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Congratulations!!! You look fantastic and have some having nsv's to be proud of. Way to go!!! :bananahuge:

I am going to Montreal Thursday for a concert and need some clothes that fit so I headed to goodwill. :-) I fit a 38 pants!!' that's down from a 48, 7 weeks ago and from a 54 at my highest. And there's more I am wearing a plain ol xl shirt! Down from 3 xl's an a few 4xl's. Woot!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! I know that had to feel amazing!! I LOVE those pics and can't wait to feel comfortable enough to take one myself. I've had them taken of my daughter and niece and nephew but never had the guts to take one of myself (Too insecure)...I can't wait for these NSV's! Congratulations on your weight loss!~

This weekend, my family went to Winthrop, WA - it is set up as an Old West Town. We decided to do the old antique pictures. We've done these every 3 or 4 years since the boys were young. Normally, I have to wear some old dowdy thing to either fit me or not show all my rolls. And, the strings in the back never tied very well - left my butt hanging out the back. This year, I wore a Saloon Girl Bustiere and fishnet stocking with high heels. And get this ... the strings wouldn't tie again. But, not because I was so fat. The strings couldn't get the outfit tight enough. They had to use clamps in the back to keep it on me. It was amazing! I just grinned the whole time. I planted my butt up on the bar, grabbed my fake bottle of Jack Daniels and whooped it up for the camera. WHAT A BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CHECK OUT THAT BELT!!! Wahooo! I'm still not comfortable wearing a belt at size 14, lol, so I that it's cool that you have one on...NSV for SURE! :clap2: You look amazing, and I'm so happy for your success, thanks for sharing with us!

NSV~ - Ran first race - 8K 5miles!! time 1:01 12 minute miles! I'll take it! woo hoo! I'm hooked on running now. next up 5K July 16th - goal 11 min mile

I know exactly what you are saying. I have weighed more then my husband every since we have been together the last 11 years. The top being me at 240 and him at 170 and being the exact same height. I am slowly inching down there, but that would the biggest NSV for me, would be to finally weigh less then he does.

You look like you had a blast!!! Great NSV! Congrats

First of all -- once you are sleeved and following the simple instructions (thin liquids for 2-3 weeks; mushy foods/purees for 2-3 weeks) and then when you are eating solid foods -- eating Protein first, followed by "good carbs"/fruits & veggies and lastly whole grains (if you have any room in that teeny, tiny tummy) -- you are going to lose weight. Will you lose 100 pounds in three weeks (extremely DOUBTFUL), in 90 days (pretty DOUBTFUL), in 6 months (DOUBTFUL) in a year -- much better shot at that happening. You can handle the weight loss part of being sleeved several ways -- you could jump on and off the scale 10-20 times daily. Record how much you weigh before and after every time you use the bathroom, weigh your self only standing on your left foot vs. how much you weigh only standing on the right foot. You could pull out every article of clothing you own and see which outfit has you weighing the least. Obviously if you are missing eating compulsively, obsessively, and need a new OCD behavior -- chronic weighing is probably a good one. If on the other hand, you chose to get sleeved because you wanted to get a grip on your health, weight, habits, lifestyle, longevity etc. Then I suggest either pasting your goal weight on the scale so that is what you weigh every time you get on it -- or deciding that there are a lot of NSV that will be happening during the course of the next few years. Stop focusing on the scale numbers as the only measure of "success". Stop communicating that to your friends and family. Losing and maintaining a 100lb or more weight loss is a LONG HAUL JOURNEY -- there are going to be ups & downs along the way -- what you weigh during any one point in the journey doesn't define the journey. What else have you achieved? Have you learned to take better care of yourself? Have you learned that you are allowed to say "no" and take care of your own needs first? Have you learned that moving your body can actually feel good and feel even better when you are trying to sleep, relax, stop thinking about work, money etc. Learning new behaviors are just as important if not MORE important than scale victories. I have a few not that close friends and several relatives that ONLY want to hear NUMBERS -- the chorus of "how much have you lost" makes me a little crazy. One thing I realize is this THERE OBSESSIVE NEED TO KNOW HOW MUCH WEIGHT I HAVE LOST ISN'T ABOUT ME -- IT IS ABOUT THEM. My 49-year old "MLF" hottie cousin is obsessed with her own looks -- she fears getting fat, aging, and not having "ENVIABLE LOOKS" more than death and taxes. When I got home from the hospital and spoke to her on the phone her first comment was "you sound sooo skinny"! Yes, it made me laugh -- but I realize a) she could NEVER have lived a minute as me in my obese body; she would have committed suicide; looks are the only thing she values period. She is smart, capable, funny, loving etc -- but she sees her own value as HOW GOOD SHE LOOKS. My struggle for my health etc is secondary to how I look -- from her point of view -- it is her obsession not mine. For her the "unweighed life" is meaningless! Most of the other "friends" who are obsessed with my weight loss have similar issues. Value is a number -- be it a weight or a size. When I tell them "I can feel I've lost weight by how my clothes fit" it just isn't as good as saying "I've lost 40 lbs". Once again -- that is their issue, not mine. I am not going to change how I deal with measuring my success in order to satisfy their obsession. You know when they see me they will either figure it out or not. Which leaves me with MYSELF. I know I am burning fat. I feel like I am "melting" because everyday my clothes feel looser. Does it always get reflected in the scale -- NOPE. Does that mean I'm not losing inches? Hell no! If my weight stays the same but I wear a smaller size -- that doesn't count? Who wrote those rules? Why am I paying attention to them? This isn't a race. It is the rest of my life. How ever long it takes me to lose whatever percentage of my weight comes off - is how long it takes. As long as I'm alive and kicking while it is happening is good enough for me.

Great NSV. Keep up the good work! You are doing awsome.

WOOHOO!!!! I totally cannot wait for that NSV also... my DH is super skinny (150) so I am dreaming of the day that I can say the same! Congrats!

So it may be stupid to post this but after I was working out today and getting ready to go to the sauna in the locker room....I wrapped the LITTLE white towel that the Y provides to members and it covered me and tucked in. Back in the fat days, it was one on top barely and the other on the bottom not covering my tush and me rushing to my locker to hide and change quickly. I strolled today......with a little smooth in my step. Thought I'd share what 18 months has done for me. Maintaining my 105lbs off...normal BMI, would like to lose 5-10 more but the dr is satisfied if I am. 260 then, 155 now. Weirdly wonderful! The band does work and to all you naysayers.... but I do understand the struggle but with persistance and perseverance and getting rid of yours and others around you defeatist attitudes....it can work. I promise.

Lots to talk about this week. My 6 month surgiversary is in 4 days. As of today, I weigh 170.4 lbs.; my 4th of July goal was to get to 169 lbs. so it is coming right down to the wire. I am hoping to be under 170 lbs. tomorrow ... maybe not 169.0 but somewhere between that and 170.0. When I had my surgery, I set several VSG progress goals on my weight loss journey. There were three progress goals in particular that were really meaningful to me -- first, to get into ONEderland; second, to weigh less than my husband; and third, to have a BMI of less than 30 (therefore no longer being considered officially obese). I hit my first goal the month after getting sleeved, and just hit my second goal today. When I saw my weight being right near 170 lbs. this morning, I knew I was very close to my husband's weight. I called DH into the bathroom, asked him to strip down to his skivvies (since I weighed in wearing only my skivvies), and get on the scale. Ta da -- he weighs 172.8, so I weigh 2.4 lbs. less than him! Woo hoo! June was a very tough month for me on the weight loss front. I was in a virtual stall for 3 weeks, and started eating really badly out of frustration. I hadn't been exercising, and started doing that last weekend. I really got into exercising this past week, and it definitely helped ... I dropped nearly 2 lbs. this week, even with a visit from Auntie Flo (which, when I think about it, probably also explains a bit why I went a little crazy with junk eating last week ... raging hormones + frustration = BAD NEWS). I have exercised a lot this week ... did a fairly tough 2.5 mile trail walk 5 times (including this morning). I've been getting up a bit earlier and walking before going to work, and it also helps me come to work with more energy and focus. I haven't been exercising really (except for gardening on the weekends) so I have been pleasantly surprised how much I like it. It is SO much easier and pleasant to exercise when I don't have as much excess weight to carry around. Each day I try to do a little bit more ... challenging myself every time. I am feeling good about exercising and wish I had started doing it much sooner (no doubt I would be much closer to my ultimate goal if I had started exercising 5 days a week a few months ago!). DH and I are having or 15th wedding anniversary this week and are celebrating it by taking a trip to Maui. I plan to spend a lot of time in the water (we have two snorkeling trips already booked) and am hoping that a week of downtime, and lots of fun exercise, means a nice surprise for me on the scale when I return from my trip.

Hi all my fellow sleevers, Like most sleevers, when I had my VSG procedure I set some weight loss progress goals so my ultimate weight loss goal (99 lbs.) didn't seem quite so impossible. Aside from my ultimate weight loss goal, the one goal that I really, really wanted to achieve was to weigh less than my husband ... and finally, today was the day! WOOT!?! I saw 170.4 on the scale and knew I was really close to his weight, so I called DH to hop on the scale. He obliged, and the scale said he weighed 172.8 -- more than 2 lbs. more than I weigh. This is a sweet NSV! We are having our 15th anniversary on Wednesday, and for most of our marriage, I have weighed more than DH. But not this year! This is the best anniversary present I can think of! I still have nearly 40 lbs. to lose to hit my ultimate goal, so my weight loss journey still has a quite a ways to go ... but today I am pretty darn happy!

Well I am having a crappy day, anxiety and depression have snuck up on me pretty badly, and even the scale shifting 1lb didnt raise a smile So after a few hours hiding under the duvet I decided to take the kids to the park, so they can at least let off some steam. I'm pushing my daughter on the swing, when I find myself sizing it up and thinking, I can probably fit on that!! So what the heck, on I climb, and for the first time in about 25 years I am on a swing, and its not collapsing, or even pinching me at the sides! Before I know whats happening I am flying, best feeling, best NSV and best way to fend off the blues!

Those are awesome nsv's! Congratulations!

Wow, you look just amazing. I am so inspired by you. I can't tell you how much I want to have that experience, and be able to buy a wedding dress in a single digit size. Congrats, that is such an wonderful NSV.

SUPER Late Update... Well, I'm super late with my post but that's life catching up with me! My weight is still coming off, slow and steady... I'm down from 271 to 266! I'm in the 260s!!!! Yay! I've set a mini-goal of 220 by at least October/November some time... So if my weight keeps falling off at this pace, I might even beat my mini goal... I celebrated my 25th birthday on June 25th and I had a BLAST! I had one cup of Coconut Ciroc and Pineapple juice, and since I couldn't get OVERLY drunk, I bought a bottle of Patron and made sure I handed out AT LEAST 25 shots to family and friends for my birthday! I wanted everyone drunk on my bday! LoL! I've been walking mostly to get my exercise in. I helped a friend of mine deliver phonebooks for a few days in a local neighborhood. So not only was I walking blocks, but I was also carrying heavy ass phone books! So besides being overly tired, I managed to get a great tan! (Yes, I know I'm "african-american", but I needed one!)... NSVs... Well, besides being in the 260s, I can comfortably cross my legs, I won't mark that off my to do list just yet though. I can only do the left leg, so when I get both down I mark it off, LoL! I also can fit into a size 20, and it actually has room... So I'm moving into the 18s slowy but surely! YAY! I actually tried on a pair of jean capri's my mom had. Now my mom weighs somewhere in the 250s and normally wears an 18/20... These jean capris were a 22W, but she couldn't fit them... I'm guessing they ran small or were some cheap brand, but I tried them on and I was able to button them nooo problem! She was jealous! There was some muffin top going on, but they fit! I also did some overtime on my old unit at the hospital that I work at. All of my old co-workers had my blushing because they were telling me how great I looked and they could definitely see my weight loss... I also decided to participate in the scrub sale they my job offers down in the cafeteria every now and then, well, I call myself being hopeful by buying 2x tops and bottoms... would you believe the bottoms are baggy on me?! They'll be falling off in a few months! I should've tried them on before buying... Fills... So, I still only have ONE fill for a grand total of 5.3cc in my 10cc band. I was supposed to go back July 11 for another fill/check-up, but I'll be out of town at a family reunion, so I had to reschedule for July 18th. I'm not sure if I'm upset about this or not... I'm ready for another fill, I haven't had any mishaps so far; no PBs, foamies, or stuck episodes... I have had times where I might have taken too big of a bite or maybe didn't chew enough and I had a tightness in my band or a sharp pain in my shoulder, but I slow down or stop eating for a few minutes and it goes away. I still feel like I can eat just not nearly as much. So, my fear of getting a fill before going out of state (ATL, Georgia) is that it might be TOO tight and I have a bad stuck episode somewhere where I can't get an unfill, or going without the 2nd fill and eating around my band. This IS a family reunion and there's an event planned around food EVERY day! LoL! So I hope to work out while out of town, my sister has agreed to do this with me, and I just need to not over do it while out of town... don't want to gain ANYTHING back. Misc.... So, other than that I think I've been doing great! I enjoyed a buffet style dinner at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino- Fresh Harvest restaurant for Father's Day... I didn't stuff myself, and I'm doing well with NOT drinking with my meals. Most of the time I just order water with lemon and it stays full until I leave... I'm sure the waiters wonder why I even ordered it cause it doesn't get touched. I have a picture I'm going to post from that day... I actually wore horizontal stripes! LoL!... I do think I've been having bouts of depression. I'm not sure if it's just in my mind because I'm expecting it with the weightloss, but there are days (my off days) where I just want to lay in bed and be lazy because I feel unhappy for some reason... I just tell myself it's the weightloss, but I dunno...Oh and I did get my period again this month(June)! I'm gonna kick my PCOS out soon! I'm also not happy that my bottom half is losing weight first... my boob fat is dwindling also... so to me I look funny as of right now... I dunno, if I could get rid of ANY thing first it would be my back fat, so I've been youtubing work out videos and googling workouts to help with the back area.... OVERALL, I'm happy with my progress and I hope I keep progressing!

Wow!!! You girls are all doing great!! Michelle - 70 lbs, awesome!! Kelly - 30 lbs to goal, wonderful!! Meggie - 45lbs, great job!! Life definitely does happen!! I can't believe it's been 8 weeks for us. I have lost 27 lbs since the surgery which I feel is kinda of slow but I also lost 43 lbs prior. I am very happy with a total of 70 lbs since February. I finally had to clean out my closet and get some smaller clothes, my 24's were literally falling off. I think my favorite NSV since the surgery happened on a recent business trip. I got on the plane and felt totally comfortable in that tiny little seat AND I had an extra 6 inches of seatbelt!! It was awesome!! Let's keep rockin' this sleeve girls.

Being able to breath easier to me was one of the best NSV's. You will notice more and more how good it feels when you're not carrying around that excess weight. Gratz on the 20 lbs.

THAT HAS TO BE ONE OF THE BEST NSV's I'VE EVER HEARD OF. WAY TO GO!

Do they have a pool? I highly recommend swimming. Started out at 364 pounds in my fat lady swim suit. Afterall once you're in the pool no one can see you. Moving to a suit that did not have a skirt was a major NSV.

Wow... I am NOT kidding you it gets REALLY HARD the further out you are and the closer to goal. I have to literally fight tooth and nail to lose anymore. That's ok, I'm a WARRIOR and I'm going to GET THERE!! Will I make this goal? I highly doubt that but I'm danged proud of how hard I've been working and I've had many many NSV's in this time. I cannot and WILL NOT be disappointed in myself, my efforts or my successes!! :woot: Okay everyone... We only have 3 more weigh days until our challenge here is up! HUGE CONGRATS to ALL OF YOU whether you have made goal or not. You all hang in there and I am sooo proud of all of you. Keep it up - and if you are close... GO GIT UM!!!! :xena_banana: ____________________________________________ SN..............Starting Wt........Current.......Goal.......Lbs to Goal LilMissDiva.....199.6..............187.6.............180............7.6

Loved this NSV - one of many more to come. Congrats!

Congrats! Every NSV is GREAT and means a lot! Yeah, I always had a nervous chuckle when I read the warning on most ladder, typically 250 to 275 pounds max load and I tipped the scale at 375. A few groaned and creaked and scared the hell out of me too.