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Today was the first day I really exercised since surgery and I was to do 30 min on the eliptical. It was just slow and steady but a start none the less.

A couple of NSV's 1. I'm wearing high heels after many years of not being able to 2. I actually bought two pairs of size 8 jeans today. wooohoooo....I can't remember the last time I worse a size 8!

Still kicking.. Fill stats are below. I'm at 4 cc's and have restriction... am struggling as always with food but thats a demon we all have to battle constantly. I'm working on getting my tail into the gym and start an organized exercize schedule, but that too is a struggle for me. Anything worth doing though is always a struggle and worth it in the end. NSV was that I squeezed into a size 14 dress! Not ready yet to wear it in public but Im hoping so by the end of August! Hugs, Heather

Congrats on a terrific NSV!

Awesome NSV!!!!!!! You are such an inspiration!!!

This was a surprise NSV for me after banding. I was a "healthy" fat person meaning that I had a bmi of *only* 35 (isnt it scary how we accept fat as normal, to me that doesnt seem very big, as everyone is fat these days, but it was), I had no comorbidities, no sleep apnoea. I simply woke uncomfortable many times a night - same as when you're very pregnant and your hips ache from lying on your side, but you cant lie on your back. After about 30lb that went away and I started sleeping just so well, I felt fantastic.

So I dont know if this is really a NSV since I am still pre op but it feels like one for me, I have tried so many different protien powders inorder to find one that I can actually drink with out it feeling like it will come back up and is still with in my NUts guidelines and this mourning I FINALY DID IT I FOUND ONE THAT IS NOT THAT BAD AND THE NUT IS OKAY WITH YEA!!!!! so I guess persistance does pay off anyway I was so excited I just had to post

Wonderful NSV (Non Scale Victory)....very rewarding. Mimi

OK I just have to share... I bought some shorts about a month ago and was bummed when they didn't fit.... I decided to try them on today and they fit, comfortably. YEAH I am so excited especially since I haven't been seeing the scale move all that much. I actually have some older clothes in my "new" size that I can bust out now :smile2: I have nothing smaller than this (pantswise) so I will have to buy a pair of jeans or something the next size down for motivation. YEAH!!!:thumbup:

i am going to chime in and say that i have some loose skin on my arms and my thighs. i'm still hopeful that enough exercise will tone those areas and i can avoid ps. lately I've noticed that my outer labia are getting smaller/ tighter a completely unexpected NSV. I have to say that overall I'm actually happy with how my vagina looks with weight loss and even better i can look straight down and see it these days :cursing:

J'smom: Tom Petty? I'm 'heartbroken' (ar ar). I *love* Tom Petty but my claustrophobia keeps me from ever going to one of his concerts. ;-( Congrats on breaking the 160's! Hummingbird: Congrats on the NSV moment. It's always nice when someone else notices, eh? Leigha: You can have some of mine! Mine aren't shrinking near as much as I'd hoped they would. ;-( Denise: Happy Anniversary...and safe trip! Stacey: I am so sorry for your loss and I will put your family in my prayers. I've only read back to July 22nd but have quite a bit to do today since it's my son's 18th birthday so no time to read more. You guys are just prolific posters!

Hummingbird-- CONGRATS on your NSV! That had to be a great feeling coming from your son!! It's different when it's a loved one that sees you all the time. It means so much more (but hey, nice to hear anyone say how great you're looking LOL) Stacie--I'm so sorry to hear about Jeff. I have been saying prayers. Just terrible and I'm so sorry. And no matter WHAT, you will NOT fail. You aren't able to!!! And to make you feel better, the weeks where I really watch what I eat and exercise a lot, I either stay the same or gain. I attribute it to the whole fat turning to muscle thing LOL. Makes me feel better that way. Bob-- LOVE the ticket to Onederland! Just awesome! Christie--so when does your little man come back (or did he already?) Donna--don't worry about the gain right now. It's early--trust me, you will see the numbers move in the other direction very soon, I promise. Leigha--I have to agree with everyone here. You look absolutely AMAZING! If you don't lose another pound, you have made it, my friend! We're all super proud of you!!! You have worked so hard and honestly, you are a poster child of success!!! Denise--Safe travels to Florida and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! I have a baby shower on Sunday too (wish mine was in Florida--sniff sniff). Soooo, OF COURSE I haven't made a purchase in, oh about TWO freaking weeks, so what did I go out and do today? Yup, bought a freaking iPad! I thought of you also as I was setting it up LOL Too funny. Told the hubs I won it at work to avoid any issues (taking it from my funny money so he won't even know ) Thankfully, I am able to eat a little better today. Still need to take my time, but I'm not in excruciating pain like I was over the weekend. I have actually had only 3 small meals today!!!! I'm shocked! LOL I was prepared to need a small snack, but nope. I did great! SO excited--I found TROP-A-ROCKA!!! It's that Snapple flavor Bret Michaels created in the last season of Celebrity Apprentice! I was in a store I never ever go to because I just needed to grab bread on the way home from the bank and BAM! One lonely six pack of it was staring me in the face! It was y-u-m-m-y!! 10 calories for a whole bottle!! Yeah! Jordyn, my daughter, did very well yesterday getting all that dental work done (she had to be put to sleep to have it done). She woke up so sleepy and cuddly. She's 4, so she's already my little baby, but she was suuuuper cuddly yesterday. I had a great day just holding her and taking care of her. I really missed her when I went back to work today. Hope everyone is having a great week! SO excited that I get to run a webinar at 8 pm for our client in Japan. Come on Friday! Hubby and I have tickets to see Tom Petty on Saturday night. Can't wait!!!

just checking in ........ I have been reading everything, but have not had the time and/or energy to reply to everything. I'm glad Dottie and Anne are both on the mend. I have an NSV to share. This past Friday I was with my son in a Village Inn. I got up and went to the bathroom and he was watching me when I came back to the table. He said, " You look A LOT thinner, I mean A LOT!" It was just so nice to hear it from him. He will be 28 on Aug. 3rd. Every time he has a B.day I feel so much older. (for those of you doing the math, I had him when I was 4 )

OK Girls....this is going to be a "Me" post. Don't have time to talk much but I did get caught up on all your posts since being gone. Sad to say, I am about ready to be on my way out the door again until next Tuesday. Great NSV a bit ago. We have been having a very hot, hot spell. I just spent 2.5 hours in the hot sun tending to my flower beds and enjoyed it. No sweating, no passing out, no passing away. And, all this at 97 degrees. 2 yrs ago DH would have been planning a funeral (a very eloquent one, I would hope). Anyway, love you all. Driving to the lake this afternoon with puppa. 8am dental appt and only 27 miles from lake place but 70 from home. That's where I want to be anyway when I am recouping from this next procedure (s). I see this entire process not a lot different than getting to goal. Hurdles to jump, pain to be gone through, etc. I sooooooooooooooooooo miss you guys. Told DH today that I am going to try to find a way to get internet up there. I'm at a loss on how to do it. I think I should look into the phone thing and hook it up to laptop? Eva? Would that be a possibility????? OK...gotta run. Thanks for all the well-wishes with this mouth of mine. Protein shakes for a few days. I am one that misses chewing and cannot stand to miss a meal. Boohoo...poor me! I feel awful not talking to all of you and responding to your posts. Thanks for sharing the photos, Julie. Nice job. I also love that shade of green. Talk to you all soon. Sending the love

That's so amazing, what a great NSV. Keep up the good work!!!! You really are a mini, a skinny mini.

Hey--been gone for a few--wow hard to catch up! Welcome to our newcomers. BTW I am 37 old principal (newly promoted:smile2:) I was banded in January--I have lost about 74lbs including pre-op and 30lbs before the pre-op on a six month supervised diet for a total of 100. I have had 2 fills and I am trying to wait patiently for the 3rd--but "Phil" is not happy! Congrats on the NSV's Denise, Karen, and Leigha--hang in there Karen with fill (you know wish I had that problem). Christie--exercise a bully--love it!! Bobbie--welcome Back and Anne! Okay I know I mised a few, but hey trying get ready for "our future":wink2:

Wow--it looks like I missed some posts--even after my last post. Our thread is huge LOL Leigha--awesome NSV at the bank! What a wonderful feeling that must have been! You've crossed that line into a full fledged skinny person :-) Lovin'- I 100% agree with Leigha on the pics. You will be SO glad if you take "before" pics. Actually, you might even find yourself disappointed when the weight really starts dropping off that you don't have many pics from when you started on this journey. Even if you keep them to yourself and don't share them until you're ready to compare to your 'after' pics, it's such a great benchmark! Denise--Yeah on the two guys checking you out! You know you still have it anyway, but it's so nice when you see other people noticing! Bob--nice to see you! Welcome back! LOL @ Christie's comment on the sliming and puking being the glamorous life. Ain't it the truth! WTG on getting those extra pesky pounds! They don't stand a chance, girl! How's Steve treating you??? To everyone that responded about my fill dilemma--still not sure what to do. I went to a party yesterday and it took me like an hour to eat a hot dog and a couple spoons of potato salad. Then I decide to have a piece of honey dew melon and I think it was past my full point because up everything else came! I honestly think that I didn't have the 'true' bandster characteristics before this because if I follow everything text book when I eat, I'm okay. I guess I haven't had to do it until now. I managed to eat a turkey burger in about 30 mins last night and did real well. We also went out for breakfast after church this morning and I had 1/2 of a scrambled egg, 2 bites of a 1/4 rye toast slice and a few bites of potatoes and I was DONE. Holy crap, do I now have portion control?!?!?!?!? SCALE VICTORY: To my surprise this morning, I weighed in thinking I didn't get enough calories in these past few days that I would actually weight more and I saw a beautiful number 159!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm out of the 160s! Holy crap!!!! I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. Thanks guys for all your humor, advice and support. No way in hell would this be possible without my core. I wish we could plan a trip to all meet one day, like a spa retreat or something. One of the people that runs my support meetings went to this spa where it was all health activities, portion controlled healthy meals and everything. It really might be something we could look into at a middle point somewhere for this motley crue. I'd just love it!!!! We're off in the morning to take my 4 year old to the hospital for sedation to get her teeth done (apparently she has 2 cavities that are so badly infected, novocaine has no impact, so she needs to be knocked out). Wish us luck!! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Hey guys :smile: Haven't posted in here in a while, but yesterday was a huge NSV for me. I ran in Urban Dare with my friend Suzy, which is like a 1-day Amazing Race. We covered about 7.5 miles in less than 2.5 hours and got 7th place out of 43 teams! I didn't run it all, but we were able to power walk and choose a smart route to get 7th :ohmy: My knees and hips are killing me today, but I invested in some Joint Juice and a bottle of liquid tylenol :smile2: Weight loss has been slow, but it's the little things like this that make up for it.

Karen--what Leigha said, but I'd like to add that if you can't live with it, get a tiny unfill. Even if solids are going down, but not very easily, be cautious. When I got an unfill the last straw was when I could not get yogurt down without pain. I stuck it out for a week, but the pain was too much for me. The band isn't about pain. It's a fine line! My surgeon said pre-op that he prefers his band patients keep them loose and exercise more self-control. That's when my DH popped off with, "if she had any self-control, she wouldn't need a band!" Thank-you-for-your-support. :smile: NSV for me...I made my confession of non-exercise last week. Also, my blood sugar has been over 100 in the mornings on random checks :ohmy: Well, I walked with Butters on Thursday and Friday for about 20 minutes each day. Today...98!!! YIPPEE!!!! :smile2: Hoping that this will keep up and help me with motivation to keep my feet moving.

I like the idea of saying you don't know how much you lost because you are not weighing yourself. Listing nsv's (nonscale victories) is a great idea too.

Wow - I can't believe it's been a month! I'm down 29# lbs (15 pre-op, 14 post-op). I'm 1# away from hitting my low recent weight in 2008. I'm 3# away from being my 2005 weight. When I look at the scale victories I can't deny what a life changer the band has been for me. I expect that continue. I've read others who have more experience than me and I know it won't be easy. So far I've had a lot more will power an determination than I knew I was capable of (a NSV!). Other NSVs include cleaning out my closet of any clothes bigger than 18's (I had some 22's in there, maybe a couple 24's). I also fit into my swimsuit and have been swimming each evening for exercise. I forgot how much I love the water - the fat and my self-consciousness have kept me from so many things I love. I hope this is the first of many new discoveries I will make as I take back my life! That's the sunny part of my feelings today. I also have another side that's a struggle. I am SO hungry. I go to my doc on Monday and I will probably get a fill from what I've been told. I've been wondering though, if I'm eating according to the plan, why has my weight loss slowed so much and how will a fill help because my caloric intake cannot be lowered. I chatted with the nutritionist yesterday because logically I couldn't make sense of all this. She wants me to have about 1,000 calories a day - up to 1200. I have a hard time getting there unless I do seafood, and I get really sick of seafood I eat so much of it. There are days that I get between 650 and 800 calories - many days a week. Plus, I'm exercising. She explained: right now my body is going through a metabolic change and once it adjusts to the lower caloric intake, I will lose again. the fill will help me not be hungry all of the time - I will be more 'satiated' she'll look at my food diary and give me some suggestions for how to get my calories to 1000 without increasing portion sizes (I'm at a loss right now with 4 oz servings!) Even though I've lost 3 lbs between July 11 and July 24, they usually expect me to lose nothing between my 2 week and 4 week visits. I'm 5# down total during that time, so I will take that. Today I will be grateful for the band and trusting of the folks I entrusted with my care. I cannot argue with the amazing results of so many on here ---- it will work for me to. I resolve to stay strong and reset my expectations to 1-2# a week. Thanks for listening and walking on this journey with me! The support means a lot. And no one can understand like the folks on this site. Have a great weekend.

Stacie, peppers just kill me with heartburn. Ugh, I love them, but they don't love me. Karen, congrats on VS! Yay! Fun. OK, I did it, Butters and I went for a walk when I got home! Here's my NSV. A friend of mine has a window seat at work that looks over the entry way. She said as I was leaving yesterday there were two men hanging out in the picnic table area near the door. She said as I walked by they stopped talking and turned to watch me walk! hee hee! Not bad for a 46 year old! Now if only I could remember who it was! Drat!

Denise----Oooooh, you bad girl!!!!!!!:thumbup: The only thing I have to say about the whole not exercising thing is "you lucky little witch" LOL! Lovin'--welcome--cute profile pic! Ajay--welcome to you as well! So nice to have some new blood :-)! Bobbie---I agree with Christie about you being a dork, like you need to ASK to come over here. And you don't visit, you live here!!!!! Stacie--how is the heartburn today? Any better? Bob--where the h*ll are you?!? Things are pretty good here. As I mentioned earlier in the week, I had my 5th fill last Thursday. For some reason, everything (including water) is slow going, I am able to eat, no throwing up or anything, but I start getting hungry in about 2 hours. Ugh. There is NO way I can get any more of a fill because I know I won't be able to get anything down, but what the heck gives??? I guess I need to just give in and have a freaking cheese stick in between my meals. Kind of miffs me that my meals aren't lasting longer, but what can I do? NSV NSV--My hubby and I had to perform at a Mall Bridal Show the other night. After we were done, he grabbed me and took me shopping at Victoria's Secret! He bought me the most gorgeous bras, a teddy and some perfume. I can't tell you how good it felt for me not to be able to shop in there, but to have my husband go in there and treat me to stuff I CAN wear! Did I mention I LOVE my band ?!?

Chancie, for me it's mentally draining. My 3rd friend just had sleeve surgery yesterday with my surgeon because of her seeing me shrink away over the last year, and then seeing my full before/after pictures on Facebook. I still "think" fat sometimes. I've gotten critical of my body, I nitpick every little wrinkle, every little dimple, every little crease from excess skin, but I think I'm starting to grasp it mentally. I can't and won't ever look like a supermodel, and I need to let that go. I need to accept me for me just like I did when I was 270lbs. Mentally, this journey is more draining than any physical aspect. I know one day I'll accept myself, my creases, my baby fat roll on my tummy, for all the other stuff, there's always the fabulous Florida nip/tuck surgeons LOL. I had a NSV yesterday, and really appreciated it. Caysen (my son) had a friend come over for a few hours yesterday afternoon. This kiddo had no idea that I had surgery. He was looking around at our family pictures, and all of the pictures of me around the house are pre-op. He asked Caysen "who is this red-headed lady with you, is that your grandma?" Caysen just laughed and said "Naw that's my momma." The kiddo didn't believe him, and that's when I had to tell him that I had surgery. Oddly enough this kiddo's aunt (my friend) is the one that just had the sleeve done yesterday. He said " so my auntie is going to get skinny like you?" I told him, she'll lose weight, but more importantly she'll get healthy, and be able to be more active. The kiddo couldn't believe that was me and that I had a 12yr old son. He told me "you must have been really young when you had him because you can't be very old at all." Again, I just laughed and hugged him. "Out of the mouth of babes" it's the best compliment I've received in a very long time.

Yep have felt the same - 48lbs since the start of the journey, 40lbs of that post surgery in 11 weeks. Have to keep reminding myself that my obsession with instant gratification is how I got to be so big in the first place! Then I get some perspective on it and acknowledge I have dropped 4 dress sizes and feel better than I have in years. People are noticing the weight loss and giving me compliments - which is great! I have had to give away nearly all my pre-surgery clothes... costly but liberating! Best thing is I am seeing muscles starting to emerge through the blubber - and I ran up a flight of stairs without thinking the other day! Concentrate on your NSVs - it seems that your scales sometimes take a bit longer to catch up with the changes you feel and see! Good luck and chin up to all yopu losers!