Today I had an unexpected and surprisingly satisfying NSV. I noticed that my belly button shrank. It's about 50% shallower than it used to be! Who knew I would be so pleased about less depth to my belly button? ?

Whole bunch of non-scale victories lately.

1. I am no longer morbidly obese because my BMI is under 40. Combined with the resolution of my comorbidities, I no longer qualify for surgery. ?

2. My A1c is 5.1. A physician friend of mine said he hasn't seen anyone under 5.4 in a long time.

3. I needed to get into the bed of the ranch truck today and the tailgate was blocked off... so I went over the side using the (not small) tire. My balance is so much better!

4. I can do burpees like I'm on springs now, at least 10 in a row. Before I would do what are popularly known as "grief burpees" (look it up on Google Video search).

5. I got in trouble with my sleep doctor. It took me 6 weeks to get a video appointment and my CPAP (technically APAP) was choking me with all the air it was putting out. It's locked down, so I found the manual (in Russian), translated it, guessed the password, and reset the lower bound. I sleep better now (and my suspicion was correct, previous range was 10-20 cm H2O, now that I've lowered it, I average about 8 over a night).

6. I ran a mile for the first time ever in my entire life. It wasn't very fast (10:26) but it was a real mile and there was no walking or stopping.

15 minutes ago, vikingbeast said:

Whole bunch of non-scale victories lately.

1. I am no longer morbidly obese because my BMI is under 40. Combined with the resolution of my comorbidities, I no longer qualify for surgery. ?

2. My A1c is 5.1. A physician friend of mine said he hasn't seen anyone under 5.4 in a long time.

3. I needed to get into the bed of the ranch truck today and the tailgate was blocked off... so I went over the side using the (not small) tire. My balance is so much better!

4. I can do burpees like I'm on springs now, at least 10 in a row. Before I would do what are popularly known as "grief burpees" (look it up on Google Video search).

5. I got in trouble with my sleep doctor. It took me 6 weeks to get a video appointment and my CPAP (technically APAP) was choking me with all the air it was putting out. It's locked down, so I found the manual (in Russian), translated it, guessed the password, and reset the lower bound. I sleep better now (and my suspicion was correct, previous range was 10-20 cm H2O, now that I've lowered it, I average about 8 over a night).

6. I ran a mile for the first time ever in my entire life. It wasn't very fast (10:26) but it was a real mile and there was no walking or stopping.

CONGRATS!!!!!

On 4/22/2021 at 9:47 AM, Ukalliq said:

20lb is probably my sweet spot right now but I am still losing so I expect that to change. I am tentatively planning a trip in November, so we'll see where I am then.

So it turns out that 7kg or about 15.5 pounds is what I need now. Took some trial and error but my buoyancy seemed pretty good with that weight.

Another weird NSV - I play the violin and I am going to need a new shoulder rest. There is a lot more room between my chin and shoulder now. I hadn't even thought about that until I wondered why I was cramping up during rehearsal the other night.

fitting into chairs at my GPs office!

Was able to teach my son how to ride a bike without being winded

I cut my toenails for the first time since surgery today (don't judge! I usually get pedicures!). It was shockingly easy to contort myself to be able to do it without 60 lbs of stomach in the way!

My winter boots have a decorative strap on the calf that snaps into place. This strap used to always come undone and dangle, necessitating multiple re-snaps every time I wore them. Well, I wore them Monday and the strap did not come undone once. A silly, small moment of joy.

When inflammation goes away, it seems like bleeding gums do too. My dental hygentist was very impressed with my gums today.

On 11/24/2021 at 6:30 PM, greenchilegoddess said:

Yeah! I'm 5'7 and 285 pounds at the moment, wearing an Old Navy size 22 in jeans. I've lost a lot of belly fat, but my thighs definitely still encroach a little under the armrest next to me, and my arms are pretty large so there can be a problem there too when flying.

I was 5'3" and over 290 lbs and I never got an extra seat. Sometimes I needed an extender, but I fly a lot and there's no way I was buying an extra seat or that my work would pay for it on my many work trips. People might have been upset by sitting next to me, but no one ever said anything, and I was definitely not the biggest person using one seat. I think you should be fine (unless SouthWest is drastically different from American, United, Air Canada, and Jet Blue)

I am also happy that I can climb a step ladder now to change a lightbulb. I live alone so I never turned on overhead lights. Oh, and get up off the floor.

I just upgraded my Apple Watch and had to use the sm-edium band. I am absolutely floored.

Also, now multiple people I know well have walked right past me and not recognized me. I don't think I look *completely* different but apparently I do!

1 hour ago, Bill Potts said:

I am also happy that I can climb a step ladder now to change a lightbulb. I live alone so I never turned on overhead lights. Oh, and get up off the floor. Congrats on your weight loss!

My surgery is mid Jan and have been writing down my "whys"...getting off the floor easily is one of them!

2 hours ago, lizonaplane said:

I was 5'3" and over 290 lbs and I never got an extra seat. Sometimes I needed an extender, but I fly a lot and there's no way I was buying an extra seat or that my work would pay for it on my many work trips. People might have been upset by sitting next to me, but no one ever said anything, and I was definitely not the biggest person using one seat. I think you should be fine (unless SouthWest is drastically different from American, United, Air Canada, and Jet Blue)

Southwest refunds the extra seat miles/cost so I always flew with an extra seat. Plus you get early boarding without having to pay the early boarding fee. It’s the only thing I’ll miss about being overweight.

37 minutes ago, OutdoorsGirl said:

Southwest refunds the extra seat miles/cost so I always flew with an extra seat. Plus you get early boarding without having to pay the early boarding fee. It’s the only thing I’ll miss about being overweight.

If you fly a lot, they will give you early boarding. I have extremely high status on American and I'm the first after people with disabilities. I don't know how often you have to fly on Southwest to get this privilege.

But when you are smaller, it's not as much of a pain to board at the same time, aside from having trouble stowing your carryon. I always hate walking down the aisle and bumping people's arms. It's getting a bit better for me, but I still prefer to fly in the front.

On 4/18/2021 at 6:26 AM, Jnfinney said:

Wiping my own butt without breaking my back trying to reach ??‍♀️

YES!!! I just realized that reading your comment, being able to cut/ paint my toes nails comfortably