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I am a friendly person who often greets and gets greeted with hugs rather than handshakes. I noticed lately that peoples arms wrap all the way around me and back to the hugger. I feel so tiny when that happens.

Congratulations....very exciting NSV!!!

Hi Gowalking.. Never apologize for sharing your success. It is inspiring to hear others accomplishments and motivates us to strive to achieve our own goals. Thrilled to hear of all your NSVs you are obviously putting hard work in. Congratulations

Just got to drop my blood pressure meds today! I'm prescription free! Lapband kicks ass!!!

Hi all. When I post my successes, I am hoping to inspire and have it not seem like I am bragging because I’m not. I just remember well what it feels like when just starting this journey…needing to lose so much weight, it seems like an impossible task. Also, not knowing what it will be like living with the band, and dealing with bumps in the road, plateaus, etc. can be very challenging. Seeing as how I’m not ‘finished’ with this journey, I thought my little success stories can help the newbies and for the vets, remind them of their goals and successes as well. So…this weekend, I was in the Pocono Mountains with my son and his family at their summer home. No Myfitnesspal readily available to track food/calories but 7 months out, I have a pretty good idea of what band sized portions are and what is good to eat and what should be avoided. I plugged in all my food today and per the ap, did just fine staying in the 1,000 or so calorie range. I am also learning to embrace good choices rather than mourn food that is not good for me anymore. We were at the mall on Saturday because it was raining and we figured we’d do some shopping for the girls for back to school. We went to the food court for lunch…they all had the Chinese food….General Tso chicken and lo mein. I made the choice to have a half a tuna sandwich from Subway. It was very good and I could walk away from lunch with my head high. What a great feeling. And then to top it off, while they were in the children’s department, I went into the women’s section and did a little looking. I found Alfred Dunner work slacks on sale….size 16 short. My size 20’s are pretty loose so I figured I’d see how close I was to fitting into them and if close enough, I’d buy a few pair since they were on sale. Well…..suffice to say that I’m wearing a pair right now as they fit just fine. Hooray! Now I just need to buy some blouses that fit because the 1X and 2X sized ones I currently own are definitely too big. What a thrill all this is for me and so worth it. Hope these kinds of everyday NSVs helps to inspire you good folks on this forum.

Congrats on that, I guess it is also a NSV!!!!

So my emotions are on full blast these past two days. My very best friend has been fighting for her life since May 2009. She has had some major victories as well as many setbacks. Friday she was given another nasty setback. Anyway, she has now begun some "finals" and I am not dealing with it very well. One of our things was Disneyland. Girls trips to Disneyland just because. She told me last night we need to plan another trip soon. I have ALWAYS been an emotional eater and these past two days have been bad. I have maintained my eating within my band parameters, but find myself searching out food. Anyway, I guess I can look at this as a NSV of sorts, but it is hard finding joy while thinking of the future. All I want to do is cry. Thanks for letting me "vent". Sent from my iPad using LapBandTalk

I posted this 15 days into pre-op approximately. Now I'm 3 weeks in and I've lost 13 pounds as of this morning. I am sluggish due to the all liquid part of the diet but all is well! No new NSV's yet though.

Laura, you rock, by the way. And thanks for sharing your truly awesome NSV. My husband was never the limiting factor in my social life and my willingness to venture out. It was all me. I'm thankful now that I'm confident enough to leave the house and be social and be seen. Four years ago I was a hermit. ~Cheri

Packing for vacation and usually I am a stress case because, being a short fat girl, it's almost impossible to walk into a store and find an outfit if you forget something, especially as our vacation home is in a small beach town with only one department store. This go around, I know that I can walk into the stores and buy tops or PJs or a bathing suit or GASP!!! pants and not even be the biggest size in the store. I AM SO EXCITED!

You are doing so great, Bec! Glad to hear from you. Your second picture is not showing up for me though. I have an NSV. I walk to mass on Sundays. I used to leave at 8:15 and get there by 9:05 or so for 9:15 mass. Now I leave at 8:20 and get there by 9! I will have to start leaving 10 minutes later, I think!

That is an amazing NSV. Thank goodness for the surgery which helped you get to this point! I think you look beautiful so it is so hard for me to imagine you being ashamed of how you looked.

I am wearing a shirt from Old Navy (xxl) I bought w/o trying on over a year ago. Got home and it fit terribly. All spare tire. Never wore it until today! And the capris (20) I couldn't get into at the start of summer and today after wearing them straight from the dryer for a few hours - are already starting to get a little baggy in places. Yahoooo!

Wow, I think this is one of the best "NSVs" I've ever heard!

This week I had my 6 week postop appointment. I am down about 43 lbs total, including my 2 week preop diet. After hitting 40 lbs down at 4 weeks, I went up & down the same pound for about a week. After 3 or 4 days, I stopped weighing myself every day & just waited about 5 days or so before weighing again. When I did, I was down 2 pounds & another one came off before my follow up appointment. I think my body was adjusting to having more solid food. At week 5, I was finally able to start cooking again & enjoying the kinds of food I love. I'm still focusing on softer foods, but being able to cook good food & start sharing dinner with my husband again has really boosted my outlook. In addition, I can tell my clothes are getting too big & I'm starting to pull out clothes I haven't worn in years. I found a really cute knit pencil skirt online at Target & I bought both a 3X and a 2X (Target stuff runs small on me). The 3X fits great now & the 2X will fit before too long. It's perfect for somebody with a bountiful booty & the hubs loves it. A new cookbook I am exploring right now is called Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan. It's a paleo cookbook, and Melissa also has a great blog called The Clothes Make The Girl. The paleo style of eating seems to fit in really well with our postop guidelines, so I decided to check it out. So far, I have really enjoyed everything I have tried from the book. She includes a sections on staples of a paleo pantry & ways to cook ahead the simple parts of a meal (meat, veggies, etc) that you then can use over a whole week with many variations. I found Well Fed on Amazon, along with several other paleo cookbooks I'm thinking of trying now. Over the last couple of weeks, I have had several social things to go to, plus a couple of times where I have had to be away from home for a whole day or overnight without much access to decent food. I've had to plan ahead for eating properly, and I've also had to get over my nervousness about social or party eating. I've been surprised at the things I've been tempted by & the things I have NOT been tempted by. One party was hosted by a friend who is a very good baker, and his parties always include some yummy cakes. I expected to be pretty tempted to have a bite of cake, but I wasn't. It was so weird, but I was happy with cheese & some olives & hardly looked twice at the cakes. However, last night we were at another friend's house they put out some Triscuits. OMG, I absolutely HAD to have a damn Triscuit. I was actually distracted from the conversation because I kept glancing at the Triscuits. Seriously, I'm obsessing over a Triscuit?? WTH??? I ended up eating 4 over the whole evening & they were yummy. I also had a little wine, but I didn't even finish one glass. I have noticed that I am starting to feel hunger again. A couple of times, I have been very hungry & my first 2 or 3 bites have been either too big and/or taken in too fast. Each time, I have thrown up right away. I need to do better about keeping it slow & small no matter how hungry I am. I am also struggling to take in 64 oz of water a day. I carry my bottle around, but forget to drink from it. The most I usually drink is 36 to 48 oz, and I know I need to do better than that. The other thing I'm noticing is that I'm "hungry" to get out and do more stuff now. My knees are feeling much better, and I am so much more enthusiastic about going shopping or to the grocery store or to a party without worrying about pain from standing or feeling like I am stuck in a chair while everyone else is mingling. Call it hunger for life, but that's the other hunger that's coming back & I am so grateful to feel it. Life is for living, and although I was never a person who withdrew from life, I certainly felt restricted in what I was physically able to do. My next NSV outing will be to go to our big farmer's market on a Saturday morning. Maybe next week? We'll see!

That is truly an NSV!! I bet your husband was so proud to walk you around not just because you lost weight because they haven't seen you. But because he loves you and wanted to share with everyone one of the most precious things to him! You probably made his week with this one!! Congratulations to this great step in your journey!

This morning my husband forgot his bag at home that contains all of his things for work.. So he called and asked me "How much do you love me?" He's an ER PA so he said just pull up to the ER bay and call, I can run out and meet you. You see he's worked there for going on six years and I've never stepped foot in there because of embarrassment about my weight.. He's never been embarrassed about me but I have. some the nurses and techs tease him about not really having a wife because they have never seen me (no holiday parties for me). Today at 6:15am, fresh out of bed and looking that way! I pulled up to the ER, parked and walked into my husbands work like a normal spouse delivering something to their husband He took me around to meet people and show me his office. NSV? I would say normal life, and it felt good to be "normal" doing the little things you never would of done.

Cute couple Congrats on a great NSV!

I'm 2 1/2 months out too. Lost 38lbs since pre-op diet but stalled on weight loss for 6 weeks. BUT ....... Jeans that didn't fit 6 weeks ago are now falling down! I'm obsessed with the scale, I weigh every morning, but realise that it's those NSV's which are just as important as the numbers.

I'm down, not one, not two, but three sizes! From a 28 to a 22!!! Went shopping today for nsv#2 MY NEW JOB!!!

Phoenix you are doing great we look forward to getting any and all NSV's keeping a scrapbook, photos et al - is great my big regret about my WLS is that i didn't keep track of what was going on pre-op and continue. with NSV's and stuff........... so....you're taking over, where i should have started great that you will be keeping those important records!!!!! congrats on losing 20+ lbs since WLS take care continued good luck kathy

Thanks everyone! I'm going to keep a scrapbook of photos, weights and measurements and NSV'S so I can look back on how far I've come when I get to goal. Here's to lots more to come!

For the first time in at least 5 years, I have gotten on my road bike. :0) I used to bike 20+ miles at a time. I only went less than 2 miles. But I am proud of myself.

I don't want to sound perverted but I've had a hard time keeping my hands off myself since the fat came off. No, not in a sexual way. You know when you had a tooth pulled out and your tongue kept going into the empty space? It seems the brain needs to get used to rapid changes in body image. It seems to want to map the areas over and over until it gets the picture. I have found myself feeling the sunk in area around my collar bone, my protruding ribs, my sinewy shoulders, my smaller wrists, my thin legs when I wasn't even aware I was doing it. Decades with a fat body leaves an impression. I think my brain is trying to erase it. Anyone else having to adjust to the empty spaces?

Congratulations on your NSV!!! liquids definitely get old really fast, but keep reminding yourself, they are about safety, not so much weight loss (just an added bene!). Pre-op, to reduce fatty liver to make the surgery safer and post-op to protect your healing staple line from leaks. Keep up the good work!!!