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Hi Penni, What a great accomplishment!!! It really boosts my motivation to try harder when I actually see results... either with weight loss or a wonderful NSV like this one. You look so cute and ready to get busy with your workout... keep up the great job.

Yep, same problem. I finally had mine re-sized, just 8 lbs from goal. It is an AMAZING NSV, but re-sizing is expensive right now, especially for gold. I used ring sizes for a long while and highly recommend them. They don't have to be jewelry store quality to work. It is just temporary. As someone said... yarn works too!

Congratulations mismatched that's awesome!!!!! Wishing you many many more NSV!!!!

Ok last night I took my sons to JCP for new jeans and as I was checking out the "bold" salesgirl says "Now we have the kids covered, what's Mom gonna do about those sagging pants she's wearring?" I just laughed. Haha. Yep I'm 6 weeks postop and down 44 lbs. Time to invest some $$ in myself. (Just a little). No doubt this is soooo worth it all. Love it!!

Rashaun I have this "magnet" in my body i would drive by Taco Bell - and my car would immediately turn in to the drive in whether i wanted to eat the food or not - of course i always "gave" in and sacrificed myself to yummy tacos as i was losing weight - my "magnet" still drew me to the plus size area in the stores it was mentally hard to realize i didn't need to shop their it was also hard to believe to "push" myself into trying on smaller #'d clothes i always reached for the large size, then a small size always tried the larger size on first now i try the smaller size on - and usually buy that!!!! "maybe" jumping the gun alittle if you are buying clothes 3 months pre-op thats ok though maybe buy ONE special jean/certain size that you will look forward to wearing even if/when you grow out of them - you will feel great that you were successful in getting to that smaller size we alllll love clothes NSV's happy shopping good luck kathy

Ha! I bet he wishes you had NSVs like that every day!

A check out - is a check out, girl. And remember, your brother-in-law is a guy first and you Brother-in-law second. The great thing is he knows he shouldn't be checking you out being he is your husbands brother and he did it anyway because he couldn't help himself and you caught him. That is awesome!!! YOU GO GIRL THAT IS A NSV Be proud.

Hello all..... slow loser here, but! Something kinda significant happened today...... I was upstairs, just out of the shower, in bra and panties--heard someone knocking at the door. Two able bodied people downstairs DO NOT MOVE to answer the door. So I am scrambling around for something to put on....and scurry down the stairs (what I wanted to wear was in the dryer). So I throw the shirt/jeans on as I zipped down the stairs, yanked open the door and there stood my bro-in-law. I haven't seen him in a few months and my DH has 6 brothers and lets just say, he is the least gross of the whole bunch (except my husband who I think was adopted since he is so different from the whole lot of 'em). We have a nice friendly relationship. He totally checked me out! And I watched him do it! And it was fun! I went back upstairs and finished what I was doing after I said hi and my husband finally figured out someone was at the door (duh....). I haven't been checked out in a loooooong time! (even if it was the bro in law--has to start somewhere, right?!) As a side note, DH tells me almost everyday that I look great, etc.. which is so nice, but it's nice when others notice, toooooooo.........

I was sleeved 1-23-14 one week is not a stall trust me I thought that too and people with more time told me the same now that I'm 6 months out and have had no movement of the scale in a month This is a stall very frustrating but the "vets" told me it happens and to look at measurements and non scale victories and soon the stall would break I have seen my measurements come down still and I've had a couple NSV Hang in there you guys we are all gonna make it through this

There were many reasons for me choosing WLS in the first place, and the biggest drive force was for me to be able to conceive, have a healthy pregnancy, and deliver a healthy baby without the complications of obesity during pregnancy. I've been waiting 3 long weeks to share this news with all of you, and am happy to report I AM PREGNANT ! ! ! After 14 long, exhausting, and emotionally draining months, I'm finally pregnant. I am considered high risk for several reasons, and VSG does throw me into that category along with other medical issues I have which are NOT related to VSG at all. I have an idiopathic clotting disorder and the cause, reason is still unknown. We do know that I am missing certain Protein factors in my platelets, but other than that, they can not pinpoint the cause or even give it a name hence the "idiopathic". We know the treatment is similar to that of Von Willebrand's disease, but all of my work ups have been negative for VW factor. It's kind of crazy, and I have a feeling I will be having more lab work due to the disorder and pregnancy. I have that "mother's intuition" that we are pulling for Team Blue, and if all goes well, I will have a repeat c-section and tubal ligation since I will be 35 yrs old a month after the baby is delivered. My husband is elated, overjoyed, and of course stressed. He's become the food police all over again, and worries that I am not eating enough. BUT, per the recommendations, I am getting enough calories/protein/carbs currently. They expect me to gain 25-30lbs during the pregnancy, and I kind of snickered at that thought process, but I am not saying it won't happen. I've never read any WLS patient gaining that much post-WLS except band patients. So, we'll see how the weight gain goes. Thus far, I am experiencing sore boobs, crazy food cravings for anything spicy, and fatigue. I have experienced zero morning sickness and for that I am very grateful. I've been cleared to continue my Celebrate multi, b12, and Calcium. The formulation of these Vitamins actually exceed the values of any prenatal on the market, and my labs looked stellar except for my platelets were low normal (which is normal for me). Today was my first ultrasound appointment. I knew the day we conceived "Little Sprout", and had the due date spot on. Everything was perfect, strong, steady heartbeat at 150bpm, everything looked good internally. I'm being referred to a civilian high-risk ob/gyn team and my pregnancy will be co-managed between them and the base provider. All this means is that I'll have double appointments that most pregnant women have to go through. Sorry for the quality. The base equipment is a bit dated, but we were able to hear the heartbeat, and of course I cried. My husband was able to attend, and he just stood there staring at the screen kind of in awe. It was truly the most joyous event I've experienced. Thank you for all of your continued support and encouragement. I would ask that you keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. This is going to be a long process, and Sprout is due November 5th. This place is kind of like my 2nd home so I'm sure I'll be posting more updates as the months progress. . Oh and I don't have much of a belly bump at all yet. I'm bloating, but my clothes are fitting the same, and I have not gained any weight to date. I'm not any hungrier than I was before pregnancy, just insane cravings for random foods I would not have eaten. It'll be interesting to see how I look this pregnancy. I was around 200lbs when I was pregnant with my son 13 yrs ago, and gained 37lbs so I was just huge and round. This time I'm interested to see how my body changes, and hopefully I'll get the cute baby bump that I see on everyone else.

That is by far the BEST NSV I have heard in my time on VST. Love it!!! You and Sprout are in my prayers. It sounds like you're off to a great start!

My NSV tonight was having all the girls at work complaining about their weight and their bellies....when I chimed in complaining they all yealled at me and said "skinny girls aren't allowed in this conversation" all said in a nice way. These women have only known me for about two weeks. and were SHOCKED when I told them I weighed over 100 pounds more two years ago.

I am totally scale obsessed. I actually have to get my husband to hide it from me sometimes. I weigh every day but I'm trying to train myself to limit weighing to once a week, the same time on the same day of each week, but I'm so curious as to what's happening with my weight. Water fluctuations don't help! So, long story short, I'd advise you to weigh yourself periodically, maybe every two weeks, to keep yourself in check, but not too often to get obsessed about it. Like you said, there are many other Non-Scale Victories (NSV) to measure our progress.

I think I was so unhappy with myself that it did put a strain on my marrige. Like most couples we still have all the same issues IE money , teenager, hard work evrey day on and on. But I feel so much better about myself now that I am much happier in my marrige and life style. One of my main reason for getting the Lap Band, was to be able to participate more in my own life. I can now walk with my hubby and daughter and keep up and go ahead sometimes intead of sitting on the couch with a glass of wine I go to Zumba. I love that every day is a new NSV. I still have a long ways to go but I know I will make it in time. So I think it has made my relationship with my husband and daughter soooo much better. When the times get hard I can handle it so much better now. I have a new inner strength. This helps me deal and cope so much better than before. On that note I will say it aint easy LOL. Good luck on the 15th.

you're awesome ! the weight didnt go on us overnight , and i guess it wont be coming off of us overnight either. sigh ..................patience is'nt one of my virtues either but im still happy when the clothes started getting loose, and i had to buy new pants, . then again, and then again, etc. Hold on to those nsv's and dont worry so much about the scale #. Its only a # ! Im no expert, but maybe this will help as far as food goes. My hubbys diabetic so almost everything we eat is diabetic friendly. He usually cooks dinner, i take dinner leftovers for lunch and stick to some thing healthy for breakfast and snacks as much as possible. Occasionly we have a little weight watchers ice cream in the house but thats it as far as junk food. We eat alot of baked fish, chicken, some red meat, ground turkey, and lots of fruit and veggies. any carbs are whole wheat . No white flour , just Diabetic friendly recipies. This has helped alot because whole wheat products "stick" in your stomach longer because they take longer to digest, so you're not hungry much between meals. Try a diabetic cookbook from the library and give it a try ! Hope this helps !

Here we are at our first bandiversary . . . who would have ever believed it??? Post your numbers - post your pictures - give us your NSVs and SVs . . . shout it from the rooftops! You can vote multiple times in this poll . . . I think . . . so if your weight changes during the month . . . feel free to put in that new mark. It's been a great year - and I'm soooo happy I did this! Chris

This is a great accomplishment! Congrats! This is on my bucket list of NSV. My husband accidentally saw my secret list and read the "cross my legs" and started laughing. I was SO hurt. I can't imagine he understands that this would be huge for a fat girl.

That's a wonderful NSV... Thanks for sharing! :D :D

Way to go, Alex! I'm proud of you for exercising, too. That's an NSV all by itself! (said Nancy, who has fallen off the exercise wagon) Nancy

You feel good, na na na na na na na!!!! All right! I just love hearing about those NSV's!!

First I want to say thank you to so many of the veteran posters on here. I hope you gals and guys know how much your experiences and feedback have helped me and I suspect many others. There's just such a fantastic mix of people and experiences - It's great knowing you aren't alone in this journey. The first few months after surgery were easy. The weight was simply falling off, there wasn't anything I couldn't eat or drink - And better yet, I couldn't overeat because of the restriction. I felt fantastic most of the time, had all sorts of NSV's and loved my new life. From August until January I lost almost 50lbs - I was so close to Wonderland I could taste it. THEN reality struck - Suddenly I was one of those "slow losers" - It took almost 2 months to lose 13lbs. UGH, I WAS going to be one of those slow losers. OK, fine, I'm 52 and it is what it is, right? From January until May, I "only" lost 33lbs. Again, every week/month I told myself that I would lose the weight, I was just in some sort of a stall and things would magically pick up. Well, they didn't, I would lose 2-3 lbs and then I would gain 2-3 lbs. Again, "it's normal" I told myself. Fast forward to a week ago - I jumped on here for some motivation (reading stories, etc.) and I took a hard look at what I was doing. Basically, I was being lazy - I was eating whatever I wanted and justifying it by saying "I only eat small portions" - Well, yeah, that was true...BUT I was grazing, I was drinking too much alcohol, and I wasn't tracking. I honetly have no idea how many calories I was consuming (especially on weekends with family and friends). I played mind games with myself and said "As long as I'm not gaining, I'm doing things right." - Well, that was a giant load of (@*$. This past Tuesday (after a weekend of Mimosa's, Crown Royal, and some really great BBQ), I woke up to a 5lb gain (BTW, yes I realize some of that was water retention). WAKE UP CALL. 5lbs? Seriously - Time to go back to basics before that's a 10lb gain. For the first time in MONTHS, I tracked every thing I tracked everything that went into my mouth (water, food, etc) - I did 3 days of liquid - In two days, those 5lbs were off. Rather than what I've done in the past, I didn't stop there - I continued tracking, I continued being cognizant of what and when I was eating. I said "no" to many things that I thought I wanted. I lost 6.8lbs from Tuesday to Sunday. What? I'm NOT a slow loser - I'm a LAZY loser. Folks, for many of us, it's EASY in the first few months, it's EASY to convince ourselves that we're doing OK, it's EASY to compare ourselves to others, it's EASY to ignore signs that you're falling into bad habits, and it's EASY to get lazy. In reality, it's HARD to stick to your plan when you're feeling fantastic and patting yourself on the back for losing so much weight. I'm choosing to be thankful that this happened now rather than 2-3 years into it. I'm glad that reality smacked me in the face and forced me to face the fact that i wasn't doing what I needed to do. Right now it was EASY to get back on track before I let it get out of control. For those of you experiencing the same - Buckle up buttercup, start tracking, weigh yourself often if you need to, and take a good look and when and why you're losing weight and when and why you aren't. Again, a very special thank you to you old timers for always keeping things real and giving out such fantastic advice.

This is a strange NSV, but I wanted to share it. I'm a Long Islander, and I was without power (and heat!) for 8 days following Hurricane Sandy. And for three days after my power came back on, we had my mother-in-law stay over because her power wasn't back yet. (She's nice, but I haven't told her about my surgery - she wouldn't understand.) Here's my victory: During that whole time, I managed to make good food choices and not go for comfort food. In the past, I would have binged on Mallowmars and Devil Dogs. In a situation where I previously would have crumbled, my band helped me stand firm. And today I got my reward: I'm down to 199!

Sorry for the length of this post but this is really important for me. I don't want to say this is a NSV because it's more like a seismic shift in my perception and the reality of my new body. I was on the train last night heading home from work. Across from me was a rather large woman. There was an empty seat next to her..or should I say an empty 2/3rds of a seat. No one was in it for obvious reasons and I remember well no one sitting next to me either when I was much heavier. Well, a young man who looked like he probably played football for his high school team sat next to her and was sitting on the edge of the seat as he could not fit comfortably into it. I thought about it for a moment (would he be able to sit next to me any more comfortably?) and decided to give it a shot so I moved my workbag which was on the seat next to me and made a small motion to him to change seats. I tried to be very subtle about it as I did not want to make the woman feel bad but I truly felt for the young man. Well, he saw me move my bag and switched seats. He slipped into the seat with no issues and while we were close, no one was squeezing into the seat like he was doing next to the other lady. For me, this was a huge change in my thinking. First off, I got that someone could sit next to me comfortably, and second, it was confirmed as the young man didn't hesitate to move so it was pretty clear that he also felt that he could sit next to me comfortably. Now understand, this is not a knock against the other woman, this is about me...and seeing more and more how while I am still overweight, I'm slipping into normalcy in terms of how I see myself, and how others see me as well. I'm really starting to see myself as not the morbidly obese person I was before starting this journey. What a sense of discovery and wonder this is for me. It's so worth it and every time I think how much I want to eat something that has too many or empty calories, I think about what feels better...these types of observations, or a full belly. I think you all know what feels better to me.

I have kind of an embarrassing NSV to share. I've lost about 44 pounds this year and about 16 since surgery 8/14. Had my first fill yesterday. I finally weigh less than my husband again. He's been eating healthy and working out as well.

Congrats on your NSV! And great that you are learning to slow down your eating! excellent advice for newbies!