Search the Community

Karen, I totally feel you. I used to HATE HATE looking in the mirror, especially at the hair salon! Now I see like a new person and so I look not in vanity but in a "is that me??" kinda way!! My NSV, I actually took a full body pic next to our Christmas tree and I loved it! I was in denial about how big I was for a while. My mom always told me I looked fine and so did my BF. Now they are both telling me that I was huge and they were trying to be supportive so I didnt feel down about myself! I understand them.

I just HAD to tell you guys about my NSV last night. My boyfriend has not said a whole lot about my weight loss other than to say that my boobs are shrinking. :thumbup: Well, out of the blue last night he said, "You are getting skinnier....I can tell." It blew me away. Then I weighed this morning and saw that I had lost (after having a pretty non-productive December). I feel good today!!! Here's to a very HAPPY 2009!!!:wink_smile:

Wow, that has to be one of the top NSVs of all time -- congrats!!!

So I went to my OB/Gyn yesterday for my annual (actually i hadn't been in 2 years) and he hadn't seen me since I weighed 350lbs. . . he wandered in, chart in hand, face in chart and said, "so Mrs. . . . how have you been?" I answered "just fine" . . . he looks up from the chart and literally yelled "LOOK AT YOU!" OH MY GOSH WOULD YOU LOOK AT YOU!!!!!!! YOU LOOK GREAT! then he calmed down and asked how I did it, I told him and he said "well good for you! I can't get over how good you look" . . . I must have been blushing cause he just smiled and said amazing. . . did the exam and actually talked to me. . . talked to me about my family, my work, how i was feeling etc. . . wow it was really a NSV. . . kinda embarrassing but nice. . . Then I went to the WLS nut and this was my last visit and I have hit the target weight! I was soo happy . . . NP and I both did the happy dance. . (she is so cool) I don't go now til 2012. . . wow can you believe it's been a year!

OK, so I am having a stall again, the scale has not moved since before easter, BUT the last 3 days have been amazing for NSVs, so I'll bask in those a little instead! Monday - (sorry this is reapeated form another thread) - I put on my work trousers only to find they don't touch ANYWHERE, not the waist, not the bum, not the thighs, I let go and they hit the floor, and they are not old trousers. My 7 year old thinks this is hillarious, so much so that she tells everyone who will listen about it (I'm flattered, but gosh i hope she doesn't tell people every time I try something on and its too small!!) Then I go to do the pick up from the childminders, and she greets me with "hello skinny" Tuesday - I see my mum for the first time in 2 weeks, and she says "Claire you look amazing, you look really well, and you are getting so skinny!" (that strange word again!) I then go to work, and am also told by my boss that I'm getting "Skinny" (thats 3 times in 2 days!) Today - I try on old trousers that were painfully small a couple of weeks ago - hey presto perfect fit, I team them with a top which I normally only wear with tummy control underwear, and the top just kind of floats around me without the use of any hidden support! I get to work and a colleague stops me in the corridoor and just starts pointing at me (I thought she was having some sort of breakdown), I asked what was wrong and she says "My god Claire, where has your stomach gone??? Its dissappeared!" I did resist the temptation to say it was in my surgeone's rubbish bin. Finally I get home and change into my pyjamas, and realise that the only way they are staying up is with a belt - so here I sit in my comfy pj's and a fetching flourescent belt!!! So with another 37lb to goal and a long long way from what I consider to be a normal weight, things are still pretty damn good!

What great NSV's! You must feel great! Way to go! Those last pounds will be gone in no time!

What a cool NSV!

Maybe not a major NSV ..but it's been a long while since I was able to wear my hair short because of my fat face ....now I can again! Here's the am ..my old do And here I am in the pm!

congrats to all on the NSV's! :blushing: My scale has come to a grinding halt for about 3 weeks now and I was getting somewhat frustrated. I went in for my third fill today (4th if you count initial fill during surgery) and got another 1cc in my band. When I did all my weigh ins the scale showed exactly the same as it had been 2 weeks earlier. My doctor is very aggressive about fills, I am at 9.9cc in my 14cc band, and not quite there when it comes to restriction yet. Here's hoping this last 1cc will make a difference. however.. the scale makes you stand there.. skin to metal contact and measures other stuff as well. It said I had lost an additional 1.8% of my body fat (6lbs of body fat gone) and that I actually had been loosing very well, but my body was holding onto 25lbs of Water weight. (not sure what this is about, they want to wait and see if it goes down) So I guess.. since I was getting frustrated about not seeing the scale budge despite eating well, and exercising a lot.. That i got a tiny bit of good news at the office today!

i never new a scale to do that...i need to ask my dr if his does i guess this falls into a nsv soooo....im getting the best sleep ever. i have sleep apnea and i never used the machine or anything. well i have NOT woke up with a headache since i had the surgery. i use to get them every morning and i knew it was because i wasn't getting any rest at night. now im getting rest and feeling better.

Yay for NSV's!! That's progress ; )

Thanks everyone! What is NSV?? I went to a friends daughters birthday party yesterday. There were lots of old friends there that I havent seen in about a year. Each person saw me and there mouth just dropped. One woman said "you are just melting away!" Another didnt speak to me for about an hour. When I approached her and asked how she was doing, her reply was OMG, Karen is that you. She didnt even recognize me with my weightloss and new hairstyle. I hadnt seen her since right after my surgery 2 yrs ago. I love this. So close to ONEderland. I hope to be there in the next week or two. Thanks for all the support everyone!

While Christmas shopping last night with the hubby I saw a sweater that caught my eye. It was in an expensive store with an expensive price tag. I had previously made the decision to NOT buy any clothing (except from goodwill or cheap resale shops) while I lose weight. This is important to me since I am only a month out and 1) I wasn't sure I've lost enough to need new clothes and 2) What's the point of spending now when I plan to lose weight for several more months. So I walked with this sweater (regular ladies size xl) for like an hour (normally I am a 2x). I just wouldn't put it down. I finally found my husband and asked him to hold my stuff so I could try it on over my existing shirt. I pulled it over my head and before I even had it pulled down I was like "nope to small still". It wasn't even on yet and I was shooting it down. I finished pulling it down and it fit. Nicely. And my husband said "honey, that's definitely not to small, but it sure is ugly". LOL. I couldn't help but burst out laughing. I never did look in the mirror but he never says things like that so it must have been bad! Either way I felt good. I'm still chuckling.

Try to project a year from now...when you weigh less, when you have had dozen's of NSVs...buying smaller sized clothes, off your meds, feeling and looking better.... I was miserable on the preop diet....and I am so so much better now. I know it's easier said than done but one short year ago, I was where you were and the difference between then and now is unbelievable. Just this afternoon, I was sitting with my coworkers in the kitchen, finishing my 1/2 sandwich and clementine. Heck I even had a couple of thin pretzels. So...just know that sandwiches are still in your future. Oh...and while we were chatting, I leaned back in my chair a bit and crossed my legs. Such a little thing...unless like me, you haven't been able to do that in years. I feel so normal now that it still takes my breath away. Hang in there....it will get better...I promise.

Fabulous NSV's! In addition to the things you mentioned I bought a ridiculous pair of shoes! You know the ones, platform sandal things. They are so much more comfortable than they look!

KristyKreem, Sleevesearch is right! I haven't been sleeved yet but I've read as many post on this website as I can and I've decided I am NOT getting on the scale everyday after I have my surgery. I told my Therapist this and she said OH YOU WILL WANT TO and I said NO I've let my weight control me most of my life. I refuse to let the SCALE take control. If you want to read some WONDERFUL SUCCESS stories to get you motivated there is a forum on your NSV= NON SCALE VICTORY!!! As for me I'm going to save ONE pair of my favorite capris and when I have a bad day I will try them on to SEE THE RESULTS!!! GOOD LUCK girl and HANG IN THERE!! It sounds like everyone goes through this and YES as soon as the second week!!! Just know it WILL come off!!! Your body is adjusting!

That's s great nsv!! So looking forward to this happening to me

I have 2 wonderful NSV this week and I wanted to share - I need a couple of pairs of jeans - my old ones are WAY to big so I took them to the consignment shop and was down to 2 pair that fit - OK. I decided to go ahead and shop for a couple of pairs of jeans to fit me on my way to goal. Right now I am wearing mostly 12s and I thought I would try to find a pair of jeans - a fun trendy pair so I tried on these brands: Miss Me, Big Star, MKE, Buckle, Silver etc. I was trying on anything from 33 waist down to 31. I am taller an need 34 length - not always easy to find. I was SUPER happy that I decided to run into JC Penny and spotted a few A.N.A> brand jeans that were cute so off I go to the dressing room with 5 pairs of size 12 to try.........none fit. To ....baggy!??? I ended up buying one pair of size 10's and the best part was they were only $27 - whoot. I really wanted 2 pair so I headed to the Buckle store and must have tried on 20 pair of jeans..... ended up spending WAY WAY to much on a pair of Rock Revival jeans ($168-eek!). But decided this was my gift to myself for losing 52 pounds to date. And they just really made me feel so good when I looked at them. I am going to ask my honey to take a few pictures for my progress file later today and I will post. They are 31 x 34 and I love them....!! Shopping is getting way to fun. I must slow down on that until I make goal! I love my sleeve!

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.

I was first diagnosed with PCOS when I was about 18 years old, this was around 1992. At that time, little was known about PCOS. I was basically prescribed birth control pills to regulate my periods. I think I was probably around 200 lbs then. I actually participated in a clinical trial at a research hospital where they were researching the use of metformin to treat PCOS (yes, it's been a while:/). Gradually, the weight gain, painful acne, facial hair, diabetes, high cholesterol, high triglycerides snowballed. All that became complicated by clinical depression. By the time I was 30, I weighed more than 300 lbs. I could not understand why I continually failed at weight loss attempts. I had graduated colleges with honors, earned a Masters Degree, and excelled in my career....I knew I was not lazy nor ignorant, but I could not succeed with weight loss no matter how hard I tried. The depression spiraled out of control and I generally stopped caring about my health, defeated. At 32 years old, I topped the scales at 333lbs. Then I began having long, heavy periods which was my body screaming that something was wrong...endometrial cancer. In 2006 I had a complete hysterectomy at age 32. Single, no children, devastated. Then came medical menopause. I eventually began to feel better and was able to lose down to about 265 on my own with diet and exercise, but it was a hard, hard struggle. From 2008 until 2012 I bounced around on the scale from 265 to 280 or so. My diabetes was out of control, cholesterol very high. I had lap band surgery in March, 2013 weighing 258. Today I weigh 222. My recent lab work revealed excellent control of the diabetes, cholesterol that is only slightly elevated. My skin/complexion has never looked better. I sleep so good at night and wake up rested. I want to lose down to about 180. I don't have periods any more due to the surgery, but I do feel that the WLS has helped to alleviate the PCOS symptoms. PCOS is more than just a disease of infertility. It affects your whole body and your whole life. It is nothing to deny or to play around with. Oh how I wish I had the information years ago that I have now. I would have had lap band surgery years ago. The lifestyle for wls still requires work and conscious decisions to make your health a priority, but the difference for me is that the work I put in actually yields results! Yesterday I bought a size 18 pants when it wasn't too long ago I barely squeezed into a 28. The NSVs are great too! I know that was a long post, but I hope it helps someone.

Even though weight loss is a "simple" equation-expend more calories than you intake - it sure isn't an exact science! I tell ya - there must be a million other factors!!! I went in for my first fill today (I was sweating on the table and the doctor had to work the needle a little to find the right spot. Fortunately, I had novicane, but still, I was so nervous!). I thought FOR SURE I had lost 5 or 6 lbs. over the past 3 weeks of calorie counting, workouts burning 500-680 calories, etc. TWO POUNDS. That was all I'd lost, 2 lbs! I remembered what I'd read on the site . . . "The first weeks are just healing, don't worry, you don't have any restriction anyway . . . " Still, it was a bit disappointing. But I can still be pleased with overall loss so far & with the NSVs! I appreciate your post today because I need to avoid having unrealistic expectations, or maybe any expectations about the number of pounds I "should" be losing. I need eat right everyday, and trust the results will follow, at their own pace and own timing! Patience is the hard part because I'm so anxious for the FAT TO MELT AWAY LIKE WAX OFF A CANDLE!

NSV is Non scale Victory. Congratulations! I love clothes stories!

Went into Victoria secret today and I’m a medium. I used to have to squeeze into the larges and now I’m very comfortably into the mediums! Ive never been more happier. I’m loving this tool more and more every day!

@@Elode - that is an awesome NSV! I don't think I will ever like mirrors -

That is one of the best NSVs! That and being able to get into the car in the tight space between cars in the theater parking lot!!!