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I thought it would be funny to try on my wedding dress for my kids this weekend. I knew it was going to be loose but wasn't really prepared for what happened. It was so big it barely stayed up! It is at least three sizes too big! What a great 8th anniversary present....my husband has never seen my this small. LOVE MY BAND!! Sent from my iPhone using LapBandTalk

that is a great NSV!!!! to fit on rides. A smile is super, too.

Loving this thread! I think the NSVs might even be more rewarding than the scales because they are tangible. Had my first experience of not being able to put the armrest all the way down on a recent flight because of these bloody hips...SO demoralizing! So I am eagerly awaiting that particular NSV (and many others!), as so many have described. Great job y'all! Happy dance for the NSVs!!

stacechase congrats on the first of many NSV's good for you - prepping for your new sleeved life exercise, eating right, even a juicer!!! wow - you are ready for WLS!!! continue with this great attitude!!!! you are aces!!!! keep up the great job today, tomorrow and for the rest of your longer, healthier, happier sleeved life good luck on august 19th speedy recovery kathy

Woo hoo! Congrats on the NSV!!

I work in the medical field and everyone has been making fun of my scrubs being to big, so Saturday I went shopping for new scrubs and was blown away when I went from an XL to a medium!!!! I am 9 weeks out from surgery and down 32 lbs and obviously lots of inches !!!! So happy I did this for myself!!!! Sent from my iPhone using VST

I just had to share the MAJOR pre-op NSV I accomplished this weekend! For the record, I'm having my surgery in exactly 2 weeks (8/19) and am starting my full liquid pre-op diet tomorrow. About a week and a half ago I watched a great food documentary (it's call "Hungry for Change" and is available on Netflix streaming, highly recommended!) and something just clicked. I decided to change everything, right then. I put on my shoes and went for a several-mile walk that night after watching it, and have been dedicated to eating healthy, no snacking, lots of Water & Protein, and daily exercise. Even bought a juicer and am making fresh green juice in the morning for myself for breakfast! Fast forward to this past weekend: I had planned a trip to Disneyland several months back as a "last hurrah" before surgery. Disneyland is my most favorite place ever. I go about every other month. Of course, one of the things I love most about the park is the FOOD. I would plan my whole vacation around what I "had" to eat. I am a huge sugar fanatic, so usually this was churros, ice cream, candy, etc...although my meal choices were also decidedly unhealthy. I was EXTREMELY anxious about this trip because I had committed to my lifestyle change and this was like going into the belly of the beast! I met with my therapist before my trip and we created a mantra for me whenever I was feeling anxious at the park: "Disneyland is still fun without food." Anyway, here I am, sitting in the airport ready to fly home—and I am so proud to say that I didn't have so much as a SINGLE BITE of sweets or treats this WHOLE trip!! I brought Protein Bars & shakes with me and treated myself to one healthy meal in the parks per day (had some pretty amazing salads!) I didn't snack at all in between and drank lots of water. I am really proud of myself, and this was not easy by any means! However, it was all worth it knowing that I have given myself the confidence to enter into the pre-op diet...if I can survive without any cheating at my favorite place, I know that I have no excuse to cheat while at home. Just wanted to share, and for all of my fellow pre-ops, I promise you that if you start developing these kinds of healthy habits & challenging yourself to make permanent changes before surgery, it will be a tremendous confidence booster and constant reminder that YOU CAN DO THIS! Have a great day, everyone!

I was noticing the NSV of seeing my stomach go down for the past four weeks. However, as of Saturday, my stomach has dramatically inflated. What could be happening?

I haven't been swimming since my LB surgery in January, and while we were in Yellowstone this last week the families wanted to go swimming. Well I am not a cork I have never had a problem treading Water, when I jumped in with 60 pounds less fat I sank like a rock, it took everything I could do to keep my head above water. I honestly believe if I had breathing gear, I could have taken a stroll along the bottom of the river. Well, at least I won't need as much weight the next time I go scuba.

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!