Search the Community

Today was my first day back after having surgery on 7/22/09. I am a wage continued employee which means that I continue to receive my full salary whether or not I'm there, so I took ten days to recoup. Since that's what my doctor told me would be a good amount of time considering the type of work that I do. I'm glad I listened I'm BEAT!! I had every intention of going to the gym today after work, but there is just no way. I'll go for my two mile walk after it cools down a bit. Work was good now time for the NSV!! Hot Greg NOTICED I had lost weight and told me that I was looking good!!! Yea!!!!! Me!!! :cursing::thumbup::cursing::thumbup::cursing::thumbup::cursing: and I was able to completely slip my size 16 work pants down over my hips without undoing the buttons or zipper...time to go SHOPPING!!! I have a feeling it's going to be my new addiction...shopping! That's all the energy I have for the moment. I'm going to take a much needed nap!

Jalese i agree that you will need to take your body pierces out as you are going to surgery-along with all jewelry WLS - 12/10 -good luck, speedy recovery - you are in for the ride of your lifetime towards health and happiness - wishing you well that being said - i have to laugh a bit, not at you but ...i want to experiment, new things since WLS since i've been losing my weight - i've tried to step out of the box, do a couple things that i never did joked to DH about piercing my naval - i don't think so!!!!! but .......... got a tattoo!!!! OMG got my 2 front teeth capped - changed my "natural" blonde by Loreal to a light,warm blonde with a little red!!!! Face Lift 1/30/13 there are other smaller but cool NSV's that i keep on enjoying this grammy isn't in a rocking chair - but I'm a ROCKIN change is good

You really need to up date your stats..Congrats on your NSV!

YAY! Love these types of NSVs!

I'm reading alot about folks reaching goal, trying to reach goal, almost at goal, not successful, not as successful as they want to be, blah, blah, blah.... So...here's the question. What is it that means success to you? Is it reaching a goal weight? Is it some NSV that you've attained? Is it a change in your perception of self? Something to do with relationships perhaps? I'm curious what you all think. I'll start it. I reached goal in terms of weight a couple of months ago. But my idea of success is not hitting goal weight. It's being this size more or less the rest of my life. I've lost alot of weight before, but as usual, put it back on and some extra just for the hell of it. My son says he doesn't recognize me and it bothers him. He knows the fat me...and I understand that. I was fat for a very long time. He doesn't remember when I was this size some 20 years ago. I want him to start to think of me this size so that he's comfortable with the smaller me. That means I have to stay this way. That's success in my eyes. What about the others on this forum? What's your definition of success?

That is an awesome NSV, congratulations!

Hello Jewels! I'm such a dork! I had not seen this threat before! At 4/12 months out I am doing great. I've resumed my life pretty normally. It's included travel, family reunions and celebrations. I am working out and staying active. I feel well, energetic - which is good. I've had lots of stalls but I have come to accept that this is how my body seems to do things because at some point I also get these big drops. Overall, I am thrilled with my sleeve. I am right about to get out of the 190's!!!!! I am at 191 this morning!!! Maybe I can do it by the end of the month!!!! (In 5 days?!) I'll be working out extra hard this week to "help my body" along :-) Hope everyone is doing well. I love reading the progress posts, especially pics!!! I have to post some myself. I also love reading the NSV's. It so inspiring when I see people changing -- their lives really!!! Best to all of you!!! I'm sure I will "run into you" in the boards!!!!!

Tellie, I'm sending the same wishes back to you. May this season be a joyous one, may life be one big NSV, and may that feeling last all year long. No one but us knows how much we've gained by losing.

So I've had many non surgery victories along the way but had to share this one... Forgot my bathing suit while meeting my hubby over at my parents house for a hot tub (they were out of town) and stopped in at Giant Tiger at 7:55 when they closed at 8. They had bathing suit tops and bottoms on sale for $7 each. Grabbed an XL bottom and a size 14/D top and got out of there before they closed. Here is comes....they fit perfectly! Never in my life have I bought a bathing suit in the regular sizes with out trying it on and it fits!! Loving life [emoji178][emoji178] I've lost 92lbs and I'm 1 pound away from onederland [emoji2][emoji2][emoji2][emoji322][emoji322][emoji322]

So I have been losing weight, have good restriction, and doing good overall. But I kept wondering where was all this energy that's supposed to come with losing weight. Well I hadn't realized that I have been doing more things. This weekend was a prime example. I went to a pet event with my Yorkie so there was a lot of walking, went to the mall, and started cleanings the house. Today I met up with a friend I hadn't seen in months bc I never felt like doing anything, took my dog to training, then went shopping at Costco. I just realized that my energy level is better bc I have been doing things on the weekends when usually I would stay home or if I went out and did one thing I would come right away exhausted. I have gone to several events around San Antonio that have involved physical activity like walking. It's only gonna get better from all here on end.

These NSV are awesome, I have them regularly too. A girlfriend stayed at my house for 2 nights, in the day time we went to the gym, shopped, just goofed off around town. I had no problem keeping up her. We were in and out of the car a million times, I noticed just the way I bend and slide into the car seat is different. It's my core holding me better. My body use to hurt all the time. Now it just keeps going. Yea Susie 1226......here's to us KEEPING the good life going.

Mermaid - I am glad things went better for you yesterday at the Doctors. :clap2: As for me....the scale has not moved for me in almost 2 weeks and I was getting a little down about it. But yesterday I had to go shopping for a couple of new clothing items including some workout wear and I am down a size. I love the no scale verification (NSV) that this is working. It is not showing on the scale but I am definately seeing it in my clothes. I didn't want to go out and spend money knowing that I probably would shrink out of it soon, but in hindsight this has given me motivation to work through this bandster hell and maintain...maybe even lose a few pounds in the process. Have a great weekend September Bandsters. If you have a NSV - please share it. :whoo:

Hi Alex, COngratulations on the NSV!!!! Regarding other folks and what they notice or dont notice, I think it comes from years of being invisible. Many obese people dont like attention. When they get it, they cant handle compliments when they are doled out. I am trying to learn how to say "Thank you" when someone notices me and also trying not to get upset when people dont. Its hard to do because as individuals we care what people think even when we tell ourselves we dont. So hows that for words of wisdom? Didnt help much did I? Babs in TX 334/192/170 -142 6/23/03

Congrats on the NSV. Sometimes if we treat ourselves to a new outfit it really helps us to realize just how far we have come. Keep up the great work.

OK--8 weeks out, dropping from 22/24 jeans to everything fitting well in a 16!!!!. Not limited to the plus size dept! Lost enough tummy size that my boobs enter the room before my stomach does! So, so, so, happy to have done this and just want to hug Dr. Jawad every day! BMI down from 40 to 33 as of today--two categories of fat down, two to go. Thanks for letting me brag a bit. Have had several week + long stalls, but just waited them out. 40 lbs. since starting the preop clearances, a little over 30 since surgery 8 weeks ago. Why didn't I do this sooner?

I beg your indulgence because this post is pretty long, but I got all reflective when I started writing. I have lost 60lbs exactly since surgery, so that's been 10lbs a month on average. I am very happy about that. That is what I had hoped for, so I can't complain! I can't believe that I'm so close to my goal, when a year ago I felt so far away from it. If I lose only 1lb a week until my 1 year bandversary, I will be at my original goal of 160lbs! That's a very exciting thought. I would have expected that by now I would have felt decent restriction. I am still trying to find it! While I credit some of the weight loss to my band, I feel that much of it has been on my part because I do Atkins low carb. Since I can still eat pretty decent size quantities, I've had to rely on my carb restriction and exercise to get the weight off. But maybe I don't give enough credit to the band, but then again, I rarely feel its presence. I don't really think about the band that much, and I just live my day to day life like everyone else. I am at my lowest weight ever, I'm in the best shape I've ever been in, and I feel amazing! It's interesting, because major weight loss is a very personal journey. A personal journey that is a very public one as well. There's no way to hide it. My friends and family have watched me shed over 100lbs in the last year and I have had tremendous support from them, for which I am grateful. Sometimes, however, they think they understand what I'm going through because they can see the change, but they don't really understand. For almost my entire life, people looked at me and saw an extremely overweight person. I never noticed the stares (which I'm sure I got), but I didn't care. I still feel like a extremely overweight person, even though I'm not. I think people still look at me the same way, but they don't. I look around a room now and I can see that I'm not the biggest one there anymore. I know I look different, but I still feel like the same person... because I am and I'm not. I am still my bubbly self, my personality hasn't changed but my body has. By no means am I skinny, because I still have weight to lose. So I guess that puts me in the category of the everyday overweight person? It is weird to think that I'm just another one of those "normal" looking people (so I've been told). And you know what? It's not so exciting. Not that losing weight, and having NSVs like being able to fit into smaller clothes and not worrying about the seatbelt on the plane fitting aren't exciting, because they are extremely exciting and they are what keep me going! What I mean, though, is that a regular sized person doesn't have a better life. And I knew this was true even before I lost my weight. I saw (and still see) many of my friends who aren't happy, and they're skinny, so it's obviously not possible that being thin automatically makes you happy. I had to learn that happiness and self worth was independent from the way I looked and how much I weighed. I think accepting myself and my body when I was overweight has made this journey that much easier. My happiness is not dependent on the number on the scale (but believe me, seeing a lower number when I step on the scalemakes me extremely happy!) To put it in an extremely cliche way (and I do beg your forgiveness, but really, it's true!), I think that the journey itself and the things I've learned about myself on this journey are more important then the actual goal itself. I never saw myself as the extremely self-motivated person, but I have come to realize that I wouldn't be where I am today if I wasn't. In conjunction with that, I've learned to be patient and to persevere. When I started this journey, Being under 200lbs seemed ages away and being from the generation of immediate gratification didn't help much. But there wasn't a chance that I was going to magically drop 100lbs overnight (even though tv ads guarantee it!), so I had no choice BUT to be patient. Sometimes I feel like I'll never get there, but then I have to remind myself about the strides I have made. I get immense satisfaction from seeing how far I've come in such short period of time. From walking at 3mph on the treadmill to walking at 4mph. From being totally out of breath, feeling like I'm going to die after 30 seconds of jogging on 3.5mph to running on 5mph for 5 min. knowing that if i really wanted to, I could go for longer. It's those small things that make up the journey that mean the most. Yeah, so those are my thoughts as of late. Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts and feelings with you. I appreciate the opportunity to do so and I look forward to reading about your experiences and thoughts about your journey. Thank you to those who read my whole post, and if you didn't, I don't blame you!

Last year my husband had a proceedure done and was not able to get around. Couldn't drive etc. Well I don't drive so my mode of transportation was walking. Last Summer I was 240lbs and could barely make it to the grocery store and back without feeling utterly exhausted to the point of almost wanting to collaps. Today I walked 2 miles and was fine afterwards. Its amazing the difference 64lbs makes! Oh and to reward myself, stopped at Off Broadway Shoes and got two pairs on sale for a total of 40 bucks LOL. I love my sleeve!

Great NSV. Good job!

That is to funny. I never thought about that one when thinking of nsv's but sure enough when I read this post I checked and mine is gone also.

I thought of that, but I was over a year out when I got the idea and I didn't have many NSVs left, so I went with the fitness charms to motivate me to keep moving. I have a bucket list of races I want to do after I heal including another Ragnar, which was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I want to do a marathon and a triathlon some day.

I love this idea. And you could even (with some creativity) add non-fitness oriented NSVs too, like a shopping bag for having to replace your wardrobe, and a plane for not having to wear a seatbelt extender, etc. So fun, and congrats on your accomplishments!

Congrats to all of you, NSV's are the best! Karen

NSV is non scale victory. Something changes due to your weight loss. Crossing your legs, sitting in a chair and your hips don't rub the sides. Things like that. PB is productive burp. When you eat too big a bit, don't chew enough and/or eat too fast you salivate and spit up similar to a baby spitting up. Those are the 2 used a lot. Congrats on your surgery and good luck.

Guys, I had a nice NSV the past week or so. I have been wearing my favorite cologne for a while now but all of the sudden women are stopping and saying omg you smell so good, five separate times this week alone. Don't remember that 60 lbs ago. May be my body chemistry is changing with the weight loss. I am seven weeks out. I'll take it.

Hey Ali...A personal trainer!! That gym sounds great..I wish they had one like that in my neck of the woods..I do belong to a women only gym. But, I am too embarrassed to go!! I went quite a bit last year and then regained all that I lost (another WW attempt). I know the owner and most of the employees and am embarrassed about my failure..I need to get over it and go back..I am still paying!! Even though I don't really have any restriction at this point. I am eating less for sure. I am grateful that I haven't reagained any of the 18lbs I lost while on the liquid phase...But, I haven't loss any more in over a month either... My next fill is this Wed...I know people can need even 3+ fills to hit their "sweet spot." I am still hoping that I will feel something this time!! WTG on just one bean burrito!! That is a HUGE NSV!!!! Skinny hugs to you!! Erika P.S. Where are the rest of the April's Fools Avengers???