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For 4-6 weeks following my surgery nothing tasted 'right'. Almost everything tasted blah or bad. This actually was a GOOD thing. I was worried that I'd want to eat the old foods from pre op but I found the thought of them nauseating. I really had no appetite at all but gradually the bad taste went away, though I continued to be disinterested in food. I'm 14 months post-op now and food still doesn't have the same power over me that it used to. I eat for fuel, and just enough. I don't eat for pleasure and I don't overeat. Sometimes I forget to eat - that still surprises me! You sound like you're on track. Hang in there! Things will gradually improve as you recover and heal. Take this time to learn all you can about your new life with WLS - find recipes, read of others experiences (but always take your own team's advice first - they know you), and stay away from your scale. Soon you'll be celebrating your own successes and NSV's (non scale victories). :-)

What a wonderful NSV! I'll bet the kids loved it. You didn't eat any of the gelt, did you?😁

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!

do I sound stupid or what...what is an NSV???? and Margo, 1st time I have seen you and I am impressed by your progress as I will be banded aug 10and you have lost 80 lbs and 80 to go...wow, since may of last year?

That is no small NSV Cloe!!! YEEEHAAAAA WAY TO GO!!!!! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2:

thanks ericsmom I had no idea, but you know I like that saying NONSCALE vistory,,,actaully for those when it gets frustrating and the scale isn't moving, that is a great thing!!! Jude was upset she gained,.,but maybe we should point out NSV NSV NSV!!!

So ok.. when i was 14 i could get into clubs and what not cuz for whatever reason i guess i looked older than i should have... MUST HAVE BEEN THE GINORMOUS BOOBS...lol.. ok im only half kidding about that.... anyways..Since ive turned 21 I think ive only been carded 5 times.. and when i gained my weight in the past 4 years i was NEVER carded ...im now 28... and after losing 60 lbs.. I get carded every where I go!!!!! LMAO....and last week. I got carded buying cough syrup!!!! SERIOUSLY?!?!?! I apparently went from looking 30 to lookin 15 in a matter of 4 months..lol. Now i don't know if that counts as an NSV or not but it does kind of make me happy! so you guys tell me.. do i look that young?? cuz i just dont see it.

I have been putting off getting a new swimsuit for laps after my other one got too big, and I had surgery which has kept me out of the pool for quite a while. I couldn't find anything I liked in town (and the prices were astronomical) so I went online to Swimsuitsforall.com and found some cute suits. Got a size 10 per their measurement guidelines. Received them in the mail today and tried them on - too big!!! For the first time in my life I didn't have enough butt to fill the seat of the suit!! I am sending them back for smaller suits --- how sweet it is

Awesome! Congrats! Riding amusement park rides with my son, shopping for clothes in a "regular" store, and not hiding from cameras are all on my list of reasons for having the surgery. That's THREE NSVs!!! Great job rockin that band!

Finally some NSVs! I have been putting off going through my clothes for some time now. I finally decided to take the bull by the horns & get it over with. 3/4 of my clothes were too big for me! & I've been putting this off? :rolleyes I also shaved my legs last night & didn't feel like a contortionist!! Well now the issue of buying more clothes. Tell me what ya'll did please. I need advice. I hate to spend money on clothes & then turn around & not be able to wear them. Any ideas are appreciated! I was going to call my doc to schedule another fill today. But when I got up I weighed & I had lost another 10 lbs. I was plateaued for a month. I guess it was a true plateau & not just needing a fill. Anyway, thanks in advance.......Jess;)

Seriously, I keep trying to contrive a reason to fly somewhere! But a lot of places I could fly I'd need a rental car, and they're rarer than hen's teeth and more expensive than Fabergé eggs when you do find them. But it is on my list. I got to check off one of my Purple Goals (my list of NSVs) yesterday—I had a business lunch and arrived second, and my lunch date had gotten a booth. Normally that would be a huge embarrassing thing because I couldn't have fit at all. Yesterday I just scootched right in there and actually had to lean forward over the table to eat what little I did eat.

It is good to be reminded of my non scale victories, NSV's, search for that forum & you might get excited. I go back and forth on "seeing how good I look". Sometimes I am amazed at my shrinking size but I still look horrible at my thighs when I sit down. I have recently remembered, my thighs have always been my "trouble spot". I had literally forgot since it has been 30 years since I have been this weight. So I have said to myself that I am going to start loving my body parts regardless, or flat out love life, be happy regardless of my thighs. I even mantra, I am grateful to have my two legs at all. I take it as far as thinking about a situation where a person went to an airs how w/ both legs, a plane crashed and the person left with one leg. I know I sound like a nut but any way I can get it in my thick skull that I am a like able, fun person with more value than my looks, I am progressing.

You are entering into the "3rd week stall" zone. This is far more common than many think. You are not doing anything wrong, you will need patience at this time. Just keep doing all the right things that you are currently doing, continue to heal and keep getting in all your fluids. The scale will start moving again in time. In the mean time, it might be a good idea to stay off the scale for at least a few weeks. I know, easier said than done, but if it's frustrating you then it's just causing you unnecessary stress that is really unhelpful to your efforts. Please note, stress is a factor when it comes to no weight loss as well. Find other ways to measure success, there are so many. What NSV's have you had already? How many inches have you lost? Are there side by side photos you can create to see the difference? Find other avenues, you will see they really do make you feel a lot better.

Thanks for posting, @@HillaryA ! I too am only about halfway to my goal. (I use the term "halfway" loosely! What is math?) Here are my stats: 491 - 10/1/2014 Highest weight 422 - 12/17/2014 Day of surgery 304.3 - 7/8/2015 Current weight I feel like I am doing well and can see success on the horizon. But the horizon is still a long way off! Just to echo your story, I recently bought a season pass to an amusement park and was able to ride many rides (but I have been a little scared to try ALL of them, haha.) But there are so many other goals and NSVs that that have nothing to do with the scale that I have already reached! So now it seems like the sky is the limit. I am excited for the future, not just for me but for everyone here! I am rooting for us! Haha. I hope there are some women who started at 350+ who have hit goal that will come comment on this post. I'd love to hear from them as well!!!

Old belts, and clothes are definitely a fun way to reward yourself - good non-scale victories (NSV's). Because my weight has histrically been a yo-yo ride, I do keep suits I haven't fit into for years and it is great when you put those back on and you realize you need to have them taken in ! Back to full vs. stuck. Agree with Jack (as usual) - no longer going for that full sensation, rather going for that satisfied sensation. I just received my 3rd fill. If something gets stuck, it is usually because I erred - ate too much, too fast or not chewed enough. I can think and feel hungry these days and when I eat, I portion out a small portion of food and eat slowly and chew thoroughly. When I feel no longer hungry, I stop, which I can do 99% of the time now. When I err, ouch. The band serves as a tool to tell me that I did something wrong. I'm still figuring it all out, but I really like what the band is doing for me these days...

top three NSVs... 1. crossing my legs! 2. Not having to depend on Lane bryant for all my clothes 3. fitting into booths!

Soooo true about NSV's!! Thanks for sharing

Hello! To answer your questions, I am eating 1,200 calories a day. My form of exercise is a turbo kick boxing class at 24 hour fitness. Maybe I do need to spice up my work outs. I figured since the instructors are all different, each day the workouts are different and it's a fact. It really is. My clothing size has actually changed! I posted a NSV a week ago about going from a size 24 to an 18. So I do feel it in inches. I just hate how the scale doesn't go hand in hand with it. And thank you for all of your encouragement and kind words. I really needed this support. <3

Yay for having fun with intimacy finally! I thought that I was going to feel very insecure and uncomfortable, but I'm not. One of my favorite NSVs =)

Wonderful NSVs Maudie! I'm really happy for ya girl! *big hugs*

Of course, it all depends on what your definition of "normal" is, right? The normal I had grown accustomed to was not a good place to be physically, emotionally or mentaly. Before being banded, I was slowly dieing from resperatory failure. A slow lingering death, instead of my prefered "death by misadventure :D" My normal life was one filled with fear and dozens of asthma inhalers and nebulizers and so many trips to the ER I was starting to be on first name contact with the nurses and doctors. That was my normal. This is my normal: I have one inhaler burried somewhere in my bookbag. I have one in my purse, I think. My nebulizer is on a shelf in my closet, gathering dust and I don't even have any duo-neb in my fridge. I take the stairs, unless I need to go up more than 3 flights at once. I am not afraid I'm going to die gasping like a fish. I'm a slow loser. Some days I'm content with my list of non-scale victories (NSVs) some days I'm not. But I'm not dead.

Your at almost 1 lb a week. Which is totally normal. Nearly 2 lbs a week if you don't count post op before fill. I say, RELAX!!! You didn't gain it in 6 months, you shouldn't expect to lose it in 6 months. 30 lbs is gone forever!!! And you only have more to look forward to. Stop stressing and start really concentrating on the program. Don't put so much emphasis into the numbers rather than the nsv's and the other rewards.

NSV= Non Scale Victory usually equates to your clothes getting bigger or you doing something you normally wouldn't do before banding.

@@nursejenny07 Happy Surgiversary you've done an amazing job this year great NSV's too "lifelong fight for me, can never go back to what I used to do" you said a mouthful (no calories either) wonderful/necessary lesson "we" must continue to follow/learn/DO for the rest of our lives keep up the good work for the rest of your healthier, happier, longer life who deserves it more?? kathy congrats

I wanted to share a few NSVs and some Disneyland eating tips. First of all, I ordered the cutest jeans for our trip to Disneyland (we go a LOT) on Disney Shopping and they were a size 12 ( I usually wear a 12 and size L these days). Washed them a brought them on the trip, and I was just swimming in them!! So I came home and most of my 12s and ALL of my 14s and up are going to the battered women's shelter in the next town. WOOHOO!! 2. I am a Sales Account Executive for a Mortgage Company. I have a young (well maybe not too young but at least 5 years younger than me), really cute loan officer that is one of my customers. I have noticed that even though he has been in the business for a long time he calls me, often with kind of a dumb question, every day. He finally said to me when I visited him the other day "I know you are married, but the real reason I call you so often is because I have a bit of a crush on you. You're gorgeous." I have not had anyone flirt with me like that since I met my husband! 3. When I went to Disneyland a few weeks ago, my five year old nephew said to me, "Aunt Heather you still have pretty big bubbas (boobs), but your butt is a lot smaller than before!" OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES. Anyway, if you are at Disneyland and trying not to cheat, and you don't want to spend oodles of money, the best places in the park to eat are: Bengal Barbecue in Adventureland. Basically delicious grilled lean meat on a stick. Also in Adventureland if you want a treat Dole pineapple has a "whip" which is like pineapple sherbert. Just as delicious as ice cream with a lot less fat, sugar and calories. pizza Port in Tomorrowland has an excellent salad. Plaza Cafe off of Main Street has some good salads and lean pot roast. The New Orleans Cafe has lots of healthy selections. I ordered French Onion Soup in there with no cheese and the waitress looked at me like I was crazy, but it was still delicious! But if you are not brave, beware. They have a 3 cheese Monte Christo that looks like a heart attack on a plate. Of course my hubby had to have one and I almost had to go sit at a different table. They also have a lot of healthy snack stands now, which is great!!! You can buy fruit (they have big pineapple spears that taste like candy), a giant pickle, a veggie snack pack, or trail mix. For Breakfast if you are in any of the Disney hotels you can get really good yogurt and oatmeal. If you want to splurge, get a sausage or ham slice for some yummy Protein (just don't make a habit of it :-) In downtown Disney for the best selection of healthy Entrees try Rainforest Cafe or Catal (very pricey but good!)! Of course remember, if you are ever going to have a little cheat, that is a good time to do it because you are likely walking several miles a day. I lose weight every time we go! And I know that this post sounds a little like I am still food obsessed, but I am not. I am Disneyland obsessed, though :nervous