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You look great...congrats on your scale victory and your NSV. I understand the need to be noticed again. I am down 78 lbs... Hoping for my 100 soon.

Congrats!! What a GREAT DAY!! Keep track of those NSV's! They are what keeps us all moving forward! (Especially the attention from others. And strangers at that! You go girl! )

This journey is about HEALTH. If you focus on the weight part you will miss the beauty of regaining your health. So, you want to go back to nebulizers and oxygen tents? How on earth can you say that this is not working for you?? You are not gaining new weight, you have a list of NSVs a mile long. I know, I know, I know. Just about EVERYONE has gone into this thing with the intention of losing "weight". How much more rewarding, though, is it to be GAINING LIFE. And every single person here who has had an NSV is GAINING LIFE, regardless of what the scale says. I can't really tell what your total weightloss has been - your first post says 35 pounds came off before a full three months, and then a pound a month since. If you were banded in 3/05, and have lost 47 pounds (my best guess), then you are AVERAGING almost 4 pounds a month. That is nothing to sneeze at, and is a completely healthy rate of loss. Your BMI has gone from 47 to 39.6. How on earth can you say the band isn't working for you?!?!?! This fixation on the scale is your personal way of sabotaging yourself. You can argue as much as you want, but the truth is the scale is NOT a good indicator of your success, and if you really insist on using it that way then you must WANT to be disappointed in your progress, because girl, you have NOTHING to be disappointed about. The scale is one of the many reasons that "DIETS" DON'T "WORK". People rely on the scale for feedback on their progress, and as soon as the scale stops moving downwards they quit, give up, say "What's the point???" The POINT is your HEALTH. And Vines, if you can't take an honest look at the HEALTH you have gained then nothing I can say is going to make a difference. Patient: "Doc, it hurts when I press here." Doctor: "Don't press there." In a world without scales, can you honestly say that you would not be THRILLED at all the positive changes in your life since 3/05? In a world without scales, wouldn't you just be OVER THE MOON that you no longer carry a puffer? That you can run for the bus? YOU are in charge of your world. Make it a world without scales, and see the truth about the transformation you are making into a healthy being. The end.

Great NSV! Dropping sizes is always a good one! Congrats!

I am totally scale obsessed. I actually have to get my husband to hide it from me sometimes. I weigh every day but I'm trying to train myself to limit weighing to once a week, the same time on the same day of each week, but I'm so curious as to what's happening with my weight. Water fluctuations don't help! So, long story short, I'd advise you to weigh yourself periodically, maybe every two weeks, to keep yourself in check, but not too often to get obsessed about it. Like you said, there are many other Non-Scale Victories (NSV) to measure our progress.

Wow, congrats on the great NSV. I think sometimes those are what are really what makes the surgery worth while.

hello stacey nicole I am wear a medical bracelet NSV. IMO, i don't think it would be necessary to wear any type of bracelet signfying a "medical condition" of WLS - if you are at a restaurant, and they question you about using a childs portion, you can just give them some sort of explanation if you feel its warrented - but if you are rushed to the hospital for whatever - have had WLS shouldn't be reletive to any procedures. If all is well, and you just have to mention certain medical conditions - then yes "by the way" I have had WLS. kathy

Yay for you! I love NSVs! It must have felt so great to fit in them!

So yesterday was my 9 years wedding anniversary and the hubby took me out for dinner to Logan's and,I ordered a grilled chicken breast with a baked sweet potato and I shared my meal with my 2 year old baby. I asked for a to go box before I start eating my meal and I took out of my plate the food that I was not going to eat I was so full with 2 bites of chicken and 2 tsp of sweet potato. I was so happy!!! Before I could eat the whole plate and ask for desert Yay for my sleeve. I took home the left overs and my daughter and my husband had some. I just had 2 bites of the chicken for lunch. Now that I am not allow to eat much I realized the ridiculous portions of food that restaurants serve here in America and is worse in Texas lol I just wanted to share my first experience dining out

Two separate NSV's... 1) I work in an office but I also have to go out ito our warehouse area where we hold our materials and stage our packing, receiving and shiping. We produce in our Indiana facility high-end specialty metal alloys - lots of molly, titatnium, colbalt, nickel alloys, etc. These things are heavy (Imagine 60 lbs in an 8"x8"x8" box) and can be 30' pipe or 1" fittings. It was inventory this weekend and every ounce of this material had to be accounted for. I am the Export Supervisor as well as Logistics Coordinator and inventory control, so I wear alot of hats. Inventory is a very crazy time for me. Normally this process KILLS me, it is too hot (It got to 99 here Saturday, which had the warehouse at about 106-110 depending on where you were. I used to not be able to tolerate the heat like that, and the warehouse is huge and DUSTY - the materials ca have 2-3 mm or better of crud on them - I mean crud, not dust - Houston creates moist crud, not dust! lol. ACED IT! I had stamina, the allergies were there and bad but tolerateable, and I was able to get into nooks and crannies and in and out of tight spots - OMG! I bet I contributed to us being done in at least 2 hours or better than we would have, simply by being able to get in there an dlook around better. 2) I have apparently dropped at least a width and a whole shoe size. This happened when I went to get a new pair of work boots, and again with a pair of summer hiking sandals...Hubby was shocked....he was like - your feet are tiny! Well, size 8 normal width, which I guess is tiny for me. I did not know it was possible for your foot to get shorter! Will have to look that up! Maybe it has something to do with the arch, or the weight bearing on the foot.

Wow - you have an amazingly physical job. That would be extremely tough for anyone in the BEST of shape. Congratulations on your huge NSV with work!! I've heard other people say they lost shoe sizes. I only lost width, not length. You might be right that there is something about the arch. If your arch is higher now (due to less weight pressing it down) it would make sense that it would draw the foot up and in a bit, which would result in less length. Very interesting! Congrats on the foot front too!

Congrats on your 1st NSV!

I had a wonderful day of NSV's last night. With my hypermobility, I had really come to dread having a bath. Not only was the extra weight putting more pressure on my joints, but the bath was getting rather snug! Which made it more difficult for me to get out of! Well, last night I set myself in my bath and discovered I know longer had to squeeze into it, infact I could gently sway, there was a space either side of me! Also, the chore that was shaving legs, suddenly was easier! My legs weren't being kept away from me by my tummy! There was no awkward spots being missed. (this is one bit my hypermobility is good for.)I was able to stretch my leg to the point where it oculd touch my shoulder, extreme I know but I can't remember I was last able to do tha! I know that these are small NSVs, but it is a great heart warmer for me. I do look at myself nearly every day, wishing to see drastic changes nad being disappointed. Which I know is silly. The last remenants of my hope that I would lose all the weight with a snap of my fingers, is dwindling day by day and the reality is settling in comfortably! Just as it takes 4/6 weeks for the healing to complete, it is also a healing process of the mental kind. I am regaining control of my eating and my life. It is a day by day process but is still the best thing, apart from haivng my son! I'm even contemplating the possibility of dating! Now note, this is just contemplation, it's not just the weight that is holding me back from a realtionship but is most definitey a factor. Being single does have some fantastic advantages lol!

Hey, that's a really good NSV. Congrats

Well, it's a strange one, but I finally tried on some smaller underwear I bought a month ago. Size large -- not XXL (where I started), not even XL, just large! -- boxer briefs now fit like a glove. Not too snug, not too baggy! And my size 42 waist jeans that I bought a month ago because my 48's that I started with were literally falling off me are now pretty baggy. I have some 40's that were hand-me-downs -- they're too long in the inseam -- and even they are starting to fit loosely. I should be in 38's before the end of the year. For me, getting below 40-inch jeans is a HUGE achievement, since I've been in 40+ inch waist jeans for more than 10 years now. Dare I dream that before this process is over, I'll be back in the 36-inch waist jeans I fit into back in high school? That would be 12 inches off my waistline... wow! Incremental progress, but it's all going in the right direction, and I'm starting to get excited about it. I'm feeling positive about my body for the first time in a decade or longer, and it's just going to keep getting better!

I have brought out more of my winter clothes and many are too big! I look like I'm wearing my father's clothes. What a great problem. Only issue, I don't want to waste money on new clothes which will also be too big shortly. Oh, what a lovely dilemma.

Congrats on your NSVs Mads! YOU ROCK!

Great news!! I can't wait to have these "NSV"

I had this very thought just yesterday. I have been getting so many compliments at how thin I'm getting but right behind those comments are " and your clothes look too big for you to be wearing to work anymore" so I decided to head on over to New York and Company. I automatically head to the far right end of the rack to grab the biggest size that I would wear from that store which was an 18/ 20, Turns out I am down to a 12. I couldn't believe my eyes and had to re check the size on the tag. Yup, I'm wearing a 12! Yay... So putting on clothes that fit helps me realize the changes I have gone through. Hard work, sweat and even pain are paying off. It's like they say no pain no gain! Congrats to everyone on your NSV's....

I'm a therapist at a nursing home. One my pts came up to slapping my hip saying where did you go! where did you go! She cannt talk Very well but used her hands to make shap of a body and did a thumbs up. So sweet!

I can walk and do the elliptical for many many miles as my body's more used to it. I'm cross-training now and my new challenge is running! I've been doing 5 minute intervals with my lifting and do that 4-5 times throughout the workout. Breaking it up into 5 minutes bursts at a 5.0 pace has been awesome for my weight loss. Now, my next goal is to do a 5k! I just hit the 1 mile mark (continuous running) so I'm on my way! It was only a few weeks ago that I struggled with a quarter mile. No aches or pains... just a little sore in the left hamstring sometimes. Yay for NSV's!!!

Hello All, I had my vsg done on 01-17-11 so a mere 9 months ago and my new years resolution at the beginning of this year was to complete a half marathon. Yes running 13.1 miles on purpose is my goal for 2011. Well its official i finish my first half marathon today in Long Beach California. My official time was 2:25:35 which is a 11:07 average minute mile. My goal was to be under 2:30 and I made it with over 4 minutes to spare. I have always been envious of runners and my entire life I have wanted to be one. Never in my wildest bdream would I ever imagine that I would be running marathons (or should I say half marathons). I have never been this proud of my self ever and now I know that I am unstoppable once I put my mind to something. My next goal is getting to my personal goal weight which is 149 which is only about 11-12 pounds away, I am hoping to hit before my 1 year anniversary on January 17th. After that I want to conquer a full marathon which is 26.2 miles, I am thinking of Maui Hawaii in September 2012. If I believe it and I can see it then I can do it. I attached a couple of pictures from today. Thanks, Jenn

Last week’s weight – 209.2 or 207.6 This week’s weight – 207 Total weight lost this week – either 2.2 or .6 Total weight loss since surgery – 39 lbs This week I was on vacation to see my family so the week was filled with eating and drinking. On the plus size they live at a very high altitude so I spent the week hoping that less oxygen meant more calories burned! I did some hiking so I got some exercise in and, unlike my neck of the woods, they live around tons of hills so at times it was a struggle. My mom has a Vitamix and made me a green smoothy every morning full of macronutrients. It really got me thinking about purchasing a Vitamix (at $400!!!!). I liked knowing that I was getting in a good bunch of fruits and veggies in one yummy shake a day (plus there is a lot of other things you can do with it as well). I am still on the fence and need to come up with a way to pay for it but I thought that would determine if I was serious or not. I’m looking forward to getting back into a normal routine this week. Attached is a picture of me (with my neice) wearing a size L t-shirt (which is my NSV of the week). What I have eaten over the past few days of vacation: Breakfast – Omelet Lunch – small salad and small eggplant lasagna Dinner – ½ taco soup Snack – a frozen strawberry lemonaid Breakfast – Green Smoothy Lunch – large cream cheese frosted cinnamon bun and ½ a turkey Panini (super regret the cinnamon bun…my stomach was rejecting it) Dinner – Ate a couple of bites of my husbands bbq and ½ a bottle of white zinfandel Breakfast – Green Smoothy Lunch – Small salad and vegan sheppard’s pie, small fruit dessert Dinner – spaghetti with chicken and alfredo sauce one piece of garlic bread, one boston cream cupcake. Three large white Russians L. (this was spread out over hours) Breakfast – Green Smoothy Brunch – ½ a mushroom, cheese, bacon omelet Snack – small, single serving of, vanilla ice cream Dinner – Edamame, A piece of toast with jam Snack – Homemade strawberry ice cream (made in the vitamix) Breakfast – Green Smoothy Snack – leftover turkey jerky and pumpkin seeds Lunch – ½ an In and Out Burger with ¼ of the fries Snack – caramel popcorn, mikes hard cranberry lemonade Dinner – Wine, spaghetti with meat balls (small serving), two bits of salad, one piece of garlic bread, small slice of black forest cake Breakfast (1) – Atkins bar Breakfast (2) – ½ an egg mcmuffin at the airport Snack – Diet Peach Snapple Lunch – 2 bites of a sandwich (my husband’s) and a high protein peanut butter chocolate shake (yuck! Got it at the airport.) Dinner – Atkins bar

That's good that you still had a loss after that weekend. One of my best friends came to visit and I ate a lot of not so healthy things. But we were active. We went horseback riding, sailing, and walking around DC to the monuments. I was down 2.2 lbs last week. I think I only officially worked out once, but so far this week I've worked out everyday. My NSV last week was I was able to buy some size 18 regular Bermuda shorts. I was really happy about that. I got my first "wow you've lost a lot of weight" comment at work yesterday. That really made me happy too. My total loss is 47 lbs. So close to 50!

WOW! Outstanding great NSV moment.