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Congratulations on your success! We are pretty similar — I had my surgery just a week before yours, and I have also lost 100 pounds since my surgery (I lost about 70 pounds before surgery). My initial goal weight was 180 pounds based on average weight loss (this was before I lost the first 70 pounds), but now I’m shooting for 150, although I honestly don’t care all that much about the number on the scale; for me, it’s all about the NSVs. When I stop and think about it, I’m in disbelief that I have lost such a massive amount of weight. I used to see people who have lost 100+ pounds and think it was impossible, and now I’m one of them. i also have the same sense that it doesn’t feel like I’ve lost as much as I have. I am literally half the size I used to be, and of course I can tell that I’m smaller, but I definitely don’t feel like I’m half my old size. I actually like to cook, and I spend a lot of time on Pinterest looking at bariatric-friendly recipes (I find a lot of recipe on keto web sites, even though I don’t exactly follow the keto diet, but a lot of keto recipes are good because they’re low-carb). One of the cool things about being a bariatric patient is that my portion sizes are so small that I get a ton of servings out of a single recipe. I made a batch of turkey meat sauce that came out to 27 portions! I have a freezer full of single-serving meals from just a few cooking sessions. I’ve really enjoyed finding new, healthy recipes that I love, and I hardly even miss the old unhealthy foods I used to eat. I recently discovered that I like spaghetti squash! And I eat cauliflower rice all the time. I hardly recognize myself anymore. Anyway, it’s great to see someone else enjoying great results from WLS. It is truly life-changing!

I'm not being banded until tomorrow so I can't talk from experience but I've read a lot that we shouldn't always pay attention to the numbers on the scale to determine success. Wow -- with all that exercise you sound like you're doing great. Don't forget muscle weighs more than "fat". Celebrate your non scale victories (NSV). Good luck!

Remember you are in this for the long run. In my case it was not unusual to lose weight and then gain weight. I walk quite a bit which I find relaxing. When I do gain a little weight for a while I tend to concentrate on the NSV(Non Scale Victory). In my particular case I no longer use a cpap machine or take medicine for diabetes.

I am loving this... congrats on a great NSV ... my next goal is a UK14 jean (I think that is a US10?) so I am digging this !! Well Done! =]

I'm so excited, I just had to share! I went to a professional basketball game with the hubby and kids the other night and fit in the seat with no problems!! I actually had room on either side of me!! No holding my breath the whole game, no sitting up on the seat so my shoulders wouldn't hit the person next to me...I was able to sit back, relax and totally enjoy myself without having the seat parts jammed into my body. It was delightful!!

I had to take my mom to the dr. today and while sitting in the waiting room I crossed my legs (as if I had been doing it all along LOL). I sat there a good 15 minutes reading a magazine and it was like BAM I looked down and I was actually swinging my leg and it had been crossed the whole time. I almost jumped up and shouted right there in the waiting room. I can't tell you how many many years it's been since I've been able to cross my legs. Something as simple as that can bring such joy. Thanks for letting me share.

Hi All - Sleeved on Dec, 21st. Definitely stalled week 3 after 25lb weight loss. Upped my cals and my Water - stall broke...YAY! struggling with psychological stuff more than physical - I live in NYC, the food capital of the world, so it's a challenge to be "out and about" and not partake in MANY things!! It's not that I'm hungry or even need/want to eat - it's just that I know I shouldn't or can't. typical day menu.. Carnation No Sugar Added chocolate shake 1/2 c Fage no fat greek yogurt with 1 splenda & 1/4 pureed no sugar added fruit cup cheese wedge (laughing cow or mini babybel - Low Fat) another shake or 1/2 c Soup ice pop or teaspoon Peanut Butter drink Special K protein/fiber pink lemonade powder in water (2 per day) 30 cals each(5 mg protein/5 mg fiber) having a difficult time with pure Proteins (like salmon, chicken, turkey) deli meat has been okay but must eat very slowly wishing everyone luck... had my first NSV today - someone whom I haven't seen in months called me Skinny! ,Believe me, I have a LONG WAY to go but she noticed which was AWESOME!! Carrie

jenien no, no, no!!! no such thing as minor victory kindof conflict in terms keep those NSV's comin' they all count, and make our day kathy congrats

W00000t!!! that is awesome. Congrats on the NSV!!!

So today is the first day I woke up without a weight loss. I know this is super normal but emotionally I just feel like I’m doing something wrong. My clothes fit better- but nothing is too big for me in my closet yet. The second something is too big is going to be the best NSV ever. I’m gonna let myself have a bit of a lazy morning- getting some laundry done then I’ll go walk at the gym and just keep moving forward. One day at a time.

NSV? Never heard of that. I do love how u explained that- that is exactly what I think all the time. I saw all those things slipping away from me slowly (can't cross my legs without holding my leg with my hand and that hurts! All of those things. I'm sorry to keep repeating myself (if u have ever read any other posts of mine) but I am so counting down the days and I just pray insurance goes through. Xxx

What does NSV mean???

I too am nervous...my surgery is Monday. I see that all posters in this thread are alive and well that is a comfort I have been following my liquid diet since last Monday and am hoping it will lead to positive results. I find myself waking up in the middle of the night in a panic. I have had surgery twice before but this one is anxiety provoking on so many levels. I am saying many prayers, and have the support of so many. VST has taught me a lot, and I look forward to posting about upcoming successes and NSVs

@@Griggs2alr - the small goals are the BIGGEST ones sometimes. Keep trying on clothes you haven't worn for NSVs. Don't forget to measure yourself NOW for the stalls that will mess with your head. Inches "lost" are SO much fun to lose

It's all good things.. buying a bra is such a pain... I used to wear Wacoal bra's because they were so much more comfortable than regular bra's.. now I can wear about anything .. going from 44D to 38C so far is a blessing.. I am starting to enjoy shopping more .. It's great to read about other folks and their NSV's it keeps me on track.. Good luck @ Kohl's.. we don't have one here.

Will be 5 years soon and still going great.....most days don't even think about it anymore, just live every day like any other day. It all becomes second nature and routine.... I prefer my band tight enough to restrict me from overeating....that was my problem before surgery. Could not control my appetite with no self control or discipline.....in other words I could not follow any prescribed diets..... Sure there are foods I will never eat again, but in return I am NEVER hungry, and when I do eat my portions are controlled....IMPOSSIBLE to overeat or indulge......It just doesn't get any better! Very Easy! To me it is about restriction... Diets are the thing of the past, so is the fear of ever being over weight again..... (BTW, the foods I will never eat again, were food groups that are good to eat anyway and should be avoided.....pastas, breads, meat, etc....so it's all for the good...) And I agree...the people who I followed when I first came here, are all gone. There is not much reason to stay, and I often wonder why I still log on.....maybe because it reminds me from where I came and where I am now....my daily NSV I suppose. Every-time I do log on, I click "New Content" under Lap Band forums, and all the posts in the Lap Band section are comprised of people with the sleeve or types other than Lap Band!!!

Everything you posted above my friend. Try to enjoy the ride Shelly. It really is the journey as much as the destination. Make a list of your NSVs and focus on that instead of the number on the scale. I bet you have dozens of them.

I made it to the 40lb mark today!!! I thought I was never going to see it! The loss between 30 & 40 creeped soooo slowly. I tried keeping my head high by measuring inches. I am down 29 inches since Jan:) I am 22 lbs from my goal so I have got to kick things up a notch at the gym. I am ready to conquer this challenge & live a healthy, happy life. Next NSV....weigh less than my husband, 8 lbs from this goal. I am so glad I chose the lap band....best decision ever:)

So, yesterday was my 6 month gastric surgery anniversary. And Holy Crap. Yesterday was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I started the day feeling pretty good. Went to the Cardiologist. He was so happy for my weight loss. He wanted me to lose weight, but didn't know about the VSG. He was impressed with how much weight I lost so fast. He also commented I look great and was shocked I don't look "sickly" at all due to the rapid weight loss like many patients he sees. He was thrilled with my increased physical activity and my plans to hike the "Camino de Santiago" in Spain this summer. (It is a "pilgrimage" where you walk literally across Northern Spain or another route to Santiago de Compostela). We discussed my tachycardia and sometimes low blood pressure. He is having me reduce my dosage to half a pill (YAY!). We discussed my cholesterol and medication for it. I told him of my desire to attempt to go off it for a while to see if I can keep my lipid panel numbers in check without it now that I lost all my excess weight and am eating much healthier. We agreed that I will stay on it for 6 more months and then do labs. If my numbers are good, he will let me go off them and see how my labs hold up. I acknowledged to him that I know if they do go back on them, then I will have to take it for the rest of my life... he was happy with that compromise. On top of all that already great news... I asked him about my EKG which I had already looked at myself (I am a former trauma nurse, I know how to read them). He confirmed what I already knew... my EKG was NORMAL!!! Now this is HUGE because the reason I decided to look into WLS in the first point was because I was worried about my heart. At my appointment with him in fall 2018, my EKG showed that I had an enlarged Left Ventrical for the first time. I had an echocardiogram several months later that confirmed the EKG findings. THIS is the reason I insisted on getting weight loss surgery in the first place. My heart was working too hard and was beginning to enlarge. This was unacceptable. This was my reason to stop "trying" to lose weight and for making sure I "did" lose weight. So here I am... 1 1/2 years after identifying that my heart was enlarging.... and all my excess weight is GONE and my enlarged heart is GONE TOO! OMG, I left the cardiologist office on such a high note, I practically floated home lol. And I called my husband with so much excitement. It was a great day. Until..... During the drive home from my cardiologist I got an e-mail from the radiology office. I saw the e-mail when I stopped to exchange some pants at Old Navy. Some of you may recall I posted recently that my bilirubin levels had been rising since surgery. I normally have a high normal to slightly high bilirubin level. It is something that I have monitored my entire adult life. But since surgery, my bilirubin keeps getting higher. I saw my lab results before my bariatric surgeon did. I printed the results, wrote a note to my regular nurse practitioner, and dropped them off at her office. She called a couple hours later and agreed that we need to do an ultrasound to check my gallbladder and liver out. I did that Tuesday and was told that the results would not be available until Friday. Except now it is Wednesday, the next day, and I get a text that my results were available online. Again, I saw the results before either my general nurse practitioner or the bariatric surgeon. And what I read was devastating. My liver and gallbladder are just fine (weird... so why is my bilirubin elevated?). But I have a fairly large mass in my Left Kidney! I have a flippin TUMOR in my kidney! And they recommended on my report that I get a CT Scan or an MRI to further assess it. They used 2 terms to describe what kind of mass it appears to be. Both terms used, are the kind of masses that are cancerous 85% of the time. And even if it ISN'T cancer.... the mass is big enough that I know the first line of treatment is either a partial or total nephrectomy. Holy Crap. Add to that, I know that my grandfather wasn't much older than me when he had kidney cancer and had HIS left kidney removed. And I figure out all of this within 5 minutes, because as a Registered Nurse I already know too much. Still... I keep my **** together and calmly (but unnerved) drive home. I get home, I refill my water, I sit for a minute quitely before I call my husband over to talk. He is a Registered Nurse too... and I told him there is a mass on my Kidney and he made the same assessment I did... only he is much more panicked about it than I am. He wants to rush over to the nurse practitioners office NOW. I told him I want to wait a little bit so she can have time to look at the report first. Then I noticed a missed call from her. How I missed it, is beyond me... but she must have called in the 1 - 1 minute dead zone on my way home. What luck. And BTW, she doesn't make patient phone calls normally DURING her work schedule... she calls after she sees all her patients for the day. I know this because that is when she ALWAYS calls me for results. This was unusual for her. I knew she was worried before I even spoke to her. I called back and got a voicemail. (husband still panicking and wanting to rush over). I called a couple more times and got through to her. Instead of waiting for her to slowly break the news... I let her know I just saw the report and I know I had a mass on my kidney and that my liver and gallbladder were fine. This helped speed up her getting to the point... I needed a CT Scan and a referral to a specialist. She was at the same conclusion I was... it is a tumor and there is a good chance it is cancerous. I don't think she was going to say the "C" word yet... but after I mentioned it, she agreed. Now... my referrals always take a week. ALWAYS take a week to get back so I can schedule an appointment. So, I asked my husband if we can go for a walk somewhere. Well THAT was a disaster lol... because I got several calls from the referral lady and within an hour or so of my phone call to the NP about the results... I was running to the radiology office to pick up barium to drink for my CT scan on FRIDAY. Friday. The day I was supposed to be getting these results back, and now I am going in for a CT Scan already. Talk about FAST RESPONSE! The fact that she rushed this so much and managed to get me in to the radiologist office so soon just confirms how worried my NP really is, so that is totally stressful! Still don't know what specialist I will be seeing, but by the time I get that referral I will have results in hand from the scan, so that is good. On the plus side... I already know the rest of my abdominal organs are fine according to the Ultrasound. The CT scan will look more closely at all of it... but I don't have any reason to believe if it IS cancer that it metastasized. But now I have to gear up to drink a ton of barium (um... no clue how I will get this all in... I am only 6 months post op!). And now I have to deal with a tumor that could be cancerous and I might need a kidney partially or completely removed. Chemo is very unlikely, but radiation or other treatments might be needed. And on top of all that I still need an MRI for my L Knee because I might have a torn meniscus that might need surgery and definitely need physical therapy. And I am SUPPOSED to walk across Spain starting May 25th. Yay me. I thought I was THISCLOSE to being healthy again and all this **** happens! And how much you want to bet the Coronavirus hits my city hard right about the same time I need 1-2 more surgeries! Not afraid of the Coronavirus... except my immune system will be already under attack if I need a kidney removed!

Well I have not seen my TOM for about 8 months and I wont see it if I don't taken the pill. But to my surprise after loosing 76 lbs today I got my TOM on its own this a great nsv this proof that wls works

My friend took this candid picture of me cooking yesterday and I was shocked that I looked so adorable! It's the first time I've ever been pleased with a candid shot of me it feels so good!

wow VK, what an awesome NSV. I just love the way dh looks at me now. My best friend has asked me if it bothers me that he looks at me that way now but not before. She said that he should be that attracted to me whether I am obese or not. I do see her point, but come on, I am not attracted to me when I am heavy and not taking care of myself. He would never have said before that he wasn't attracted to me physically, but now that I have lost weight, I can just tell the difference. It's all in his eyes. He is so proud of me. I am sooo proud of myself. I love that he can't keep his hands off of me.

I have a non-scale victory to share that some of you may be familiar with. I'm off my Detrol! For those who don't know what that means, it means I can laugh and sneeze without peeing my pants! LOL. It's amazing how a few pounds lost can make a difference with this problem. I've had issues for years, and finally can go in public without fear of needing extra pants. Woohoo! Sent from my LG-H810 using the BariatricPal App

I wasn't a fast loser, so I was only losing 13 or so pounds a month on average. But I was on target for the weight loss speed my doctor wanted me at. The #1 piece of advice is, expect to hit a stall. Especially the infamous 3rd week stall post-op. Most of us hit it, just stick with your eating and exercise programs and the weight will start dropping again. I wasn't able to do a lot of exercise the 1st 3 or 4 months. I had lots of problems with my feet hurting if I walked too far. I started off small and just worked my way up. By the 4th month, I was walking a few miles a day. This is my blog post about my plan to go from 0 to 5 miles per day. http://www.bariatricpal.com/blogs/entry/31216-nsv-2-you-best-step-off-b-hatch/

Hi all well guess what i knew i lost weight cause the scale says so but i haven't really noticed. But i had to get a new swimming suit. My old one that by the way last summer was almost to small now is way to big I can't even pretend to keep my breast were they are suppose to be at in there. So i thaught that was cool. I didn't think i had lost enough weight that my bathingsuit wouldn't fit so it was a nice surprise luckly my mom had a smaller one that fit.