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Thank you for starting this thread, Rev. I've also been thinking a lot about the food messages I received growing up. My grandmother fed the people she loved copious amounts of food, but she spent her entire life gaining and losing the same 20 lbs. My mother is a pretty terrible cook, so my sister & I were fed a continuous stream of packaged, heavily processed crap food from my mom & heaping helpings of southern-fried deliciousness from my grandmother. Neither way of eating was an example of a healthy (or even a moderately OK) diet. My first husband was a seriously talented cook & he made incredible meals every night. His food was rich and delicious, and he never made healthy or lighter alternatives. In fact, when I would try to lose weight, he complained that he didn't see why he should compromise the quality of his food just because I had a weight problem (he has always been very lean). I never learned anything about proper portion size, and I took a daily medication with a side effect of increased appetite. Naturally, my weight ballooned. Now, I feel like I am gradually getting a better handle on my eating. It's taking some time & it's definitely a process. I'm trying to keep myself prepared to make changes when something stops working, since I've heard so many vets say they found they had to make more changes as they got further out. I enjoy the NSV's, markers, and milestones of my weight loss, but I'm trying to keep most of my focus on the long term changes rather than the short term "woo hoo" moments.

@Missy would have loved to see her face! #priceless ok my Thanksgiving NSV was being able to complete my first 5K turkey trot!! I may not have had the best time but I jogged it and I finished it!! Go Me!!

Wow..I am 55 and I try to wear skinny jeans all the time...My legs are sticks and the skinny jeans don't look as bad as regular jeans.. Your family is not going to send you out looking bad..They love you and only desire the best for you..TRUST them a little..and enjoy the ride it is only going to get better.. Your thinking with your fat brain instead of celebrating the NSV that you can enjoy right now.....Come on your doing great!!!!!!!!!

I started at size 24/26. Surgery was 9/3/2013. Today I tried on 2 different outfits in a size 20...and they FIT!!! OMG I am beyond excited!!! It's been sooooo long since I have worn that size!!! I honestly didnt even think they would fit!! I was extremely shocked and oh soooo ecstatic!! :D

That's a great NSV Tara! It means you are engaging with people instead of retreating and that's a wonderful thing.

Don't quite know how to explain this is as a NSV but I hug people. A lot and often and even ones that I'm merely an acquaintance with.

I had a funny NSV over the holiday. I was with my brother and nephew when my nephew's mom (my brother's ex) came to pick my nephew up. She was totally skunk eyeing me something wicked. She wouldn't even respond to my attempts at small talk. I was thinking "wow, she hates me!". Still, I just tried to ignore her and loved on my nephew. When it was time for them to leave, my brother walked them out. When he came back, he was laughing. Apparently, she had no idea who I was and assumed I was my brother's new girlfriend! LMAO! She asked him who I was (curse words included) and he laughed "ummm, you mean my sister?" He said her jaw literally dropped and she goes "no way! but she's so little now! It doesn't look like her at all!" My brother told her I'd lost over 200 pounds so it's no wonder she didn't recognize me. I guess she then felt bad for being such a b#tch to me. I laughed so hard!!

NSV looking at pictures taken at thanksgiving 2013 and can't believe that's me I look so not huge !!! I keep staring at the pic looking for the rest of me it's crazy. I didn't notice "all" that I was once and yet I notice it gone. Another huge bag of clothes to give away heading Into 12/14 shirts and 16 pants although my pant size is all over I guess depending on cut I Currently wearing 16-20's in pants I don't get it he range but of they fit nice I don't care about the size. Enjoying the compliments yet the baffle me at times. Emotions all over but eye in the prize a skinnier healthier me

I am scheduled for surgery on December 11th. My surgeon does not allow lifting for a full three months due to the risk of hernia. Once I get the clearance, I intend to be in there hitting the weights pretty quickly. I do not want to become "skinny-fat." I know that I have a good amount of muscle under all this blubber, so it will actually be nice to see results and growth. I was always able to feel the improvements and increased strength, but never able to see it. That will be an "NSV" for me!

I just tried in a pair of my daughters jeans, size 8 to see how far away I am from fitting into an 8. They fit! For the first time in my life I was able to put on, button and zip and single digit!! That is by far the most awesome thing to me!

I was told tonight at my favorite store that I can't shop there anymore...the woman behind the counter told me they don't carry my size at all.... What is strange is that a little over a year ago I was in the biggest size in the store and just barely fitting into it it was so tight.... Wow eh!!!!!!!!

That sounds like fun! I love the hotel robe NSV too. I keep checking my wedding ring to see if it's still safe. I had wedding bangles from my dad and my husband (I don't care for diamonds so my husband bought me the bangles instead). One swift push and they would have been off my wrists. I couldn't risk them and they are now put away. My arm feels naked.

Thanksgiving was amazing. Sat between my little grandsons which was great by itself. But by the time I finished cutting up their food, the platter passing was over and everyone was eating so my smaller portion of turkey seemed ok even to me. And then, the drama! My wedding and engagement rings just slipped off my finger. Found fortunately but everyone be careful. Also know the hotel robe that never fit. Well it does now. Since I can't see the weight loss In the mirror or in my head, I love these NSVs.

Hi cc. Welcome to banded life. I don't have any suggestions regarding a book or some other type of information regarding what meals to make/eat. I can only give you my thoughts as someone who has been banded almost a year now. I found that for me, following a basic weight watchers type of program has been very successful. I basically stick with 3 oz. Protein, 1/2 cup veggies, and 1/4 cup of carbs. I even have dessert....sugar free pudding/jello...even 100 calorie cookies/ice cream once in a while. I also track everything in myfitnesspal to give me an idea of my calorie/protein/sugar/sodium intake and to keep me compliant. This is for me, a very easy plan to follow without a whole lot of guess work. I also change it up alot.....fish, chicken, meat. This way I don't get bored and stray to poor choices. One more thing. You ask about band safe foods. While some bandsters have difficulty with certain foods, everyone has different experiences so don't presume there are any foods that are not safe to eat. I eat everything, just in band sized portions and as you can see from my ticker, have had great success this year. Good luck to you and can't wait for your first NSV (non scale victory) post.

Since moving to So Ca 6 weeks ago, we thought we'd take advantage of all the fun stuff to do (watched the Dr Phil show tape a couple weeks ago and will see The Tonite Show on Dec 10th) and since Knotts berry Farm has FREE (reg $68) tickets to veterans and 1 friend till Jan 4th, we decided to go. I'm not a roller coaster fan at all. It might have something to do with the fact that I didn't want to know if I wouldn't fit in it. Too embarrassing to be told by staff that u won't fit. Rode on 5 of them (1 was barely big enuf for my 6'1" hubby. If he'd have been 1" taller, he wouldn't have fit) without any problem. And I didn't worry about it. Worried about going 0-82mph in 2.3 seconds, going straight up then straight down, but didn;t worry about fitting in the seat! Yeah me!

Inches is the best weight loss NSV there is. Congrats! I'm very happy for you. !

What a great NSV Bama!

What a great feeling! Congrats on your NSV and OMG - look at how much weight you've lost. Thanks for sharing!

Hadn't realized, really how thinish I've gotten. My mother gifted me a business suit in a size 12. Now this has no stretch so I was like that's not going to fit. She made me try it on, reluctantly I did and it fit like a glove. At my heaviest I was busting out if a size 24 so I'm super stoked.. I think I'm at a good spot after a failed lapband and then being converted to a sleeve a year ago I can finally say I'm at goal.

Before I had Lapband surgery 09/19/13, I was so focused on losing weight and forgot about losing inches. I did not measure myself until 10/13/13. Well, on 11/24/13, I re-measured and have lost a total of 19 inches. Oh what a feeling Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The scale has never been my friend and weight loss surgery hasn’t helped our relationship. When I diet, I tend to weigh every day, perhaps multiple times during the day (a mid-afternoon weighing will have to take into account being fully clothed and if I ate recently or if I just drank a lot of liquid). When I am not dieting, the scale sits there, neglected and collecting dust. Since we arrived back home on Friday (five short days ago), I have probably weighed 12-13 times. Yes, that’s averaging over two times per day. This is not a healthy behavior. Here’s what happened yesterday…I weighed in the morning and the scale said I “only” lost a half of a pound since the morning before. I think a normal person would log that and move on. Not, me and probably not many obese or formally obese people. I thought about that measly little number and wondered what was wrong with me the entire day. Why didn’t I lose more? I calculated my total weight loss. I calculated my loss since surgery. I calculated my loss since Friday. Over and over and over again all day long. Then I had a mid-afternoon weigh-in, subtracted for clothing and it was about the same and still feeling disgruntled. Why do I do this to myself? It makes no sense. I get hung up on the numbers that the stupid scale says – I relinquish all power to that stupid scale. When you look at it in reality, there is no possible way I am not losing weight. I am only taking in about 500 calories per day. My body right now (without exercising) burns at least 2000 calories daily. There are about 3500 calories in a pound. That calorie deficit adds up quickly, especially once you add in a walk here or there or start incorporating exercise. So why do I care so much about what that evil, bathroom-dwelling scale says? How can it have so much power over me? We need to Celebrate our non-scale victories (NSV’s). These are those little wins you get that are not necessarily related to the scale. Just in the past couple of days, I have had some. I tightened my FitBit Flex up by one notch (this means my wrist is smaller today than it was a few weeks ago when I got it). I tried on my winter coat last night and it fit. A few weeks ago, it was uncomfortable to zip up with just a t-shirt on, so I only used the Velcro fasteners to give me more room. Last night, not only could I zip it, I could have probably worn a sweatshirt and it would have still been comfortable. So, what am I going to do about it? I’m going to have my husband hide the scale. It will come out once per week on Thursday’s for a weekly weigh-in, then back in hiding it goes. As for my brain…I’m not sure the hubs can hide that. Do you do this to? How often do you weigh?

Hi all: You'll find this sorta cute I think. So.....I saw my sports medicine/pain management doctor today. First time I've seen him since about two weeks prior to the hip replacements so....about 9 weeks ago. I was in the waiting room and he called me into his office so I got up and started walking towards him. He then started walking to me and right in the middle of the waiting room, bent down and whispered in my ear....'I can't say this out loud with a room full of patients, but you look f***ing fantastic'. I've never had a doctor use that particular word before but he and I are about the same age, and I've been seeing him for a year and a half so I know he only meant well and was giving me a huge compliment. I must admit, it's kinda nice to have an honest reaction from him rather than a 'medical assessment' so to speak. It was unexpected but it really felt good to hear it.

My biggest nsv and one of the reasons that Pushed me over the edge with getting the surgery done was over the summer I was able to ride the rides at cedar point without even worrying if I would fit. Last year I could not buckle some of them and had to get off of one cause it wouldn't buckle. I am also able to walk in the store and buy clothes off the rack! I don't even have to try them on I know they'll fit! I am in a size 14 bottoms that are starting to get a little loose and medium top I did buy a 12 dress that fits perfectly. I'm able to run with my kids and it doesn't hurt me. I didn't have any comorbidities yet so surgery was really preventative for me. My knees and back feel so much better though.

You look terrific!! bet you feel amazing, too. What nsv's have you had? energy increase? self esteem? Comorbidities?

Hi all... It has been a while since I have been on here. I can honestly say life is sooooo different!!! I can't imagine ever going back to where I was before. I know you all understand what I am talking about! Well My biggest NSV to date is my new man! As most of you know, I mentioned in older blogs that one thing my weight hindered was my love life. I was single for over 5 years during my biggest years. I have recently found the love of my life! He is amazing and he is everything I prayed to find in a man. He thinks I am beautiful even though i am no where near my goal weight. He is so good to me and has added 2 wonderful children to my life. I don't remember a time when I was this happy. I thank God every day for the changes in my life over the last year. I am down 110lb since surgery. I am at 182lb and a size 12 at the moment. I have not been very good about sticking to my high protein diet but I have been holding steady for about 2 months now. Its nice to know I can eat normal and maintain a steady weight. I do want to get down another 20+ pounds but I have time. I hope you are all doing as wonderful! That your prayers are coming to pass and that your joy is as great as mine.... Love you all... Amber