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hard to believe that is what it took for you to buy some new scrubs. I am surprised they stayed on you for so long! I've heard of people walking and their pants fall off of them! That is a great NSV. Thanks for sharing!

@@wannaBthinsoon I frequently see and hear your good comments and questions on the board sometimes i forget you haven't had surgery yet per you"nearly able to polish my own toenails, lace shoes, run up a flight of stairs and not be winded and keep up with my grand kids." the above are great NSV's that you have "almost" accomplished you'll experience many more great NSV's in the future sleeve Thursday very exciting good luck speedy recovery kathy

Hi cc. Welcome to banded life. I don't have any suggestions regarding a book or some other type of information regarding what meals to make/eat. I can only give you my thoughts as someone who has been banded almost a year now. I found that for me, following a basic weight watchers type of program has been very successful. I basically stick with 3 oz. Protein, 1/2 cup veggies, and 1/4 cup of carbs. I even have dessert....sugar free pudding/jello...even 100 calorie cookies/ice cream once in a while. I also track everything in myfitnesspal to give me an idea of my calorie/protein/sugar/sodium intake and to keep me compliant. This is for me, a very easy plan to follow without a whole lot of guess work. I also change it up alot.....fish, chicken, meat. This way I don't get bored and stray to poor choices. One more thing. You ask about band safe foods. While some bandsters have difficulty with certain foods, everyone has different experiences so don't presume there are any foods that are not safe to eat. I eat everything, just in band sized portions and as you can see from my ticker, have had great success this year. Good luck to you and can't wait for your first NSV (non scale victory) post.

Since there are so many beautiful trails and scenic vistas I thought a bander group could get together for fun and NSV's. Takers?

Hurray for a salad from Taco Bell! That is a great NSV and don't let anyone tell you it isn't! Karen

SOO My brother in law's family, mother in law's family, and my family rented a cabin at a state park this weekend. We are getting ready to head out soon and Im excited. The husband and I are going to go on a hike together. It will be the first time I've been hiking since a kid! We have a cooker full of veggies and crock pots full of beef stew. I also decided to do some reflecting this weekend and I think to do this I need to unplug from my smartphone. SOO..I'll be unplugging from everything this weekend. I have my swim suit to play in the pool with the kids, hiking gear for a nice long trek, a brand new intriguing book, and board games out the wazoo to play with the family. Have a great weekend everyone!!

that IS a GREAT NSV!!! congrats!!!

so finally after my fourth fill I think I am in the green zone. for the first time I feel restriction when I eat. I am still able to eat any food with out PB, but if I eat too fast or too big of a bite or dont stop soon enough, then I will get stick and that is not comftorable! I am glad to have enough restriction to regulate my portions with out feeling jungry, but still not be so restricted that I have to leave out certain types of foods. I like the fact that I can eat out with people, and aside from eating slower and less, I am just like them on to the NSV!!!! my family spent the week at disney world last week. Talk about HOT and HUMID!!! anyway for the first time in a LONG time i got onto every ride with out wondering if I would meet the seat size requirement I also wore tank tops the whole time with out avoiding pictures because I wasn't worried that my arms looked HUGE. granted they are still bigger then avg size people (they were even big in compairson to the rest of my body when I was heavier) but for the first time they were not the focus of my attention when I looked at pics of myself also no second chin in photos!!!!!!! last but not least I had been holding off on shopping until just before the trip and I am happy to report that I was able to shop in the regular womens department and not the plus size department!!!! I comftorably wore sz 14 or 16 bottoms, large skirts and large shirts!!!! I even got a few xl shirts from the juniors department and a sz medium skirt from old navy (clearly elastic is my friend lol ) I am almost 6 months into this journey, and I am half way to my goal weight, but I am 100% at my goal lifestyle, and that is way more important to me. It feels so good to finally be happy with me and know that I am leading my family in a healthy active lifestyle.

Excellent work! Excellent! See how powerful NSVs are?

WTG Sarah! Those are some really great NSVs!

I was sleeved on Dec 18th and have been incredibly lucky to not have any complications. I threw up my pain meds once in the hospital- not fun! But other than that no issues eating or drinking, other than I'm full really quick. For the most part I am getting 48-64 oz of water/G2 a day and about 60g of Protein a day. It does seem that I am ALWAYS thinking of eating and drinking and I hope that this becomes second nature eventually. Last week, a friend and I booked a trip to Botswana, which is country directly north of South Africa. (I wasn't quite sure where it was located prior to booking.) I'm very excited for this trip, except for the 16 hour direct flight. I'm PRAYING that I lose as close to 50 lbs as possible to make that flight bearable. We'll be on safari's and visiting a few cool places like Victoria Falls. This mission to lose has given me the motivation to hop on the treadmill at work tomorrow when my day is done. I have to say that I could never have kept my head up through this process without weight loss forums. Every time I get bummed out I hop on and seeing others succeed brings me such joy. Not to mention how wonderfully supportive people are. NSV: 1- Can fit in my favorite winter jacket again 2- My double chin is gone. (Come on belly....) 3- My feet are smaller 4- The jeans that I have lived in after surgery (super soft and stretchy) can be taken off without using the button or zipper.

I just bought my first pair of leggings in my adult life! and they were a size large! ive always been too embarassed to wear them b/c my legs were so huge, but i have to say i looked so slim in them, im so happy! started in size 22 pants, now wearing a 14! I am now able to fit a standard size bath towel around myself completely!

251 day of surgery, 12/19/2011, and 232 now. Best NSV was trying on a dress from the back of my closet that had always been too small and zipping it up with ease... It is a size 16!!! Down from mostly 22's. Scale is stalled, so NSV's rock! Kimmie

I am 2 days out from 2 months and am down 40 pounds! I am amazed! Went shopping and was able to buy 12's yesterday! What a great NSV! Saw some people I haven't seen in a month or so and they were shocked. It wasn't until I took my monthly pictures that I saw the difference! I am so glad I took the pictures to document my progress! To anyone thinking of doing the surgery, DO IT!!!

Have ankles now sooo happy to see them again. .can someone tell me how to post pix on this new format.

I had my first really awesome NSV today. I had ordered some new school clothes for fall (I'm a teacher) when the catalog was having a great sale, and ordered all my tops in a 3X (my usual size). They arrived today and were huge...not just a little too roomy, but HUGE. I don't think I've ever been so happy to pay return shipping costs in my life. Can't wait until I can shop in cheaper regular stores and not be stuck with ordering online.

When the scale isn't moving that's when I often notice my clothing getting looser and I realize I am losing inches. This is a good time to look for NSVS, non-scale victories, and just to keep doing what you're doing. Fills differ so much -- I had six prior to achieving the green zone but I was glad for the small incremental approach my surgeon uses as it gave me time to work on slowing down, chewing more and general behavior modification. My surgeon was looking for a tennis-ball sized portion and not hungry again for 4-5 hours. I had the portion part but not the duration -- I was hungry again after a couple of hours. So we kept going. I am not super tight but just right -- can still enjoy dense protein, apples, broccoli, etc. You are doing beautifully -- on your way! It just takes some time.

Guys I'm sorry but I have to ask...it's been bugging me since I joined the group...what does NSV mean? Sent from my SM-N920V using the BariatricPal App

Hi Michelle! I know what you mean about the four months. It seems like just a few weeks ago we were sweating out waiting for surgery! I'm with you on not being too tight. I definitely know I have restriction this morning. I was drinking my shake and gurgled a bit so I know I was tweaked good. The true test will be tomorrow when I get back on real food. Congrats on the shorts NSV!!!! I love those! I'm not ready for shorts yet but it seems I have to go buy a new pair of jeans every couple of weeks! It's really hard to try and figure out what size I am as I am making the transition from plus size to misses! Yeah! It's a pain but one I will gladly bear! I cut my hair short once. I really liked it. It was so easy to take care of. But everyone else said I looked like Sharon Osborne (Ozzy's wife) so I decided to grow it back out (not that she looks bad or anything!) I've now gone completely off the deep end and bleached the underneath sections of my hair while keeping the top black. It's a really cool rock and roll effect especially with the shag hair style but my family thinks I've gone off the deep end. My 16 year old daughter thinks it's cool though! LOL The one nice thing about hair is that it will always grow out! Keep up the great work!

im smiling for you on that NSV !

Oooh..I had an NSV today! Went for a haircut and sat in the chair and while I still filled it, I didn't squeeze into it. Oh boy, was I smiling on the inside at that.

I already replied but I thought I would add in that the other night my hubby and I went out to a club....after we left....driving home I got way to horney and ended up unbuckling my seatbelt and started ummmmmm well you know....then we tried to go home but our teenage daughter was pulling in the driveway at the same time...so we drove off and went to the park! well lets just say we broke a few laws that night! hehe but it was increadable, and my nsv was that we fit in the backseat just fine together....if you know what I mean!

Very simple, yet very empowering as well. Congratulations to you. Can't wait until I get sleeved to experience those types of NSV's.

Exactly one year ago today I got my sleeve. As part of my process of losing weight, I have decided to post my story. Warning, emotional dump below. Thank you to everyone who reads. I am so grateful to BP and to everyone who has the courage to share as I learn and am inspired by your stories – so I decided to post my own. I cannot imagine going through WLS without BP and you all. Figuring out why I got fat – and how to heal myself I have literally spent the past 30 years in different types of therapy trying to figure out why I do not take care of myself, love myself or feel worthy of love. Through the process, I have learned a lot about myself, done some hard work yet was still very overweight (high 421) and struggled daily with basic self-care. I am a social worker and have also spent the past 25 years working in the helping profession, yet I was not helping myself. I am so grateful to be able to say now that I am taking care of myself, really for the first time in my life of 44 years. Thank you WLS. I have been in talk therapy on and off since I was 14 when I tried to kill myself because of nightmares and flashbacks from childhood trauma that scared the hell out of me. I was in a group for sexual abuse survivors for many years because of the sexual abuse from my grandfather - a known sexual perpetrator that my mother moved into our house for free babysitting. I have done focused healing work on my abuse from him and the immense abuse and neglect from my mother. I have done somatic body work and EMDR for trauma, couples therapy with my husband to work through how my trauma and his trauma trigger each other, a formalized emotional eating disorder program for my binge eating (and of course Weight Watchers numerous times, nutrisystem, South Beach, Optifast, you name it) and copious amounts of psychoanalysis, CBT, solution-focused therapy, hypnosis, acupuncture, psychotropic medications, self-reflection and journaling, self-help books etc… And I weighed 421 pounds. Enter my decision to get the sleeve. I had been resistant, buying into the myth that if I tried hard enough, I would figure out how to take care of myself and not overeat. After struggling with enough energy at 421 pounds to run a non-profit, take care of my family and go to school for a masters in social work, I took a year off from school and signed up for the weight loss program at Kaiser. I always heard that in order to take care of others you must take care of yourself, but for some reason I thought I could be the exception. I was finally motivated enough for WLS. A year later I got my sleeve at 385 pounds, and today, exactly one year after my surgery I am at 253 pounds with another 100 to go. I could never be here without WLS and my learning to finally and truly start taking care of myself. I realized that the solution was inside me the whole time – realizing that at my core, I felt I was a bad person and had to show everyone else this by my weight. I was using my weight as a boundary because I couldn’t say no or take care of myself. In addition to WLS, I have started mindfulness training, worked hard on self-compassion (based on Dr. Neff’s work) and letting go of the shame that kept me big (Brene Brown’s work). I still have a long way to go, but today I wanted to honor how far I have come from the scared little girl who was traumatized to the adult I am today who finally is not scared to be healthy and take care of herself. Happy one-year surgiversary to me!

I like NSV much better! Thanks for the tip. :-)