Raine

I am so so so very happy for you! You look fantastic! Tiff never exercised either LOL, so I wouldn't sweat it (no pun intended LOL) if I were you. You have a normal life now and that is everyones goal. Congratulations!

You look fantastic! We are less than a week apart, sleeve sister! and we work for the same company, what are the odds??? LOL Great job so far and keep up the good fight.

I posted this earlier attched to the original thread, but since its one of my first "goals" I set for myself it definately needs to be here under NSV's... It feels like a lifetime ago that I made the below post too. I cried this morning because today, I tried the vest on and it fit! I couldn't wait to show her! I feel amazing. Posted May 8, 2011 - 7:45 PM Let me start by saying that a friend of mine has this vest she wears that I LOVE! I keep telling her she needs to give it to me. Doesnt matter tht she is a size 6/8 an I am a size 18/20 on top, I still want it lol. Of course she always tells me no you cant have it! Well today we had a shopping date, and it was the first time seeing her since my surgery on the 27th. She hands me a bag and tells me to look... inside is a brand new vest size 10. She said she knows that eventually I will fit into it but left the receipt and tags just in case I want to get a smaller size. I love her! She was not a huge supporter of the surgery in the begining because she was afraid for me. Now, I don't think there is a bigger show of support that she could have shown me. Just thought I would share. Raine

Acccck! Hope its not never LOL. Maybe eventually, hopefully, maybe? :/

It feels like a lifetime ago that I made this post. I truly cried this morning because today, I tried the vest on and it fit! I can't wait to show her! I feel amazing. Posted May 8, 2011 - 7:45 PM Let me start by saying that a friend of mine has this vest she wears that I LOVE! I keep telling her she needs to give it to me. Doesnt matter tht she is a size 6/8 an I am a size 18/20 on top, I still want it lol. Of course she always tells me no you cant have it! Well today we had a shopping date, and it was the first time seeing her since my surgery on the 27th. She hands me a bag and tells me to look... inside is a brand new vest size 10. She said she knows that eventually I will fit into it but left the receipt and tags just in case I want to get a smaller size. I love her! She was not a huge supporter of the surgery in the begining because she was afraid for me. Now, I don't think there is a bigger show of support that she could have shown me. Just thought I would share. Raine

I was never more happy when I became overweight! LOL. I don't put much stock in the BMI chart but damn it does feel good!

I have different restriction at different times. If I wait to eat til lunch time, I can get in a 1/4 a sandwich. If I eat at breakfast then at lunch I can eat almost the whole sandwich. Some nights I can barely eat but then other nights I feel like a bottomless pit. You may have over done it with the treats. I know LilMissDiva has some serious issues after eating anykind of sugar. So maybe thats it. Listen to your sleeve. Go on liquids for a day or so and then start eating again and see what that does.

The age old question for us sleevers! I am six months out and still have that problem. I get glimpses and sometimes have to stop and say wow to myself! I will say this though, you need to wear clothes that fit you right, otherwise your brain won't catch up. That and it will just make you feel good about yourself. It can be daunting to change the whole YOU. Do it in small steps and you will see how good it feels to actually like what you see in the mirror. Start off slow if you need to by wearing the pants that fit with a loose top. You will have the feel of accomplishment with the new pants but the comfort of familiararity of one of your old shirts. You do not have to spend a lot of money either by going to thrift stores, you are still losing so be frugal because you will be buying a lot more clothes when you reach goal.

All my best to you the Mister, C, and Little Mss Tatum! So very happy for you and your family. Congratulations.

I have been inspired by so many on here, I am so happy to pay it forward. What ever I can do to help anyone in their journey, I will try to do. It is so hard both emotionally and physically. Ha! Easy way out my booty!

Great job, Joe! You must be the change you want to see in the world~Ghandi You wanted a new you and you changed what needed to be changed and now you see. Congratulations.

Thanks, I just can't pass up a great buy. I was looking at the pics again and it does look a little big LOL. Now that I am cold all the time, I'm going to need that room for the layers I'm going to be wearing this winter to stay warm! I wonder, when does being cold stop?

Thanks! I feel great and I have to say this is one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life.

Switched to 100% and it didn't work. I have Windows 7 Home Premium. Oh well, it doesn't happen when I reply to a thread, I can read everything then LOL.

I am 6 months out and I think its starting to slow down. Got really bad in months 4 and 5 though.

I can see everything fine here at work. I will do that when I get home to see if that fixes the problem. Thanks,

This is what I see at the end of each thread! Its driving me nuts, I tell ya! LOL

There is a little room in there but I was wearing a t-shirt underneath. Once Winter hits full force I will need room for the warm and comfy sweaters . Next year I'll donate it right back from where it came from.

Hi Everyone! My 6 month surgiversary was on October 27th! I wanted to really think about what I was going to write up because you all have been such a wealth of knowledge and inspiration and support that I don’t know how I could have gotten where I am today without each and every one of you. I feel like I know all of you personally LOL. My hubby actually said "You act like these people are your close personal friends." one day when I was talking about somebody’s struggle and how I felt for her. Truth be told, this is such a personal journey that without all of you it would be so hard to do, I feel like I'm not alone and that is an awesome feeling. I am 15lbs away from my weight goal. HOLY COW! It is almost surreal to me to be this close. I don't think I have weighed 155 since I was about 11 or 12, maybe younger. I still get caught up in the whole why am I losing so slowly etc etc. In the beginning I would compare my weight loss with everyone else’s. Not a healthy thing to do, but we all do it, even though we know that everyone’s body loses differently. I will get there when I get there, but be sure I will get there. My body seems to like hanging out in ranges for about 2-3 months at a time. I was in the 180-189 for almost 3 months up and down, up and down, then one day bam, 179. Now I am in between 170-176 for the last 2 months. I've only hit the 170 mark 2x but hey I hit it! I haven't hit 177-179 for a month so that seems to be gone forever now J. I think somewhere within the next 2 weeks or so I'll hit 169. It’s how my body likes to lose so hell I'll do it how it likes it. Do I have a choice? hahaha, um nope. Here is my journey in NSV’s stats to date: Co-Morbidities: T2 Diabetes in remission A1C from 11.5 to 5.5 at last blood work. Blood Pressure from 180/90-100 to normal with one pill a day now. Tryglicerides from the 1000's to 450 without medication now only taking 2 pills a day for this. Cholesterol 236 from around 400. Pills: from 20 a day to 3 a day Energy level: from 0 to 10 LOL Last Summer I could barely walk to the store, less than 1/2 a mile away without getting winded and feeling like I was going to collapse. Today I can walk several miles, 7 being my top so far, without missing a beat. I can do an hour of hard core kickboxing and power lifting classes and think “That’s all?” at the end of the class J. Clothes: Dress pants from a tight size 18 (probably should have bought the 20's but I just couldn't do it) to 8-10. Jeans from size 18 to size 6, 11 juniors. Dress shirts 2XL to L. Casual shirts 1XL/2XL to L. Dresses from 20 to 10. Winter Coat: 18 to 8 (just bought it today!!!). Shoes from tight 10 -10 ½ (rare finds on that) to a comfy size 10 and some 9 ½’s. So thank you all for everything you have given me. Yes, I have the support of my family and most of my friends, but they don’t “know” what I am going through and don’t understand like you guys do. This would have been a lot tougher without all of your support and friendships.

You look amazing! Great progress. Don't you love the fact that you can actually see the girls before the belly now? Mine aren't as impressive as yours LOL but I loved it when it happened to me!

Here is a couple of pics ... I love a great deal!

Hi Guys! Well of course my Winter coat from last year, size 18, is way too big on me now so I went to my favorite thrift store, The Assistance League, alot of the money goes to help under privledged school kids in Charlotte for school uniforms, supplies and such. They have gotten a lot of stuff from me lately lol. I dropped off my coat and picked up a new one. SIZE 8 COAT!!!! I've mentioned before how I have big shoulders so I was not looking forward to coat shopping because more times than not, it will fit in the shoulders then is too big everywhere else and visa versa :/ Well karma was on my side because it fit perfectly EVERYWHERE! And to top it off, I paid 14 bucks for it, along with a sweater vest, sweater hoody w/belt and a pair of dress pants for 4 bucks each. :smile1: I love thrift stores. Just thought I would share!

SN: Raine Starting Wt: 176 Current: 170 Goal: 165 Lbs to Goal: 5 Didn't make my goal but thats ok, lost 6 pounds while trying! I am near the finish line of my weight loss so I didn't really expect to lose all of it. 15lbs to go till my weight goal and already made my jeans goal of size 6 ! On to the next challenge! Gotta just keep on trying and trying.

This new forum is starting to irritate me grrrrrrrrrrr. Don't get me wrong, I do like it with the exception of the bunching at the end of a thread! I read through several posts on a thread and then the rest are all layered on top of each other. Its starting to drive me nuts LOL. Any ideas when they will be fixing this? Just curious.

Third Place: fitting into a size 6 jeans from old navy! So far I have gone from an 18 to 6 Second Place: being able to walk for miles without missing a beat, last summer I could barely walk to the store without being out of breath and feeling like I was going to die. First Place: My diabeties going into remission, I was on 4 pills a day and bordering on going back on insulin shots to keep it under control.