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While I've had several NSVs, nothing was more meaningful than this one. I started at a dance studio last year 2 months before I had surgery, and returned a few months post surgery. Last month I participated in the filming of a promo video for the studio. It can be found on YouTube by searching ShakeItLatinStyle PreRoll. The studio is in Mill Creek WA. I've attached the link, I'm not shown much but I'm wearing a purple tank top - short hair in the back corner. The very idea that I am actually LIVING life instead of watching from the sidelines is great accomplishment!

Hello Cleone, Great to hear you are doing so well. I started mushies just yesterday. Here's how my day went. My blind brother who lives by himself called me at 4:30 am saying he thinks he's having a heart attack. I tell him to call 911 and get to the ER I will meet him there. I had my granddaughter over for the weekend and we both jumped up and ran. Well turns out he didn't have a heart attack but had a PE, He threw a blood clot to his lung from another blood clot found in his thigh! He gets transfereed by ambulance to another hosiptal 30 min away. Ok, so I had to take my grandbabygirl back to daddy so I could go to be with him, make phone calls and alert other family members and on and on. Grandbabygirl was starving so we made a quick stop at McDonalds. I had a scrambled egg with a little gravy and was amazed at how little I could eat of it. I was under stress of course and was wondering how well I would do with it but seemed to do fine. By the time I got everything situated to get to the other hospital an hour had gone by so I started drinking, drinking, drinking. I get to the other hospital just as other family members are and we check on brother and he is in his room, stabilized and talking, thank God! So now that we have seen him and know he is stable everyone wants to go and eat. We end up at our one of my most favorite places, Chedders. They have fantastic food and the best prices anywhere. I'm thinkging ok, what can I get to eat here. Not a problem. I ordered the catfish which is VERY lightly breaded, mashed potatoes and green Beans. It was the lunch portion but it was HUGE. I felt like I was eating normal and eating a huge amount but by the time I chewed chewed chewed and chewed it some more I had only made a small dent in it and everyone else was done. I can't say I ate till I felt full because I didn't I felt satisfied so I stopped, got a to-go box. Then they had the 'cookie monster" OMG to die for. It has a HUGE choc chip cookie on the bottom, with two huge scoops of homemade vanilla ice cream on top, with the most amazing warm chocolate sauce poured over it with homemade whipped cream and a cherry. She brought four spoons, uh oh. Ok so I took two spoonfuls of the choc sause and ice cream, it was nervana! But it was my first time out to eat in months!!! I did great. So when I got home last night from the hospital, I just whipped out the left overs, this time I measured them and ate it again and it was delish! Again, no 'full' feeling just ate what I measure out, was satisfied, waited an hour after and started drinking again, but man about 9:30 I was exhausted and was ready to crash, made myselft stay up till 10 then went to bed. I still have a huge amount of the lunch leftover, but think I will try different things today. Maybe some refried beans with ff sour cream for Fiber. I haven't had any bathroom issues so far and I have been doing 2 Protein shakes a day since Sept 19. Sorry to go on and on, just wanted to share my day and let you know that under stress I still made pretty good choices and ate and didn't feel deprived at all. I have only lost 19 pounds since I first weighed myself Sept 5th, this is pre and post op, but that's still a little of 3 pounds a week when you put the calculator to it, and I had a nice NSV this morining. Yesterday everyone was saying how they noticed I had lost weight, my DH said I bet you can fit into your next size jeans now and I said no way, I tried them on last week and could button them but no way that zipper was going up, he kept saying I bet you can. Well you all know the disappointment of thinking they will just to find out they won't so I didn't try them on last night. This morning I got up, weighed myself, same weight as last week, but I 'felt' so light. I thought ok, those jeans are my guage so to speak, let's just see where I am. Took them out slid them up, buttoned them and zipped them and they fit just like they used to. Now granted I had to go into a size 20 about 7 months ago when my weight was out of control. Getting into my favorite size 18's today was a victory. Now to get below that and into all the 16's that have been packed away for over 10 years. I can't ever remember being a size 12 in my life so that is my goal, to get into a pair of size 12 jeans because I will have to buy a pair!!!! I know this is long and I'm rambling, but I'm so stoked this morning. I am doing so much better than I thought. No pain since day after surgery, no gas since 5 days after surgery, my incicisons are all healed and looking great, I feel so very very good! I don't want it to end. Me, who in all my previous posts was such a wuss, imagine that. This borad has taught me what to do and most importantly what not to do to avoid as many complications as possible and for that I thank it profusely. Hope to hear back from you soon, I know you are gonna do great, cause we both have another tool that I believe helps a great deal and thank you for that! Blugs! (blessings and hugs) Debbi

I was banded on 7/31/07. In the first 13 months that i had my band I rapidly dropped weight losing 130 pounds in the first 13 months. Then I went for another fill, that I was hoping would land me at goal. It was done under fluro, but even still I was far too tight. I stayed with it for months being stubborn & foolishly ignoring the discomfort and other signs of a problem. Finally when I couldn't take it anymore I was unfilled and because I had hurt my stomach in the process ALL of my fill was removed. I regained about forty pounds before I was filled back up to my sweet spot again so I had to re-lose that weight. I learned my lesson and have been very careful with how tight I am. The pounds no longer melt off so I exercise even more then I had previously 6 days a week either doing cardio, elliptical, belly dancing, zumba or yoga. This past April I completed my first half marathon. :thumbup: I've had many NSVs, but landing in Onderland feels incredible!!! Goal here I come !!!

Wow! That's GREAT Michelle! Congratulations. I guess all that lusting after the cook must burn some calories!! (lol) I'm down THREE this week--Yippee! So that's an SV...but what's the OPPOSITE of an NSV? Because my hips/waist/etc are exactly the same but my BRA CUPS ARE TOO BIG!!! I do not exactly consider that a victory! :'(

This probably goes down as one of the oddest post BUT sometimes you have NSV and never realize that's what it is. I have been crossing my legs for months now (comfortably ) but today we took a picture! Why? Just because I can and it serves as a reminder that not all victories are associated with a number. I showed you mine now show me yours!! (Legs people, legs!!) or just share a NSV if you have one.

cwalker, Brava! You're over half-way to goal in such a short time! I cannot wait for my own NSVs. So glad you shared yours.

Whoo hoo! Way to go. NSV's are the best!

Today is my 2 month surgiversary...I have been feeling so much better,lost 37 lbs and alot of inches so I go to see my grandgirl at cheer camp and two people stop me to tell me 1. I look amazing and 2. they would not have know me if I had'nt been with my daughter. Makes you feel so empowered.

Hello, I am new here and relatively new to being sleeved, which I had done on 7/28/14. My highest weight was pushing almost 380 pounds. I was hovering between 350-360 pounds for many years. I was turning 50 years old (actually "young" ) last year and wanted to take hold of my weight issues, which I struggled with for a good portion of my life. I was tired of feeling weak, having low stamina, low self-esteem and wanted to no longer have type-2 diabetes (~2+ years), sleep apnea, higher BP, higher cholesterol and low-T. Most of all, I was worried about something happening to me and not being there to support my family and leave my children without a father; the only thing worse would be having a debilitating disease due to my morbid obesity and becoming a burden to them. From the end of February last year, I started dieting leading up to my surgery. My total weight loss pre/post surgery is ~115 pounds. I no longer have type-2 diabetes (my glucose numbers are normal, my A1C was in the upper 4's for the last 3 readings), my sleep apnea is greatly diminished, my BP is normal, my testosterone levels are "very good for a 50 year old man" (per my endocrinologist), my cholesterol numbers are normal, I have much more energy, greatly improved self-esteem (I don't mind pictures taken of me anymore) and more NSVs than I can shake a stick at. My only regret is not having this surgery a few years back, everything after the surgery has been positive. I am looking forward to this longer, healthier and better quality life I am giving myself. So if you are reading this and contemplating having the surgery, research about it as much as you can, make sure you are prepared to make this lifestyle commitment and, like the Nike ad states, "Just Do It". Your life will improve too. Have a great Day.

Had my first nsv today I bought a new shirt and went from a 3x to a 1x

Great work! Great NSV! Amazing work! I agree with Lisa/DeLarla, you need to go buy yourself some new clothes, even if it is only a few pieces. Congrats again!

NSV=non scale victory Bandster hell is when u have been banded but dont have restriction from the fills yet sp basically u are able to eat as much as u want

Congratulations but what are NSV's

Bought tight 16 jeans about 3 weeks ago. They were bogo so I got a 14 too. I noticed the 16 was a little baggy by the end of the day and said what the hey! Tried on the 14 and they're a little baggy too! lol so I'm in a 14! (originally a 22 4 months ago!) grandmother picked me up a medium top last weekend and it fit. Thought it was a fluke. Got a medium top for me yesterday, tried it on today and it fits!!! (originally an xl-xxl) I kind of want to leave the giant sizing stickers on to show what size Im wearing and how much I've lost lol Also bought my first ever pair of skinny jeans! They never fit my calves and looked wretched. I make em look gooooooood now hehe

Hello Everyone: I have good news and bad new. Good news My job sent me t North Caroline for training this week. Normally, I drive everywhere, becasue I hate flying. The main reason i hate flying is because 1. running around the airport only to find out that your gate has been moved to Saigon and 2. I never fit comfortably in the seats 3. I have been too big to fasten the seatbelts. This weekend I had to fly to NC. I have jsut been on the road so much due to my new assignment that I had no desire to drive anywhere. I get on teh placen this time and I am actually able to fasten teh seatbelts around me. Now mind, I had to let the seatbelt as far out as i could, but It fit. It was a snug fit, but it fit. I was shocked. For once i did not have ask for a seatbelt extender. This will defitniely go down as a NSV. Kinda bad news but with a good news ending: I had to have more Fluid taken out of the band. Matter of fact, I went directly from the airport to the OTC. I was in NC for 4 days. In that time, it was horrible. I try to stay away from fast food, but when I travel I that is what I end up eating. Even though I try to eat helthier fast food (you know what i mean lol). i was definitley too tight. I remember buying a 10 piece chicken McNugget for lunch and I was only able to eat about 2.5 of them. Those 2.5 were forced down. People were inviting me to eat for dinner, but I still had lunch left. Truth be told, i should have had some fluid removed last week now that I think about it. But I had convinced myself that i was still adjusting to my new fill. After every fill, I have to learn how to chew even more and drink even slower. I thought that I was jsut not chewing enough or chewing too fast or something. It felt like no "real food" would go down. I serously was wondering if this was what I was supposed to be able to eat and my head was having ahard time accepting that. i remember reading somehwere that all I would be able to eat would be 2-3 bites of Protein, 2-3 bites of veggies and carbs and be done. Then I also read that our new stomachs would only be able to hold 1/4 cup of food. I kept telling myself that it was in my head. Well, after some PBing (twice I had to pull over on the side of the road after drinking) and feeling that my food was always stuck..i had to get my 0.5 cc taken out. Leslie stated that she is now going to fill me in 0.1 or 0.2 increments. So the bad news is that i was extremely retarded for not listening to myself and i ended up having my last fill of 0.5 cc removed. But the good news is that I feel so much better and I will now listen to myself. How is everyone else doing?

Hooray for you Brina!!! Hopefully the next time I fly I can share in your NSV!!! That is awesome!

Well first of all, Brina, congrats on the NSV! I bet that felt awesome to not have to ask for that extender. I've been fortunate to have never needed one, but I can imagine how that must feel to ask. Good for you! As for the fill, I am glad that you got to where you needed. I know chicken is one food that can give me a little trouble, so maybe that had something to do with it, too. I'm glad it all worked out!

all victories, ladies! way to go! (Leslie, I especially liked yours...what fun!) I tried to post this earlier, so if it doubles up on me, please forgive, but - I had a NSV today, too. I was forced to eat fast food for lunch - which I never do - and I was good and ordered the grilled chicken sandwich and a fruit parfait at McD's, only to have them give me FRIES in my bag in addition to my order! McDonald's fries are crack to me - I normally cannot resist them. Well, I didn't totally resist them today. I ate two, then drove around the block of my office twice trying to find a familiar face to give them to. There are usually tons of guys around, but none today! So, I had to drive around the block again to find the trash can, but I THREW THEM OUT! Then I went to my office and took the bread off the sandwich and ate the chicken and yogurt for lunch! Whoo Hoo, Me! not perfect, but I say it counts.

OK!! I guess I'm just "dumb as they come", but what does NSV stand for??? I have had to ask for seat belt extenders many times and the steward's have always been fast and discrete about bring them to me, but it's still embarrassing. The first time I flew without one was a joy that most just can not understand. CONGRATULATIONS!! I'm looking forward to attending the support group meeting on the 9th. Is anyone who lives (or will be driving thru) the Perry area want to carpool? I'd be happy to drive and would love the company!!!! RosieJo

Love these nsv! Prior to becoming pregnant, I was in a size 2 jeans. Before surgery: a size 28! Being able to wear a belt was amazing as well. Being able to tuck in a shirt is amazing. Also, being able to go to the doctor with no shame. Stepping on the scales confidently.

hi i was laughing yesterday thinking about one of my favorite NSV's... i can actually fit a regular bath towel (not a bath sheet) around my waist and it overlaps the other side. before lapband i could only do this with a double beach towel! ha!

Pip NSV - kind of??? isn't that like being "kindof pregnant?" no baby - but baby look at you now what strides/accomplishments you've made you look terrific !!!! great pictures keep up the good work WooHoo

I too am nervous...my surgery is Monday. I see that all posters in this thread are alive and well that is a comfort I have been following my liquid diet since last Monday and am hoping it will lead to positive results. I find myself waking up in the middle of the night in a panic. I have had surgery twice before but this one is anxiety provoking on so many levels. I am saying many prayers, and have the support of so many. VST has taught me a lot, and I look forward to posting about upcoming successes and NSVs

NSVs are my favourite to. They are helping me break my scale addiction.

I have a problem with getting boots past my ankle. I have a lympdema in my leg. I finally was able to get the zipper past my ankle. So that was a great NSV for me.