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There was many times I thought I was in the green zone along the way only to have it subside days or even a week and half later. It took me about 6 almost 7 months post op before I was finally in a spot that worked for me. Those 6+ months were some frustrating times back in forth. I have to admit now that I am in the green zone the head hunger is more controllable and at times I wonder if my band has more to do with it then my state of mind. As a friend on here told me I do tend to over analyze things. Bandster hell was rough and the only way I got through it was by not having the tempting foods around me. I was a severe junk food addict and I simply could not keep it in the house. I still do not keep in the house even now but now that I am in the green zone I feel I have more control. Urge just isn't there but I cannot tell you for sure if it is just me embracing my new lifestyle, will power or the band or just a combination of all of it. I have not had a fill since January 29, 2012. April 16 will be my two year anniversary. My most challenging part of this journey has been my patience. I went through periods of up and down frustrations with the scale. I slowly started recognizing that there are other factors to consider when losing weight. Look for NSV's AKA non scale victories. Watching and feeling myself go from a size 62 waist to a 36 was more rewarding than any number on a scale.

Proud of Me!!!

Well at the last day of the the month I can look back and see all the changes that have happened so far. My pre-op diet began....I only lost 4 pounds but a loss is a loss. I had my lap band placed on the 12th along with the hiatal hernia repair. Gas pain was really the worse but thank goodness I don't have to worry about it now. I can eat like a normal person but not really- if someone would have asked me if I ate a lot before I would have said no not really. *Sigh* Now I understand and accept that I was an over eater, a snacker, and all those things that damn weight loss and getting on the road to being healthier. This month I have learned acceptance. I accept how I was and I know I can accept the changes that are going to be. 12 years and 2 deployments in the Army has already taught me to adapt but to accept things, that is different. I accept that proof for me, so far, has been in the numbers. I am down 16.4 pounds, almost 1 pound a day since surgery, minus my 4 pound pre op diet. I do have a NSV also, my wedding rings spin around my finger...:-) I just had them sized up in August and they were still tight so I will be happy to get them sized down again, hopefully this August! Looking forward to next month-hitting the gym and my first fill but my journey's start is something I will always remember, and I can accept that too.

Got to unpack clothes form 3 months ago needless to say I'm gonna need some new clothes. Too big! I think that's a great NSV!! Hope y'all are going good. Ready to say goodbye to Feb and hurry in March. I'm feeling eager for Spring. Y'all have any special plans on goals for Spring?

Fifty pounds down today!!!! AND I have a major NSV happening right now. I'm sitting in plane waiting for everyone to board and asked for and extender like always.... But I didn't need it(barely) lol. Yay!!! It's a great start to vacation weekend. HW 320 12/3 SW 313 12/17 CW 270 yay!

A very good reward. I love flowers to pamper myself. Good for you. And congrats on the steering wheel Nsv.

What a nice NSV and reward!

Alex, I apologize in advance for the length of this post. Here are a few things I wondered/thought of to ask you about the local groups: Where would these meetings be held? How long would each meeting run per session? How often would meetings be held? As a teacher, my daytime availability is limited from September to summertime, but I would still love to be a leader--would that be possible for me?Regarding size of each chapter--I would think as long as there are enough members interested and regularly attending, small groups would be acceptable; groups of more than 25 might need more than one leader, to organize and interact effectively with all members. In my opinion, co-leaders would be helpful across the board, really, since there's a good chance that now and then a leader may be sick or unavailable. Co-leaders could help cover for one another to make sure the meetings still happen when life gets in the way. Also, co-leaders may have different strengths; although I'm a teacher, I'm not a nurse. If I were paired with a nurse, our group would get double the benefit...and I'm a sleever. Having a partner that's a bypass patient would make our group stronger for our members.As a teacher, I definitely thing having a "core curriculum" across-the-board set of agendas from BariatricPal might be very helpful, as long as there is some freedom built in to the agendas to allow groups a chance to tailor them to individual concerns/needs. I think it's a good idea to have a common basis to start from as we get groups up and running. It would also ensure that BariatricPal's presence or "branding" is consistent and unifying; rather than a collected hodgepodge of disorganized WLS groups. Along those lines, I think agendas that divide by topic would be a great idea. For instance, a meeting agenda that covers general nutrition guidelines to begin the meeting; then after that introduction, the group could break up into smaller sub-groups to talk about the different nutritional needs between bypass and sleeve post-op patients, and then get back together to discuss healthy recipes or share great websites for developing their own post-op recipes for a whole family to enjoy. The wrap-up could be a question-and-answer period either based on that meeting's topic, or based on questions and concerns for that particular group. Another meeting agenda might be about the mental and emotional challenges that WLS'ers face post-op and sharing ways to combat things like "head hunger" and less-than-supportive friends and family members. Another one might be geared towards offering inexpensive ways to get more active (like using one's body weight to exercise if joining a gym is financially unreasonable or emotionally daunting). It might also be a good idea to have chapters organized into districts (if there's enough interest to have multiple groups in an area) and the leaders in each district could consider developing newsletters to publish information on events and celebrations/milestones for members. Would it make sense to develop a system to reward members who attend regularly, to encourage active attendance? A similar idea: could there be a way to formally recognize members for hitting milestones in their journey? Even something small like a ribbon or a lapel pin, or a keychain, can be very motivating to receive when you've worked hard to reach a goal. They could be organized by weight loss or BMI milestones (moving from obese to "overweight" is a big one for me personally!), or becoming a "veteran" WLS-er--recognizing the 3 month post-op milestone, the 6-month post-op, the year, etc. Sometimes recognizing those NSV's is what gets us through a stall, or keeps us from feeling like we're falling behind everyone else.Thanks for taking the time to think about offering BariatricPal groups in "real life", Alex! I hope this is a successful venture, I know it could definitely help a LOT of people.

Tonight I did what I thought was impossible! First, to put in in perspective: the Couch to 5k program starts you off with alternating 90 sec. walking with 60 sec jogging in week 1. I could barely make it one minute when I started!! Today I just finished week 5 day 3, which means I ran 20 SOLID minutes on the treadmill!!!!! I can't believe I did it, and it wasn't bad at all!! Just days ago I was struggling to finish 5 min blocks, then 8 min blocks. I was doing more than the people around me in the gym. I haven't ever felt that before! I nearly cried when I was done! But no, to Celebrate, since I had run 3.5K, I said screw it, and ran and walked even more and did the whole 5K tonight JUST FOR FUN. (Seriously, what's WRONG with me? LOL!!) I can't believe I've transformed so much in such a short time. The band has lightened me enough to find strength I've never known before. PS I called my brother, who has almost always been fit his whole life, even fit enough to run the NYC marathon several years ago, and he said that even he probably wouldn't be able to do 20 min right now. HA! Am I getting to be the fastest runner in my family? I can hardly believe it! I was always the slowest one. So I challenged him to do a 5K with me this summer. HA!!!! It's on!!

Yippy for you! They will just keep coming from here, Some of my first NSVs were things like putting on non wide calf boots, wearing a normal hotel towel instead of a sheet LOL Walking 3-5 miles and not really feeling much, picking my son up with out heaving him over my hip. losing my shoe size by 2 and having ot buy new shoes, shopping at VS for real size bras and panties. borrowing a skinny friends clothing and them fitting better than on her. Hugging my husband or being intimate with him and feeling very close rather than a body in between us.

I'm only about 8 days post surgery, but I had my first (of many hopefully!) NSV last night. I painted my toenails comfortably! Small victory, but it felt like a big deal!

I am 3 weeks post op today and while I was in the shower this morning I had no problem washing my back side as I once did 3 weeks ago. I have never shared this with any other soul and I must say I feel wonderful. Even though I dnt see any loss I feel a little different. Sorry if this was to much info I needed to share

O my gosh. Just wanted to share this. I was sitting at work and look down an saw I had cross my legs. I was amazed and looked at my coworker and said "look my legs are crossed." She had a blank look on her face and I told her this was a first for me in a long time. We had a NSV high five. Yeah for me.

So true. I lost ALOT of weight on MANY of the diets I tried. I could lose, just not for long. And what I lost in 3 months could be gained back in a week, no joke! Among those I've tried: Jenny Craig ... Grew tired of the packaged food quickly, and was discouraged by the very slow losses. New Direction and Optifast ... These worked great, as they were liquids only; gained it all back as soon as I went back to work. The Diet Center ... I did this plan a couple of times. It worked extremely well the first time (back in the late 80's) and I thought I could stick with the new eating lifestyle forever; I couldn't. Atkins ... Also worked well, but same issue as above. Diet pills ... They were ok when I was younger; less tolerance for them and less results as I got older. Plus I would get too snappy. Hcg ... Actually would work well, just could never stick with it long enough to get to goal. Nutrisystem .... See Jenny Craig above, The Beverly Hills Diet ... Does anyone remember that one? Or am I giving away my age? Lol. Anyway, I fainted and gave up on that. Those are just my majors, lol. I had tried probably every diet out there before being saved by the band. My biggest NSV with the band is the freedom of mind from the dieting mentality I lived with every day since my teens. . Me too. I could never understand why I could gain the weight back so quickly. I forgot about Diet Center I did that one too. All the money involved with all these diets wow! I still find myself being drawn into any ad I see for weight loss. I think to my self maybe I should try that one. I have to stop myself and remember I have done something about it lap band surgery. Old habits are hard to break I guess.

So true. I lost ALOT of weight on MANY of the diets I tried. I could lose, just not for long. And what I lost in 3 months could be gained back in a week, no joke! Among those I've tried: Jenny Craig ... Grew tired of the packaged food quickly, and was discouraged by the very slow losses. New Direction and Optifast ... These worked great, as they were liquids only; gained it all back as soon as I went back to work. The Diet Center ... I did this plan a couple of times. It worked extremely well the first time (back in the late 80's) and I thought I could stick with the new eating lifestyle forever; I couldn't. Atkins ... Also worked well, but same issue as above. Diet pills ... They were ok when I was younger; less tolerance for them and less results as I got older. Plus I would get too snappy. Hcg ... Actually would work well, just could never stick with it long enough to get to goal. Nutrisystem .... See Jenny Craig above, The Beverly Hills Diet ... Does anyone remember that one? Or am I giving away my age? Lol. Anyway, I fainted and gave up on that. Those are just my majors, lol. I had tried probably every diet out there before being saved by the band. My biggest NSV with the band is the freedom of mind from the dieting mentality I lived with every day since my teens.

Hey burtie! I thought that was you! We got sleeved about the same time same dr. (Dr jay)Good to see you r doing so wonderfully! Way to go! Can't wait till I can say I'm 8lbs to goal ! I'm over the halfway mark tho. Congrats on the awesome NSVs !

Brag time!!! Today I completed week 5 day 2 of my Couch to 5K program, which has you do a 5 min warm up walk, 8 min run, 5 min walk, then 8 min run again, then 5 min cool down. AND I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!! It was hard: the 2nd block was not for wimps, but I did it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wooo hooo!! PS Week 5 Day 3 is a 20 min run. I will keep at it till I get it right!!

Yah hoo! Great NSV!!!!I bet your eye doctor was excited, too! Congrats, Karen

I went in for my annual eye exam and there are no signs that my bout with diabetes has done any damage to my retina and that diabetes is no longer present in my eyes.

A little picture fun from my trip to Las Vegas. All of these are NSVs! Extra seat belt!! Pics with friends!! BATHING SUIT at the spa!! Taking the stairs!! Living life at a healthy weight could not be more fun!! I love reading everyone's NSVs!! Thank you everyone who shares on this site! It has been SUPER inspiring along the way!!

That is a wonderful NSV!!!!!!!!!!

I have to share a funny NSV I had Friday night. It is 10 at night my phone rings and its my 14 year old son calling to tell me he has fallen while ice skating and needs to go to the emergency room. I throw on my coat and run out the door and pick him up at the skating rink to drive him to the ER. The main office at the skating rink had cleaned him up and releases him to me. Well fast forward 3 hours later we are leaving the hospital driving home (he needed 9 stitches and fractured his nose) and he says to me "Mom I didn't even recognize you when you came into the skating rink office to pick me up because you looked so skinny to me". Well is it wrong that this is the thing I remember most about the evening? Believe me 14 year old sons do not ever notice their moms figures so this was a huge compliment.

This journey is as much psychological as it is physical. To have moments of epiphany and actually have the motivation to pursue greater is an NSV. You've conquered a major hurdle in your life and have overcome something that has plagued you for sometime. When these things occur, we realize we have regained lost power and belief in ourselves to do "the impossible". Congrats to you at this new moment of discovery, may there be many more moments of positive realization for you in the near future.