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Had a cool NSV yesterday that foreshadows the tremendous NSV potential ahead....... So.....I'm a dude who gives not two thoughts to clothes. I pretty much wear cargos or khakis at work with one of our company monogramed shirts. I prefer the polo style. Days off work....same basic deal....just cargos with t-shirts or polo shirts. Suit and tie on church Sunday. This is how it's been for a long time. I've been out of work just under three weeks now, recovering from sleeve & umbilical hernia surgery. Most of this time I've been wearing a few pairs of Under Armour long pants, shorts and t-shirts. These have gone from snug & in need of a "pre-wear stretch" prior to surgery.....to now being baggy and saggy once coming out of the clothes drier. Funny stuff. I never wore clothes from the drier.....and I usually did the "shirt stretch deal" as I put them on. Now it's obvious. Old stuff doesn't fit anymore. My wife and I had some events we wanted to go to yesterday, Halloween day. I'd gone out earlier in the morning and had a haircut and also got my beard trimmed up (I'd shaved prior to the surgery, but since then it's grown back). Anyway, came home yesterday morning with a ball cap on and wearing my normal UA pants and t-shirt. After she got ready I went and got another shower (can't stand that feeling after a haircut) and got dressed. I wore a pair of cargos that I bought the week prior to the surgery....now 3 weeks old. They'd just come out of the drier. Buttoned up they kept falling down as I was trying to find a smaller shirt to wear. Finally found a never worn polo that is made from a no-stretch dry-tech type fabric. It was hiding in my closet among the few smaller clothes that are in there. Got the shirt on and belt cinched down to keep my freaking pants up. Looked in the mirror as I was brushing my teeth and thought, "Alright, dude.....you look human again". I walked downstairs to grab a glass of Water and ran into my wife. She looked at me and burst out into tears. I'm like, "WTH ????" and she's smiling while crying and gives me a huge hug. "Have you seen yourself ?", she asked. It was one of those spontaneous affirmations outa the clear blue that reminded me that I made the right decision in getting the surgery. Later on in the day she commented....."Have you noticed how you are now walking......no limping". I did notice. I've only needed Advil on 3 occasions since the surgery as opposed to needing it 3 times per day every day prior to wls. It's only been 2+ weeks since the surgery (down 31 pounds).....and 6 months since my weight loss efforts began (down 89 pounds).......and I already feel years younger. It's at the point that I can't even conceive of how much younger I"ll feel once I reach the 1 year post-op mark. 47 now.......will probably feel like 27 after the first year. Looking forward to wearing the same type of of button fly Levi's I wore in college. I've still got the old leather jacket that wore then, too. It's got some road rash from two motorcycle wrecks that I walked away from. It's going to feel great being that same guy once again......just a wiser & worn version. 47 heading toward 27. I'm down with that.

I had a fantastic NSV. I have a 15 year old son, and he is at the age where it is just a huge ordeal to hug his mom. Anyway, the other day I "made" him hug me, and he stood back and said that he has never been able to put his arms around me and hug me that close. He said.....your smaller than me now mom! So happy!!!!

I have a hard time believing it's real. Before surgery, I thought I would fail at this. I really did. I would read through all the NSV threads and never thought I'd be posting here!I completely agree with you! I kept my surgery a secret for exactly this reason. But I'm proud of what I have done for myself and my life.

I have so many NSV to report. I fit comfortably on a plane this week, more than comfortable. I fit perfectly in a cheap seat on a cheap plane and a flight that was several hours was very comfortable. I used to fly 5-6 days a week in my old management job at over 300 pounds. I was always fine in first class but if I had to ride coach, or on a small plane it was torture. This is one of the main things I was looking forward to and it felt so good. This is something I can think about when temptation knocks. No food can ever feel better than the joy of flying to me. I can fit in any booth at any resturant. I think I have said it before but it is still important. I can walk up stairs in front of my date and not be winded when I get out the top and keep a great pace. Walked all day with my date. No foot pain, could keep walkng, and I did it 4 inch heels. Walked through the airport in 4 inch heels, felt good and kept pace with other people. Sat in the car with my seat belt on and lotioned, my legs easily and comfortably. Dropped the lotion and picked it up. Before I could have never bent over and easily done these things. It was effortless. In the past I would taken my seat belt off and not been able to bend straight over. My postoperative life is really amazing. I can't express how much joy three little victories bring me. They make it all worth it. Forgot something, was able to go not any store and buy a replacement. Went to a Soma store out of town, bought a bra, told the lady fitting me all about my surgery and how she might be able to afford it.

I had my first NSV the other day. My 10 year old daughter put her arms around my waist and said, " Mom! I can get my arms right around you and clasp my hands together!" I have to say, I was elated at her delight and the fact that she noticed she could do that and told me!

NSV today. I dropped my dry cleaner off and the nice lady working there asked me. "Do you mind if I ask you something?" Me "no, go ahead " Her "how much weight have you lost? You look great." I thanked her and continued with my day. This is a drive thru dry cleaner , all she can see is my face ????

I have 16 more days til my VSG in Mexico with Dr. Elias Ortiz. I am beyond excited! I took some time today to really dig deep and think of some non-scale victories. I think they are so beneficial because for my this journey is more than the number on the scale. Its about how I want to feel and the woman I want to be again. Im 31 yrs old and I feel as though I have lost years of my life yoyo dieting. I think a list of NSV's if not only motivating while losing but especially when maintaining so I can remind myself why i dont wanna go backwards. I had a coworker tell me that I dont need to have the surgery and I was highly offended. She is much smaller than me and has never battled with her weight. She does not know my stryggle and will never understand. Anywho... such is life... I'm sharing mine and I would love to read yours.

My favorite NSV so far! This past Friday, I went to pick up my son from daycare, & the owner told me how great u looked & told me to throw away the jeans I was wearing because they were sooo floppy! Her exact words, "Those jeans are beating you up, PLEEZ throw them away!" Add that to being able to wrap in a towel after my shower & my chinny chin chin going away and I'm feeling GREAT!!! Sent from my iPhone using VST

Great NSV. I use 20 lb containers of cat litter two at a time. When I was carrying them in from the car one day, I thought "I have lost 2-1/2 times the weight of this litter." I don't even know how I used to walk. No wonder my knees and ankles are trashed. Keep up the good work!!! Kathe

Sitting in one of my summer classes and it has the old style desks from high school where the desk is tiny and is attached to the chair. Before I squished into them. Now I can sit normal, even cross my legs and see my thighs easy. Totally roomy. It's awesome! ! Totally an nsv that I didn't expect!!

Well...so far... all of these exciting tests... and nuttin... notta darn thing. My band is right wear it is supposed to be... Fluid goes through it with some delay... but it goes through... nothing twisted or flipped... nuttin... I tell ya nuttin! So why am I up all night with pain... why?????? I'll be waiting for the doc to call... I'm sure he will have another exciting test in line. Yay. Now I can't eat anything that has any consistancy... PB hell if I do. Something isn't right... my stomach is pissy about something and hopefully I won't have to have many more tests cause those gowns look like crapola on me. NSV... I can wear a hopital gown and it now closes all of the way so that my hinder doesn't stick out. Okay... going to go lay down and take a nap as big as they take in Texas Betty... it'll probably turn out to be more of a Rhode Island nap... but hey... it's worth a try! Congrats on the weight-loss Lisa! Look at you closing in on the 60 lb lost mark! Darcy

Well it has been three months since my last blog (6 months from surgery) and I'm happy to say I've lost another 30 lbs for a total of 90 lbs lost!! Current weight- 274. Whoo-hoo!! I think this is the first time ever that I've lost weight during the holidays. I've been averaging a loss of 10 lbs a month. Very happy with that. I've been getting very small fills. In fact I've only got 3 cc's in my 10 cc band. I still don't have alot of restriction but I count my calories, exercise and follow the rules. We've had a very cold winter so instead of doing my walking outside I've been doing low impact cardio workouts. My two favorite being Shapely Girl and the Biggest Loser Power Walk. I'm looking forward to warm weather and today I signed up for the Blue and You fitness challenge. This is something I did last year and it's basically just making a commitment to exercise 3 days a week for at least 30 minutes. Now what I'm really excited about is that I signed up for my first 5K!! It is May 3rd and I have the option to walk but I would love to run as much as possible. I know I can easily walk 3 miles but I haven't even attempted to run. I have wanted to try running but I don't want anyone seeing me. I know this is something I need to get over but when I go to the walking trails the only people I see running are already really fit and skinny. Ugh!! Well time to get over it because starting this week (wait it's snowing) ok next week I'm going to start training for this 5K. So besides all that my band seems to being doing well. I have had some pain in my left shoulder for about 3 months now. At first I thought I had injured it but then I realized that the way the pain would come and go, hurt when I would bend over for any length of time (cleaning) and when first laying down in bed that it seemed to be a nerve issue. I did some research and found that it is not uncommon for bandsters to have this pain. It is caused by a nerve- phrenic nerve- that runs through the diaphragm. It hurts everyday but luckily not ALL day so I can handle that. Other than that I haven't had any problems really. There is nothing I have found that I can't eat (but alot I choose not to!!) Oh yeah, I had a pretty sweet NSV this morning. I was chatting with a co-worker this morning and looked down and realized that I had my legs crossed. Wow! It's been a long time since I could do that.

Hi folks! I have an NSV and a good weigh week. The other day I tried a 2X shirt on I had gotten (recall I had always work 4 and 5 X shirts) and the 2X fit perfectly and was even a little loose. Could NOT believe it. My mom was even impressed. And then I went to weigh today and lost 3.2 lbs. I had only been losing about a pound a week for the last month or so, so I was really happy to get another decent drop. Didn't really do much diferently last week so ??? I was able to finally go swimming again on Tuesday though. I hadn't been to the pool in a month because of class and pool closures so it was nice to be back. Well best of luck to everybody. Lisa, I LOVE your pic. I think it is really cute. Teresa:)

Teresa... in betwixt pouting wanted to tell you AWESOME... NSV's are the best! Sometimes I pull out something to wear and think... holy crap... this used to hang on every roll! Swimming really is the best exercise there is... I can't wait until I can convince myself to put on a suit. Darcy

Darcy, great job! You're "movin' on down"! Penni, you've been under a lot of stress lately! One lb. is nothing! I recently gained 2, then juggled them back and forth for 2 weeks. Lisa, Happy "UnBirthday"! But you know what the alternative to "not getting older" is, don't you? I know you don't want THAT! Is this a NSV or a Scale victory? I finally weigh less than my husband! Of course, he's several inches taller than me. That is so embarrassing and something I would have never admitted anywhere but here!

Diane: I just caught up on this thread.............. WOOOOOOOOT! WOOOOOOOOOT! on the jeans NSV! I'll be waiting to see the pics!

Wonderful NSVs! Great thread!

I love everyone's NSVs! It's so inspiring! I can't wait!

I love reading these NSV's, they are great. I admit, I especially enjoy reading some of the R rated and up ones, lol. I had a great weekend. I got a new tattoo. October was breast cancer awareness month and a local tattoo parlor was doing the pink ribbon tattoos for free, as long as you gave a minimum donation of $20.00 to breast cancer research, so me and a coworker got one. Here is the picture, just pretend I am wearing a bathing suit: Then, I went to get my nails done for the first times in six months. I went to my same nail tech I had been going to forever, and she didn't even recognize me! She couldn't believe how different I looked with all of the weight loss. Lastly, I had an appointment with my OBGYN on Tuesday. One of the reasons I have always dreaded going is because not once in the past 25 years have I been able to close those darn gowns they make you wear. I realize they are going to see us in our all anyways, but still, I like to remain covered up for as long as possible. I was pretty darned excited when I was able to completely close the gown with no gapes whatsoever. So, those are my most recent NSV's, kind of silly, but they made me feel good.

Went shopping with my bestie today. Headed straight for the size 12 pants even though the size 12s I already own are loose. I just couldn't imagine that I could wear anything smaller, so I wasn't even going to try on a smaller size. Well, guess what? The size 10s were a little loose, too! This is a literal NSV because I made this discovery in a week in which I lost no weight.

Buying a dress online that was smaller than last summer AND having to return it for a smaller size because it was too big when it arrived. And ordering a lab cost in a much smaller size than last year and being able to button it all the way up! Clothing changes seem to be the biggest NSV at the moment.

I'm 8 days out and had a couple of NSV's today. 1. A shirt that did not fit me becasue it was too small before surgery fit me perfectly today. 2-4. I had 3 different people on 3 different occasions today tell me that they can tell I'm already losing weight because my cheeks aren't as puffy as they remember.

1 month since pre-op diet started, 9 days post-op and I've already been able to put my wedding ring back on without having to oil up my finger. It is now sliding off and on with ease! This morning's NSV was slipping on a pair of size 24 pants (not struggling with buttons or zipper), down from a 28!!!

36.5 inches!! Whoa, that is awesome and a major NSV! Congratulations!! :thumbup::thumbup::party4::party4::thumbup::woot::woot:

WOW!!! That is one of the greatest NSV's I've seen on this board!! I would not be able to keep that one quiet either!! Wow!! Congrats, you! You have a great kid. C