Search the Community

(X-posted, sorry for the repetition if anyone read this elsewhere!) Very early in this process for me, there was a thread here as well as another forum asking people what their goals were, what they looked forward to and hoped to achieve with their weight loss. The last few days have been awesome for me! One of my biggest goals initially was to run a 5K by late summer/early fall. I've never been a good runner at all, even in my late teens/early 20s when I was otherwise in the best shape of my life. I've run a mile... one time. Now I'm doing Couch to 5K, and Saturday I ran 25 minutes AND hit two miles. That's twice as long as I've ever run in my entire life, ever. That alone put me on cloud nine, but then we got together with some old high school friends of mine that night and the compliments were wonderful and we had just a fantastic time. Monday I ran 28 minutes, and today made 31 minutes for 2.4 miles. I've jumped the gun a little bit and registered me and my hubby for my first 5K .... a week from Saturday, on the 25th!! And I've had tons of OMG! moments throughout this thing, but today's the first one that made me cry. I have held on to a pair of jeans that I wore before I got pregnant with my son (who's 21 1/2 now), for that many years. They're the smallest ones I ever had as an adult, a size 12 which translates to about a 10 by today's sizing. They're high-waisted, pleated, peg-legged and acid washed, and I knew I'd never wear them in public again, but kept them all these years for that "someday" when I'd be able to put them on again. They've gone from California to Michigan to New York to Michigan to Florida and back to Michigan again with me, always hanging in my closet just waiting for me to get my sh*t together and finally lose the weight (which of course, just kept piling on). The waist looks so tiny, I couldn't even remember being that small. Today I was trying to find a pair of jeans that wasn't too baggy or too tight, and just for the heck of it I pulled out those things to see if I could even get them over my butt yet. Before surgery, I couldn't even get them past mid-thigh. I was in the middle of telling my husband exactly that -- "Before, I couldn't even get...." --and one leg was in. Then the other leg was in and the damn things pulled up all the way... and I burst into tears. They buttoned and zipped (had to lay on the bed to do that LOL!) but they WENT ON! And I just cried, and he almost did too seeing me so happy and proud of myself. It was an amazing moment. The day of the 5K, the 25th, will also be my 8 month surgiversary and I VOW to take pics and put some before-and-durings up. I actually have a before pic of me with those jeans pulled up to mid-thigh, as far as they'd go at the time. Just had to share the most thrilling days of this whole thing for me so far! :thumbup:

YAY a bike!!! Love it! And yeah that is a bummer about having to "pad" it because you don't have any fat down there anymore...wait that should be a NSV! Haha! At least you can leave the pillow behind when you are done and not have be a permanent part of your body! I just heard something on the news today about fitbits (maybe from the Today show?) anyway they were "testing" devices and that one rated pretty high as far as "accurately" counting calories burned etc. Great job, and good luck on your upcoming surgery!

just a quick update from me... I am now back to 164, what I am calling my all time lowest (I did see 163 once, so I am not counting that!). HUbby has now lost 17lbs and is really looking good...he is getting his waist line back! He is also reporting a feeling of well being that he hasn't had for a long time! To hear him say that is amazing cos over the last three years, he has had a really tough ride of things. This way of eating is really benefiting me and I am starting to feel a little more confident. This is going to sound really strange, but I am 'feeling' smaller. I went out Friday night with the peeps from work and my hubby said that I looked 'tiny'! In all our married life, he has never used that adjective on me.... chuffed! After 5 weeks of following the primal style eating I am starting to look at sugary foods in a different light... they don't interest me anymore! Here is an example: me and hubby went to the cinema last night... normally we would consider this a 'treat' and associated with that would be lots of chocolate, cola and popcorn. He would have a large bag of M&Ms and I would have a small (which isn't that small actually...lol) bag of popcorn - we would share the drink. Anyway, last night we shared some dark choc - 4 squares each. I took some macadamia nuts and dry cranberries and he had some dried apricots! Talk about an NSV!! Didn't look for anything else... wasn't interested in the sweets or popcorn shop...Oh and we shared a bottle of water!!! Chuffed or what! This, after 2 1/2 years out is definitely a sign that progress never stops. I am looking forward to seeing my PS now, to see what he says about the TT ... I really think that this will mark the end of my journey, and regardless of what the scales says, I will be where I want to be. I'll keep you all posted! Hope you are all doing well... Oh, and thank you swizzy for pointing me in the direction of Mark's daily apple...

Today has been a good day re food... low carbs, high Protein and just under 900 cals... the xmas weight has come off now... just got to see the lower end of my 'bounce weight' .... then to get below 164lb! With the really low carb, I was hoping to see a little more movement...perhaps I am being impatient... yea, ok, I know I am being impatient! One thing that I have noticed is that I am getting headaches... now, this is probably hormone related with a little bit of low carb thing included... gotta push through this! I've been give HRT Patches to try again too... and put my first one on tonight, so this will be an interesting couple of week... let's hope that they won't affect my weight or moods too much... lol Glad to see you all adding your days, experiences to this thread... it really does help me to see others out there in the same boat. I still love reading success stories and when efforts are rewarded with either weight loss or NSV! Keep up the good work my sleeve friends...

Day three, 6 miles so far right on track, wish I could do more... Soon very soon... Nsv today, walked into a gyro place that we had been to before, the kid working behind the counter, after I ordered my meat without bread, says you are looking so skinny, what are you doing? Are you trying to lose cause you look great! Yay!

Sitting in a normal airplane seat comfortably was a huge NSV for me-one of the most emotional ones for me. I had to fly a few months post op and got a window seat—and cried; it was so beautiful up there in the clouds, sitting in a normal seat. [emoji173]️ I took video of it and kept it to remind me!

well. it has been 2 days since my fill. as i suspected not much weight loss, 1 lb. :crying: i was disappointed but I am going to keep trying. it is weird though. my total weight doesnt move much but my Fat Mass goes down. this time by about 6 pounds. what is all that about? NSV: was able to wear some jeans i previously couldnt fit into. :biggrin:

Okay so I am going to give this a go. I know the scale has gone down 75 lbs., and I started out in a TIGHT size 32 & am now comfortably a size 24, and have had many other NSV over the past 4 months. I still don't see it. Someone recommended that I look at side by side pictures so here we go. 3 pictures are me at my highest weight of 418. One is 2 Easter's ago at an Easter Egg hunt with my boyfriend, nieces and nephew. 2 are from this August at Niagara Falls and in my sister's wedding. I was still ate 418 for those. My VSG was on 11/27. I'm not sure how these pictures are going to upload so the pic of me in the black & pink flower dress is from today. My boyfriend's 2 year old niece told me that I looked like a ballerina. LOL. Idk about all that, but hoping that I'll see a difference posting them together.

Best nsv ever i started at 322 now i am 258 since jan 29 2013, tried on dresses at old navy that FIT and were cute also tried skinny jeans on! Have NEVER fit in any old navy stuff before best nsv!

Awesome NSV!

I have noticed that I am losing in places that I never lost in before. The first time I was on Atkins I lost a lot of weight (down to 185) I just seemed to lose a little bit everywhere, but when I gained it back I gained it all back in my upper torso area. Now that I am losing again that is where I am noticing it most. Also in my thighs!! Huge NSV: Today I was lecturing to my students and noticed that I could completely cross my legs like a proper lady. So while they looked like they were ready to die from boredom, I was super excited because for the first time since I could remember, I could actually cross my legs and not look like a man!!! Now if I could just get rid of this pesky double chin. I really only need one!

I'm loving what I see in the mirror- I haven't lost any weight this week but, I am very proud of myself. I know my body is changing even if the scale says differently! I hope you all have a wonderful day

In the last 3 weeks I have been religiously working out on my Bowflex and feel as if I have toned quite a bit. The downside is that muscle weighs more than fat and I cannot seem to make my scale move right now. I've lost 45 lbs since beginning this journey but only 20 of that since my surgery on 4/17 this year. I'm eating right but also having a glass of wine each night (this was okayed by my doc and nutritionist). The good news is my clothes are fitting better (I'm down a couple of sizes) so that is an NSV I suppose. Has anyone else experienced this? I see my surgeon tonight and wonder what he might suggest.

You are only confirming my decision not to divulge the details of my upcoming surgery with my co-workers. They already scrutinize who eats what at office gatherings, so heaven forbid I eat half a donut or something after the procedure. I know they will be waiting for some sort of failure or re-gain no matter what I do. So. . . Make your haters your motivators! I plan on being the most fabulous and toned me I can be! Every NSV and weight milestone will be my personal eff you to the naysayers. Jennifer

Thanks so much for sharing your mini goals @summerseeker! I'm going to make a task for myself to list out some mini goals so that when the time comes I'm reminded that the NSVs are just as important. These will also serve as reminders of how I was feeling BEFORE surgery and the kinds of experiences I had been longing for. Love this idea! 😀

Congrats SB and Diane on your respective major NSVs! Woohoo! Diane, wow! I can't imagine what you went through having the issues you're having, especially being in a foreign country! I can't really be of much help because I haven't had such issues. I only had one episode where I couldn't get anything down except Water after swelling up from getting stuck. If everything gets better and you stay in Barcelona, maybe you want to look into getting your tubing shortened and "de-kinked" when you get back to the U.S.? You should be able to get your fills out of the band, specifically for cases like this when it's an emergency. I hope now that it's been a few days since this that everything is okay! Sending you well wishes!

Those are some awesome NSVs. I think it's awesome that you're doing a 5K. I see lots of people doing that, and I really want to try the couch to 5k, but I think I better get in a little better shape before I do. And what a great feeling to fit into those jeans! I can't wait to see the before and during photos. Way to go!

Checking in in everyone . August going so fast almost that dreaded back to school time. Life is happening so fast and enjoying every minute of it despite my slight weightloss stall /plateau. I know I'll get through it just cont to make the right choices first stall in 13 months can't complain . Despite what the scale says I had done funny NSV a friends mother in law stopped at my sisters house and I was not expected to be there. She never met my sis before but knew me and was. Picking something up for my friend. I answered the door she introduced herself and said you look so much like so-so. I said I sure hope so because I am her!!! After we all laughed she said I wasn't kidding I didn't recognize you. Then last night I went to a party and I thought it was odd my friends bro in law who rarely talks to people he doesn't know ( I have known the family for 4 years) was a little cold to me barely replied to my hello. The next day she said you know my bro in law had no idea who you are she said idk ur still the same person just a smaller size lol

Good morning Notorious Novembers and soon-to-be banded folks! Have my first fill appt tomorrow morning (can't wait!) and I'm glad because I don't feel any restriction right now. I've rebounded a few pounds because of the holidays and eating solid food, so I'm looking forward to losing again. Have had some NSV's - smaller clothes, more energy, etc. Went swing dancing with my hubby on Friday night and was able to keep up most of the night. We don't do the really fast or athletic moves, but had a great time anyway...looking forward to taking classes this year so next January we can really show off! Love my band, who I've named "Jillian" after my favorite psycho trainer on "Biggest Loser". Will report in tomorrow after my fill - hoping for great restriction! Was off work from Dec 23 through Jan 5 because of the holiday shutdown - went to the gym 6 times and worked out during the time period (more than I would have before my band). Feeling very good about my activity level - just want the scale to move!:wink_smile:

Thinking of you, Julie. We have a joke in our house, Ice is our friend." Have no idea what plastics protocol involves but boy do I love ice packs for joint pain. You should see our freezer, lol. Did a little retail therapy today, at the local job lots. Coldwater Creek and JJill for ten bucks per. I now have three pair of pants as next NSVs -- two nice linen pants in a purple and a red. Fancy! And another pair of red dress pants. All size ten a and all too. I can zip 'em but that's it. Need to lose some more gut. But then my my, the pants I will have. So much fun to buy off the rack. It's been twenty years for me to be able to enjoy shopping again. Said goodbye to a loved one today -- I am so glad he got to see me lose weight, choose myself and get healthy. He was a doctor. My godfather. Never said a word but I watched his delight this last year as I slimmed down. He had some dementia but was always so delighted to see me. I will miss him but 90 years is a long time. Dying is hard. Glad to have extended my life by choosing to work on my physical body.

Love these posts! Arlene, let's go dancing! Gay clubs were such a a great dance outlet for me in the eighties. Fun times. In the last year we made friends with people who host monthly dance parties in a town not far from here. We've been to two and that's another NSV for me: dancing! We are definitely then oldest people but I can still tear it up. Thanks to my band and losing the two cinder blocks worth of fat.......

Had my first NSV today. I had a couple of people at work tell me that it looks like I am losing weight in my face. Hooray!!!

------------------------------------------------ Now that's an awesome NSV!!! :thumbup: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------- Anne... I am so glad you back home & up and going again!:drool:

Thanks everyone!!! Yes Green....relying on NSVs is the way to go, I think! Dame J: exercise has never been a big problem for me....much to everyone's surprise I've always been quite active. These days, I do an hour and a half routine. One hour consists of cardio (ie. elliptical and/or recumbent bike) and this is followed by 30 mins of strength training (weights) and matt work (ie. leg work, ab work). I try and do this 5 times a week. In April I plan on doing aquafit as well....(I'm waiting until Apr because my schedule will allow it at that time). So, yes....the weight work (and I find the biking) has really toned the muscles.

Yoda the Gap, fantastic. I always foung the Gap in Canada is overpriced but there's a Gap in Lake Placid, NY that always have fantastic deals. Everytime we are in Lake Placid, we make it a point to stop there and we alway buy stuff on sale. I always buy for others though. It would be so much fun to walk in there some day and buy stuff in there for me. Great NSV!!!!