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Hello everyone. I am back. My apologies to everyone for being away, but I could tell I was near burn-out and really did not want to get to a point that I went BO all the way, so I stepped back. In hindsight I should have said something but I did not expect to be gone so long. I am doing OK. I am in reluctant maintenance, lol. I have picked up my sword fighting in earnest and building up my muscle mass, and since my weight loss had slowed to a crawl I decided to up the calories via Protein and veggies and give my body some time to adjust, and heal from a couple of new sports injuries (sports injuries, ha-ha!). However, as September draws to a close and I hover in the size 14 area, I do wonder if I have enough in me to get to a size 10. I think realistically that is about as far as I want to push myself. I do not want to go any further down than I will be able to maintain, and I think I can maintain it – if I can lose it. This begins what will probably be a very slow process, since I cannot compromise on the food front. I.MUST.HAVE.MY.PROTIEN. LOL!!! Things have been eventful, and for me Fall represents the end of the year, so I will be dealing with my Mom’s death through that, and again for the Holidays which I hate to admit but I would pass right through them if I could – but they are my Hubby’s favorite time of the year. I will not do that to him. Previous NSV I missed posting (I think)::: I FLEW!!! Google acro-yoga, you will see what I mean. I am preparing for the 5k Zombie run in December, and for my birthday, I will be celebrating by taking the Victoria’s Secret card I get each year (and usually give away) and go buy a “Pink” Sweatshirt for the winter. I hope to be on here regularly, even if not daily, and look forward to getting to know our new members and touch base with old friends.

YAY! Love these types of NSVs!

I use a Fitbit scale. When I weigh it uploads my weight into my profile. I don't always look down when I weigh. I just figure I'm capturing data that I can look at on the graph in my app. I hadn't looked at my graph in a while and it gives me warm fuzzies to see the downward graph line. To my surprise my graph line was jagged. Up one pound, down one pound. Up two pounds down 3 pounds, etc. So I log in to check the data. To my surprise it was logging in two weigh ins a couple times a week. So I ask if anyone else is using my scale. My husband pipes up that he has been using it for a long time. Apparently it can differentiate between two people unless they are within 5 pounds of each other. Lol...he was literally stepping all over my data collection. So maybe a dorky, funny story but a super cool NSV since I now weigh more than 5 pounds less than my husband for the first time in our 20 year marriage!!!

12/21/08 My name is Julie and I am a food addict. I thought I had my problem under control. I thought that I had learned so many lessons that I could jump back on the wagon if I ever took a little sip from the bottle…so to speak. I had a Christmas party to go to on Friday. It went okay. Not great. I had a half of a dinner roll. Except for an occasional thin crust pizza I have not had any bread of any kind for 2 months. I didn’t even want to know if it would go down. It was a dinner party and they served steak. If it wouldn’t have been for the drink I had and the bread with butter I would have stayed under 1000 calories and been okay with the carbs…but I did eat and drink those things so I guess that’s how it is. The next day comes and I weigh in and I lost another 0.9 lbs. I realize that it will probably take another day to see the damage on the scale. I did good at breakfast and took my lunch to class with me and I was a very good girl. Pizza for supper…not so good. Today I have screwed the pooch….so to speak. (Can I say that here?) It is Sunday which means I am home all day and the gym is closed. Sundays are my hardest days! I ate leftover pizza for lunch and then …..we made Christmas cookies. I feel like a toad for the first time in a month! I half heartedly did a cardio Firm work out for 30 minutes today. Not a great work out. Oh here is the kicker…Are you ready…I was only 0.2 lbs away from my New Year’s goal. The gym is closed Wednesday and Thursday this week and next week. I want to go out and eat everything I can get my hands on. Almost like a last supper before I hike my butt up back onto the wagon. I’m not going to. I have to hit the gym in the morning if I can get up though. I have class tomorrow night, so I can do it then. It would have been better it I had gained a smidge back after eating badly just to teach myself that I can’t get away with it. I have to go back to those lessons I thought I learned. 1. DO NOT EAT UNLESS YOU ARE HUNGRY or unless it has been 5 hours since your last meal. 2. PROTEIN FIRST then you can have your HEALTHY side dish. 3. STOP EATING BEFORE YOU FEEL OVER FULL! 4. DO NOT EAT BETWEEN MEALS 5. DRINK YOUR WATER but not during or right after meals. 6. YOU WILL NOT SEE THE RESULTS YOU WANT UNLESS YOU WORK OUT! 7. Getting the lap band doesn’t make you lose weight. YOU STILL HAVE TO EAT HEALTHY AND EXERCISE! Time for a reminder Julie! Eating is for survival! It is to get enough nutrition to live. That is its main focus. It is not a reward. It does not console us. It doesn't take away boredom. It doesn't listen to our problems. It is a fair weather friend....actually not even a friend at all. It is that bi*chy girl in jr. high that we thought liked us, but only pretends to until she can stab us in the back. Memorize it! Put it to song. Make up a dance…I don’t how you remember it… LIVE IT! Okay you addict, get your big butt back on the wagon! Stop putting it off. Remember YOU ARE AN ADDICT! Oh you were so proud of yourself for 2 months. Well the jokes on you. Two months is not enough to give you permission to go back to your crappy eating. It only took two months to take off 45 lbs. I bet it would only take 2 months to gain 45 lbs. Didn’t you have some NSV along the way? Remember what it felt like to sit in a chair and feel like you didn’t know what to do with your fat stubby arms except cross them over your too big belly? Remember how it felt when your husband put it arms around you and you felt like he had to try too hard to hug you? Remember the first time you crossed your legs in YEARS. Maybe not as comfortable as you want, but you did it without even thinking. Remember putting those size 22 jeans in the give away and lounging around the house in the size 18 jeans. Remember putting on the shirt that hasn’t fit you in years. Do you really want to be back to that person that you see in all the pictures that have been taken of you over the past years? Remember when you started out and your goal was to feel comfortable sitting on the bleachers watching your kids play ball. Have you even thought recently that you have felt more comfortable doing that? What is more important to you? A slimy greasy piece of pizza and doughy cookie dough that sits in your stomach and makes you feel like crap or feeling great about yourself. What is more fun? Seeing how long you can go in between meals without getting hungry and being surprised by how little took away your hunger….or greasy butter garlic bread with a bowl of sodium filled tomato sauce. You are paying $265 a month for 5 years to have this tool to help you be healthy. You are so cheap…do you really want to throw all that money out the window for a crappy meal that will make your chest hurt and your feet swell again like they had been up until a month ago? Go to bed now and when you wake up you need to decide what you are going to do with the rest of your life. Are you going to live the life of a “user” or as someone in “recovery.” It’s all your decision Julie. It’s up to you to be a wonderful, healthy successful person who loves not only life, but herself as well!

Ok, so first I have went from a size 40 pants to a 36....they are getting loose!!! I keep getting stopped by coworkers and they tell me I am looking skinny and asking how I am doing it. Feels so awesome!! The big one is that I just did a 5k walk this morning, my first official 5k! I finished in 51mins, my 12yr old daughter finished 52mins, 6yr old daughter 1hr 4mins, and wife made it 1hr 5mins!! It was so much fun! Next weekend there is another one our family is going to do. Can't wait! The pic in the blue shirt is just before surgery on pre-op diet, the white shirt pic is from this morning.

Experiences seem to vary widely as far as surgery and recovery. I felt only discomfort (no pain) after surgery. The discomfort was the feeling of a foreign object in my chest that felt very heavy. This feeling went away in about 10 days. I also experienced a strange rash on my hands and arms that went away by itself. I believe this was an immune response to the band. You may experience discomfort from the gas used during surgery. Most people feel pain in the shoulder area. I did not. I felt the surgery was a piece of cake compared to other surgeries I have had. Your surgeon will put you on a post-op diet that you should follow to the "T". You will get really hungry between days 5-10 but you must not deviate from the post-op instructions no matter how hungry you are. I recommend you focus on drinking Water during this time to keep the hunger at bay. The period between recovery and your first fill are called "bandster hell". It is called this because you will have no restriction and will have to use a great deal of will power to get through it. It does take some time to reach good restriction but once you do, you will not feel deprived of food and weight loss will be relatively easy. I highly recommend you begin walking immediately following surgery and increase the amount of time you walk each day as you are feeling better. My experience has been that you will lose rapidly the first few months if you walk a lot. As soon as your surgeon deems you ready, start a routine/daily exercise regimen. I joined Curves and go 5 times/week and ride my bicycle several times per week for an hour or more. Be sure you get measured at your chest, stomach, hips, arms, legs so you can see non-scale victories (NSV's) for when you can't see the loss on the scale. It is normal to hit plateaus during your weight loss. I find this to be very discouraging but just keep in mind the loss will start up again. This is why measuring is important. I will be happy to answer any other questions you may have if you would like to message me. Best of luck to you!:cursing: Donna

That's fabulous! I too am a scalaholic.(Confession time) I will try also to only get on the scales on Monday morning as I belong to the holiday challenge and need to record my weight for the week. I think you belong to it as well. Anyway, I do think that's a major NSV!!!! It's certainly a huge accomplishment and means you're on well on your way to 'skinnydom". I wish you the best and hope I can follow your example!!! You go girl!!!! Cindy

What a beautiful post! Sometimes we get lost in the big stuff with the "lap" band and forget about the basics and the NSVs. I actually had someone tell me today that I'm "happier" than I used to be. OK! Thanks again for all your posts, Janet. God's peace.......

Thank God I read this. I.m absolutely terrified. And although I only weigh 200lbs it's still impossible for me to lose it. I was 295lbs and lost 95 with weight watchers but it goes on and off and I'm sick of being the fat friend and not joining in with anything. Thanks for the inspiration xxx well done for all of your nsv xxx Sent from my SM-G935F using the BariatricPal App

@@mstrice oh dear, another long post from me interesting timing of this post - saw my doc yesterday blood pressure and diabetes are both usually helped by WLS (lower the dosage, or have med removed totally) i was taken off my blood pressure and diabetes meds shortly after sleeve (5 years ago) my epilepsy dosage was cut in 1/2 after a year!!! (biggest unexpected NSV) i told dr yesterday i thought we needed to talk about my BP and diabetes both #'s have been going up i did go back on BP meds a few months ago - doc agreed i now need to take more my diabetes meds should also be restarted doc "thinks" epilepsy meds should remain the same, no prob doing blood work once a month for the next year - gotta make sure no problems with seizures the above is about ME only many OP won't have to ever take meds again or will have a lower dosage sleeve has been around for a llllllong time initially did it to help OP with stomach cancer docs were realizing people were losing lots of weight PO docs then decided to make sleeve a WLS as time passes, more stats will be available from the sleeve (since they want more time for averages/stats) docs might realize that meds might have to be restarted for some don't mean to be a doubting dora just saying stuff i heard (if i'm mistaken please don't throw Protein shakes or bars at me ) good luck with surgery kathy

Woo-Hoo! NSVs feel so good, don't they? You have worked hard for this. Savor it and look forward to the next one.

Awesome the NSV are the best and really show ur hard work working great job ... High five

How awesome..... Good for you. Hope that this is the first of MANY NSV's !!!!!!!!!!

I am currently looking for a job (took an early retirement settlement at the end of December). It is certainly nicer to be looking at a size 10P, rather than a 24W. I had a job interview last Friday. I wore a beautifully tailored navy suit with a tiny shadow stripe of a paler blue. Under the jacket, I wore a blue cashmere sweater that picked up the color of the stripe. I had taken the suit skirt to the tailor and had it shortened (since I am 5'4" - this is a regular thing) to be the perfect just-below-the-knee length. If I was still morbidly obese, like a year ago, I would have either worn pants or left the skirt long - almost to my ankles. I had to buy a new pair of panty hose - in size B - the only ones I had in my lingerie drawer were size Q - and they made my legs look like elphant's legs with all the wrinkles. Cross your fingers or say a little prayer that I hear good news from the company I interviewed with!

My 1 year anniversary is coming up in 4 days! I've posted plenty of pictures in the last year but this one is one of my favorites! It has nothing to do with my face or body but has everything to do with my health. I'm still have those "pinch me" moments quite often. It doesn't seem real, my brain still has issues comprehending the numbers that I see on the scale. I feel incredibly blessed to have been given the chance to have a "rebirth" and I want to thank each and everyone of you who has been with me on the journey you guys are a big reason for my success. I would name you all off but It would take forever and I don't want to miss anyone. I am thankful for each and everyone of you and wish you all a successful and blessed journey to health! Let's keep it going! This is a NSV but the numbers are just as important to me. ❤️ WINNING!!! ❤️

did my workout! 12 min on treadmill 10 min on bike 10 min on epyliptical(or however you spell it) =32 min work out... NSV met my weekly goal of 150 minutes 2 days early!!!

NSV?

I'm feeling pretty good about my progress today. Of course I still feel like I want every excess pound off yesterday, but people are starting to really notice and comment now. Yesterday a patient said, "you have lost a lot of weight since I saw you last time, haven't you?" I told her how much I've lost and she wanted to know all about how I did it. This morning on my way to work I went through the Starbucks drive-up. (I get Starbucks about 1-2 times a week and not always at the same store.) I got up to the window and the gal said, " It is you! You have lost a lot of weight! You look Great! " It made me feel good that someone who doesn't really know me and has only seen me at the drive-up noticed and said something. I have 3 part-time jobs. I worked the job that I have had the longest today, so the patients have known me for many years. Most of them said something about my weightloss. I guess those are pretty much "scale victores.", but I did have a NSV today too! I fit in the jeans I couldn't get zipped last time I tried! I will be wearing those this weekend!

Thanks That is all

What an awesome nsv! Good job

I had a pair of professional fitted slacks I have not worn in five years. No elastic whatsoever. They were tight even when I bought them. I tried them on a month ago and they were still tight at the waist. Today I tried them on and they are baggy!!!!! I'm wearing them but they kinda look like clown pants. Moral of the story is don't miss your clothing size window! Dig through that closet frequently. This made me very happy today. *clownish grin to go with my clown pants*

Okay so nothing makes you feel better when your down in the dumps than someone noticing your weight loss. Whats surprising is WHO noticed and said something! We live in a small town, and we go to this one place 'During the school year" alot to have lunch together hang out you hubby/wife things lol Anyhow, Today we walked in (first day of school) The waitress came out to greet us and squealed with glee and talked about how great I looked and how much weight I lost etc all the way til we were seated! I mean it was like she was more excited about it than me! LOL I felt really great, I feel really great! Just goes to show even when you don't think your doing so well, others DO notice! Hugs, Nana~

I have been so excited over the last few days with my renewed committment. That is great! However, with my new excitement, I have been talking about it A LOT and I noticed that a friend of mine's eyes started to glaze over a bit. HA!! I'm not at all upset because she is SUPER supportive, but it does tell me that I need to close my mouth and show...not tell. :thumbup: That is what my blog is for!! My fill went well yesterday. I typically go to the fill doctor, but yesterday my surgeon was the fill doctor. He did a great job! He told me that I looked very close to my sweet spot and he only added 1/10 cc. I told him that is what the other doc added last time and it really made a difference for about 7 weeks, then it just seemed to drop off. He is quite concerned about over-filling and I appreciate that. I told him I have been having acid reflux at night due to my allergies and I think that added to his concern. Hopefully this darn ragweed will go away soon and I can get back to normal. He also told me that I will not need to get a COMPLETE UNFILL for my tonsillectomy. His first reaction was that I wouldn't need to get any taken out, but then he thought about it a few seconds and said that I probably should, but half would be appropriate. That sounds good to me! It is always interesting to me to listen to the other people getting adjusted. Fills at my doc are cattle calls. We are given time frames and then first come, first served. We are checked in and moved to a holding area where we wait for the procedure then return to that area post-procedure to drink water. I like the system and it gives people a chance to discuss the band with otheres. Kind of a mini support group... I really do try not to judge, but it amazes me how differently people approach this process. There was a very sweet girl talking about eating dinner rolls at a restaurant and knowing it will make her sick and she says that she still does it. Over and over. She said that she has a love affair with food. She also says that she doesn't exercise, but I can't remember if she said why. It made me a little sad because if getting sick or having physical pain isn't a deterrant to bad choices, then I think she is going to have a really tough time. She is a super pretty girl that has about 150 pounds to lose. I truly hope she finds a good support group and something that can help her move forward. My scale was down 2.2 pounds this morning. I know that isn't REAL weight loss for one day, but I don't care. Today, I'm going to strut around like I'm 2 pounds lighter!! HA! I have on a sassy White House/Black Market shirt that I bought several years ago when I was last small. I think it looks really nice! Yesterday, I had two NSV moments. (They sure do seem to be flying at me from everywhere at the moment!!) First, I was talking to a friend (who also struggles with weight, but not nearly to the extent that I have) here just about everything. I told her that I'm just giddy from feeling so good the last few days. I feel like I have gotten a TON of compliments and things just feel so awesome. She said that she thinks that I crossed the threshhold from being fat to being "normal". I think she might be right. For a long while there, I was losing weight and it was noticable (and great!) But going from a size 24 to a size 18, while absolutely EXCELLENT is not something that is really understood by "skinny" minded people. Now that I have moved into "normal" range clothing (even though I'm still a fat person in my head), people see me as "normal" and that they recognize. Does that make sense? I think it will take a long time for me to adjust my thinking as I discussed in my entry yesterday. But I get that other people may not need that time to adjust. The second NSV...I was walking out of work yesterday afternoon. As you go out to the parking garage from my building, there is a wall of mirrors that you face as you turn a corner. For so long, I would cringe or avoid looking at that wall of mirrors. Yesterday, I looked right at myself and I didn't cringe. I have a long way to go before I think I'm hot (ha!), but it is so lovely to be able to not hate my reflection.

Mary - you my friend have accomplished what so many of us really need to do, focus on our health and not our weight. This is a major NSV. Congratulations!

Blessed Easter! I know everyone is struggling right now. That is why it's so important to stay with the website and our threads. To give support as well as receive support! Take any losses we have, whether it be in pounds or inches and Celebrate them! Celebrate our NSVs!! A lot of us are having those even tho the scales may be stuck or not moving in the direction that we'd like. Let's finish up this challenge and move on from our disappointments! There are some of us who have done well. Let's celebrate with them! Post your final numbers! I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend and a very Blessed Easter! HE LIVES!!!