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That is SO great!!! Congratz!! I LOVE the NSV stories...so inspiring

Today I went shopping to get some new clothing items because well my old (new) stuff is to big I am changing sizes every 2 months big chester cat grin. I was able to buy bras and panties from Victoria secret ( may I recommend the bombshell bra my boobs need a lot of work due to my weight loss but the bombshell bra restores the look my fat used to give them at least in the bra and under my clothes) . Shopping at black house white market, shopping in the regular size cloths stores no more plus or women sizes for me. Walking into "normal" size stores and knowing I fit there and sales people trying to dress me and offer me outfits to tray supposed to the look I swore i used to get like why the hell are you here. Certainly not my reality 100 lbs ago. I leave these stores with my purchases on such a high as I say to myself HOLY Bleep I can wear this my hard work and my band really is showing off. I call my sister or best friend to sure my NSVs I can't believe they want to share clothes with me and that we can swap clothes if need be ( truth be told Im a little smaller than my best friend and maybe the same size of my sister this has never happened in my life.) I have m ore workout clothes in my laundry then my regular clothes I plan my schedule around my gym time people in the gym looking up to me and making me their role model WTH !! But its true I am working my A$$ off in the gym literally lol I packed for vacation and my suitcase looks empty but I have more clothes then I will need but it looks less then previous vacations because my clothes are half the size.!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know these are feelings all of you on here can relate to but I need to share because no one in my life can relate. I booked ziplinning and safari tours and proudly checked the YES box when they asked if i was under 250 lbs. I actually took a snap shot of the screen and almost cried when that happened. I wanted to scream Im under 200 LBS Im in onderland dear cruise line I can do all ur excursions now what lol Can't wait to get on that rock climbing wall and see the gym schedule. . Instead of worrying about what Snacks i will need to pack just incase. I am happily packing my gym clothes sneakers,Protein powder ,Protein Bars, shaker bottle and Water bottle having my trainer give me workouts to do while I am there need to get my exercise in!!! I know cruises can be a food orgy but the cruise line will not go broke because of me this year Unless when I win big in the casino. So excited to go one vacation as a healthy skinner me !!!! I don't know what I more excited about finally going on vacation and unplugging from the world and enjoying fun in islands or the fact I know I will fit in the seats on the plane and no activity will I have to pass on because I am afraid I am to big or the fact I am to big. I am finally a "normal healthy size"!!! That is what the band gave me a life I never knew I was missing out on. I was happy when I was fat but I wasn't healthy now my healthier life style has introduced me to a whole new happier lifestyle I am sure you understand what I mean. Thanks for letting me share/brag whatever. The band is an awesome tool when you work it and dam it I am working it lol

My NSV that I wanted to share was that I can wear 3 inch heels again with no problem!!!!!! :clap2: I went to DSW and bought me 2 new pair and I am loving it! I have a friend of mine who is so excited that I am buying shoes like this because she is one of those girls that are addicted to shoes and most of hers are 4 inch heels!!! :confused: Oh I am so not there yet and not sure if I would wear them that high but she is a pro in them from wearing them for years! She works in real estate and walks in subdivisions with them on! OMG! She has awesome calves and that is what I am striving to get back...those sexy, muscular calves that make even me go WOW! about myself. One thing I forgot to mention about getting back into 3 inch heels...dancing is so much more fun! Yes...by the end of the night I want to soak my feeties but it so worth the pain!! :confused:

Karen, over on the support forum, I have a thread called "Kathy's Slow Loser NSV thread" where I posted this pic and Jan's lunch pic. Less than 10 pounds loss in my weight, but it's made a world of difference. Go check it out! I have collar bones! LOL Thanks!

I was looking thru the clearance bakery stuff yesterday for snacks for my husband and son and there was a man standing next to me looking too. He said something about how good they looked but not that neither he or I needed them. Now this might sound rude but it was said in such a nice way and he must have been 65 so it wasn't some young rude boy remark. Afterwards I realized what a compliment it really was for me. 6 months and 98 pounds ago no one would have made a remark about my weight. I was the oddity in the room that everyone pretended didn't exist. Now I'm such a normal amount overweight that he felt perfectly comfortable joking with me. Nice! I guess..... LOL

Those are GREAT NSV's!! I had someone do the whole "I didn't recognize you" thing a couple of weeks ago. I can't deny...it was pretty freaking awesome!! I haven't mentioned this on the other threads but everyone is looking absolutely incredible!! Such big changes!!! YAY DOUBLE V's!!!

Ezma -- great that you saw the positivity in that event. (And WOW! You're hurtling down the road to normalcy at twice the speed I am!! You GO, Girl!) A friend of mine back where I used to live was showing around some photos from my daughter's wedding she attended in June. One gal, who I've known for 30 years, asked "Where's Pam?" When my friend pointed me out, she realized I'd been in quite a few photos -- she just hadn't recognized me. That was a cool NSV.

So, yesterday was my 6 month gastric surgery anniversary. And Holy Crap. Yesterday was a rollercoaster of emotions for me. I started the day feeling pretty good. Went to the Cardiologist. He was so happy for my weight loss. He wanted me to lose weight, but didn't know about the VSG. He was impressed with how much weight I lost so fast. He also commented I look great and was shocked I don't look "sickly" at all due to the rapid weight loss like many patients he sees. He was thrilled with my increased physical activity and my plans to hike the "Camino de Santiago" in Spain this summer. (It is a "pilgrimage" where you walk literally across Northern Spain or another route to Santiago de Compostela). We discussed my tachycardia and sometimes low blood pressure. He is having me reduce my dosage to half a pill (YAY!). We discussed my cholesterol and medication for it. I told him of my desire to attempt to go off it for a while to see if I can keep my lipid panel numbers in check without it now that I lost all my excess weight and am eating much healthier. We agreed that I will stay on it for 6 more months and then do labs. If my numbers are good, he will let me go off them and see how my labs hold up. I acknowledged to him that I know if they do go back on them, then I will have to take it for the rest of my life... he was happy with that compromise. On top of all that already great news... I asked him about my EKG which I had already looked at myself (I am a former trauma nurse, I know how to read them). He confirmed what I already knew... my EKG was NORMAL!!! Now this is HUGE because the reason I decided to look into WLS in the first point was because I was worried about my heart. At my appointment with him in fall 2018, my EKG showed that I had an enlarged Left Ventrical for the first time. I had an echocardiogram several months later that confirmed the EKG findings. THIS is the reason I insisted on getting weight loss surgery in the first place. My heart was working too hard and was beginning to enlarge. This was unacceptable. This was my reason to stop "trying" to lose weight and for making sure I "did" lose weight. So here I am... 1 1/2 years after identifying that my heart was enlarging.... and all my excess weight is GONE and my enlarged heart is GONE TOO! OMG, I left the cardiologist office on such a high note, I practically floated home lol. And I called my husband with so much excitement. It was a great day. Until..... During the drive home from my cardiologist I got an e-mail from the radiology office. I saw the e-mail when I stopped to exchange some pants at Old Navy. Some of you may recall I posted recently that my bilirubin levels had been rising since surgery. I normally have a high normal to slightly high bilirubin level. It is something that I have monitored my entire adult life. But since surgery, my bilirubin keeps getting higher. I saw my lab results before my bariatric surgeon did. I printed the results, wrote a note to my regular nurse practitioner, and dropped them off at her office. She called a couple hours later and agreed that we need to do an ultrasound to check my gallbladder and liver out. I did that Tuesday and was told that the results would not be available until Friday. Except now it is Wednesday, the next day, and I get a text that my results were available online. Again, I saw the results before either my general nurse practitioner or the bariatric surgeon. And what I read was devastating. My liver and gallbladder are just fine (weird... so why is my bilirubin elevated?). But I have a fairly large mass in my Left Kidney! I have a flippin TUMOR in my kidney! And they recommended on my report that I get a CT Scan or an MRI to further assess it. They used 2 terms to describe what kind of mass it appears to be. Both terms used, are the kind of masses that are cancerous 85% of the time. And even if it ISN'T cancer.... the mass is big enough that I know the first line of treatment is either a partial or total nephrectomy. Holy Crap. Add to that, I know that my grandfather wasn't much older than me when he had kidney cancer and had HIS left kidney removed. And I figure out all of this within 5 minutes, because as a Registered Nurse I already know too much. Still... I keep my **** together and calmly (but unnerved) drive home. I get home, I refill my water, I sit for a minute quitely before I call my husband over to talk. He is a Registered Nurse too... and I told him there is a mass on my Kidney and he made the same assessment I did... only he is much more panicked about it than I am. He wants to rush over to the nurse practitioners office NOW. I told him I want to wait a little bit so she can have time to look at the report first. Then I noticed a missed call from her. How I missed it, is beyond me... but she must have called in the 1 - 1 minute dead zone on my way home. What luck. And BTW, she doesn't make patient phone calls normally DURING her work schedule... she calls after she sees all her patients for the day. I know this because that is when she ALWAYS calls me for results. This was unusual for her. I knew she was worried before I even spoke to her. I called back and got a voicemail. (husband still panicking and wanting to rush over). I called a couple more times and got through to her. Instead of waiting for her to slowly break the news... I let her know I just saw the report and I know I had a mass on my kidney and that my liver and gallbladder were fine. This helped speed up her getting to the point... I needed a CT Scan and a referral to a specialist. She was at the same conclusion I was... it is a tumor and there is a good chance it is cancerous. I don't think she was going to say the "C" word yet... but after I mentioned it, she agreed. Now... my referrals always take a week. ALWAYS take a week to get back so I can schedule an appointment. So, I asked my husband if we can go for a walk somewhere. Well THAT was a disaster lol... because I got several calls from the referral lady and within an hour or so of my phone call to the NP about the results... I was running to the radiology office to pick up barium to drink for my CT scan on FRIDAY. Friday. The day I was supposed to be getting these results back, and now I am going in for a CT Scan already. Talk about FAST RESPONSE! The fact that she rushed this so much and managed to get me in to the radiologist office so soon just confirms how worried my NP really is, so that is totally stressful! Still don't know what specialist I will be seeing, but by the time I get that referral I will have results in hand from the scan, so that is good. On the plus side... I already know the rest of my abdominal organs are fine according to the Ultrasound. The CT scan will look more closely at all of it... but I don't have any reason to believe if it IS cancer that it metastasized. But now I have to gear up to drink a ton of barium (um... no clue how I will get this all in... I am only 6 months post op!). And now I have to deal with a tumor that could be cancerous and I might need a kidney partially or completely removed. Chemo is very unlikely, but radiation or other treatments might be needed. And on top of all that I still need an MRI for my L Knee because I might have a torn meniscus that might need surgery and definitely need physical therapy. And I am SUPPOSED to walk across Spain starting May 25th. Yay me. I thought I was THISCLOSE to being healthy again and all this **** happens! And how much you want to bet the Coronavirus hits my city hard right about the same time I need 1-2 more surgeries! Not afraid of the Coronavirus... except my immune system will be already under attack if I need a kidney removed!

They were huge fans of my NSV last night. Hubby still gives them piggyback rides to bed even though our 10yo is 5'3". I got to take a piggyback ride down the hall too this time! We are BUSY! ❤️❤️❤️

I'm in! Thanks for the info Fluffychix & Sheribear68! I need all the help I can get to make the MOST of this journey as possible! In recent discussions with Fluffy and others, we did the math and my average amount of weight lost per month SINCE surgery is actual a bit over 12 pounds per month and that would actually have been higher if my exercise hadn't taken a nosedive in the past..well, I was thinking it was a week, but it's been more like 10 days. My INITIAL Months 1-3 weight loss was...when I compared to my siblings was not as large as theirs was so yeah...it bothered me. I tried to be careful (and yeah, we probably shouldn't compare but I did) and only compare with others IF they were in a similar situation to me. i.e. for me that was: female, 50+, menopausal, sedentary, known slow metabolism DUE to hormones, lack of exercise, medications, illness/conditions, 20+ years of yo-yo dieting and/or anything else that contributed to the slowness - some things WITHIN my control, some things NOT. On some days when I was doing better mentally, I figured well, I may be starting out slower but my rate per month may be more sustainable than theirs after the first few mos. I need to get back on my surgery sibling thread but I ALREADY know now that in looking at my weight loss data over a MORE SUFFICIENT amount of time to evaluate a truer picture of 'weight loss per mo), I'm at least an AVERAGE loser and if I deal with some recent bad habits that crept back in suddenly, I feel that with not a ton of effort I can hit a 'AVERAGE-HIGH' amt of weight loss per mo. I wanted to post as some of you know I'm very data driven. The first 2 - 3 mos of surgery, including that critical 1st mo where some of us wonder based on SO VERY VERY little calories, why weight loss wasn't higher..it's kinda of like when we were kids...I always used to say when asked..."I'm 5 and 1/2 years old"...because I was PROUD of that '1/2'...and the age I'm at now, man, I round DOWN!!! When we are little though...at young ages, our time on this earth is so SMALL at that point, that our experiences for the first let's just say..5 yrs...is obviously the BULK of our entire little life at that point. Flash forward to today and being..cough..like around 50...and ages 0-5 is nothing but a BLINK. Statistically barely factors. I realize now that while yes...my first 2 mos especially I found to be a bit disappointing at the time, in hindsight, just 4 more months out, the math is showing that DESPITE my true challenges and even for me, some emotional/mental ones, I am at least an AVERAGE loser. I'm posting this hoping to give those who are only a couple of months out and may be fighting with disappointment...some hope and another way to consider things..and to stay on track and let the time pass...then look back at what has happened. My wish for all of us is we become part of..someday...a "We WERE slow losers but look at us now" type of thread..lol. I realize that there are ppl with much more severe issues than what I'm dealing with so in no way do I mean to do your situation any disservice. Oh...and along with realizing I'm at least 'average'...I had a small NSV on my way to taking my laptop back into my office...my PJ bottoms (yeah, I work from home) fell down and I almost fell over my own feet..LOL. I LOVE these PJ botttoms so much I'm seriously considering taking them to a tailor!!

So today is the first day I woke up without a weight loss. I know this is super normal but emotionally I just feel like I’m doing something wrong. My clothes fit better- but nothing is too big for me in my closet yet. The second something is too big is going to be the best NSV ever. I’m gonna let myself have a bit of a lazy morning- getting some laundry done then I’ll go walk at the gym and just keep moving forward. One day at a time.

Biggest NSV so far: Warning TMI (Y'all know me by now! No filter!) Sex has brought about a whole new (old really) set of issues buuut! It's so much better! I used to get tired like a dude after only a single orgasm but now? child I tell you what! We don't stop 'till I say so! ^.^

#14 - Biggest NSV so far I'm going to change this to my biggest NSV this month .... hiking without feeling anxious I would be out of breath, sweaty, overly exhausted, and generally just feel embarrassed about my weight. That was a huge reason I avoided physical activity, I felt humiliated I was so out of shape.

Tuesday one year ago I met with my surgeon for the first time. What a wonderful year I have had for health and rediscovering me. For those of you just starting out, you may feel like I did that your surgery is too far in the future and waiting all those months will be unbearable. When I first started to research WLS in September, I thought I might be able to have surgery before Christmas. Ha ha ha. Not only was it not before Christmas, but it didn't actually happen until March. And you know what? I needed every single day of that time period between September and March to prepare myself for this enormous life change. First, I met with my clearing psychologist. And I didn't get cleared! Nope. I needed to change my habit of eating in front of the TV. Until I did that, the psychologist was not going to clear me for surgery. He told me that I needed to make lifestyle changes. When I first heard that, of course I said, sure! Everybody knows you need to make lifestyle changes! But when I went back to him the following month for clearance, and I told him I had not been exactly able to give up TV eating, he told me point blank that he didn't think I was ready for WLS. He told me that unless I actually made the lifestyle changes, I was not likely to succeed with the LapBand. Of course, he was right. I'm glad that my little wake up call was so minor, and not a bigger deal, like if I had been denied surgery at the last minute. His denial made me face facts. How was I going to live in a new way, if I wasn't even willing to change a little bit? After I gave up TV eating, the next hurdle was the holidays. I grieved my way through Thanksgiving. I was very sad that in my mind, it was going to be my last enjoyable holiday. I sat in the kitchen the night before Thanksgiving, after having roasted the turkey, and binged on the crispy turkey skin. It was the weirdest experience I'd had in a long time. I knew what I was doing, and simultaneously I knew it was the last time I was going to do it. I knew that Thanksgiving 2014 was going to be different. I was going to have lap band surgery and I was going to be eating like a normal person. I was working toward that goal with excitement. So why was I so sad? I was getting ready to pay somebody thousands of dollars to help me recover from binge eating. And I was grieving not being able to binge eat anymore. Fast forward to February 2014. My personal life took a terrible plunge. My marriage, which was in bad shape before my WLS process began, took a terrible blow. Constant stress became my normal everyday life. I had one anchor in my life. My upcoming surgery. I was banded mid March 2014. I complied with all of the doctor's orders. My surgery was a breeze, and my weight began to come off right away. You can see by my ticker that I have had a lot of success this year. I am almost 2/3 of the way to my goal weight. I have not been the weight I am right now since my second child was born 19 years ago. Through it all, I have received immeasurable help and support from this website. I do not have a supportive spouse. I do have two very supportive daughters. But when it comes right down to it, we must do this for ourselves. Nobody can do this for us. And more importantly, nobody, nobody, nobody can prevent us from doing this for ourselves once we are ready to reclaim our power. I'll save my long list of NSV's and great experiences for when I write my 100 pounds lost post soon. And it's almost here. This post is just a reflection back to that first week when I walked into a WLS orientation meeting, followed by a meeting with my surgeon. The fearful, beaten-down person that I was one year ago no longer exists. In her place is a strong, confident woman who knows that she is worth it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. This is about so much more than weight. Nothing changes until everything changes.

Hide the scale. Right now it's too much of a trigger for you. Focus on eating well, getting in your fluids and exercising. Try to not weigh yourself for a month. If that's too long, then try for 2 weeks. Look for NSV and focus on living a healthier lifestyle. You can do this!

Sorry...what's NSV stand for? Deb

Hi Everyone! Missed you guys! Feels like forever... We are coming up on our 6-month-aversarry! :-) I'm doing pretty great! Foods are agreeing with me, working out some, etc. I started officially at 293 and I am now at 208.8 so that's over 80 pounds down since surgery! I am very excited and happy... I have a check up on August 11th and I hope to at least be 199 by then... I would be so happy if that happened... NSV's *I am at my 2009 weight which is the weight I was at when I got married. My hubs is deployed so when he gets back he won't be able to recognize me which is amazing! jk! Hes been so supportive. We facetime all the time so he knows what I look like now, but still the effect in person is going to be crazy! *I had knee surgery after I hurt my knee in 2012. I have always been 217 plus post knee surgery. This is the first time I've weighed this little since that knee surgery and I feel amazing. No knee pain at all. *I am a size 12 in dresses! Down from a tight 16. *I am a size 14 in pants! Down from a tight 18. *My BMI was 47. Now its 33.7. Only downside to anything is hair loss. Yeah. I lost a lot in a patch but that's because I wasn't diligently taking my Vitamins. I have since started taking them all, each day, on time and the hair has mostly grown back. That's it! Hope everyone is well! Looking forward to the 6 month mark!!! Keep up the good work ladies!

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!

So today i took the kids school shopping. We were in old navy, when they were done I decided to venture over to the ladies section to check sizes out, to see If I would fit anything. I've NEVER been able to buy from the store, only online. I tried on a top in the biggest size I saw, XXL. It was too big! I bought an XL top, and a pencil skirt to go with it. I'm still elated over this experience!!

So I've been REALLY putting in a good fight to lose weight going into surgery and to change my old habits NOW so that it's not so foreign afterwards. In June, I could barely walk across my house without having to sit down. 2 weeks ago, I nearly died going around the block and yesterday, I walked 2 miles! Seriously my heart was pounding out of my chest and I was coughing like a 50yr smoker when I got home(if home counts as the front lawn and my fat ass laying on it like a fish pulled out of a lake LOL), but I was so proud! I walked 2 miles!!!! At this rate I wonder if I can get to light jogging even before my surgery(I wish!)

in onederland and size 16.

Agreed. I've seen enough "one-ups" on here to not make me want to post my NSV, stats, etc. ever! But again, I'm slightly dramatic haha I'm sorry that happened to you, LV. This certainly isn't the venue for that kind of nonsense. You know you're killing it. Don't ever let someone make you question your success!

So, I'm going to consider this a major NSV for me. For the past several years, I've suffered from episodes of excessive sweating. Heat, humidity, crowds, anxiety, exercise, exertion, you name it, I could be completely drenched, especially from my scalp. It's been a horrendously embarrassing experience, to the point where I've avoided social events because of my fear of causing a scene. I've barely gone outside during the summer the last couple of years. FYI, the sweats began before I was terribly overweight (my lowest weight was 154, I remember the sweats starting when I was in the 170's). I could be drenched in sweat just from walking around on a cold but damp day. Anyhoo, I'm 4.5 weeks out of surgery, down 35 lbs to 239, and about ten days ago I suddenly realized that . . . . I'm not sweating any more! In the last week I attended an outdoor garden party in terrible humidity, an outdoor fish fry, and schlepping supplies in and out of an un-air conditioned convention space. Not once have I broken a sweat, even running around in layers and high heels. I even climbed several flights of stairs without so much as a flush. Somewhere several months ago I read that that a hormone in the stomach regulated body temp and that VSG could help "cure" excessive sweating beyond just the weight loss aspect alone. Has anyone seen what I remember reading? Anyone else having a similar experience? I did expect to have some of it resolve with weight loss, but not this early or extreme. Anyway, regardless of the reason or the cure, I'm an incredibly happy camper. I would have had VSG just to resolve this issue alone. Sent from my iPad using VST

NSV is exactly what I need. Thanks!

I am 14 werks post op started at 322 I am as pf today 251 down 73 pounds and my biggest nsv is wearing old navy clothes. I have never boughten anything from there bc I was tooo fat. Now I am a xl shirt and 20 pant ( loose now )