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Ok....so my scale seems to love the number it is on...won't let go of it....So I decided to post 2 non scale victories I have had this week....(work with me people!:thumbup: 1. I got on size 14 pants this week....this was my goal for fall...they are too tight to wear in public but I got them up and buttoned them! 2. I ran for 30 minutes straight on the treadmill yesterday....this seemed impossible to do even a month ago... Now please, mr. scale....start moving! WTH?

Welcome back Melody. It is so lage because the surgeon only does these procedures on one particular day. They originally were trying to get approval for port revision back in August, but insurance was giving them a hard time. Frankly I was bummed that I was finally getting a fill for Phil and he decides to flip--I was in no hurry. Congrats on the NSV. Yeah Stacie--not being overweight is huge--no pun intended:) Denise--hang in there. Hopefully your Dottie--you have a hard decision. I guess I would just go ahead just to be done where I could finally just concentrating on being healthy

Welcome to band Elfie. I feel your pain! After voluntary unfill #1 followed by emergency unfil #2, I have not lost a thing, but consider it a great success that I haven't gained anything either. Plus, I've been a lazy slug so I don't particularly deserve to lose anything recently. So congrats on the NSV and on not gaining! Denise, ewww, ewww, and ewww, but congrats ont he unexpected funds, woohoo! My son's first soccer game of the season was this morning. After standing in the rain for 45 minutes and getting miserably soggy, we had 2 players and no one from the other team showed up so home we came. Yuck! Now I'm sitting here watching the grass grow, I swear you can actually see it it's growing so fast since it rained, and thinking "crap, now I have to mow again".

Wow! we all seem to be losing about the same, mine has slowed way down too but I'm ok with that. I finally quit the pork rinds and that helped. I have kept up all my protein and vitamins so I don't understand the hair loss BUT love the new shorter cut. My stylist says I'm trendy...lol guess thats a nsv coz I've never been trendy before. Breezy you motivate me to exercise so think I'll order zumba,sick of the treadmill.

Good morning my fellow banders! The weather here is gorgeous...and has been for the last week. Typical fall weather and no humidity! I feel human for the first time in months! I went in for my fill this morning and was surprised that they wanted to give me 1cc to take me up to 7cc. Apparently, based on their records, I was having no problems before at 7cc and, since I said I'm slipping further into the darkside, they wanted to get me as close as possible to the sweet spot before I go to Disney. Let me tell you. I can already feel the difference! For the last 7 weeks I've felt like I have a bottomless pit inside me. Not hungry...just never 'content'. Within 15 minutes of that fill, I was and am still (3 hours later) 'content'! I'd forgotten that this is part of what the band does. Their scales confirmed that I have not gained or lost a pound in 7 weeks despite no restriction so at least I'm not playing catchup! With the shopping NSV of yesterday and no longer feeling like I need to fill the pit, I'm extremely motivated. Add to how good this cool weather is making me feel and I think I'm going to go drag my honey out for a walk again today! Have a good one everybody! Melody (ElfiePoo)

What a day! I went shopping for clothes this afternoon and was dreading it. Usually I spend hours and come home with only one or two things that actually fit...and I'm not always thrilled with the material, look, color, etc. but fat people can't be picky. ;-p HUGE HUGE NSV moment. I picked out 5 shirts, two lightweight dress type slacks and a pair of capris in less than 30 minutes. Not only do they all fit beautifully, but I *love* the colors and the way they look on me! <drum roll> Bonus moment...the pants were 14/16 and the shirts were 1X!! Yeah I know they've changed sizing so fat people won't be dismayed at what size they're actually wearing (obviously they think we're stupid too), and I'm guessing the 14/16 pants were actually 18/20 but I haven't worn an 18 since high school!! Actually the only reason I think I can now is because I've lost the oversized hips and butt that I've carried for most of my adult life. Going from a size 26/28 to a 14/16 and a 3x to a 1x made my day! I am so *high* right now! Think I'll go drag my honey out for a nice fall walk! .

Congratulations! I had an interview last week and found a skirt in my closet (Talbot's) that I forgot I had; though it would not have fit before. So a similar NSV. When I moved 3 years ago I gave away all my skinny clothes from the last time I lost weight. I did not want to pay to move/store them. This skirt and several other items were with clean Dry Cleaning clothes in the coat closet and thus got moved.

So proud of you. I can relate. I had my surgery in Feb 10 and in Oct 09 I took a trip to Playa del Carmen and we did the hiking, biking, caving, zip gliding thing. OMG it was a nightmare the pictures are so awful. Flash forward to this weekend we went out to the lake and I tubed with a friend and had a blast and then easily lifted my butt out of the lake with the little boat ladder. A year ago my ass would have been hot in the boat all day rather than in and out. B/c I surely could not have done that. I even tubed with my 3 yo. YEAH NSVs!

Pamela...lol NSV stands for Non Scale Victory. And hell yes you want some!

Congrats! I hate to sound stupid, but what does NSV stand for? Thanks for bringing me up to speed! Whatever it is, it sounds like I want one. . .LOL!

That is an awesome NSV! Thanks for sharing.

YAY!! I love NSV's! You're still trucking right along.....keep up the good work!

So this past weekend all of our kids had plans so my hubby and I decided at the last minute to go away for the long weekend. We hopped on a plane Friday morning and went to Belize. We went snorkeling twice for a couple of hours at a time. We took the resort's sailboat out one morning. We had massages at the spa. But the big NSV comes from our cave tubing trip. We had to take a boat back to the mainlands and then an hour van ride to the tubing place. Once there we had to HIKE for 45 minutes through the jungle to get there while carrying our tubes. Six months ago I never would have been able to make that hike. My back would have been killing me, I would have been completely out of breath and downright miserable. The anxiety of just THINKING about having to make that trek would have stressed me out. Guess what? It was EASY! It was FUN! I never got winded and while I could certainly feel it in my back it wasn't intolerable...my back issues aren't going to disappear with weight loss but the loss sure relieves alot of the pressure! My husband even said how proud of me he was when we finished the hike...and he commented on how I wasn't even breathing hard. I think he was amazed! Also with snorkeling...in the past I was usually the first one to peter out and head back to the boat. Not this time...I had energy to spare! It was so very nice to take a spontaneous trip like that and not have to deal with all the usual anxieties...the seats in the plane...whether I would be physically able to participate in whatever activities were planned. I LOVE my sleeve!

Ok, I'm catching up on some of the posts (which go back to August 8th!) so bear with me... Christie: ROFLMAO about your '8packs'. I'd take it as a compliment! Stacie: Just read your post about possibly going back to school. Just do it. I know 'years' sounds long but, trust me, they go by so fast! I went back to school at 28 to get my bachelor's and the years sped by! Hummingbird: Congrats on the NSV moment! I like those much better because it makes me realize that the scale is not 'king'. Bobbie: Woohoo! on Onderland...and the job! Cocoa: Sorry to hear about your tooth! I did the same thing though and I had insurance. After playing around with it for months trying to figure out why it was causing me pain, I told them to just take it out. Best decision I ever made. Hey...you're on FB? Friend me! Melody Parker Upham Shad: How come they're waiting so long to flip your port?? Betsy: I am so sorry to hear of all you're going through. There's a BPD (borderline personality diagnosis) board at home that I've found amazingly helpful in dealing with my own BPD family member...who I am thankful to say lives 5 hours away. The support there is tremendous. Bob: Great news on the plastic surgeon! Are you getting this done before you've lost all your weight or just 'checking out' the possibilities. Leigha: Love your before and after pics! So did you find the 'bandit'? Dottie: Welcome back from one MIA to another. Ok, I hope I didn't miss anyone!

Well, on the NSV front, I put on some hand-me-down size 40 waistband jeans today, and I was stunned to find out that they fit. Now, they're a little long for me (I'm only 6'1 and the guy these were from was 6'3) so I'll probably have to hem them, but I'm just tickled pink that they FIT. Four months ago, I was wearing size 48 waistband. Also my weight was down to 264.9 today; creeping down towards the 250's. A month or so ago, visiting the nutritionist, I was "joking" that I'd like to break 250 by the end of September. I may not quite hit that goal, but I'll probably be in the 250's, which is something I can't say in recent memory! Also I was thinking that I might be wearing jeans under a 40-inch waistband by the end of the year; at this rate, I should be firmly in 38's (if not 36's!) by the end of fall! What kills me is that for NORMAL men, 250 pounds and 40-inch jeans are still horrifically huge, but I have to keep reminding myself that it's not a competition. Edit: ah, I see that I've also cracked the 35 BMI barrier. Another first (in adult memory)!

NSV! Congrats! :blushing:

NSV means Non-Scale Victory, i.e Baggie Clothes, taking a great hike without being winded, dropping sizes, getting more deffinition in your muscles. It can also be, passing up the more fatty food choices for healthy ones... Small steps make giant leaps, in our game...

You have to remember, everyone is differnt. And looking at it this way-you've lost 14 pounds in 4 weeks! Thats 14lbs that you've said good-bye to. Be proud of what you've lost and don't be discouraged-everyone loses differently, and you still need to figure out how your body is going to deal with these changes. You're only a couple weeks out. Sometimes you'll feel like you've lost, but the scale will refuse to move. Look for the NSV's. I had a period of time where I didn't lose for 3 months-I even gained some back! But during that time I dropped another pants size. Your body will go through phases where you don't lose, and it will drive you nuts, but it's just how your body is going to work. And remember, it's a learning process

Donna, that is a great NSV! I am so excited for you and know how good it feels to drop down a size. Congratulations!

I'm back into size 28 jeans!! It was stretch pants for a while there! It might not sound like much, but when you're a heavyweight, it takes about 20 lbs to go down a size.

My NSV...I've been buying shirts at Old Navy in the XXL size, but they are hanging off of me very funny now. Gotta try another size. My scale victory...Running around the stadium and airport on Saturday made me lose 3 pounds. I waited a few days for it to come back, but it didn't. So now I claim victory over those 3 pounds. How did you all enjoy your weekend?

I actually finished a small can of V8 with NO PAIN! I can't believe it...sniff sniff. I'm sorry if this sounds silly, but to me it's a HUGE NSV!!!! YAYYYYYYYYY!

Congratulations! One of the best NSVs for me, so far, was fitting into a pair of jeans I'd stubbornly hung on to for 10 years. (And they're not even out of style!) Lord knows why I clung to them---but I sure do like wearing them.

Oh man! Thank God Aylah has you! How old is you DSD? Children are growing up later and later. Some of it is our fault, we don't give them enough responsibility and give them too many of the things they want instead of making them work hard to earn it. Some of it is society and their friends whose parents may give them way more than we do and our kids are angry because they think they should have the same. It's this sense of entitlement. And now scientists are telling us kids brains don't mature until they're at least 25 and they don't fully have the ability to foresee the consequences of their actions. Now they have an excuse. But I was married at the age of 19 and pregnant by the end of my college career. So I had my education in place and loved having my 3 babies. I felt grown up. My kids were my job. I was married and my husband made enough that we did fine. But our 2 income economy just to make ends meet, or to have all our wants instead of just meeting our needs, huge increase in divorce, and so many women having to raise kids by themselves while working their a$$ off just to keep their heads above Water, have made it so difficult to give our kids what they need. Out of guilt we overcompensate by giving them what they want and not making them earn the things we give them. At least, I know I did, to a certain extent. So now I try to be there for my grandchildren. Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to make up for what I've done wrong with my own kids. Fortunately, although they all have issues, they all took responsibility for their lives, are married, have children, hold down a living wage, and are raising their children in the church. I know better than to look to them for affirmation. I tend to be the target of their humor if they're all together at once, so family reunions are not my favorite things. My daughter is not my best friend. She still pops off at me too much for me to ever feel safe around her. Actually, except for my youngest son, my two older kids make me feel the way I did around their father. Just when I let down my guard and think things are going well, bam! I realize I'll never be able to really let down my guard with them. My youngest is more easy going and less likely to attack me verbally or criticize my decisions and choices. He may not agree with me but he's more like me in hating conflict and drama and choosing not to create it. But compared to many of your kids issues and the responsibilities you've been left with, I actually have it very good. Charlene, meat is a big part of the Protein I get. eggs make me pb and I get tired of whey protein. I only drink one Protein Drink a day. Vegetable Proteins like soy are not complete proteins and don't give you enough of the nutrients you need. Protein stops me from being hungry and keeps my cravings at bay. I make sure that some of my protein is meat, usually chicken or tuna, some red meat. I've also really found that I need to vary the amount I eat. I can eat over 1200 calories one or two days including more carbs, and then drop to 1000 or less for a few sticking to protein and I either maintain or lose even more. I really believe that long periods of time where we eat under 1200 calories a day screws up our metabolism and no matter how little we eat and how much we exercise we can't lose. I really hear you on the getting off the floor thing. I have two fake knees which makes it even harder. It'll never be easy for me but I can turn from sitting on my butt to get my foot under me with my hands on the floor and lift myself up from that position without grabbing onto anything. NSV. I seldom drink. It just doesnt' occur to me. But because I've cut back to almost no anti-inflammatories, my muscles and joints tend to be in a lot of pain by the end of work, especially my neck from doing paperwork and bending over kids. Tonight we went out to eat right after work and I had two flavored vodka martinis laced with some really luscious liqueurs. They were called Stress Busters. After the first drink, my muscles in my neck and shoulders relaxed and the pain was gone. So I had another one. They trulyl lived up to their name. Made my husband drive home. LOL. Can't do that often but after a week revising my schedule daily, planning a Meet and Greet, and suffering from 90+ humidity and 90+ heat all week, it felt really good. Wish drugs worked on my pain and muscles the way that alcohol did without any side effects. Easy to see how chronic pain can make us turn to whatever will alleviate it, from food to drugs to alcohol. Well--big weekend. I'm going to my son's cottage in MI this Sunday. Never been, two and a half hour drive by myself. Might take my granddaughter Skylar to play with my granddaughter Leah. Then home again Monday morning. Tomorrow, my Dh and I might go to Navy Pier and walk to the Gold Coast and back to Navy Pier for some dancing. Last Hurrah before school begins in earnest. Looking forward to our Oct. 1 meeting. Cheri

Arlene - NSV - getting up off the floor unassisted. YIPPEE That truly is progress. I still avoid getting on the floor b/c of new knee. Just not sure what it will do yet. As you can all see, I'm reading and commenting. Someone needs to junk up the thread when Karen is gone.