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Glad your experience went well. I too have to travel by plane soon. Hope I have as good of an experience as you did. Congrats on those NSV's!

Way to go.Great NSVs. Donna

Great NSV!! Good for you for doing what it takes to make yourself more healthy!

So last week (week of Thanksgiving) was a crazy week because I went home to Arkansas to spend time with family... First off it was super fun...My daugther is having my first glam-baby and I got a chance to see my glam-baby on the ultrasound. We also had the baby shower the Saturday following Thanksgiving and it was fab as well..Okay I could go on and on about that because I am so happy but that is for another blog.. Well it was the first time any of my family had seen me since surgery and only my mom and daughter knew I had surgery...For the most part everyone had good things to say...My aunt and cousin jokingly called me a "crackhead" or a "cancer patient" as they said I was so small...They aint seen small yet...I got more pounds to lose before hitting my goal...As many of us VSG folk probably was, I was nervous about how I would be around so much food...good southern homemade food....Not to mention all the eateries that are my "have" to go to list when I am home...Admittedly, I did eat more carbs and sweets overall than I have eaten on any day since surgery. However, it was in such small quantity that I did not beat myself up about it. Instead, I just was more conscious about my calorie burn. I do not recall if I mentioned previously but I renewed my subscription to the bodybugg again. I am amazed of how much more efficient my body has become on a reduced calorie diet and less weight. Before the surgery and without any exercise I would burn 2500 calories a day doing just normal activity. Now, I am at 2000 calories a day...While in Arkansas I made sure to hit 2500 mark so I could burn off the extra calories I took on by indulging in cake and dips. In the end I only lost 0.8lbs te week of Thanksgiving. It is actually more than I had on my projected weight loss chart. I said I would lose nothing so I count it as a victory. Things have bounced back this week and I lost 2lbs. I am happy with that but I would like to get my weekly loss up to about 3lbs a week. I am going to get back on my workout regime as I fell all the way off these past 3 weeks. If I am to be running ( I mean running...now walking) a half marathon on June 1st, I need to be in the full swing of daily running like yesterday... And for the not so good...I have had some awesome victories since having my sleeve...My best NSV when I was in Arkansas is I wore my daughter size Large Monkey Suit (Onesie). I have wanted one of those for about two years but could not find one big enough...Well now I can wear a Junior Large...I also bought a Junior Large pair of Yoga pants from Kohls during after Thanskgiving sale...Another big moment...I wish I would have taken a pic with them on because even I must say I think I looked "skinny"..a relative term indeed but it was a skinny moment for me...And the oh girl you are gorgeous...girl you fine comments are coming...oh how I love my sleeve...I guess the best part is not the comments themselves but I actually feel pretty again... But oh back to the bad...My hair has started coming out in chunks...It is so thin...I am wearing hair make-up every day to color in my sides and I have to wear full and half wigs as my hair is so thin in the front. I have been wanting to cut it short anyway but I wanted to do that on my own time...Now entire otherwise healthy strings are hair is just all over the bathroom floor and sink with the slightest comb or brushing...I keep telling myself my doctor has said there are no bald weight loss patients...It will come back and I guess the good thing is when it comes back all the relaxer will be off and I can go naturally curly and short as I wanted to do anyways... I have an Ormin body fat monitor and previous to surgery it said my body fat (bf) was very high about 40.8%..I notice a couple of weeks ago, it now simply says high and now I am 34% bf. That and with some inspiration from my sleeve buddy I decided my next big goal was to get to a healthy bf and bmi. For my height that is 164lbs for a healthy BMI...Hopefully, with the workouts the bf comes on down as well...In the meantime, my interim goal is to be 175lb by Christmas...Gotta put in work to make it happen. I am posting some swim suit progress shots against my better judgement given this is the internet..but I want to give an honest reflection of me...Its hard to hide the flab in a two piece... Beware the photos are horrible but they are becoming less horrible as the months pass. Excuse the blur in the photo and that the distance the photos were taken were not exactly the same but I still think they reflect the 45lb weight loss... Until next week all.... HW 232 & SW 227 (VSG 08/17/12 & 5'8) LW 188.8 Week 14 Weight - 188.2 CW 186.2 [Total Weight Loss 43.2lbs] GW 155 [31.2lbs until Goal]

LOL! That is a cool NSV if you ask me!

Yay!! Did you ride the big dipper? I have fond memories from childhood.... Congrats on a great NSV! Keep up the good work. :]

Lol! Sorry you fell but I like the NSV!

Congrats Sunta! It's so important to keep track of your NSVs because they tell the real story of your journey! I"m sure it's all very nice to be able to say "I've lost 50 pounds" but your NSV list shows what it really means to have lost that weight. Congrats and well done!

That article is me. I have lost half my body weight and I have always been honest on this forum. I see a therapist because I don't recognize myself in the mirror. I find I resent compliments at times. They just remind me of how big I was. I'm tired of hearing people say that that they didn't realize it was me. (I was out of the office for several weeks on medical leave). I know I have issues and I'm working on dealing with them so I don't become one of those folks who starts a topic saying they have 'fallen off the wagon.' I don't mind when I know I'm having a NSV but I'd just as soon people get used to what I look like now and leave it alone. Oh, and I also go to a physical therapist as well. Just like the article mentioned, I had very limited mobility and there is alot of damage even with all the weight off. I have no muscle strength and my balance is still poor. Just goes to show you that while my ticker says I've reached goal, that's just a number. I'm still very much on this journey.

I have only been banded for 3 months. I am trying to weigh myself once a month. I have allowed my weight to control how I feel for way too long! I am learning a new relationship with food. NO MORE CRAZY DIETS!!!! :myscared:Can't say that when I reach my goal won't might weigh weekly or even forbid daily. I sure haven't kept to my monthly but this is a new month so will see how I do? Also looking for NSV. Feel of my clothes, healthy food choices, feeling more comfortable in my skin..... The last 3 months I have had a love hate relationship with this band. It is getting better......

Athena. I was "only" 242 at my high weight, which felt like hundreds of pounds more than that. I did manage to lose about 20 pounds on my own by going to Curves and exercising regularly. But my eating/portion control was a huge problem. I knew if I could just quit eating so dadgum much, I'd be okay. I found out about lap bands and found this site and knew it was for me. My hubby agreed that is the band worked properly for me, I'd surely lose. So far, so good. I weighed 182 this morning and have been really struggling to lose more weight. My band is not very tight, so I'm trying to really make it work without another fill. It's hard. I can eat 1800 calories a day if I'm not careful with what I choose. And, truthfully, I was eating 1800 calories a day at surgery weight and maintaining. These past weeks I have cut back to 1200-1550 calories a day and I'm hoping it will show up on the scale. It's work. No doubt about it. But it's work I am now able to do. My little band helps me so much. At my fill level, I have to eat slowly and carefully, chew really well, other than that I could get away with murder on my food choices and even with the amounts. The biggest difference for me is that I can no longer shovel and shovel massive quantities before my head catches up with me. I have what's called an NSV thread. It's a thread I started so I can track my Non-Scale Victories. You can zip through that and get a glimpse of my journey. Others here have NSV threads, too. Life IS better after losing weight! Please make sure you know what you are getting into before you do this. I have had good success with my band, and plan on having even more! I have no regrets. Here's the link to my NSV thread. Hope it helps. http://www.lapbandtalk.com/showthread.php?t=10252

Thanks everyone! I'm about to post another NSV in a few minutes!!

Okay, I have begun my journal. It's been a heck of a year with my band, but I'll start with my weight as far back as I can reasonably remember and go from there. I love looking at the numbers. So this isn't about NSVs for me. It's stats. It's seeing where I've been, and remembering how far I've come. My One Year Bandiversary is approaching, and I have measurements, weights, dates, milestones for my Journal. They are currently on posts all over this board, or on little pieces of paper in the pencil drawer in the kitchen, or on big sheets of paper tucked away all over the office in my home. I will gather, sort, organize and post my little numbers game here. I can't wait to see it all done!

OMG !!! I found my group !!!! I am 2 1/2 months from surgery and I have been in a stall since Thanksgiving as well !!! These past 3 / 4 weeks have been torture! I've bounced between 2 to 3 pounds for 3 almost 4 weeks. I have had some major NSVs.. but the scale... oh the damn scale! Please move. Especially since it's hovering between 250 and 252. I want to permanently break that 250 mark !!! Thank you guys for posting your story and letting me know that there are others !!! HUGS !

What does NSV stand for? I feel like an idiot asking. Ha.

So today is my 1 month post-op and I also received my first fill, and let me tell ya, it came RIGHT ON TIME! So the first fill was easy, lay back, pillow under your back, cross your arms, do a lil' crunch, relax and done. The weird part was when she took all of my fluid out to make sure how much I had in me, then added a cc to it.. I could feel it "flush" through my body/band, what I imagine those lil' canisters at the bank would feel like as they get fed through those air tubes. It didn't hurt, it was just a weird sensation. Moving on to better news... So the other day I had my first non-scale victory (NSV - yeah I'm learning the lingo lol) on a whim I decided to try on my ever so expensive seven jeans that I bought 4 years ago, when Lane Bryant first started selling them. Yes the ones Kimberly Locke modeled with the rhinestones and crystals and tears on them.. Yes those ever so fabulous, expensive and I'm glad they're still in style ones. Let me say when I bought them in 2005 I was at the smallest I had been in YEARS or almost like ever. When I tried the jeans on I had to POUR myself into them, do the tight jean jump up and down, wiggle and finish with a deep breath in to button them. But I got them to fit, they were tight but they fit, and I figured I would keep working out and they would fit better. They were cut VERY small... I was an 18 or 20 in other jeans but in these jeans I had to buy a 24. The sales girls just smiled and said yeah they're cut REALLY small, be lucky you can fit into them, most people can't. I wore them once, I got "stuck" in them and had to have my brother free me with a pair of pliers as he carefully jimmied the zipper down so I could get out of them. So back to my "on a whim" moment. So I decide to try the jeans on, as I do every couple of months, in hopes that one time, just one time they'll magically fit. The last time I tried them on they were about 6 inches from buttoning. Hmmm maybe if I wear a long shirt, some rubber bands or my big 80's belt I can pull them off... Yvette you BETTER not walk out of the house in jeans you can't button.. sigh.. the years go by the gap grew from an inch or two to the most recent of 6 inches from closing.. So I decide to check my progress and put the jeans on....THEY FIT... OMFREAKINGOSH!!! THEY FIT!!! and not just FIT but FIT COMFORTABLY!!!! I have been wearing them pretty much every day since I tried them on on Saturday night. Ok so it's only Monday, doesn't matter... they FIT and I'm wearing them to get my money worth! lol But all of that being said brings me to what I was told at my appointment today....Drum roll please... Waist is down 7 inches since surgery one month ago! Weight is down 22.7lbs since surgery one month ago. I've lost 12% of my 66% of "extra weight" and am 90lbs from my doctor's goal for me. My BMI is now in the 40's high 40's but still 40's! My doctor says my progress puts me at the 3-4 month post-op mark, and this was done in a month. She was VERY happy for me, and I was VERY happy as well as I fastened my fabulous jeans after my fill lol I came home and had some soup, then a couple of ours later some applesauce.... about half way through the applesauce I felt I had had "too much" so I know the fill worked...YAY!!! I'm SO glad, because after eating 2 big tortillas yesterday (bean & cheese burrito and a quesadilla - took me 3 hours or so but I ate it) and the mini loafs of bread that come from the cheesecake factory a couple of days before I was starting to feel like I felt before surgery, so this fill definitely came right on time.. I'll see how this one goes, I think she could have put in another CC, but I'll go back in on the 8th and get another one, I honestly think that will put me in my sweet spot...we'll see. Either way I'm feeling great and I'm loving life. This is THE BEST THING I could have ever done for myself! :confused:

What an awesome experience and thank you so much for sharing it with us. The closer I get to surgery the more I need reassuring and comforting stories to keep my mind balanced. I understand all the risks, I understand there are complications, I understand that it's not easy and I may be one that has complications, I am so aware of them and am going into this with wide eyes, but hearing positive and uplifting stories that some day things will be better, makes me so happy. I hope you have a great NSV every day!!!

I went into Victoria's Secret today on a whim and got measured for a bra and I was a 38 DD. Do you know what that means??? They sell bras in my size now! So, I promptly spent $134 on new bras and undies!!! LOL. Hope my husband likes them enough to not pay attention to the price tag. LOL I decided that when I get to goal, I'm going to LaPerla to really splurge.

Thank you all so much for your replies, gives me quite a bit to think about- wrestling with the issue. I love that NSV are very life changing, and I dont think im wrong picking a number either- just trying to wrap my mind around the difference between advisors and what is sustainable. i too am very short- and have lived most of my life overweight. Im motivated by the numbers, but just as an indicator on how im doing - and i do feel really good. Still no labs pulled, but have plans for them to be pulled in August, prior to the Bariatric nutritionist. At 4.5 months post op, i know i still have a bit to go, but am trying to shift my thinking towards the maintenance phases. Not there yet, but i could accept it if I my body decided this is my stable weight.

I was 5'6" and 373 pounds on April 1, this year. I was sleeved on June 5. I am currently 238. The list I put up was just a few of my non scale victories (nsv). I could go on and on. In 2009 I went through the entire 6 month pre op process, then, couldn't go through with it. Finally got back on track this year. My cardiologist said last week, that this surgery saved my life. He said I would have been dead or in open heart surgery in 5 years (I'm 37). There are risks, and not everyone has the wonderful, zero complication path that I was lucky enough to have. But, for me, I would do it over every day and twice on Sunday. It's normal to have pre surgery jitters. If they are bad enough, put it off til you're comfortable. But, don't waste years that you could be enjoying, over smal fears. I had 198 pounds to lose. After 5 months, I only have 65 more to lose. Hope this helps you.

Saw a friend today that I haven't seen since before my surgery and when she saw me, she was excited because she could see my weight loss a lot she said. It made me smile from ear to eat. I'm down 22lbs. Tomorrow I will be one month out.

So....I stopped by the hospital this morning, to have my 3-month post-op labs drawn. When I started this process, my fasting glucose was slightly elevated (111)...in the "pre-diabetic" range. My HgbA1c was also slightly elevated (6.5)...also marking me as "pre-diabetic). Today's results?? Fasting glucose - 78!! HgbA1c - 5.6!! Both perfectly NORMAL (as were all the other tests performed)!!! I'm SO thrilled with this!! One of the major reasons I decided to have surgery was to avoid being diagnosed with diabetes...its truly a vicious disease, and I wanted nothing to do with it. NOW...just 11 weeks after having my surgery done...I am exactly where I wanted to be.....NORMAL!!! To be honest, this feels better than being able to say I've lost 100 pounds...because these numbers matter, in a real health sense, ya know?? WooHOO!!

That's a great NSV!!!

NSV - Shopping - Walker Tracker Challenge! Posted by AngieB, Today, 09:57 AM Admin/Owner Options Make This Entry A Draft

I'm digging the NSV - mountain climbing, took a fencing class, one lady is getting me into a dance class (which is terrifying to me). We shall see, I know I am LITERALLY lighter on my feet than I used to be.