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I have to say that the 8 week exercise program I committed to has been great. Althought, I hit a little snag last week. I had to cancel my Wednesday appointment with my trainer because I was feeling weak from my Tuesday fill. Then my trainer canceled our Friday appointment because of an issue on his side. Big bummer. The only organized exercise I got last week was 90 minues of walking. That doesn't come close to the 45 minutes per day I have been averaging. That's okay though. The way I see it, last week was a week that left me full of excuses and I still got in 3- 30 minute workouts. In the past, I would have done nothing AND I would have just stopped. Not this time!! Today I plan to Jazzzercise to start my week. I had a couple of NSVs this weekend. First, a guy told me I was pretty. I'm not going to qualify that with anything. A guy told me I was pretty and I'm quite sure he meant it. Yay! Also, on the flight to our destination this weekend, I told my friend that the last time I was on a flight the seatbelt didn't fit. The belts on the plane we were on were kind of long so she was shocked, but I told her that not all seatbelts are the same. I had plenty of room. However, on the flight back, I quickly saw that this plane had short seatbelts like I had encountered before. This time it fit! There was a older gentleman across the aisle from me who was having touble. He and his wife couldn't figure out what was wrong with his seatbelt. I knew that they were short and probably just didn't fit. The flight attendant came by shortly with an extender. I heard him and his wife talking about how they couldn't believe it didn't fit and what they were going to do about it. I couldn't have been more sympathetic. It was nice to know that in the four months since my last plane ride, I had made a big (no pun intended) enough change to truly make a difference. While I was writing this blog entry, something happened that makes me realize how much my life has changed. Today I was scheduled to meet a friend for lunch. She sent me an email and postponed. Shortly after, another friend that I work out with on Thursday's emailed me and told me that her boss had scheduled lunch with her during our next work out so she was planning to work out today. I brought work out clothes for Jazzercise after work, but usually if I work out at lunch & after work, I bring two sets of clothes (I sweat A LOT.) I decided that after last week, I need to make some extra effort. So, I'm going to work out at lunch AND Jazzercise today. I just have to find something to use for a towel. :biggrin: Don't get me wrong, I know this isn't anything earth shattering. But I'm just so proud of myself for being flexible instead of letting myself make excuses. That hasn't always been my M.O. I have my eye on the prize. This weekend marks the end of the month and it would be SUPER if I could have a 10 pound loss this month. To do that, I need to lose 2 pounds this week. I will let you all know how it goes!! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hi, I have a comment as well, I am only 1 year and 1 month out. To date I have not lost very much weight I seriously thought I was doing something wrong. My eating was better than ever and I had been exercising but I was drinking so called "lo cal" drinks ie DIET anything. Once I cut that out of my diet, for whatever reason I am now losing weight and have found a balance with the band. Don't be afraid to try again, no one here will point and laugh we all have our own horror stories. Just take it one meal at a time, make better choices and get in some exercise. And remember those NSV are a huge part of weight loss. I still "weigh" heavy but I love the way I look, so go figure... Best of luck!

Here's a new one. I am currently in grad school. Returned to college after many years. My school has those annoying little desks with the chairs attached. Until my banding, I could barely sit at those desks and had to suck it in and barely breathe. Imagine sitting in this position for 2 1/2 hours! One month in and I can sit at the desk almost comfortably. I can lower the desk withour bumping into my belly. Another NSV is that I can easily fit into a size 16. My 18's are loose and if I want to, I can now shop in the misses department instead of womans. How I miss that! The clothes are cuter and there is a larger selection. I own clothes from size 6 thru size 18. I could open up a boutique! It will be fun to shop in my own closet too.

Kristin- Look at the ticker, you are doing great. I too love all us November Nymphs too! I would love to start a thread that tracks how much weight we are losing as a group. I think that it would be awesome to see how much weight we have lost all together. I am sure it is a lot. I have an NSV..I own a country store here in MA and all my customers cannot figure out what is changing about me. Usually they ask if I have done something different with my hair but then they say that boy you are looking younger. I finally break down and tell them that I have lost 53lbs. they are like wow it is amazing how much younger you look. I just love that because in a few weeks, I will be turning 40 eeeek! This Band was a gift to myself for being overweight over 35 years and wanting to change my life for next 40 years. Did I mention I love this band.

I love hearing NSVs. With us all being around the same time, I can relate to a lot of it. I'll share a couple of my own... My work pants are getting too big. If I wasn't wearing an extra insulating layer underneath them, I could probably pull them off without unbuttoning. LOL I'm noticing a single chin when I smile. Yay! I tried on my REAL wedding ring yesterday and it goes on without forcing. It's not LOOSE, but I was able to slip it on. I've been wearing a silver band since I got too heavy for my ring (it made my finger hurt!). Now when I'm not at work and don't have to worry about the setting, I can wear my real wedding ring. :clap2:

You're right! It stands for "non-scale victory." I'm hoping for some NSVs today as I need to go through my clothes and pack up summer clothes and unpack winter clothes. I've kept all sizes down to size 10 when I lost weight four years ago. I'm nowhere near a 10 but I'm hoping maybe a few things will fit that I haven't been able to wear for awhile. I've already been wearing some things that technically fit before but didn't look good. I'm not as lumpy as I was before the surgery so I can wear them now.

I went to my mother's 75th birthday party yesterday and I got so many compliments! The thing is, I've only lost 16 pounds so I can't imagine that it's that obvious. However, in advance of my surgery, I had emailed all of my family a fairly detailed explanation of what I was doing and how it would work and this is the first I had seen most of them since the surgery. So the main way I count it as an NSV is the tremendous amount of support I'm getting!

My pants are loose, although, I don't really think I've gone down a pants-size, YET. My shirts are a lot longer....if you're like me, you spend a lot of time pulling shirts down to cover everything up. I haven't been doing that at all lately. My wedding/engagement rings are no longer tight. My greatest NSV is my face is much thinner. I have a picture of me taken the day of my surgery, and took one 2 days of ago of me and my youngest son, and there is a marked difference. That makes me so happy. I have been so self-conscious about my face, chins and neck, and I love seeing the improvement so soon. Keep going....this is all so exciting! I love reading everyone else's NSV's!

OMG! I just ate 1/2 of a Lean Cuisine! I could have eaten 2 of them before this band. I am totally shocked. Also, just bought spandex shorts to wear under my bathing suit for my Water aerobics, and they're XL. I was looking for 2X, they didn't have any, so I risked the XL thinking I could take them back if they were just way too tight. THEY'RE LOOSE! OMG! (I guess I could technically have 3 NSV's since I'm starting water aerobics tonight. Wouldn't have done that before the band....). Let's keep going! This feels so good. I always thought the WW saying of "this ______ feels better than food tastes" was a little corny.....but......well, it's still corny, but it's feeling more true now!

I've had a couple of clothing-related NSVs this week. I bought a skirt online last summer that was too snug when I got it. After reading about people waiting too long to try on their smaller sizes, I decided I better give it a try. The waistband was three inches too big! I had to pin it! Also, today I put on some true size 16 jeans -- not 16W -- and they fit great! When I started this, I was wearing 18W or size 20 -- and they were snug. So I believe I've lost at least two sizes. My SV for this week is that I lost four pounds! That's my biggest loss since the first week after surgery. Do you think my last fill made a difference?

My NSV that I've been noticing lately is that all the people I met last year when I moved, and I thought were so skinny and tiny, aren't really all that skinny and tiny after all. I feel like I'm finally fitting in a bit and that's all I ever wanted.

I am so happy for you! Great job and great NSV!

Wow ladies you are doing really well and from the pics I see you look great!! I had a stall from day 10 to day 24 where I did not lose anything, but started moving again a couple of days ago. I'm also struggling with the Fluid - probably averaging 40 oz. My energy levels are really low. What are your week 4 stats? Surgery Date: 7/1/2013 Age 41 Height: 5'1 First weight -in with Surgeon: 225 SW: 220 CW: 199 (onderland!!!!!!! as of today) How much are you eating? Way too little I think - I need to see a dietician (my surgeons is on leave) Calorie range? 400 to 500 Have you stalled, yet? Day 10 to 24 Any NSV's? Who can actually drink 64 oz?!?!?!? 40 oz only - I try every day to get to 64 oz and fail miserably What kind if exercising are you doing? nothing yet. I'm exhausted just running up and down stairs at home. Now realizing that it may be that I'm not eating enough. Weird thing for me - my clothes still fit me (must have been squeezing myself into my clothes) and only one friend has even noticed that I have lost weight. I can see a big difference though.

I'm just newly sleeved so not an expert on any of this. I lost 28 pounds preop and 10 in the last week. I started at 325 so the 37 pounds "seems" like a drop in the bucket. The reasons I wanted to do this surgery were 80% health and 20% aesthetics. I have seen a huge improvement in my health already (no more bp meds), less swelling in my legs, less pain in my feet. I haven't seen as much physically in the way of beauty, although I know it's there. Small things, like the way I walk faster, carry myself. Small thing are probably there for you if you don't look at the big picture. You might have a ways to go but look at how far you've come! It's hard to see ourselves as anything other than the obese person we are. But we are always moving forward. Do something you've never done before. It's those NSV's everyone talks about that aren't related to a scale. Those are there I bet! Keep on track. I'm inspired by your achievement this far!

Call me crazy with too much time on my hands (not!) but here's a list of all of us. Now, we may have lost some to Nana's Challenge which includes a generous and beautiful prize. Some may be doing both. Newly banded (after Nana's cut off date) or "not yet banded"s are not eligible there, but EVER SO WELCOME here, so if your name is on the list and it shouldn't be, let me know. This is mostly for me so humor me, ya'll. Screen Name/Start Weight/Goal *a star by your name each week you follow up with a weigh in. You should have 11? of these unless you start late. This Challenge ends the Monday before T-giving, right? That's 11 weigh-ins. Anyhow, no slipping by here! I'm watching for you!!!! The following have posted Before pics so we will be looking for your Afters!!! ******Corinne/251/20 ******the best me/198/10 ******banded for life/255/20 *JQPublic/209/19 *****Kare/189/20 **O2BFree/256/26 ******Pavarathi/207/20 **MollyMolly/262/20 **loopylou/259/11 **Daisybelle/350/15 *****PinkMary/229/12 Post a pic if you can, the rest of you!! It's not too late! ******porclndoll/225/10 ****La Madam/170/10 ***TraumaNurse/222/12 ******Margo/317/25 *divaDeeDee/319/30 ******gordonfamily3/271/15 *****juliek/314/25 ******shailin/226/20 *****yellowrose/251/20 *****Anwyn/255.5/25.5 ***ariel2005/228/25 **Debbydo/198/20 *laraestokes/224/20 ***Cyndel/219.5/20 And for my own ease of use...these folks signed up but haven't checked back in. Perhaps lost to Nana's challenge? We miss you all!!! Barb/ /20 lins12/202/12 donna 42/336.5/37 Paula/180/5 LandrysDad/ /30 BigBellyKellie/220/22 DylansMom/ /10 TexBlueEyes/242/15 spunky/241/16 fran21497/243/20 pennybear/196/10 Vinesqueen/247/weekly NSV pattyrn/246/20 EverSoCute/230/20 goingoingone/ /25 Any more? Any errors? Let's Git 'er Done!!!!

I see so many posts on here from people stressing over the numbers on the scale...."I'm stalled", "I'm a failure" , "what am I doing wrong?" "How much did everyone lose at X months out?" "Disappointed" "only down X number of pounds" etc etc. Seems like a lot of unnessecary, made up unhappiness over a stupid number. The scale has become the transfer addiction for so many. So for those of you obsessing over, and making yourself unhappy because of what the scale says, I challenge you to STAY OFF THE SCALE FOR A MONTH! Check in on this thread once/week, just like the other CHALLENGES on this forum, but instead of a number, report your latest NSV.'s Whether it's an improvement in your health, a drop in Meds, a smaller clothing size, an activity you couldn't do before, a nice compliment, a new, healthy food choice, whatever. Tell us something that made you feel good about your decision to have WLS. Something that has nothing to do with the scale. After all, these are the things that matter. At the end of the month, go ahead and weigh. Hopefully you can see how much easier this journey is when you Celebrate the NSVs rather than fretting over numbers. I've had SO many NSV's in the last year, but since I just went on my first couple horseback rides of the season this last week I'll start there... I can hop up into the saddle without needing to find a stepping log or rock. And I LOVE the new saddle I had to buy last summer because my butt was way too small for my old saddle. And I had to tighten the thigh straps on my chaps at least 3 inches for them to fit. Comon...let's hear what made your week! Oh yeah, and this isn't meant to be just an NSV thread, it's meant to be a stay off the scale and celebrate your NSVs thread.....No weighing for a month!!!!

Thanks @@tomi71 . Just wishing we could all just wake up and this nightmare would be over. Running on auto pilot, going through the motions of life right now. The numb days and the angry days are the best days. The other ones are nearly unbearable. So I guess my NSV for the week is that I'm still here.

Thanks Becca!! :confused1: You better believe I'll log every little milestone here! I want to have something to look back on, something to motivate me and maybe some others and to have a place reflect everything that goes along with weight loss and weight maintenance. Ok so it's one week ago today that I was de-BANDed and sleeved. It was probably one of the toughest surgeries I'd had to do. I'm not talking about the pain - but I just felt so miserable (nausea etc.) for the first two days. Thank goodness for Dr. Aceves and his staff! They were so awesome with me!!! Today I am 265 lbs. That is 7 lbs down from surgery weight :thumbup: and 65 lbs gone forever from my highest!!!! I am sooo happy about this I can hardly see straight! So far my Lb. a day loss is holding up. We'll see how long that can last, LOL... I am still doing my water/ice prepared Protein shakes. I'm doing 2 a day now, plus one GNC/Vitamin Shoppe protein bullet (not the Walmart ones anymore) that have 49g protein. That's getting me nearly 100g protein a day right now. I'm also sipping teas, Water, or other liquids all day so I'm sure I'm getting all my fluids in. Yesterday was the first day I was able get all of it in! I'm sooo glad because I was starting to worry I might get dehydrated. I've been huge on fluids ever since banding. I would get in 64 oz of water alone... not including all the other fluids I'd drink all day. Last night I had some home made broth! It was so delicious and was shared to me by Gaby (Dr. Aceves post op patient coordinator) and it was so delicious!!!! I had alot of it! There is tons leftover so I plan to have some more later! :001_tongue: I'm not counting calories or anything like that right now. There's no way I'm even getting in 300-400 a day. Right now is for healing and getting back to 100%. I did about 15 minutes on my treadmill last night, slow paced of course so I'm trying to keep up with my walking. I plan to get in 2 - 15 minute sessions today and carry that through until next week. Next week I'll add in a bit more and begin to workout a little again. HUGE NSV!!! I am completely off my Blood Pressure medication! I used to be on 4 Maximum strength pills per day pre-banding. I got myself off the second pill but was still on the hydrocholorthyazide (water pill)... one pill a day minimum dose. Well I stopped taking it after my sleeve because I didn't want to mess with my fluids. I've been diligently checking my BP daily, and they did in the hospital too all day long really. There were a few moments when it was a bit high but it would come back down quickly. Ever since I've been home its steadily been in the healthy range, and for that I'm so thankful! I was hoping I wouldn't need to take it anymore. So today is a full week without it, so I'm officially saying I don't need it!! Well I can't wait to see what Week 2 Brings!!!!! Wishing all of you success, joy, happiness and all the best the Sleeve can deliver! Hugs! :laugh0:

You're absolutely right! The first week I lost a lb andwas pretty disappointed. Since then I've stayed off the scale and don't plan to get back on until my follow up appointment. I'm going to do a monthly weigh in going forward and trust the process. I do think I'm losing inches though, my scrub top feels looser so that's a nice nsv!

My 1 year anniversary is coming up in 4 days! I've posted plenty of pictures in the last year but this one is one of my favorites! It has nothing to do with my face or body but has everything to do with my health. I'm still have those "pinch me" moments quite often. It doesn't seem real, my brain still has issues comprehending the numbers that I see on the scale. I feel incredibly blessed to have been given the chance to have a "rebirth" and I want to thank each and everyone of you who has been with me on the journey you guys are a big reason for my success. I would name you all off but It would take forever and I don't want to miss anyone. I am thankful for each and everyone of you and wish you all a successful and blessed journey to health! Let's keep it going! This is a NSV but the numbers are just as important to me. ❤️ WINNING!!! ❤️

I think that's the best post I have ever read in here! Congratulations to you. What a huge NSV!

How can we make a support group happen? Truthfully, I’m on Facebook more than here— can we start a secret group where we can check in on each other? Anyone up for it? If so, I’d be happy to look into it. Also, the head cravings are still so real. I took my DD to a birthday party today and the smell of pizza almost pushed me over the edge (and I’m not even a huge pizza person). But I just kept drinking my protein water and pushed through. Is it too early to have NSV?? 😂😂😂

NSV for weight loss AND plastics. These teens and I all bought the same size dress AND I didn't even have to wear a stinking bra!!!! Everything just stayed put!! I blocked them out because two of them don't belong to me so I don't want to put them on a public forum.

Since I have been overweight/obese throughout my entire child and adult life I don't really have anything to go by to set a goal. Right now I know I want to be under 200 pounds. Once I reach that I just want my healthy eating habits and my body to direct it to where it would like to be. I don't want to force my body to a weight that I would have trouble maintaining. According to the BMI scale 145 is on the high end of normal for me, but from where I'm standing now that feels like a long-shot. So for now, my mini goal is 195; anything less than that would just be icing on the cake. My ultimate goal (NSV) is to have a healthy heart, body and mind, and I want to instill those good habits in my young daughter.

Sorry...........You will lose it when you lose it..You cannot speed it up! Be patient and enjoy the ride and take the time to learn new habits and help them become part of your life...work on your brain.. Spend time thinking and fixing why you got here in the first place...Trust me it will all happen but when your body is ready...Enjoy the little changes as they come because one day there will be a new you standing there and you really need to know who this new person is and how to keep her forever... i felt like you and now over a year later...no one knows who I am I have changed so much....I was not prepared for the changes I see even though I was like you in a hurry....... I am a learning process and a changing picture all the time..It is hard to keep up.....Enjoy each size down and each NSV....You need them to get you there and stay there....K