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pfft, I am over year out and it still hasn't sunk in. I wonder who in the hell is in the mirror with me some days. Old girl freind complimented me last night how much smaller my face looks since last month, heck if I noticed it. Just be aware of all the NSV's and enjoy life. Let the stalls take care of themselves.

@@CowgirlJane is this a new NSV?? that's great!! if you've already done - that's an even better scenery must have been breathtaking kathy congrats

I am nearly 2 months post-op and nearly 40 pounds down. Today as I was walking toward a reflective glass door I noticed the most amazing thing! There were these two dark, shadowy areas on either side just below my neck! I had to squint to see what they were. I have hollows above my collar bones! I don't know if they just appeared today or if this sweater is just highlighting them, but either way, I don't remember the last time I had hollows anywhere let alone at my collar bones! Just had to share! pam

HI friends I just realized another NSV while I was driving the car today .... I could actually tilt the wheel down!! AND I had to slide the seat up!!! Seems all the cushion I've lost off my rear was holding me up and pushing me forward !! LOL OMGOSH Waahoooo!! Just had to share with those who understand !!!

Congratulations on all of your successes!!! You look fabulous!! It's evident from all your new found activities like you're enjoying your new life. Awesome!!! What can I add that all our other BP friends haven't already said I agree with them all. Yes, considering the circumstances, even the change in your marital status is a NSV. His loss. I'll look forward to future updates and your race results in October. Keep on keeping on!!

@liannatx @milasan thank you both for your nice/kind words you work with your sleeve and it will work with/for you!! your pouch with gastric bypass will be awesome too i love to eat you newbies up for breakfast!!!! but no protein!!! sob sob!! you are in for the ride of your lives, a few bumps here and there maybe, stalls - not losing as quickly as you wish (lossess won't happen over night) "God Grant Me Patience, Just Hurry Up About It" great new life is in front of you follow allll the rules - if you don't - i know where you live @@OKCPirate congrats -wonderful stuff young lady thanx dude - i love you back (smirk, smrk) you are one of "those" in betweeners that continue to do terrific @@Kindle "You are pretty darn cute, just like me" smile when I see a "like" from you... I love to smile back at YOU!! it's hard to find two perfect people like us !! a cross we bare LOL!! your nice words mean a lot to me so glad YOU are around for ME too i love your nice pic with "horsee" - now that i'm "smaller" - i might feel brave enough to ride (future NSV?) @@Inner Surfer Girl Wonder Woman takes one to know one!!! your hard work continues - you are already awesome the only problem, as time progresses i will be seeing less and less of you keep up the amazing job - i know you will!! @@VSGAnn2014 You deserve all the happiness you have created for yourself. thanx bud, back at ya you are always nice and helpful on the boards - wonderful!! we have shown those "younguns" et al that age doesn't matter @@AvaFern love reading your posts. i'm glad - i luv writing them!!! i'm so happy when i see and hear from you you are great!!! you and i are both 5'3 DOS i weighed 2 lbs less than you but you lost 6 lbs more than i did wise guy LOL @@Recycled . very good reason to be called "proud" grammy. thanx dude -thanx for taking a minute off your bike to write me i felt too big and scared to ride a bike hmmmm, now that i'm smaller and not as timid, you never know!!! don't worry - i'll tell/warn you when i'm on the road LOL @@Babbs 4 life changing years and many more ahead! they have been wonderful - i DO know they will/must continue - ALWAYS you are one of those newbies that i have watched grow up and become a success!!! (is that too corny?? lol) but you can be such a brat too!!! LOL Who loves ya baby!? never wrote on the school walls, but i love writing on BP i know "sometimes" LOL my posts are too long,silly,too many smiles et - oh well i write like i talk - Egggggads it's great to see/hear from VETS like you all (most) LOL of you are great!! you are ALL aces in my growing book let's meet for drinks around the corner i'm buying!!! Water of course!!! see you all around the neighborhood kathy

mine usually last a couple of weeks (3-4). I am currently in one now and was hoping to make a goal of a 6 lb loss by 12/31...didn't happen. I also went up 2lbs! That was different for me, I usually just stall but the 2lbs is a new thing for me. I have had numerous comments about the weight loss in last few days so I am going to try on my size 12 jeans. NSVs are the best!

Wednesday will mark 3 weeks for me. My start weight was 283 surgery date weight 270 and for the past week I have been between 250 and 253. I have gone up and down between those weights. My doctor cleared me for soft foods last Wednesday so I thought that would help get things moving. I'm frustrated because I hit a "stall" a few days before 2 weeks and now I'm hearing about a normal 3 week stall. I'm not noticing anymore NSV witch is frustrating to. Actually felt bloated the last couple of days. I'm also having an on and off again horrible pain on my left side closer to rib cage. Doctor said he has no idea what it could be but possible kidney stone. Also worried because I have NO problems with any fluids. I can drink a lot just have to remind myself to. And haven't gotten sick from any food I've tried. Yesterday and today I have felt hungry really for the first time also. ????. I have anxiety pretty bad and I think I'm over thinking all this so much! Any advise would be great. Thanks so much!

to all WLS newbies VET's, and everyone else in betwen Today i celebrated my 62nd birthday party dance party dance!!! it's been 4 amazing years since i moved to sleeve land i was one of the lucky ones that hardly had any problems PO (not even gas!!) in my previous life i wore elastic waist blue jeans to work they "hid" my rear end !!! i wore big blouses/t-shirts I looked great - NOT didn't care about my appearance if i didn't look in a mirror - i was "ok" miserable etc - but that WAS me fast forward i have lost 105 lbs!!! GOAL i feel wonderful, healthy and happy experienced a lllllllong list of NSV's and they keep coming as i was reaching GOAL my life was changing, improving loosing the weight improved/got rid of meds and health issues i "gained" confidence, happiness, - all those great feelings "those feelings" were always there couldn't find "them" they were hiding under all my blubber!!! i peeled my excess skin off feel like wonder women!!! "we"/most say "WLS is not easy" mental improvements aren't easy either getting head/body issues to mesh together isn't easy either i'm stlll a work in progress i look amazing, i really do "cute as a button" LOL DOS 12/15/11 235 lbs 57 years OLD present 130 lbs GOAL 62 years YOUNG!!! Happy B'Day to me, today!!!! my weight is a part of my past, present and future life gets better and better i am 5'3 short but i feel 10 ft tall congrats to ME kathy

I was sleeved on 9/28. I am down to 244. My biggest NSV so far is that my wife and I went to Old Navy the day after Christmas and we hit the clearance sale. I got a pair of size 36 wool dress pants for $5. That was so amazing to get new clothes and pay so little. I got like a whole new wardrobe for the cost of what 2 or 3 pairs of pants use to cost the old me. My wife and I are working with a personal trainer 2 days a week and we do yoga 1 day a week. We are doing really good. Hopefully soon we will be in good enough shape to join the group exercise classes.

I'm right there with you ... same exact weight for 2 weeks now. I'm frustrated, but still good with it. I know in a few days it will move and I will be back again. It seems to happen to me every couple of months. Try (I say "try" because I know it is harder than it seems) not to focus on the scale during this time and look more toward NSV's instead ... how are your clothes fitting? Did you check your measurements? SMILE ... do you feel good? When all else fails, I put on my biggest pair of pants that I ever wore (just over a year ago) and watch them literally fall off of me! This makes me feel soooo much better. LOL!!! These are the things that get me through.

Snowshoeing..The snow angle is for you @KindaFamiliar

^^^^ What an AWESOME post. Good for you @@Recycled . I agree with you so much about the need to learn what your own body wants / needs / likes. Like you, My Fitness Pal has been an awesome tool for me. I'm not as far out as you -- was sleeved August 2014, but was using MFP 2.5 months prior to surgery. My shrink has urged me for a long time to break the tie to MFP at least occasionally to trust myself to eat instinctually and "normally." Yeah, right, I've said. But I no longer use MFP when I'm traveling for biz or pleasure. And guess what -- I don't gain weight. Some recent NSVs: * I now trust myself to eat anything and everything -- but I no longer overeat. * I just went on a 2.5 week cruise and didn't gain any weight at all. None! * This is the first January of my life when I didn't have a "lose weight" new year's resolution. * I still follow the rules most of the time -- eat Protein, then veggies, fruits, whole grains, drink lots of Water, don't graze, stop eating when I'm satiated (not stuffed), say no to food I don't need or want, take my meds, Vitamins, minerals and supplements daily, do my exercise (walking, stretching, yoga), get good sleep, don't sweat the small stuff. I think WLS is a freakin' miracle! But there sure isn't a finish line.

What a great story, and an awesome NSV!!! -RC-

I'm having the surgery on the 13th, I cycle between being really excited and really terrified. What makes me excited are looking at the before/after pictures, the success stories, when people talk about their NSV's and all the things they are doing now that they couldn't do before! There are lots of threads on here like that, check them out! ????

Woohoo! That is an awesome NSV. I've always gone nude for massages, but I have never been comfortable being totally nude in the women's area. Even now, while I no longer hide in the bathroom to change into the robe and I can strip in the locker room area, I haven't quite worked up the nerve to walk around totally without clothing. I feel a little awkward because I tend to look at the other women and I swear half of them are perfect- no cellulite, no sagging, no plastic surgery scars, and I think...yikes. In reality though, I have never once thought a negative thing about any of them, no matter what their size or appearance- it just wasn't anything that crossed my mind as even noticing, so I can see how I should be a lot more comfortable than I am. Again though, good for you, I love this NSV!

I had never gone to a spa until about one week before my sleeve surgery, a little over 2 1/2 years ago. My friend and I were on a girls weekend in Vegas and she wanted to treat me to a massage. I was absolutely against it. Embarrassed and ashamed of my body. She told me it would be one of the best pleasures I would ever know. "Besides," she said, "nobody knows you, they will never see you again." So, reluctantly, I agreed. When we first arrived and they took us into the back to change, they told me I could go full nude if I wanted to, but--at the most--I had to strip down to my underwear and bra. I think I turned beet red. As they gave us a tour of the facility and its amenities, so many women were in the nude! Sitting in the sauna, steam room and hot tubs. Ugh! The movies were not so far off. I was so uncomfortable and I felt like I did not belong. I was surrounded by women who were comfortable in their bodies. I was not. But alas, there I was, so I stripped down to my underwear and bra, put on my robe, wrapped it around me and held onto it for dear life. I was offered some wine...which I gladly accepted to calm my nerves, and when I was called back into my massage room to meet my masseuse, I was MORTIFIED! The masseuse was a GUY, and I wanted to die. He told me he was going to step out of the room and allow me to take off my robe and get onto the massage table, under the sheets. When he shut the door, I seriously contemplated leaving. However, my friends words echoed in my head: I would never see this person again. I did as I was told and got under the sheets (and trust me when I say that I wrapped them tight, like a human burrito). He came in and talked to me in a very soothing voice. However, he noticed that I was fidgety and avoiding eye contact. He asked me if I was nervous. I admitted that I was, and I even confessed that it was my first time and that I was very insecure about my weight. He graciously told me, "Sweetie, every woman is beautiful. No matter her shape or size. This is going to be a relaxing and enjoyable experience, and I do not want you ruining it with such nonsense." Oh my goodness! What a wonderful and beautiful thing to say. I loved him from that moment on. My nerves and reluctance melted away and I REALLY enjoyed the experience! My-oh-my, that 80 minutes felt like 20 minutes! I wished it lasted longer (actually, I think he added on an extra 10 minutes; tipped him big too!). So, here I am. 30 months post-op. Learned to work my sleeve, eat right, religiously spending 8-10 hours in the gym a week, lost all of my excess weight, completed plastics, and loving my body. So, the girls and I had a spa day over the holidays and I decided to go fully nude in the hot tub, in the steam room and on the massage table. I wasn't uncomfortable. Totally owned it. I even had one of the girls who joined us (mind you, she is 10 years younger than me) say, "Jeez...what I would do for your body." [Mind you, yes I had the sleeve. Yes, I had plastics; but, I work my butt off in the gym lifting weights and sticking to an eating regime that is healthy 90-95% of the time. Some people love to say that I cheated to get this body, but I say all the sleeve did was give me QUANTITY control. The sleeve does not control QUALITY and it does not dictate my fitness. After 4 kids, major weight gain, rapid weight loss, there was no way that my skin was going to put itself back together. I am not ashamed of my plastics and praise my doctor for helping complete my weight loss journey.] Okay, mini rant over. So, anyway, I felt AWESOME. I have never, EVER, had the confidence that I do now. And my ability to confidently lounge around in the nude was my biggest NSV yet. For the first time I realized I was just like those women in that Vegas spa.

I think that is a first rate NSV. Good for you!

Not sure if this is a NSV I was unpopular in high school. The weight was a factor. I have recently connected with some people from the small town I grew up in. A neighbor girl I grew up with, just posted a derogatory message to me on facebook. I was surprised it took me back to being the fat girl in school for a moment. Back when I was young her comment would have beat me down. It has no effect on me now. I make no apology’s for living a fabulous life. I'm proud of all I have worked for to overcome. I'm thrilled I look totally different than I did in high school. I'm more beautiful on the inside than I have ever been. I'm truly happy. Thinking about my class reunion next year--- She has given me great motivation to maintain and get out and experience life. From all the unpopular kids back in the day..I salute her for “believing” she is still the popular beautiful mean girl after 30 years.

Excellent news on dropping the meds! Leaving meds behind and just feeling so much better physically are wonderful NSVs! Dropping clothing sizes, while getting expensive, is also surprisingly fulfilling!

One of the surprising motivators for me were clothes. I would buy a pair of jeans or a new shirt that was extremely tight. I generally had to take a deep breath in order to put it on. And then the next week almost like magic, it would fit like a glove. It is one of those intangible Non scale Victories (NSV).

@@DistillerDave - that's an excellent NSV x 2!!! meds are going down and so are the jean sizes!!!!

I'm one month out tomorrow! Was sleeved on 12/10. Surgery went quick... I woke up in intense pain until I was alert enough to learn the pain pump, then it was smooth sailing. My nurses were shocked, I was walking alot, getting up and down with no issues, getting in fluids easily. Fast forward 4 weeks... I'm down 30lbs. Still working on meeting Fluid goals. Eating pretty normally. I do have one incision that has opened and is inflamed, but not too painful nor is it infected. I seem to handle all foods quite well, and that bothers me. I'm going to chat with my NUT tomorrow and ask lots of questions. I've started jogging and went to work at 4 days post-op. I've been wearing jeans since 2 days post-op and over all feel pretty fantastic. My weightloss has been good, but I was kinda hoping for more. Please note that not everyone will have the same recovery. I have a friend who was sleeved the same day and still can't return to work, still can't keep anything down. I'm lucky... good luck to everyone who was recently sleeved or who is waiting! Excited to share the journey with you all. I had my first NSV today. I looked in the mirror and actually noticed a smaller me. For the first time, I could see the weighloss. It's exciting!!