him I want to wait a little bit so she can have time to look at the report first. Then I noticed a missed call from her. How I missed it, is beyond me... but she must have called in the 1 - 1 minute dead zone on my way home. What luck. And BTW, she doesn't make patient phone calls normally DURING her work schedule... she calls after she sees all her patients for the day. I know this because that is when she ALWAYS calls me for results. This was unusual for her. I knew she was worried before I even spoke to her. I called back and got a voicemail. (husband still panicking and wanting to rush over). I called a couple more times and got through to her. Instead of waiting for her to slowly break the news... I let her know I just saw the report and I know I had a mass on my kidney and that my liver and gallbladder were fine. This helped speed up her getting to the point... I needed a CT Scan and a referral to a specialist. She was at the same conclusion I was... it is a tumor and there is a good chance it is cancerous. I don't think she was going to say the "C" word yet... but after I mentioned it, she agreed. Now... my referrals always take a week. ALWAYS take a week to get back so I can schedule an appointment. So, I asked my husband if we can go for a walk somewhere. Well THAT was a disaster lol... because I got several calls from the referral lady and within an hour or so of my phone call to the NP about the results... I was running to the radiology office to pick up barium to drink for my CT scan on FRIDAY. Friday. The day I was supposed to be getting these results back, and now I am going in for a CT Scan already. Talk about FAST RESPONSE! The fact that she rushed this so much and managed to get me in to the radiologist office so soon just confirms how worried my NP really is, so that is totally stressful! Still don't know what specialist I will be seeing, but by the time I get that referral I will have results in hand from the scan, so that is good. On the plus side... I already know the rest of my abdominal organs are fine according to the Ultrasound. The CT scan will look more closely at all of it... but I don't have any reason to believe if it IS cancer that it metastasized. But now I have to gear up to drink a ton of barium (um... no clue how I will get this all in... I am only 6 months post op!). And now I have to deal with a tumor that could be cancerous and I might need a kidney partially or completely removed. Chemo is very unlikely, but radiation or other treatments might be needed. And on top of all that I still need an MRI for my L Knee because I might have a torn meniscus that might need surgery and definitely need physical therapy. And I am SUPPOSED to walk across Spain starting May 25th. Yay me. I thought I was THISCLOSE to being healthy again and all this **** happens! And how much you want to bet the Coronavirus hits my city hard right about the same time I need 1-2 more surgeries! Not afraid of the Coronavirus... except my immune system will be already under attack if I need a kidney removed!

Hi guys I’m Celebrating a new weight bracket today!⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ I never really set myself a goal as such but I always said around 9-10 stone (126 - 140lbs)⁣⁣ & today I weighed 10 stone 10lbs! (150lbs) ⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ So close to those goals now! However, I won’t be weighing myself again until 1st April 2020! ⁣⁣I decided to only get the scales out once a month from now on. I was starting to get really obsessed and panicky about the numbers on the scale all of the time so I thought it’s best for my mental health to see them only once a month. Plus, weight fluctuates so weighing daily is just silly at this point in my journey really! Yesterday the skirt was a NSV for me. Been waiting to wear one of these since 2013 lol! Instagram: @charlieannnn Www.instagram.com/charlieannnn I’m about to upload an FAQ to my Instagram TV. YouTube coming soon! 💜🌈💚🌻💙💁🏼‍♀️💗

This skirt was a NSV!

Had my 6 month follow up last week and I have lost a total of 85% of my excess weight! I have 13lbs left until my goal. My weight loss has completely stalled, I was stuck the majority of February and it finally started to break. Lost 2 inches over all despite only really losing a couple pounds. I was told to expect the weight loss to slow at this point. I need to get back on my game nutrition wise. Not eating a lot just not eating the best I can be. Some NSVs, I am now a size 10 in jeans and a medium in shirts! Prior to surgery I was a 22/24 in jeans and a 2XL-3XL in tops depending on the brand. Also, my CRP went from a 24 before surgery to an 8! Ideal level is 1 or below per my surgeon but he was so happy with the huge drop.

Hi Everyone and Surgery Buddies, Stats: Sleeved 12/23/19 HW205, SW199, CW 171. #31lost and 19inches overall. 🙂 A bit over 2 mos out and doing ok. No issues with meds/vitamins. Do have issues with heartburn from time to time but Tums helps. Down 2 pants and shirt sizes and appreciate the nsvs like being comfortable in my clothes, skin and not being out of breath and tired all the time! I can exercise now and do walking 3 miles a day and I do flights of stairs 1-2 times a day at work. No gym yet. I'm still struggling with eating real food and trying to lose weight. I do struggle with getting over 55oz of liquids in daily. Just not enough time in the day to get it all in, as I can get really full just off liquids. I usually have coffee with vanilla protein shake for creamer for breakfast and 2oz of protein yogurt. Lunch is protein shake or on occasion 1-2oz of meat and cheese, refried beans, tuna etc. Dinner is 4oz of meat and veggies. Have found my downfall is after dinner snacking. Hubby encourages it since he does and its bad for us both. I've had to learn to deal with stress and emotional eating in different ways. I now have a mantra I say to myself "I am worth being healthy, xyz is not my issue, not worth sabotaging my happiness and wls journey". Then I get out of the kitchen and find something else to occupy my time. Thank goodness my dog never tires of walks or playtime. 🙂🐶 I wish everyone the best and much success on the continued wls journey!

My stretch goal is to lose 100 lbs. I'm a year and six months out. I've been the same weight for a while now. If I don't gain and can extend myself more at the gym to make what I have look a bit better, I'll be thrilled. No reason to get hung up on a particular number. I would look at all the gains you've made with your health, wearing smaller sizes, or other NSVs.

Hey y’all!! MIA all week again- it’s all I can do during the work week to come home, do a load of laundry and cook dinner for my 9 & 10 yo. Whew Mama is TIRED! I wanted to give y’all a little update on my progress- I can’t get on my iPad for some reason so I can’t change my ticker but I’m down to 232.2- woot! That’s 43.2# so far! This week was slower but I’m eating and drinking more- still loosing about half a lb a day so that’s good. A NSV is that I went to the Goodwill on Monday ( $.99 cent day at my GW) and bought a bunch of size 18 khaki pants- typical art teacher attire- and THEY ZIPPED THIS MORNING! I was a size 24 Jan 2!! Hekka Yeah! Finally I had a GNO last night- we went to a local pub and then to see Mama Mia our on by our local theater club. I didn’t drink but I ordered their naked mugs (real chicken breast cup into cubes). We were in the nosebleeds- the theater is super old so during segregation it was the “black section” and the seats are TINY dingy and HOT! But I fit!!!!!! I’m attaching a picture of me in my SIZE LARGE dress that I wore (not XXL like 2 months ago!!!) Also attached is a comparison pic- Jan 2 to last night. Total difference!!

I was sleeved on Oct 15, 2019. I lost 50 lbs in the 6 months leading up to surgery, and weighed 242 on surgery day. This morning I weighed 176 lbs: 115 lbs lighter than I was at this time last year 🤩, and down 66lbs since surgery four months ago 😍. My BMI has gone from 55 to 32, and I'm physically able - and have enough energy - to do everything I want, including being active 7 days a week with hill hiking, race walking, distance cycling, squash, cardio, weights, sea kayaking, downhill skiing, etc. Currently I’m training for a triathlon (5km race walk, 400m swim, 20km cycle) in August, and will be walking the Camino de Santiago, a distance of 800km (500 miles) for 35 days in June. Though the surgeon set a goal for me based on the fact that I always weighed somewhere between 117lbs - 125lbs up until I was in my mid-30's, I don’t have any real expectations about how much I'll lose overall, nor do I have any specific timeframe in mind. I don't compare my loss to anyone else's since everyone's journey is different. Instead, what works best for me is to concentrate on being strong and fit and healthy, enjoying a whole foods plant-based diet, taking good care of my mind as well as my body, keeping a positive attitude, and looking for NSV's for validation and encouragement rather than at numbers on the scale. Happy sleevedom to all!

I'm tall and carry most of my weight in my legs. I'm ecstatic about this NSV but will say the pant sizes are going down much slower 😕 We will get there

I’m almost 7 weeks out from surgery. When I first started my weight loss journey last July I was a 2x and they were tight. At surgery I was a tight 1x. Today I bought some XL shirts. Woohoo!

Miss a few days & miss lots of fabulousness. Love that skirt & tweed jacket @AngieBear & I can’t wait to see you looking glamorous at your gala @Sophie7713. Congrats on your nsvs @november11 - looking good. I love spots & stripes too @kristieshannon. Big love to @AngieBear & @Sophie7713 promoting self worth. Sadly, making judgements about others based only on how they look is becoming endemic in society. I put my hand up shamefully & admit to have done it too. Worse that, in a previous life I taught 11/12yr old girls & would push individuality, resilience, self confidence & respecting others. Went to see my surgeon today. Bought the dress about 6wks ago & it’s a little big now. Those 2.5kgs I unintentionally lost have dropped me down a dress size (pity party thread followers know of my pain).

After years of reading my medical reports and seeing terms and unflattering statements like obesity, morbid obesity, "composed mostly of fatty tissue", and "due to patient's habitus," (which is the medically polite way of saying "can't see sh*t due to too much fat!" I finally had a CT scan this week and the report has the term "dose lowering technique utilized due to patients size." WooHoo...I'm too small for a normal dose of radiation! That's a NSV in my book!

ANOTHER NSV size 9 from size 11 ..oh and "work husband" says Hi.... ..

NSV = crossing like legs? That was my very first NSV! [emoji122]

Hey Guys.. It's exactly 3 months out Today !!!! see any NSVs in these pics ??? which one ?

I week out from RNY. Two weeks of Liquid diet and Keto found my ankles but one week after surgery gave me an even bigger blessing!!! I haven been able to wear this comfortably in about two years. Now I’m scared to wear the dern thing because I’m so used to the silicone bands I’m afraid I’ll ruin it! At least it fits!!!

How’s everyone doing? Stalls? Progress? NSVs?

Phenomenal Jake! I was looking for a NSV thread to share mine as well. Big NSV for me today. We have an electric scooter in the office for our starbucks runs and when we got it a little over a year ago I thought I would never be able to ride it because of the weight limit. Today much to my surprise when getting on the scale I was finally down to scooter weight!