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Sometimes NSV are the best victories! I've had quite a few in the last year but here are some: I can fit comfortably in the chairs in our conference room at work, the arms used to dig into my legs and hips so bad. I can shop in straight size stores only now, no more bouncing between plus and straight I need new wedding rings, my fingers have gone down so much I can't even have my rings resized!! Yay new wedding set!! Calf boots, I can wear them all. I also went down a shoe size so I need all new shoes on top of a new wardrobe. I can see my feet again when I look down instead of just my belly, also my boobs are bigger than my belly again, thank god. I can do 40-60 minutes on the Elliptical and not need a break. The first time I got on I couldn't even do 5 minutes. I'm smaller than my husband for the first time ever. I can cross my legs comfortably and love doing it.

Hello everyone I was supposed to be sleeved on last monday the 18. It was cancelled so I have a NSV to NOT have indulged in any food because of my emotional train wreck I had when I learned I had to wait ... 5 more weeks! 5!!!! Anyways my only instruction is: eat healthy, avoid sugar / fat. So really I am at a loss. But I will be careful still I feel like I am let loose without clear instruction. I know how to eat well and whatever but still. I wish they can some example or whatever to help when they have such a situation.

sorry I didn't give any more update yesterday I as .... in an emotional train wreck They cancelled my appointment of the 18 and moved it to jan 22nd.... now they are telling me i do not need to do the liquid diet again HOWEVER they are not giving me any specific guideline. Except like no sugar i can follow a more or less normal diet. I wish they had a list of instruction when they delay someone for SO long. I already did 4 only liquid weeks. Now I am expected to do 5 more pre-op weeks. I found a list online and I think I will follow this guideline https://advancedsurgicalpartnersofva.com/util/forms/liver-reduction-diet.pdf it's a more or less "normal" diet that is for liver reduction. Now for a NSV I did not eat my frustration. I asked my boss to give me the week to digest all this and it was refused I was so upset at this.... so ill keep monitoring what I eat and stick it to this list I found but I need to re-do all my groceries and everything. And tell the government I don't need anything... yay...

hey dudes/dudettes six years ago today (12-15) i was waiting to go into the OR!! like most others i was terrified - so excited. having the sleeve was a great decision. i did it!!! i am still around and able to talk about "it" i did have my ups and downs, but easy recovery, all was/is good. i've enjoyed many wonderful NSV's. buying smaller clothes in a regular store. sitting in the middle seat of three on an airplane. i am able to do many normal, basic day to day activities now that i had difficulty doing six (6) years ago! it's wonderful. might sound silly, but i love that i am able to bend up and down and up and down etc., pulling those damnnn weeds on my front lawn!! no longer run from the camera (especially family pics) sit closer to the steering wheel. i get in and out of the car with no trouble. putting on seat belt is no prob. when i sat down in restaurant booth and movie seat for the 1rst time after weight loss, i said "these seats have gotten bigger!! my health has dramatically improved.!! medication dosages have been lessened or gone all together. i KNOW my attitude has changed/improved. i feel better than before about myself. i am not perfect!! welllll, then again!! LOL Life is NOT all peaches and cream just cuz i lost weight. i still might have problems. But the fact that i look pretty damnnnn good, helps me to deal with some issues better than when i was heavy. i could tell you more about some problems - but then what would i tell you on my 7th year surgiversary? my sleeve is very smart - it helped teach me how to eat and drink properly - knowledge of Proteins and carbs and other things. moderation etc. at 6 years - my success must/does all come from my head/mind!! i'm on my own. (no restriction left to speak of) but that's ok. i remember everything i learned - work hard to follow the rules all the time. but, once again, even i'm not perfect, really. sad to say i am 8.3 lbs over GOAL, but i am working on fixing situation. (guess honesty is one of my better qualities) LOL see you next year Kathy

Haven't been here for awhile, but since Im at my 4 year surgiversary I thought I'd check in. 80% of this post is completely plagiarized from last year's update but it gives a good recap of all 4 years.... Year 1 - the year of losing all of my excess weight (100 pounds), dozens of NSVs, and a new wardrobe. By far, the most exciting year. Even the month of liquids, 6 weeks of diarrhea and 2 insanely painful gallbladder attacks couldn't put a dent in my enthusiasm. It was all so new and fun and easy. Life was great and I was invincible! Year 2 - the year of finding out life still sucks no matter what size you are, losing my best friend to suicide, sinking into a deep hole of depression and finding that I could no longer rely on my old friends.....food, alcohol and cigarettes. Just struggling to get through each day with really no desire to. Two more gallbladder attacks which I finally put an end to with a long overdue cholecystectomy. Surprisingly able to maintain my weight loss from the 1st year. Year 3 - the year of emotional healing (well, at least a start in that direction) with a grief therapist, testosterone replacement and an antidepressant. Finally able to crawl out the darkness into a somewhat bearable existence. My latest breakthrough is I actually said yes when asked out on a date about a month ago. Considering my introvert personality and swearing off relationships almost 20 years ago, this is an extraordinary step for me. We've been out 1/2 dozen times and I'm actually enjoying it. Year 4 - the year of falling in love, being blissfully happy and regaining 10 pounds (yikes!) I'm still with that guy that asked me out back in Oct 2016. Enjoying my first totally honest, mature relationship. Ironically, I've found being a good bariatric patient is harder in good times than in bad. I've got better things to do than think about Protein, fluids, carbs and vitamin......everything has become less and less about surgery and weightloss and more and more about life. So my downfall this past year has been cocktails and chocolate. Took up the bad habit of consuming both on a daily basis. That, and a lot of donuts and muffins! But the good news is I have already dropped 8 of the 10 pounds I put on. As always, it just takes going back to basics..... drink more Water, eat more protein and less carbs. My BF is great and jumped on the high protein/low carb bandwagon with me. Of course being a guy, he's dropped 20 pounds to my 8 (stupid boys). I have every confidence I will drop those last 2 pounds before 2018. Bottom line is successful WLS results is not rocket science. Whatever you had to do to lose weight is pretty much what you need to do forever. If you can't control sliders and trigger foods, they WILL lead to regain. If you don't make the psychological adjustments and permanently change your habits and behaviors, you WILL regain. It's totally up to you whether or not your surgery becomes just another failed diet. Don't be afraid to seek professional help with the mental side of it. Because as the years go on, that's what makes you successful, not how tiny your stomach is. Good luck to the newbies. Congrats to the veterans.

@Creekimp13 keeping records are great. you are ACES!!!! if you never blogged, it's never too late. start pre-op - post op any time after surgery. NOT keeping a record of my pre and post op surgery was a big regret for me. i wish i had kept a blog of all my good, bad, and normal experiences for myself. how my eating, drinking - stuff like that went. records of all my NSV's - (clothing shoes sizes, changes, riding in an airplane, reactions from OP seeing me for the first time since i lost weight) .many other things too - many many daily events - hard to remember, wish i had kept records. to you my friend - you & other people - you are all definitely "smart cookies" no calories/carbs/sugar included. glad things are moving along well. i know you will continue to do great. kathy congrats

I finally purchased my first pair of riding boots that aren’t wide calf! Never ever thought this would happen. And they’re such a cute color of burgundy suede. I’m in love!

Congrats on your NSV. I think those are more important and motivating than the scale anyway. Keep kicking butt & inspiring others

NSV: so i randomly went jean shopping and the size 4 actually fit, and really fit. I thought i was going to have to squeeze into them for dear life lol. I've been fat my whole life so this is new to me. The fact that i'm actually a small still blows my mind, but yet the scale still says im overweight smh. I'm still going to view this as a victory.

Generally when I had my surgery, I gained several pounds when I was in the hospital because they pumped my body full of fluids. It took several days before I lost that weight and arrived at my pre-surgery weight. So please do not panic at this stage. Just keep following all the rules and you should see the pounds begin to fall off sharply. It is important to walk every day for around a half hour during the first year post-op. Also some people get so wrapped up in watching the scale that it stunts their weight loss because it totally stresses them out. To correct this problem, some individuals simple chose do not to weigh themselves and rather use the weight from their visit to the surgeon's office. So if stress is a major factor, then relax and consider alternatives to relieving the stress. My primary goal in getting gastric bypass surgery was to correct my severe health conditions. I had high blood pressure and diabetes and a host of other adverse health issues. Most of these were solved in the first couple weeks. I am around 4 1/2 years post op at this point and they remain in remission. So generally I met my primary goal almost immediately. Everything else was gravy. I measures success after this in terms of pounds lost, in reduced waist sizes and the ability to fit into smaller clothes, and also into non-scale victories (NSV's). As an example of an NSV, I had bought a beautiful Mazda Miata convertible when I retired but I had gained so much weight that I could hardly get inside it unless I had the top down. Now it fits like a glove.

@bellabloom This post was more that I needed translation..I had no idea what it might have meant...But, I get what Bella is saying. I did use a compliment scale a few months after goal. I didn't know how to take a compliment. I had been invisible because of my weight. Took time to adjust. Compliment appropriate: Say thanks move on Complement hilarious: Makes for a great story and NSV Complement creepy: Walk away..or run lol Honestly this was a rare occurrence. Not all guys are like this. I appreciate men that can give a decent compliment. And yes I mean men not boy's. Age appropriate please.

First of all, great job! It's so important to recognize NSVs along the way, and those are awesome! Second of all, bodies are so weird. I just celebrated getting into a size 16 in a plus size store and I'm 183 pounds at 5'5. You're gonna be a size zero at that rate, great job!

I hope you are smiling big! That was a great NSV. I hope you like shopping for clothing. More smaller sizes are coming your way.

Had a successful lunch yesterday and stuck to plan 100%. Had my turkey wedge salad and didn't even finish it. I ate the balance as a snack 3 hours later and had far fewer carbs than anyone other than Mr. F. at the table. Win one for the Gipper! I felt like a champion--so successful for that meal! NSV much? I ran across this HuffPost article that was interesting. For me, the "Where Did It Come From" question would look more like: Is it pre-made, pre-packaged, fast food? Rather than was it raised ethically. Right now, my budget does not lend itself to ethics. I eat CAFO meat. The end, it's all I can afford and it's way better than the $1 menu at a drive-thru. I only can afford to eat a few things organic (not even the full dirty dozen list). But the other 3 questions were really interesting. She claims she asks these 4 questions before she puts anything in her mouth: 1. What am I eating? (the ingredients rather than the name of the food--processed chemicals, etc) 2. Where did it come from? (ethically or factory produced; OR straight ingredients prepared at home v. pre-packaged/pre-made/fast food) 3. Why am I eating it? (hunger, fuel, emotions, boredom, head cravings/hunger, because it's there) 4. How will I feel after eating this? (physically, emotionally, behaviorally, spiritually) Mindfulness Question: Do you practice mindful eating? What questions do you ask yourself before sitting down to eat?

Yeah. The weight loss clinic's exercise physiologist finally asked last Wednesday week if I was ready to go back to the pool? (He knows about my knee and ankle pain which limit my walking comfort. He was aware that I was only getting in 2900-4500 steps per day. I have NO trouble at the pool. The flotation aspect means that joint pain is near to zero once I'm in the water. Attached table shows the impact of getting back to the pool last Saturday week. The eight consecutive days of improvement is good. (Just annoyed that the pool opens at 8am on a Sunday and 5am on other days; it's 7:15am Sunday now.) Slow (trickle-speed) breaststroke is comfortable and I drag it out long enough for a training effect. Add some chest-deep wading up and down the lanes and I build my lower leg muscles a bit. I meet with him again on 6th DEC and I think he'll be impressed with my progress. As for sweat, it's a non-event at the pool. I actually suppose the energy goes somewhere but the water's too cold 20C (67F) to feel/notice any sweat. I can see and feel a muscular change after eight days of this already. A couple of belt buckle holes, looser slacks ... NSVs. The scales only see 1.5kg (3.4 pounds) change but there's more.

Congrats on your mini goals and milestones. Love that you're thinking in NSVs as well as SVs. I don't personally set time frames for reaching goals because by now, I know that it's gonna take as long as it takes. I'm very driven by SVs and MVs (measurment victories). I set very small mini goals: 10lbs (every new decade) and every 1 inch for the tape measure. I only measure waist and hips. I do get continually surprised by NSVs, but I don't use those as goals. They are just analogues to the weight and measuring tape victories. I do celebrate them when I notice them. They're like little surprise gifts. Things like, fitting into something in my closet that was previously too small. Fitting into a chair without squeezing. Sitting in the breakfast table chair without it gouging a bruise on my hips. Sitting in the doctor's waiting room with room on either side of my chair. Not needing a seatbelt extender. Having lots of space between my thighs/tummy and the steering wheel. Being able to push my hips up and shift positions on the exam table or MRI/CT machine beds. Being able to exercise and build core muscle strength without being super short of breath. Being able to stand longer before lymphedema swelling and pain kicks me in the ass. I look forward to getting into the next decade (220s) and losing the next inch off my waist and booty. It's the law of small numbers. Small goals, small disappointments or reasonable excitement.

Hi all, I decided right before my surgery (11/7/17) that I would not purchase a scale. I figured I will be weighed when it truly matters (in office ) and I would focus all of my attention on NSV. So far it feels wonderful not worrying about numbers and it allows me to build different goals like meal planning, water intake challenges and walking goals. I think I will only buy a scale if my doctor recommends . Anyone else on a similar path?

The neck is an interesting indicator. Also watching my best friend (sleeved 24 days before me) as his double chin and jowls shrink. Lots of NSVs to savour! :-)

i fell into that category of "complaining" as u call it. but in reality I was being doubtful that I wasnt doing something correct or wondering what the normal is. Im not an expert at this type of surgery and everyone is different. I more so am trying to figure out "MY" normal. so I have come on various threads here "complaining" that my weight loss is slow in the beginning and some seasoned "losers" have given me pretty good advice. Im a little over 3 months post op vsg and 75# down and Im not freaking out anymore when I have a stall for 2-3 weeks. I dont use my scale as Gospel anymore but a guide. I look at all the NSVs and feel good about myself. This is a learning process both mentally and physically.

Had a NSV today: didn't need a seatbelt extender on my flight this morning!

Hi Lovin2lose, I just got a surgery date and I was completely underwhelmed. I sorta fear the very thing you're dealing with, that I will discover that my root problem will rear its ugly head and i will not practice self-care. I am in therapy right now to deal with some of these issues. Are you currently seeing a therapist? It sounds like you should look at those roots that cause you to self -sabotage and not care for your body and mind. Just my two cents. I have heard of others resetting their pouches in 5 days by going back to a liquid diet. This could help with the weight loss but you may find yourself unable to even stick to this if you're in a pit. What does your support system IRL look like? Are you involved in any activities that you enjoy? Have you had any NSV?

Great NSV! I never felt comfortable in skinny jeans either, but have come to like them more, especially now that I bought a really cute pair of boots. Congrats! I found a great consignment store near where I live, they have lots of high end stuff. Got a pair of Banana Republic jeans for $9 and they fit so nicely. Another good option for cheaper clothing while still losing, and there are so many more choices in the less than plus sizes.

Congratulations on your NSV.

Yesterday I went out in public in skinny jeans. Size 14 skinny jeans which were honestly a bit loose*. For context here, I am the person who, even in my 20's wore mom-jeans. Big and loose, size 18/20s with a waistband over my bellybutton. Truly sexy, I know. I have a stitchfix subscription and one of my notes on things I want/don't want is "NEVER SEND ME SKINNY JEANS - It is never going to happen." I feel like I'm having an identity crisis! I went from hiding everything to going out in jeans which are clinging tightly to me and making my butt look fantastic. I sent my husband a text when I went out yesterday that said: "I AM WEARING SKINNY JEANS IN PUBLIC WILLINGLY. I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM ANYMORE." His reply was "A skinny mini with self confidence. " Anyway, this is a big deal for me. My scale has been saying 200.00 for the past week, but my NSV seemed almost as wonderful as entering Onederland! *I bought them last week. I went in thinking "maybe a 16 will work" and 14 did. 14 might be loose but I didn't want to press my luck and ruin my happy mood!

I was sleeved on the 24th and my 2 week post-op appointment is this Wednesday. My surgery went fine but I was in a lot of pain, had no appetite, became dehydrated and developed a kidney infection (a rough 2 weeks I know). Now I still have a little bit of discomfort at my incision sites but other than that I’m doing a lot better. I’m so ready to be off liquids and actually have some food. My only problem is I dropped 13 pounds last week and the scale hasn’t moved since last week and I’m starting to worry. But everyone around me is telling me I look so much smaller than I did before so that is my NSV.