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my nsv for today,its more of a confidence thing...yesterday we went to disneyland. even when i was bigger, i would always try to brainwash myself into thinking that i didn't care what others thought about me. deep inside i did. i would be embarassed to go out to public places like those, thinking that other people were thinking "what is that skinny guy doing with that cow?" well, i have to say, i had the most fun ever yesterday with my husband, and didn't EVER think people were judging me! i love the pictures we took, ill put them up soon, and from looking at them, i can't believe how far i've come. its one of the best feelings in the world...

Here is a NSV 7 days post op- this am in my closet for the heck of it I grabbed a pair of size 20 Capri jeans I couldn't get over my hips let alone ZIP 4 weeks ago. Guess what? I'm wearing them right now!!! And they look good on me!!!! Yahoo!

NSV's ??? Where do I start ? From the minute I wake up is the start of a NSV because no more sleep apnea ! Getting showered and nicely dressed is a pleasure , not a challenge because of my weight. Clothes look and fit waayyy better. All day, no more digestive issues, everything works normally. I enjoy talking to people because they are happy to talk to me, I think the self confidence comes through. I love my exercise classes ( swimming and Pilates ) because I can see and feel my body getting stronger and more toned. My pants are getting loose. Again. I can do everyday normal things wihout even thinking about it. Yep, EVERYDAY is a NSV for me !!!!

Hi everyone!! Yoda...............Hmmmmmmmmmm, wellllll yaaaaaa your forgiven:) !! Astrotoes, our breed of sheep are called Rideau-Arcotts, they are known for having mutiple lambs and out-of-season breeding.:huggie: Green, I swear, my husband never goes near the computer. But he walked past and saw the words exotic stuff and he's like, whoa, whats that about. I'm like it says exotic, not erotic stuff!!! So now he's saying, Oooooo ask her where the REALLY GOOD shops are. You may have to PM me with that info. God, I'm so sorry!!:nervous Anyway, thank you for the info. I'm making a promise to myself to come up from underground. I say that every year, then I get to scared. I'm afraid of freaks or maybe I'll get shot, I dunno. But I'm going to make myself go walk around. Thanks again!!! :update: .......Okay, had to go to the docter today for a physical. She was totally impressed with my weight-loss. I think that is the first time ever, I didnt dread getting on their scale. But, 2 new NSV's -my blood pressure went from 147/94 to 125/73!!!! Woo Hoo!!! -my doc cut my asthma medication from 250 mg to 125 mg!!! Woo Hoo!!!

I recently read another thread similar to this one - minus the feud - and I feel the same way about this one as I do the other one. There are statistics and numbers out there for every form of WLS on the market. We really have no idea how they actually reach those results and what the inclusive or exclusive parameters are. I think we each have to make our own decision about what surgery is right for us. My doctor let me choose. I chose the band and have not regretted my decision. I work hard at eating right but do allow myself a great treat once a week. I think that, ultimately, this is about the way it works with each type of surgery. I am happy for all of us who have found our own path and for some of us who have had to find a new path because our original path was not the solution. We are all here with the same common goal...to lose weight and keep it off. I think it would be awesome if we could put our differences aside and focus on that one goal. I, for one, am celebrating many NSVs right now since I have lost close to 65 pounds (does not matter what type of surgery I had)! I have more to go but I am diligently working towards my goal. I am excited for those who have lost weight on other surgeries as well! Look how far we have all come!

Whoop, there she goes! That is funny! I totally get your CAT5 remark, because I feel that way sometimes too, what an amazing NSV, you go Madame R, you are an inspiration to us pre-op'ers!

Oh Drewslou you look fabulous!!! Congrats on the half way!!! I have yet to get my friend to my house to help me get my photos posted. We both work retail and we never seem to have the same time off right now. But hopefully soon I will get them out there for everyone to see. I had another NSV last night. Our town has an old carousel located at a park that is decorated with lights and animated characters for a few weeks before Christmas. We went to the park last night after caroling about town and I rode a HORSE on the carousel!!! I have gone on the ride and stood or sat on a bench but never on a horse! What fun! I seem to be stuck for about 2 weeks. I really need to lose 4 lbs to get to my next goal. With any luck, maybe it will happen this next week.

I hope you all had a Wonderful Christmas! I'm with you Drews.. back to work today and not happy about it! Wow everyone, we are doing sooo great!!! Good luck Drews on the testing, what an exciting process! Myra - congrats on the teeth! Duckie- sounds like you've raised a caring, generous young man, congrats! Oh, and congrats on the plasma too! Ous- You rock! Keep up the awesome work! Well..... I weighed 229 on Christmas Eve which puts me just below my Christmas goal of 230!! ANNND I now weigh less than both of my older brothers! I haven't weighed less than them since birth, literally!! I am so excited!!! Also, a couple of NSVs.. my brother bought me a coat for Christmas in a Extra Large, and it fit!!! I can zip it and everything!! Also, I did a little shopping for myself a couple of days before Christmas and I bought one of those cute little wrap style dresses in a size 16 ( in the Missy's Department)!!! I haven't worn a 16 since probably Junior high school! I haven't ventured outside the Plus Size or Womans World Department my entire adult life! It is a stretchy material, and I will need to lose about 20 lbs more to be comfortable with the way it looks, but I love it! It is brown with red and white stripes. I almost cried in the dressing room when I was able to wear it. Life is good! I love my band! I can't believe all the compliments that I received from family and freinds over the Christmas holiday! I'm even more inspired to reach my goal now!! So what is our next weight Challenge? I'm thinking about setting a goal for Valentines Day (a single girl like me's most despised "holiday"). That's it -15 lbs by Valentines day! That will put me around 215. Anyone else interested in a Valentines Day Challenge? Again, I hope everyone's Christmas was merry and please have a safe and Fun New Years eve!

In less then 3 hours I leave for the hospital. I was excited to see I lost exactly 20lbs in 2 weeks on the pre-op diet. I'm not super nervous, but a little concerned that I am making the right long term decision. I don't want to regret this 20 years from now, but I suppose there's no way of knowing that today. I am confident that if I don't do something I will go back to my gluttonous ways. Even though I am healthy in every other way, but obesity, my previous way of eating and drinking was a fast path to many future health issues, social issues (withdrawal from others, activities and work), and most likely a pre-mature death. I'm keeping the long term call in focus, keeping my eye on the prize and pushing forward... I had a pre-op NSV happen 2 days ago: We are planning a trip to Spain in October for my 5 year wedding anniversary and this is the first time in my entire life where the thought of the airplane ride, the chairs, the clothes, etc...are not even a nervous thought in my mind.... The weight of those worries used to burden me and take away from my complete enjoyment in life. I'm reminding myself how those worries will be gone soon and that is what I am using as my anchor today to keep me very calm, cool and collected this morning.... Talk to everyone on Friday, when I'm back home!!!!!!!!! Thanks for all the great support!!!

I doubt I can out do you girls with your NSV's but I will list a few of mine.. At age 68 1/2 I feel like a kid again. My diabetes is gone, My high blood pressure is gone and my cholesterol is normal. I am happy to park way out in the lot at the store so I can walk. I ride my horse again and can clean my own house without collapsing In a chair. Lord knows it's great to be able to wear normal size clothes and not dread special occasions anymore because of looking like a stuffed sausage. I am looking forward to going to Alaska in August and know that without my band I would not physically be able to enjoy the trip. I promised myself I would ride horses in Alaska . *It's on my bucket list. I hope to continue being healthy and happy as long as possible. I can do all the other things you guys listed like shaving my legs, bathing etc. So happy to see all of these positive Bandsters here , get tired of the negative stuff.

43lbs is a lot of weight since 11/18. You are doing great! Try to focus on some non scale victories(NSV) or look how your clothes are fitting. You are doing a lot of exercise so you need some carbs. Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Well done everyone!! Crystal, you challenge is now 2 new NSV's by Labor Day. How's that? No more evil scales for you!!! I know you have had a difficult week with the numbers but feel the LOVE, girl! We support you!! Now, for me the being below 200 all day long was, indeed a dream. (See my previous post on this thread) So I have not seen the last of the 200's just yet. On the other hand, the scale said an even 197 this morning. That's 3 pounds this week!! and a 10 pound loss so far for the challenge. There was one day earlier this week where I saw 196.8 on the scale, so my 197 isn't my lowest, but it's inching of little by little. I need to measure this week. My big girl shorts are falling off of me. I don't wear them out of the house anymore.

I've been working out SO HARD this week! Last night I knew my son had some fig newtons in his room and I could hear them calling to me, "Kare....come EAT US! WE'RE YUMMMY! EAT! EAT!" But I PERSEVERED and abstained. I haven't weighed all week because I was looking forward to seeing a dip on Monday for this challenge. 3:00 a.m. I got up to pee and decided it was officially Monday so stepped on the scale. OHNO! SAME as LAST Monday!! It hadn't budged a jot! Just sat there glaring 193 at me! I was SOOOO PISSED! I went back to bed and layed there--GRRRRRRRR--and thought, just what the HECK do I have to DO???!! Then I thought, I might as well go eat the damn Fig Newtons. But by that time I was too snuggled to get up so I said to myself, "okay, Fig Newtons FOR BREAKFAST!!" and went back to sleep. Alarm rang at 6:30 and I trundled off to the bathroom. There sat Helga (my dominatrix scale's name) just taunting me. What the heck, might as well stomp on her again.... and WHAT DID SHE SAY??? 191!!! So I don't know what the heck my body did between 3 and 6 a.m. but I am happily, joyfully, exctatically DOWN TWO!!! And newts are untouched. (Now THAT'S AN NSV!!!)

You are soooo right, Betty! I am laughing out loud because I didn't even think of THAT! Last year, I would have grabbed a bag of Hersey Nuggets, toffee/almond. I would have maybe brought along a bag of Cheetos, and a Dr. Pepper. I think I'm gonna count that as an NSV!!! Thanks for pointing it out, girlfriend! I wish I was in your kitchen helping you bake! It all sounds so good. Where are the new recipes for us? I've spent half my day doing productive stuff, and half goofing off. That sounds fair, huh? LOL! Cindy

Thanks all! I am glad I could inspire anyone. One tip I would say to everyone but especially those who have a lot to lose like I did- focus on the life style changes, making improvements to the non wt loss number issues! I could easily revert back to the bad habits of eating to comfort, over eating food and sweets especially if my wt loss stalls. Wt loss WILL STALL, it's the nature of the beast. So the nsv or non scale victories and changing life long habits are a much more emotionally satisfying focus and keeps you moving forward then scale obsession. Good luck all!

So, after having a lovely afternoon with a fabulous friend, who had managed to rationalise and put into perspective a work problem I've been enduring since 2008. To Celebrate, as I finally felt free of this burden, I decided to drag my man out for an evenings entertainment. We went and had a few drinkies and then decided to go dancing at the local 80's nightclub. I love 80's music, me. So, the club was jumping and I, was having a wonderful time bopping around. My man doesn't like to dance, so he stood on the sidelines - effectively on guard! Apart from the fact two drunk males who had decided to use the dance floor as a race track and knocked me flying, which resulted in a considerably bruised hip bone today and a fiance who wanted to literally kill these two youths; something very nice happened. We'd been standing near a group of more mature Polish males, who were a jolly nice bunch. Who, too, were bopping around and having a good time. One of them asked of my man 'is that your wife?' to which he replied 'yes, sir'. The Polish blokes all said 'You are a very very lucky man'. He replied 'I know'. <raises an eyebrow at how men can be sometimes!> A bit later, a, well, how would you refer to him as? A bit of a geeky looking/studious male, approached me whilst dancing. Nervously he said 'I am really sorry to disturb you. I am with a group of blokes who think you are gorgeous. We've been talking about it and they reckon that I would never be able to approach someone like you. (Someone like you?!!!) Would you mind if I just stood here for a bit, because I want to prove them wrong.' Feeling taken aback, I replied 'Aww, thank you! But of course! In fact I can go one better than that. Would you like to dance with me?' His young bespectacled face lit up as I grabbed his hand and dragged him onto the dance floor. (My man didn't mind as he clearly didn't feel threatened by it). This young lad's mates were left open-mouthed at the bar and I got such an effusive 'thank you!' when our dance was concluded. Towards the end of the night, as the Polish men were leaving, one of them approached me to say goodbye. With his thick accent and courteous demeanor, he leant forward and said 'I just want to say, your husband is one very very lucky man. You are a beautiful woman. Have a good evening.' At which point he kissed me on the cheek and left. Now, I have been excited about inches disappearing, I have been shocked by the scale dropping, I have been bemused by all my new found bones - I have also been devastated at the hair loss, but nothing. Nothing, compared to how last night made me feel. I am normal again. I am a 'someone like you'. I am humbled, slightly embarrassed - but elated. And you know what's even better? I logged my three hours of dancing on MyFitnessPal and I'd burnt up 1,293 calories! (Which more than offset the 5 pints of Guinness and the couple of vodka and red bulls I'd consumed!) Yay, me!

The first week/week & a half, I had 2 meltdowns and wondered WTF I did to myself. I'm about 9 weeks out now and I'm down 48 pounds. I've never lost 48 of anything before. I wish I had done it sooner. That's my only regret. Once you see yourself shrinking and losing weight, once you see yourself having amazing NSVs that are personal to you... it makes adapting to what life is going to be like much easier. It makes it all worthwhile & justifies itself I guess you can say. In the beginning I think it's hard to digest (haha) what we've done because we haven't seen any dramatic changes in weight/body yet plus we're coping with a lot of losses (foods, cokes, etc) and we see this very long road ahead of us that just seems.. super long. The diet plans in the beginning seem crazy but they eventually become second nature. Life starts to feel normal again after awhile. You'll see Sometimes I feel like it sucks that I can't have more than a bite of this or that in a social setting but when I look at my friends (who are all heavy people) scarfing it down for me... and I catch my husband checking out my newly shrunken badonkadonk... it makes it easier. It's insane how much mental control we have over what we ingest now. Before... poweless to foods siren call. Now? I can do this. Good luck!

I made it 10.5 Miles today & ran 2 of my fastest miles. I have never ran that far in my entire life. I signed up for my first half marathon on Labor Day. If any one has any tips I'd love it. My foam roller is my new BFF ~LA

Congrats! That's an awesome nsv. I hate flying for those reasons. Can't wait till i can get on a plane and not need an extender and be able to properly use the tray table. Funny the things some people take for granted. It sounds silly but god is it sooooooo incredibly validating. Sent from my SM-G925T using the BariatricPal App

I can't believe I've lost a total of 39 inches in 4 months and I started measuring after I lost 20lbs!

Unfortunately, yes. Its as if I am not invisible anymore. More people look and smile more. Whereas before I felt as if I was kind of ignored. Now part of that probably has to do with the fact that I have a different attitude but still. One thing that irritates me is that a man almost always holds a door open for me now. I know its a nice gesture and it is not his fault men didn't do that before but its a reminder of where I came from and there sooo is a world of beautiful overweight people that out there that deserve that kindness too. The clothes part has had a strange twist I didn't see coming. I gravitate back to the plus size section every time. I am (or was) comfortable there. But its not where I belong anymore. Yet when I go to the regular sizes I feel like I don't belong there either. Its a work in progress. Funny NSV (non scale victory): that I had to adjust the seat in the car because since my bum shrunk, I was sitting lower in the seat. Losts of little things you never thought could be affected that are. Its very fun. Size wise I am a comfortable 14 with a few 12s. My personal goal is to be comfortable in a size 10. I think its doable.

I was wearing a pair of hand-me-down jeans, yesterday. they were very loose, and I was tired of pulling them up. We were at Sears, Christmas shopping. I said how about if I pick up a pair of jeans? he said, "You know, I was happy to have to buy you new clothes, but you are getting clothes crazy,now" What a great thing to do, because I am now wearing size 8 Lee jeans! I am down from 22w since Oct.30,2009. I am now. officially smaller than when I had my son 36 years ago.Congratulations to us all, with our NSV!!!

I know this is a thread for NSV's but I just had to share with someone my great news. I began my weight loss journed the middle of February last year. I didn't begin pursuit of the lap band until the summer. I dieted on my own from February until the end of May. I joined an Optifast program at a local hospital on June 1 and ate nothing for 14 weeks, just drank their shakes. Then I spent 7 weeks reintroducing food, losing along the way. I finished that program in the middle of October and didn't have surgery until December 6 so I continued to diet on my own. Prior to surgery I had lost 68 pounds. Today when I stepped on the scale I had reached 100 pounds. I could scream it from the rooftops. I would never have believed it a year ago. I finally have less to lose than I have lost already. I am halfway there.

So I was wrong on the not having any NSV to report. I had to go buy a big skirt for my Middle Eastnern Folk dance class... Yeah, they don't want us to call it "belly dancing" here, they feel it has "negative connotations." Yeah, what ever, it's belly dancing. I went to several stores trying to find a skirt that would match the requirements, let alone worry about the size thing... So at the 4th and final store I found one, a cocoa dip-dyed skirt. The biggest one was a LARGE, so I wasn't too hopeful. But I was brave and went to try it on. IT FIT! I just bought a size LARGE skirt. Not 2X, not XL, but just LARGE!!! Mind you, when I bought my Large jacket, I really suspected that the label was wrong, that it had been marked Large in error at the factory, an that it was some sort of cosmic joke on me. Sort of like that pair of size 18 pants that I was able to fit into (didn't buy but that's a different story). I felt that was in error as well. Maybe it wasn't an aberation, maybe it's the truth. I feel like I have no restriction at all. I still haven't lost any more weight, but I'll take my size shrinking.

Stayed the same this week. One huge NSV though, I went to old navy and grabbed a pair of jeans off the womens side of the store and they fit no problem!! I broke out in tears right there in the fitting room.. at the same time running out to find my husband. Those around me must of thought I was crazy!