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Okay, time to bump the thread. Last night while Iwas talking on the phone to an old friend from high school I again casually just crossed my legs. Without thinking about it. I know I've done this before, but it's a mind thing I think. Other NSVs include belly dance stuff. My DH won a few auctions on ebay for me, a couple of B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L belts, a gorgous silk veil and a pair of harem pants. The pants looked impossibly small, even with an elastic waist. I just knew that they were NOT going to fit, but being the glutton for punishment that I am, I attempted to put them on anyway. They fit! They are too shere to wear without a skirt, so that will have to be next on my list of things to get. The other victories around dancing are some of the skinny ones are asking me for help, since they cannot get some of the moves quite right. I'm also getting really excited about dancing at the restaurant. I'll do that once I get home after Thanksgiving, and I complete my costume. I still need a top and a skirt I mean, I just bearly broke out of MO, and I'm going to be a fat professional dancer. What am I thinking? I mean, what am i thinking, other than I'm dead sexy and a fine belly dancer.

Oh Maggie! I'm so very sorry you feel that way! But just so you know, belly dancing is NOT for men, it is a dance by women for women. It isn't a sexual thing, but a cultural thing. And some dancers wear full flowing dresses that would hide as much of you as does a sweater! For some women, I'm sure they like to primarily dance for men, but the vast majorty of dancers never dance anywhere but in their class! It's all about comfort levels. I'm a middle child, doing everything I can to get some attention.... Thanks for your kind words Emily. It's hard when all you have are NSVs, but those are what keep me going on my journey.

I'm right with you, there are many days that I eat because I have to eat, not because I want anything, and nothing really sounds appealing, not the way it used to. I dunno if this is an NSV or not....

I think it should qualify as a NSV! Ha ha! : )

Have you checked for NSV's (non-scale victories) like gatorgal suggested - changes in measurements, the fit of your clothes? You may be replacing fat with muscle. Just the relative amount of water in your body can make a bigger change on the scale than the rate at which we lose weight. I too weigh myself every day too, but I look for the trend over time rather than each weighing.

OK, so here is a NSV I had a few days ago. I am going to admit it is kind of immature and vain. None the less, it felt really good (evil grin). Warning: long post! My husband's sister - I will call her Shelby here- lives 4 states away and has pretty much hated me since we met. She was super close to my husband's ex-wife, the two of them are two peas in a pod. So for that reason, no matter how nice and cordial I have been to Shelby, she is outright cold and often blatantly rude to me. It goes so far as her telling my step kids off-color remarks and things she thinks about me, including one lovely piece of advice: "Just don't eat whatever Kelly eats. You don't want to end up like her, do you?" When I met her 5 years ago, I was understandably nervous and self conscious: I had 235 lbs on my 5'3" frame. In contrast, Shelby is taller and weighed maybe 140 lbs. She is also totally into appearances and looks. After we met, she called my husband and asked how he could have "down-graded" from his ex to me. I was so hurt. (But my husband promptly stood up for me and then hung up). I saw her three times over the past 5 years. Each time I felt so awkward and self conscious, knowing how judged I was in her eyes. It never should have mattered to me, but it did. Last Monday, Shelby came into town for my step-daughter's dance performance and to visit my husband's ex. I am three months post op. We did not tell Shelby or anyone on his side of the family about my surgery. I have gone from a size 20/22 to a comfortable 12 and have lost 60 lbs, down to 179 and my confidence has really began to flourish. At the dance, we spotted Shelby and her two kids. She was disheveled and looked uncomfortable. Her usually perfectly made up face was smeared and she looked like she was having a hot flash. Also, she is remarkably heavier than lat time I saw her. Now I will say I do not ever judge anyone on their weight and I never will. I have had all too much judgment and so I truly have all the empathy on those like me dealing with body image issues. But I bring it up because of the irony and scathing hell I had been on the receiving end of from her. We approached her to say hello and offer her a seat next to us. She refused, and, didn't even acknowledge me. Her face was flush and she was angry and visibly stressed. After the show my husband asked if she and the kids wanted to join us for dinner. She declined and said she was going out with my husband's ex. Again, not looking me in the eye, zero acknowledgement. I have to insert here that I was dressed nice, donned some heals, had a fresh haircut and did my makeup. (pretty fancy for a simple gal like me). I was wearing a flattering trench style long jacket that really made my waist look small. Right before we left the dance hall I was leaving the ladles room and my husband said he saw Shelby eyeing me from behind, surveying my new shape with her eyes. I went to dinner that night feeling a huge victory. A vain one- yes. But ooooh sometimes these things just feel so good. To come down to earth, I do have a muffin top from hell that if Shelby saw she would laugh in pure delight. I hide it well- but would LOVE to figure out how to lose! With rapid weight loss I am getting that skin, so I am trying to find ways to reduce it.

That's what the weight loss is all about. It's not a number on a scale...it's about being an active participant in life and not sitting on the sidelines while the world moves on without you. This is a wonderful NSV and it makes me so happy to enjoy it with you.

Fair warning – This was a lot longer than I thought it would be. You might want to have your Water bottle with you before starting! Today (plus one day that I've confessed to above) makes one year out for me. WOW! What an incredible year. In some ways it seems like forever and in other ways, just like it was yesterday. As my signature states, I’ve gone from an 18W to size 4/6. My BMI changed from 32.8 to drum roll please .... 20.1. Hard to believe!!! My surgeon was Dr. Thomas Umbach in Las Vegas, NV. I found him through Medical Tourism and am very thankful that together we’ve made sure I have a nice long, healthy life. The typical question – would you do it again? YES, YES, YES! I was known as a “lightweight” since my BMI was “only” 32.8. Was I fat? Definitely! Did I have risk factors? Definitely! I’ve often said that I was the smallest obese person in my family, but I had to personally realize that I was still obese. I really considered this surgery due to my father. I lost him in March 2009 due to complications from his obesity – congestive heart failure and uncontrolled diabetes. He was only 64 years old. It broke my heart to lose my dad at such a young age. I want to be around for my kids (currently 20, 17, and 9) and their kids! Not only do I look better, I feel better. I can run up and down our stairs all day! No more having to sit down because I’m tired after one trip up. I can go to costco, shop, put the food away & still have energy for more chores/tasks. INCREDIBLE!!! With that being said, I still have not been good about regular, planned exercise. My stomach may look better if I had (but part of me thinks not – skin just isn’t going to bounce back but so much). I am thinking breast augmentation, but I probably won’t. Just invest in more push up/padded bras. Do I want to punch out people that say I took the “easy way”? Yep! Is it hard? Yes. Do people who say I’ll gain it all back annoy me? Yep! Does my new tummy give me a tool that can make me successful? Heck yeah! Am I already successful? YES I AM! Am I concerned about maintenance and gaining again? Yes, but with continued dedication & support groups like this one, I can make it! The next question – how much can you eat now? Slider foods – more than I thought I could/should. I can pack down close to pre-surgery amounts of Cookies, ice cream, popcorn, etc. I have been testing a bit with “normal” foods … the other day, I was able to eat almost all of a McDonald’s hamburger with just the top bun & all but 3 slices of the Apple Dippers (no caramel sauce). I had one or two more bites left of the top bun, but knew I was done. I can eat about 3 ounces of steak with a bite or two of salad & maybe 1/4 of a baked potato. My biggest battles right now are (1) head hunger at night and (2) not counting foods as “bad” or “good”. I am trying to change my thinking to “good for me” or “tastes good, but not very nutritious”. I met with a nutritionist last week to talk about my eating plan for life. While she questioned if I still needed to track every bite I eat, I told her that it helped me be accountable. I am now tracking to 60g Protein, 64+ ounces of water, 100+ grams carbohydrates, and somewhere between 1500-2000 calories a day. I will add a confession here – I track Monday to Friday, but rarely on Saturday & Sunday. I just kind of eye ball/mentally track on the weekends. OK – enough rambling … Just want to leave with 2 more things. (1) If you are on the fence about this surgery, I want to strongly encourage you to investigate further. This surgery has truly saved my life & given me a new future and (2) At one year out, I thought it would be fun to go back and read some of my old posts – my worries, fears, doubts and successes. I don’t know if it will help anyone or not, but I’ve listed a few here: Surgery & Post-Op: · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3255-on-my-way-to-the-airport/page__p__29783__fromsearch__1#entry29783 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3363-weird/page__p__30519__fromsearch__1#entry30519 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3403-surgery-recovery-sucks/page__p__30905__fromsearch__1#entry30905 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3471-im-gagging-over-here/page__p__31374__fromsearch__1#entry31374 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3538-concerned-should-i-be/page__p__32047__fromsearch__1#entry32047 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3602-finding-the-time-to-stop/page__p__32545__fromsearch__1#entry32545 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3687-advice-for-road-trip/page__p__33232__fromsearch__1#entry33232 Losing: · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3884-took-measurements-today/page__p__35215__fromsearch__1#entry35215 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3944-time-to-increase-the-portions/page__p__35826__fromsearch__1#entry35826 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/4565-need-some-support/page__p__40607__fromsearch__1#entry40607 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/4263-wanting-to-eat-more/page__p__38113__fromsearch__1#entry38113 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/4778-size-12s-and-medium-tops/page__p__42293__fromsearch__1#entry42293 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/4827-gotta-get-serious-about-exercise/page__p__42772__fromsearch__1#entry42772 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/3769-am-i-the-only-one-wanting-sweet-liquids/page__p__34103__fromsearch__1#entry34103 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/5217-its-a-fat-day/page__p__46024__fromsearch__1#entry46024 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/5065-post-op-when-did-you-have-your-first-carbonated-drink/page__p__44749__fromsearch__1#entry44749 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/6305-my-funny-nsv/page__p__55830__fromsearch__1#entry55830 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/5869-normal/page__p__51835__fromsearch__1#entry51835 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/7060-why-cant-they-just-say-congratulations/page__p__62386__fromsearch__1#entry62386 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/7964-irritated-with-people/page__p__69470__fromsearch__1#entry69470 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/7376-i-cried-tonight/page__p__64804__fromsearch__1#entry64804 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/8064-need-to-be-accountable/page__p__70372__fromsearch__1#entry70372 Moving to Maintenance · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/8602-calling-those-on-maintenance/page__p__75039__fromsearch__1#entry75039 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/6171-weight-regain-with-vsg/page__p__54548__fromsearch__1#entry54548 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/8392-today-7-months-out-and-642-pounds-gone/page__p__73224__fromsearch__1#entry73224 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/9506-goal/page__p__83431__fromsearch__1#entry83431 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/9995-almost-9-months-out/page__p__87012__fromsearch__1#entry87012 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/10260-i-am-not-controlling-my-sweet-tooth/page__p__89285__fromsearch__1#entry89285 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/10135-holiday-strategies/page__p__88283__fromsearch__1#entry88283 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/10981-nsv-nsv-nsv-for-me/page__p__95104__fromsearch__1#entry95104 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/11548-so-discouraged/page__p__99499__fromsearch__1#entry99499 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/12379-this-is-why-journaling-food-is-so-important/page__p__106369__fromsearch__1#entry106369 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/12406-fruits-and-veggies/page__p__106553__fromsearch__1#entry106553 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/12769-not-quite-a-year-out/page__p__109462__fromsearch__1#entry109462 · http://www.verticalsleevetalk.com/topic/11607-i-have-a-question-about-alcohol/page__p__99986__hl__alcohol__fromsearch__1#entry99986 For newbies … this is a great place to start: http://www.obesityhe...or-New-Members/ (yes, I know this is another website, but many of us frequent there as well as VST.J)

Had my first nsv today I bought a new shirt and went from a 3x to a 1x

As I type this blog, I am sitting in a coach seat with my tray table down and it is flat. My stomach is not in the way, I did not need a seat belt extension and my laptop is open. This is the first time in the past decade I have been able to do this. I always used to cringe when my boss would say…”Oh you have a 6 hour flight you can work on this on the plane…” this usually meant performing some form of cramp induced typing contortions and annoying the person next to me. Today, it is different, and I am somewhat amazed. As I have mentioned in many other blogs I travel very often with my job and have spent years mastering the Yoga of Airline seats. I have studied the lay of most of the major jets and can tell you which seats have the windows in the right spots so I can lean my shoulders into the window cavity. I used to carry in my computer bag 3 extension cables, one for American Airlines planes, one for Untied Airlines Planes and one for Southwest airlines. I will not go so far as to say I am comfortable in airline seats now, that would be going way too far and I still think they are built for people who only weight 100 pounds or kids under 12. However, it is getting easier to travel and that is a huge NSV for me.

Ann, congrats on the NSV. Recently I went from a size 18 to a size 16 and was quite happy. Good for you. Keep up the good work.

Its worth every single second of it People talk about the surgery being "life changing" and its very true .. People talk about how happy they are because they are achieving NSV's which is really cool too.. But you need to know that VSG is also a "life saving" procedure. I was on the verge of being a diabetic and have major heart disease but all of that disappeared with VSG. Good luck

I'm still in a scale stall at almost one month but I have lost some inches AND my blood pressure has gone down so much I was taken off those meds. Oh and also my blood sugar seems to have normalized around 90. Down from the 150s. Some little NSVs for me. @@Veronica Page I'm really happy for your loss. You're exactly one week ahead of me.

~giggles~...PBBBB will have that smirk on her face during the whole vidio and you do have a point about AJ....get a memo out to PBB about that name up grade.... and I swear I didnt rat you out....I cant even find half the post your girls are on half the time... I think im going to have to stop with home work and falow you all more... But for now im off to see the kiddies Halloween parade in school and help out with a party.... This is a NSV today for me...I never wanted to be a room mother...but this year I offered !!! Be have girls.....~wink~

I felt the same way when mom bought me a size L old navy sundress as an incentive. I figured I'd try it on to gauge how much more weight I'd have to lose to wear it and it fit! A large! Not a XXL or XL but a large! Which is probably the smallest size I'll ever wear in tops. My grandma passed on her chest size to me, even at my smallest Mediums felt like a corset on my tatas Congrats on the NSV! Personally, I find those way more gratifying than the scale

Hello all, this is my first challenge...here is my info. Name, real or screen- Dana Goal weight for August 31st~228 Weight on August 1st~238 Age~40 Dietary goal for August~no carbs this month Exercise goal for August - work out with trainer 1x per week...I am already working out 4-5 days/wk for bat 90 mins a day...the trainer will be an added bonus Personal goal for August~ROCK CLIMBING when I go on vacation at the end of the month Date banded~3/12/12 Total weight loss since banding/pre-op...40 lbs (NSV...out of plus sizes!!!) What is your favorite place to travel?~Caribbean

Congrats on your 1st NSV!

OH I LOVE NSVs: Here are mine (even though I havent lost a lot of weight) my neighbor was walking down the street the other day, hadnt seen her in a long time and she was like OMG you look like you have lost a lot of weight...plz tell me what youre doing cuz I need to be doing it too...lol 2. I had to go get a bridesmaid dress for a friends wedding...we tried on dresses last dec. and I tried on the same dress in a size 24 and it was tight....I bought my dress last week in a size 20 and it has to be taken in!!!! 3. I had this fav pair of jeans that I bought from lane bryant....well I jsut had to toss them bc ppl kept telling me that they were sagging so bad in the butt...lol so now I am back in my old pair of fav jeans but even they are too big:) 4. my boss has been out sick for a LONG time and she came back the other day and said...wow kanina your face looks so skinny...... 5. I got wistled at by a construction worker granted he wasnt so hot but I havent been wistled at in FOREVER (except for by my hubby).....

awesome snaps-- i'm jealous! i still havent made the transition from gap to banana, but i have stopped shopping at gap mostly now. soon! ok-- heres a good one for me. sorry to the boys here who don't understand this NSV. alright, so for the last few days.. ive just been feeling.. well, FAT. not confident at all, just super fat, even though ive already lost all this weight and im in smaller size clothes. then all of a sudden today, it hit me (literally) when i found out i had just started my period. all this time, i was feeling BLOATED!! you know, like a normal size woman feels during their period. all my adult life i have never felt "bloated" during this time of the month because... well, i was bloated ALL the time, and i just didnt know the difference! ive never been happier to feel fat. hahaha

Hi everyone, Haven't been on here in a while and thought I'd check in to say hi. I've been having a wonderful summer, and although my weight is pretty stalled right now (finally getting my fill tomorrow) I have experienced a lot of wicked Non-Scale-Victories in the past few weeks and thought I'd share! The first round happened at my cousins wedding which was on June 21st. It was a huge wedding - over 400 guests and I was a bridesmaid. I saw a lot of extended family and friends who hadn't seen me at this low a weight in at least 5 or so years... it was a great feeling and I got tons of really sweet supportive feedback, as well as some of the annoying - "good work, but don't stop now," or "I'm so glad you're finally doing it!" UGH. But the sweetest feedback I got that night was from my friend Danger Dave (this is VT -all the boys have funny nicknames.) Towards the end of the night, we were sitting outside, taking a dance break, and he said something about "you look great Ange." I said thanks - mentioned the professional hair and makeup. He said no, it was more than that... I can tell you lost weight. This was definitely a bold move on his part - asking a girl about that, even mentioning that elephant in the room. It was super sweet though, because he just acknowledged how hard that must have been, and how impressed and proud he was. Definite warm fuzzies. It's kind of awkward to mention, haha, but Dave's not the only boy who's noticed a difference in me. A lot of them seem to be noticing me, period. It's funny - I'm still hanging out at around 230lbs, I've still got a long way to go weight wise, so what I think what these boys are responding to is the change in confidence I'm going through. I feel prettier, sure, but more so, I feel empowered, accomplished. It's wicked. My third, and my most favourite kind, was my shopping NSV. I was in California last week and got to pop in to one of my favourite stores, J Crew. I love this store. Once I can fit into all their clothes, I'll probably be completely broke with a completely beautiful preppy wardrobe. I saw this cute high-waisted skirt, and thought I'm not 100% a 14 these days, but eh, might as well try. I looked, but alas, they didn't have a 14 in the colour I wanted. I asked a sales associate for help, and she told me they didn't have any. I decided to just grab the 12 to take in with me while I was trying on some tees. And guess what... The 12 fit great. GREAT. And although it is a pretty flattering and forgiving cut, I still can't believe it's only a 12. And as I was coming out to show my friends, the sales associate said "I knew it would fit... You don't look much like a 14 anyways!" I couldn't believe it. So of course I bought it even though I totally can't afford it. I pretty much wanna sleep with it on I love it so much! Here's a pic of me wearing it for my nephew's first bday party - Well that turned into a long long entry. Hope everyone's doing well and enjoying the sunshine! xox

Chocolate_Snaps- It made me smile when I read your post. It is funny how I use to dread seeing people from long ago, especially high school. I always knew they would be thinking, "Wow, she let herself go!" Now I take every opportunity to see people from my past because as shallow as it seems I love the compliments. At times it is what keeps me going! My current NSVs are: -Shopping in the juniors dept. -getting rid of all of my XL t-shirts and 18/20 jeans! -Someone saying, "You don't need to lose anymore weight!" haha yes I do, but NO ONE has ever said that to me! -Being the same size I was my SOPHOMORE year of HIGH SCHOOL!!!! :tongue2:

I havent been banded yet but i have a few in mind, 2 are NSV and the last is an SV. 1- To be able to go back to normal stores, as opposed to big and tall stores. And during my bi-annual shopping for clothes not having to move up another pant size every year. 2- I like to keep my "boys" trimmed, very difficult and dangerous when you can barley see them. I cant wait to see those motherfuckers again!!! 3- Be eligible for surgery to remove a Pylonidal Cyst (sp). The surgeon that healed the cyst said they wouldnt do surgery at my current weight, too risky and healing would be a major problems. If i lose 100lb i can get the surgery and rid myself of that god awful thing.

I guess a NSV that we really dont think about is self confidence. I was on the phone with one of my best girls the other day and she was like you know I have really seen an improvement in your self confidence and at first I was like is that bad and she was like no its awesome the old Kanina is coming back to us!!! Even though I'm not back to what I was just pulling old clothes out of the closet and being able to wear it again is an awesome feeling! I was posting before about my bathing suit...well I couldnt find any suits ANYWHERE its like everyone stopped selling them period. So we went out in the boat a few weekends ago Ive been trying to learn how to kneeboard...I couldnt do it bc everytime we'd start to go my bottoms would come off...no one could see me but it was so embarrassing but deep inside I was like heck yeah no more lanebryant bathingsuits for me!! I ended up having to tie my bathing suit with hair ties...lol :biggrin:

All of these NSV are inspiring! Its all things I keep wishing and hoping for. Congrats to all of you! After lots of conflicting feelings, I know I am doing the right thing by deciding to get banded. Almost one month pre-op down. Two more to go!

What about your NSV (non scale victories). Are your clothes fitting better? Do you have more energy? Don't focus so much on the scale and don't compare your weight loss to others. Sleeved on April 25, 2018 HW: 258 SW: 238 CW: 218 GW: 165