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VSG 10/4/16, down 55 pounds. We are going on a cruise to celebrate our 20th anniversary. It leaves out of San Juan, PR. Southern Caribbean itenerary. I cannot wait. We are going with another couple that we cruise with every year...just no kids this time! Yayyy! Last night we booked Our excursions: Zip lining Parasailing And horseback riding on the beach. All things I couldn't have done before because my weight was over the limit. Comeee on February!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App Jesus loves you!!!

So I love these little things. I went to get in my car this morning for work, after my fiance drove last night. The seat a mile away it seemed. Used to it was all the way back regardless who drove. My surgery left an incision in my belly button, I could not even see. It now sits above my belly button. That's just funny. You don't realize under garments get bigger as clothes do til you raise your arms and opps...you ladies know what I'm talking about. You find your pants aren't the only thing sliding down. My knee high boots the stretchy back kind, no longer stretch but slide down too. Shoes I've lost a size and a half. My coat could easily fit me and a twin. I have ribs and a collar bone. I can run on the treadmill, not long, but hey I'm running. I no longer crave, soda, even diet. I bought one, yes but almost 2 weeks ago, never even opened it. Bought 14 skinny jeans yesterday. We are talking middle school people. That's how long it's been since this always fat girl has seen a 14 that fit more than one leg. Skinny, don't even get me started on skinny, never had anything labeled skinny in my size that fit. Sent from my 5054N using the BariatricPal App

Sounds like you are doing fantastically well and are living your best life, which is all any of us really want when we have WLS. Huge congrats to you! By FAR my biggest NSV was completing a full marathon in September. Me! An obese person who never even ran a mile straight in her whole life until into her 30's! I ran 26.2 miles! You guys, can you even wrap your brains around that?

NSV! I'm going on 4 weeks out and I have a NSV to share! My rings are loose! I didn't think my fingers would shrink so fast, but so be it. What are some NSV's you guys are having?

Fabulous....loving the progress. When the scale fails to move, those NSV always help us maintain that focus!! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using the BariatricPal App

Yes ma'am I'm going to look for a before right now and NSV stands for non scale victory. Meaning there are other ways to feel victorious in this journey besides what the scale reads.

Feels amazing, right @@Dknal2? Could you post a before pic, too? I saw a flash of my clavicles today - I wasn't sure if I even had them! Forgive my ignorance, but what the neck does NSV stand for?

My body is changing . I am currently down total 21.8 pounds from surgery date of dec 5( 44 lbs from pre op weight of 242 lbs). I feel my body changing daily. Scale isn't moving as fast as I would like but I am losing inches everywhere. New years I noticed my face looked different , even since surgery it has gotten a little more defined and smaller. I was like yayyyy, NSV. I have another great NSV. I bought an outfit from The Gap n baby I haven't been able to wear anything from there in like 16 years. I bought a large sweatshirt and size 14 pants ( I used to be a death grip 16 ????????) and the 14 had room and were baggy in waist as well as sweatshirt was very roomy... omg that was a victory for me.

Great NSVs! I love that my feet don't hurt as soon as I'm out of bed in the mornings. Digging being comfortable crossing my legs again (and not needing the assistance of my arm lifting my leg to cross them). And as you said....loving that food doesn't have the same irrational pull it had on me before surgery. Happy too that the way I look on the outside is starting to match how strong and happy I feel on the inside. Sent from my SM-G928V using the BariatricPal App

Whoah.. I just felt a vein in my arm under the skin. Weird.. Amazing what just 38 lbs can do to you... I took the shower chair out of the shower as I can stand now without my back being in excruciating pain. I was able to do dishes without having to stop because of the pain in my back. I don't have to turn sideways to get thru the bathroom door anymore. I was able to move the head of the car seat forward one notch. I have been taking the stairs without running out of breath. I have actually been getting up and walking around the office. I went shopping for 2 hours with very little back or foot pain. I don't have near as much trash these days. My wedding ring is already too big for me. I am more often cold than hot! I don't sweat much anymore! I use to laugh at the teeny portions of TV dinners like Weight Watchers and Atkins... now it takes me two meals to eat it all. Career choices that I had been thinking I could never do because of my back pain... are now a possibility. I have saved lots of money from not eating out as much. My hubby has lost 10 lbs already! And most of all... after being controlled by my addiction to food for 35 years... it no longer has that control over me. My life no longer feels dictated by food... I dictate to my food. What are yours? 11/11/16: HW 380 11/28/16: Duodenal Switch Surgery 11/28/16: SW 374 lbs 12/24/16: CW 342 lbs

You know how people who were one thing, and then reformed themselves all of a sudden become fanatical about that thing they used to be? Ex smokers are one of the best examples, policing the ranks of those who continue to smoke, evangelizing them to save them from that particular sin. They are especially known for their zeal. I sort of felt that way today. After my post op check up (which went very well), I drove up to visit my parents and help my Dad with a few chores around the house. While we were working, my Mom declared that we needed to go to the store to get some things she had been wanting for a while. Now "we" translates and "Dad and I". As for the store, she did not care, as long as it had everything she wanted on her list. It was that discussion that led to the circumstances where I found myself a short while later. We wound up in the mecca for fat people. There were more fat people there than at the Golden Corral on 10% off day. Yes. I am talking about Walmart. I hate going to Walmart. I don't like having to walk for what seems like miles just to discover they really don't have what I want. What's even worse sometimes IS finding what I want. Then I have to stand in line to check out - a line that stretches into the hazy distance like people lined up waiting for Judgment Day. And today was even worse. We were at a Walmart in a popular vacation spot for people from a very large city whose initials are N.Y.C. So it was fat people with an attitude. I also made the mistake of texting Mrs. LittleBill to tell her I was at Walmart, thinking she would at least sympathize. I received an LOL and a list of stuff to look for. So now I had two missions. We had to park so far away from the building that all we could see was the top, peeking over the horizon. I am pretty sure we were in a different zip code. The parking lot was solid with vehicles. In the distance I could see people dodging back and forth between the city drivers zooming around looking for the best spot. I said to Dad, "Maybe today isn't such a good day to try and go in there." He turned to me and said, "It's not worth my life to come home empty handed! We're going in!" We eventually made it to the door. I grabbed a cart, and waded into the mêlée, calling out to Dad that we could split up and cover more territory more quickly. It was like a cross between bumper cars and the demolition derby. People were smacking into one another left and right, coming out of the ends of the aisles like they had been fired out of a cannon. Baleful glares and insincere apologies were exchanged with abandon. And in all of this, there was a huge number of human juggernauts, cruising through slowly, yet unstoppable. They drew my attention with fascination. Like the ex smoker described above, I looked from person to person, thinking: "You need bariatric surgery. You need bariatric surgery. You REALLY need bariatric surgery! I can't believe I used to look like that! Did I really look like that!?! This place is a GOLD MINE for my surgeon!" It was actually kind of weird. On one hand, I felt something of a kinship with these people while on the other hand I was repulsed. I think a lot of the latter had to do with attitude though. I really get impatient with rude people. In one sense it was something of an NSV for me. I am still fat, but I am not the land yacht I used to be, and to a degree, I felt a whole lot slimmer as I negotiated the killing fields of the retail environment. It was also something of a wake up call, to learn that I do not perceive myself in the same way that I used to. I am going to have to work on that one for a while. It kind of snuck up on me and grabbed me by the throat. But at least I made it out of there alive.

I am in fear that I have PTSD from being fat. (I'm still fat, just not as fat as I was). I started this process on July 6. Had surgery 10/31. from July 6 to now, I have lost 77 pounds. I cannot see much of a difference when I look in the mirror. I can tell in clothes and sometimes pictures, and my double chin has reduced significantly from what I can tell, but when I look at myself from the side I feel like I am still over 400 lbs!! Also, even though I never go over 3 ounces and measure out my food and meal prep I feel like I am eating way too much. The feeling I have after I eat is that same guilty feeling I used to get when I would binge.I also catch myself still in the mindset of where I used to be. Say, driving home from work and having that urge to go to fast food. It's like second nature. I realize I have a food addiction. Has anyone else ever felt this way? I cannot get past the feeling that I am making no progrees, or too slow progress, even though I have had a few NSVs and the evidence shows I am progressing.

Banded 10/12/16

I haven't seen my ex fiance in about 10 years. She used to always wear a size 7 to 8 pants and a medium top. She was actually pretty darn attractive. I ran into her sister at Walmart. I stopped and said hi to her sister and asked how she was doing. It turns out she was standing right next to her sister and was probably close to 300 pounds. Needless to say my ex yelled at me and called me lots of colorful names. She then stormed off into Walmart and her sister turned to me and said you look damn good. Boy am I glad I got rid of her! I could care less about her physical appearance but her lovely attitude certainly isn't missed!

We all have those NSV moments. Sometimes they are mixed. I don't really WANT my hands to get smaller, although if I could let the air out of them a little bit once in a while so they would fit places better, that might work. On the plus side (or should that be the minus side?), I have lost enough weight that it is much easier to drape myself over the side of my truck so I can better see where I can't fit my hands to work on things that need worked on. Today was "change the headlight day". I've been changing headlights since the days of "sealed beams", where you had to re-aim the light every time you changed it. I was thrilled when plug in halogen bulbs came into being. But now, They (with a capital T) have decided to cram even more stuff in and around them to make it virtually impossible to do with any sort of efficiency. I do not care for the engineers who design machinery which has to be worked on by normal human beings. I think they are still angry for the way they were treated in school by their fellows, and this is one way of getting revenge. To get to the offending bulb, I had to remove this thing called the air box. For reasons unbeknownst to me, the wise men who designed this thing decided it would be a good idea to use two different types of fasteners to hold the bottom of the air box onto the frame in the truck. One type is molded into the box itself, while the other (of which there is only one) is a soft rubber protrusion, which is designed to compress and not pop back into place when one attempts to reinstall the air box. That was eventually solved by the judicious (and forceful) application of some pliers, gripping that pliable part and pulling it out about two inches before it snapped back. I managed to get the box off the truck and expose the base of the lamp. These same worthies designed a bayonet mount. That's a good idea. They designed it though, to twist TOWARDS the wall of the truck instead of the other way! Who thought that was a good idea!?! I could hear snickering coming over a cubicle wall from somewhere in Detroit. And of course, there was some metal frame welded around the whole thing designed to make anyone with an XXXL sized hand cringe with frustration while trying to insert it into the available space and actually TURN the bulb in its mount. I finally got the bulb in, and decided it would be a good idea to make sure it was working properly before I buttoned everything back up. I did not want to go through all that only to discover I had to take it all apart again because something didn't seat properly. It was then that I discovered that the air box is important for the engine running, not for the air in the cabin. At first I thought I had done something hideously wrong. It made horrendous gasping noises, like a fat person who had just run up several flights of stairs. I could see the dollars flying out of my wallet to make it right again. But I just clenched my teeth, and resolved not to panic until I got it all back together for another test. I got it all together except for the last bolt. That was the one I dropped earlier, and which Mrs. LittleBill retrieved for me. She is a big help for me when I do this stuff, because her hands will fit into places I could never get mine. And this was one of those cases. Of course, there is a huge downside to this. It never fails. Mrs. LittleBill will step in to help me complete a task that is a physical impossibility for me. This is usually reaching in someplace just like this. Of course, this is ALSO when one of the neighbors will drive by, and see her leaning into the engine compartment with me standing there handing her tools, or worse, just watching. How embarrassing is that!?! Finally, I tested the whole thing out one more time to make sure the lights worked, AND the engine was back to purring the way it is supposed to. It was then I noticed the notice on the dash computer. If you can't make it out in the picture, it is warning me that the hood is open. I am glad for that, because you know, I might never have noticed. I was just about ready to drive away.

Yay, My NSV's - one month surgeryversary 1. My plantar fasciitis (heels pain) is gone, so instead of bulky orthopaedics boots I bought pretty sandals (it is summer in Australia) 2. My week ago bought top is loose and I need a new one 3. I've been in a shop for NORMAL-NOT-FAT-PEOPLE and things fit! (the best thing ever)

9 months post op, and I have been the same weight for the past 2 months. Today I finally lost 2.2 Ib (1 kg) ..... I am so close to goal ..... and it is so, so very slow for me now. I am eating still same size portions, 1/2 cup, but I really concentrate on Proteins and more Water. I even eat very little fruit, especially rock melon that I love. I thought this happened to me because I was lower BMI to start with ...... However, my March buddies also noticed that the weight loss has really slowed down, for most of us. At least, I lost the 2.2 Ib, took me 2 months ... but it is still happening at a snail's pace. I have better NSVs, so I am still shrinking, even though the scales are not budging much ..... Good luck with those last few pounds! You have done so well! Congratulations! Great topic, thank you @@JupiterinVirgo

It's a NSV that is really freeing. I hated going to plus sized shops that only seemed to carry hideous clothes. The main reason I am so happy donating my too big clothes now is because they are so ugly! I still don't know why fashion retailers haven't figured out that plus sized women want to look good, too. Not be relegated to wearing the ugly stuff that is on the racks.

For me, I will not accept 1 percent of fat more than what my ideal weight is, which is 140-145. I am 5'7" and that weight puts me a little higher than smack dab in the middle of normal weight. I did not have this surgery to accept less. I don't care what any doctor or nutritionist says. It's my goal. I still remember what I looked like at 155 lbs and I had at least 10 more pounds to go to get to the weight I'm supposed to be at. I won't settle for less. My NSVs include getting my health back and being able to work out like I used to; to go hiking when I want; to be able to do my career with the most versatility. But I will not budge on that weight, because I KNOW I will get there. Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

Over the weekend I made baked goods to give away as gifts. In total I made 30 dozen Cookies, 20 mini lemon pound cakes, 7 dozen chocolate nut clusters, and 2 trays of peppermint bark. I was proud of myself because I only ate 2 cookies. never really I would have eaten soooo many more. It felt really good to have control over my sweet tooth right now! I feel like my mentality about eating better is one that will help me have life long success this time! I'm excited for the future! HW (10/31/15): 540 SW (5/29/16): 480 CW (12/21/16): 341 I'm so close to 200 pounds down!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

NSV!! Currently on a plane without belt extender!!!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

I'm down 40 pounds, and almost to my 1st goal. According to my BMI, I'm still considered overweight but if I don't lose another pound, I will be just as content. Had an awesome NSV last week. Was talking to a stranger outside and was shivering from the cold. I had never met this person before so they had no idea what I looked like pre-sleeve and he said "well of course your cold, you're too skinny not to be"! First time in my life I've ever been called skinny!! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App

Hi everyone. I've been posting a lot lately but I just wanted to share my very first NSV!! I travel regularly and need to use a seat belt extender while on a flight for about the past year or so. This weekend I took two flights, one on them those teeny tiny planes, and both times I didn't need a seat belt extender!!!!! The seatbelt is still a little bit snug but I'm soooo excited! I got my sleeve just two weeks ago on 12/5! Sent from my iPhone using the BariatricPal App