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Hi Classiladi, yea me too... I hit the stall and then some... it started to come off again slow but sure... try not to worry too much - although easier said than done!! And I agree it is really frustrating... whilst I was in my stall I tried to focus on the positive stuff ... the NSV etc, that helped me get through it. Good luck, and I am sure it will break soon x

My very favorite NSV is when my boobs and stomach were no longer a single entity.

saintluver.....congrats on your nsv....i can't wait to be out of plus size land....never to visit it again.....we started out about the same, but you're a little further ahead than me.....i can't wait to buy anything out of the regular women's department .... keep up the good work...i'm right behind you !!!!! eileen:D

Cute couple Congrats on a great NSV!

Thank you so much for writing this! I was thinking about doing something similar, but feared the backlash that seems to come at the admittance of even a tiny bit of regret over this surgery. I am nearly 2 weeks post-op and it has seriously taken it's toll on not just my physical health but mostly my mental health. I had a lot of pain the first week and a lot of boredom from not being able to do much, which leads to a lot of negative thinking. Finally, I am no longer in a lot of pain, but now I'm dealing with other issues. I am exhausted all the time. It took all my strength and willpower to take a shower and go grocery shopping. I didn't even put all the groceries away before having to lay down in bed. Every time I eat, (I'm on puree foods right now) I feel like crap and need to lie down again. I don't get nauseous or throw up thankfully, but I get a headache and a sour stomach. All of these things are really starting to build up and I'm fighting off sinking in to a bad funk. Luckily, I do not suffer from clinical depression so I know eventually I will snap out of this, but I can tell this episode is going to be bad. I have an appointment with a therapist that specializes in food addiction therapy on Wednesday and I'm actually really eager to see her. I know she can't make everything better, but at least I'll be able to bounce around some ideas for coping with someone. I say all of this so others who are about to embark on this journey understand that it is NOT always as easy as most people here seem to have it. I think a lot of that "it wasn't so bad" mindset comes from having time away from it and the results being so good. I totally understand that and I don't doubt that a few months from now, I might even be saying "it was worth it/it's not as bad as I thought". Well, I certainly hope I am! But right now, it is a daily, sometimes hourly struggle to keep from breaking down. I hope those who are at the point where they "love their sleeve/tool" can either remember the struggle of the newly post-op, or if they had a smooth and easy recovery, to understand where we might be coming from. Edited to add: I want to also say that there have been some great things already for me, I've lost nearly 40lbs in 4 weeks and I had a NSV of a shirt that didn't quite fit before fit perfectly today. I know that this will be worth it in the long run, I just think I'm going to have a harder time adjusting than most. ????

WTG both of you! I know it is amazing how some people do not say anything or appear not to notice, I think sometimes they are afraid to say anything. I know I walked into one of my schools last week and of course one of my smallest directors looked at me and said oh my gawd! you have lost a lot of weight! That made my day. Another NSV loss is when your snug clothes are become so baggy they look horrible on you. I cleaned out my closet and now it looks bare, but oh well I can deal with that if the pounds keep coming off. I am hoping for down 50lbs by Halloween. I am down 49 now so I got one to go this week. Good Luck everyone!

I have posted several time but thought I would put my whole journey in one post for those beginning. I started my journey by calling insurance company in Dec of 2014 to see what they covered as far as weight loss. I was told a couple of dr's names and did a little research on dr's. I called one office and set up my seminar for Jan 8, 2015. As I waited for my appt I did even more research and when I went to seminar, I had already decided if I qualified I was wanting to get the sleeve surgery. Seminar came and when it was over you could set up a consultant with dr, so I chose the first time that would fit with my schedule, which was in February. I went in February and they told me what my insurance expected of me, which was 4 appts with a Nut and exercise therapist and 3 month diet plan. So I scheduled my appts and started the journey and told myself I could change my mine at anytime. I lost about 5-10 pounds on my supervised diet plan and finished all four appts faster than I thought I would, at the end of May at my last class they handed me a paper stating I had done everything I needed to do and had turned in all background paper and was ready to summit to insurance. I said great and left thinking it would be awhile. The next week I was on vacation and they called to schedule surgery!!! I set up my pre-op for the following week and surgery for June 15. Looking back it happened so fast. I went to my pre op appt and since it was close to surgery they asked if I had started my pre op diet(which I had not). I got my blood work, cheat X-Ray, and an EKG while I was there. I came home and started the pre op diet the next day as told. I lost about 10-12 pounds on pre op diet and day of surgery weighed in at 240. Had surgery at 11 and was in room by 3. My dr required a min of 2 days stay. All was going good until that night. I was up all night long getting sick which made me even more uncomfortable. I slept all the next day and got sick again that night. I told them I thought it was from the morphine and sure enough as soon as they took my IV out I was fine. Came home on Wednesday and slept all day, which caught me up on my sleep. Got up Thursday and was sore by kinda laid me bed all day as I run a home daycare and didn't want the kiddos to hurt me. Friday I came out to the living room and played with kiddos and moved around a lot. By the end of the next week I was going to the church and walking the indoor track(about half a mile). At the end of the third week I was going to gym and walking a mile in about 30 mins. Fast forward to December I started having really bad pains in my right side and went to have an ultrasound done on my Gallbladder were they found a huge stone. I had to stop going to gym while I waited 6 days for surgery(over Christmas). I had my gallbladder removed on Dec 29, 2015 at a surgery center and was home within 4 hours of arriving. I did awesome and I told them how sick I was after my sleeve surgery and they gave me everything they could to help that and I didn't even feel as though I was going to get sick. I was told no gym until my check up a week later. I went for check up on Tuesday and started back at the gym Wednesday. I am now able to do the treadmill for 30-35 mins which I am at an incline of 5.5 and speed 3.8 and go about 2 miles and I do the stationary bike for 30 mins and I go 6 miles. Then this week I am adding in weights as my surgeon said give it a few weeks. I weighed today and am at 179.6!!! I have not been that weight since middle school(now 40). I am wearing a size med yoga pants or a size 13 jeans and shirts I am wearing a large, but I haven't went shopping for any large so I am mostly swimming in my extra large shirts. After my gallbladder surgery I went back to protein shake for breakfast, ham and cheese roll up for lunch and a small dinner of chicken and some veggie or fruit. Then I normally have to eat a cheese stick and peanut butter at night to get my calories up to 900-1000. I am still wanting to lose about 20 pounds and then I will try maintenance, but I am going to be watching what my body does and will be happy with what every it decides to do. NSV this week was seeing someone I haven't seen in about 3 years and them going on about how good I look. Of course my hubby and parents tell me that all the time, but it is nice when it comes from someone you haven't seen in a long time and at the gym no less!!!!! Hope everyone else is doing well and loving the "new" you!!!

Great nsv's ! No chubrub !!? Denist compliment (, strange compliment ) but take It ! Good for you ! Funny, we both had an nsv while wearing a long dress the other day. Mine was my half slip ( that used to be tight ) literally fell off me ! Thankfully I was at home and not out in public, but all of a sudden I looked down and it was on the floor ! And by the way, you are definitely NOT a fake !! You're as real as one can get , and we are all happy you're on this forum !!!

Thats a great NSV. Way to go

Great Job KLM3hrt! You have done a wonderful job and have had great success. Can you tell us what your top 3 NSV are? Congrats and continue the good work.

So....I've been struggling for a number of months with hair loss. Along with taking the Biotin, extra Protein, and Vitamins, I changed up my hairstyle a bit to try to minimize the thin spots. For the first time in a very long time, my hair is really short and unfortunately now thin enough that my ear lobes are quite visible. I finally decided today that I might as well take advantage of this situation and put on a pair of earrings. Usually I don't bother because: A) my hair used to cover my ears...and... 2) after a couple of hours, my ears would hurt and I'd have to take the earrings out. Well...I've had them in all day and they aren't bothering me at all. I swear...my earlobes must have gotten thinner along with the rest of me. I think I may have to Celebrate this nsv and head to the nearest jewelry store this weekend...

Yes, most everyone goes through a stall around three weeks out. I'm not sure if I did, because I didn't weigh myself that often that first couple months. I don't even own a scale. I was sick with non-surgery related stuff and went to the doctor many times between weeks 6 and 15. Since I was getting weighed everytime I went in, I know I gained 3 pounds and then stalled for a month at around 6-7 weeks. Then there was the third time I needed IV fluids for dehydration. I actually gained 11 pounds in one day. Just goes to show how much Water weight can affect the scale. But Once I felt better and could eat and drink more, I started losing again. After a few months I started weighing myself once/week at work so I had something to enter on my ticker. I'm fully clothed, with boots or shoes (and long underwear these days) and sometimes weigh in the morning and sometimes after lunch. I'm more interested in the overall downward trend than the small daily and clothes-related variations of the numbers on the scale. I have had several stalls along the way, but still managed to lose100 pounds in less than a year. In fact, stalls are SO common and people get so upset about them that there is a subforum dedicated to stalls...."Don't Sweat the Stall Stuff". You may want to check it out. But my best advice is to stay off the scale. Concentrate on eating healthy and establishing new habits. Judge your weight loss by how your clothes fit and other NSV's. Actually, If it hadn't been for the doctor's scale, I wouldn't have known about that long stall because I dropped a whole pant size during that month I didn't lose a single pound. Try and enjoy this wonderful gift! As for protein, are you using Protein shakes? I didn't consume anything that didn't contain protein that first few months. It was actually easier to get in enough protein than enough water. And even at 11 months out I have a big protein smoothie with 30-40g protein everyday. Two of those and you'd easily be at goal. There are good protein ideas for all stages in the food and nutrition subforum on here. Good luck! Just trust the process, eat healthy, drink and stay off the scale. It will happen!

My recent NSV has been collecting all my winter shirts in a trash bag at the bottom of my closet because they way too big for me. Last winter I was squeezing into a 3x and now 1x fits me with room to spare. I also went to try on some new pants this weekend. I picked up a size 20 for fun and a size 22 because that is 1 size smaller then I wear now. I tried on the size 20's 1st and they fit. They were snug, but I bought them anyway. I often see myself in the mirror as the same. It is hard to see the changes but the clothes do help convince me that I am smaller.

same here! i agree so much.. my biggest nsv was to be able to buy a plain Lee jean! i didn't ask much i guess

I don't wake up coughing every morning and I no longer snore....I guess thats my wife's favorite NSV (LOL)

Awesome scale victory and NSV! Keep up the good work.

Hi everyone! Well I was sleeved one week ago, 6/18. When I first started this journey I was 262 but averaged 255 for the past year. The day of my surgery I was 246 and today I am 233. The first three days were not good! I was miserable, in pain, and had buyers remorse! Then Thursday, I totally jumped out of bed and felt energized. On Friday I was feeling awesome. Saturday was hard because my mom and sister came to visit me from out of town and she cooked for the whole family and I really wanted an enchilda! to the point of almost crying... But she also made me Soup and it was wonderful. My mom left on Sunday but physically I was feeling awesome. I went to several store but I was not in the mood to shop (in my case that is very rare). Today I made an executive decision to go back to work. I truly cannot be home! I have been surviving on pudding, yogurt, and strained Soups. Oh and I went to a Mexican Restaurant and ordered Menudo but asked them to leave out the meat and hominy... after the weird look from the cook, I explained that I was fresh out of surgery and I cannot eat that. OMG! it was soooo good! I had about 3 oz of it and I did not get sick, despite how spicy it was. I know I need to stay away from spicy food but dang it, it was worth it! Anyway, my clothes are fitting looser and my face is looking skinny! I continue to take my bariatric Vitamin (mulit, Calcium, Iron, and b12 sublingual). I try to drink all the Water I possibly can but I am sure that I don't drink enough. I don't think I am dehydrated though because I pee a lot. Oh NSV: I am not longer on metformin, glipizide, blood pressure and high cholesterol meds!!!!! I check my blood pressure once a day and my glucose levels and they have been withing normal range! AMAZING!! My first goal was achieved right after surgery! If anyone has any questions, please let me know, I am sure I have forgot to mention a lot of stuff. Have an awesome day everyone!! Sorry for the long post, I couldn't stop typing.

Hello All, Well I've been hoping for some NSV's but they seem to be slow in coming. The good news is that my 5X's are too big now and my size 30 slacks! It has taken four months to get down a size! What a victory!

Thanks everyone, it is really getting exciting to see what will be coming next. And congrats to the rest of you and your wonderful NSVs.

:clap2: :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: those are GREAT NSVs!! i still cringe just walking past the booths!!

I am finally pulling all the clothes from the back of my closet...and they fit again!!! My winter coat that I haven't been able to wear for 2 years now buttons and has room to spare. And tonight, I went out to dinner with some work associates and when they took us to a booth I just cringed. I not only got in the booth but I had room between me and the table. I can't remember the last time I could do that. And, my plate had the most food left on it after we were all done. AMEN! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: :clap2

Hey FindingMe - thanks!! I kept a lot of old clothes from way back 20 years ago. Levi's are my absolute favorite jeans - no doubt about it. I have some super cute Levi's that I outgrew those 20 years ago and I always wanted to get back into them. Some are size 13's and some are 14's. I'm just now starting to fit into them, and those are such an achievement... I seriously started to think I'd never be able to again. Now these are back in the day before random and vanity sizing - so it's quite the accomplishment!!! Hi Knee, welcome to the BEST support website you will find for the VSG! An NSV = Non scale Victory - for all the wonderful things that accompany weight loss, that is not defined by the scale. HTH

2 lbs a week is 2 lbs a week...Where is the problem with that!? There are a lot of people who would give their right arm for that to happen. Please do not be tied to the scale. Stay on program and weigh in less often. Like only at the doctors office. This is about health and well being..Not about numbers or what the scale tells you. How do you feel? How are your clothes fitting you. Any NSV even small ones....Those things tell the real story not I lost 2 lbs this week!

I personally think NSV's give us more to celebrate than where the dial is on the scale...it is so satisfying to pass a 'lifestyle' milestone. Becky

Congrats Julie!! That is such an aweseom NSV!