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? ?

13 hours ago, ShooterInTheSix said:

11 months post-op and 122 lbs lost; Sept 2023 on the left and today on the right.

Same shirt, same pants. My mind is constantly blown when I take these monthly progress comparison pix.

You look fabulous, Great photo

16 hours ago, ShooterInTheSix said:

11 months post-op and 122 lbs lost; Sept 2023 on the left and today on the right.

Same shirt, same pants. My mind is constantly blown when I take these monthly progress comparison pix.

Great idea to use the same clothes. Although soon you’re going to need to add suspenders to keep from losing them pants. ?

5 hours ago, ShoppGirl said:

Great idea to use the same clothes. Although soon you’re going to need to add suspenders to keep from losing them pants. ?

They were around my ankles just walking the 10 feet from the camera to the chair.

I wanna join in!!! When I started this journey, I weighed 421 pounds. I was in a size 28/30 and 5x clothes, size 10 ring, and size 11 wide show. Fast forward 2 years and I weigh 176, I'm in size 12/L clothes, size 10 medium shoes and size 5 ring (I actually need a smaller size but that won't fit over my knuckle, so 5 is as low as I can go).

I had high cholesterol (228), I had type 2 diabetes (A1c was 7.9 and glucose averaged around 168-175) and I had high blood pressure (even on meds, my "controlled" bp was averaging 135/85). Now my cholesterol stays around 125-130, my A1c is 5, my glucose was 96 last time it was checked, and my bp actually runs low now (105/58 on average).

I always needed seats with no arms, tables in restaurants because I was so big my stomach would be smooshed against the table in a booth, couldn't sit in movie theater seats, needed a cane to get around because my mobility was so bad and I had so much inflammation in my joints. Snored when I slept. Couldn't stand for very long. No way could I ride a roller coaster or even walk around a theme park. Always needed an aisle seat and seat belt extender on a plane. Now I can sit anywhere I want, in any kind of seat, never need any kind of seatbelt extender, and never be smooshed against anything!!

On another note, I noticed 2 things that still mess with my head. The first is that when I see my reflection in the mirror, I NEVER realize or remember it's me!!! I always think "man, I'd love to get down to that size" and it takes me a while to put 2 and 2 together and remember it's me I'm looking at and I'm already that size lol The other thing that messes with me is something my husband pointed out. When I walk, there's a gap between my thighs and they don't touch or rub against each other. WHAT??? I didn't even realize it!!! So I tried to walk with my thighs rubbing against each other and I ended up tripping myself because my shoes kept hitting against each other lol That was definitely crazy. But I love it!!!

59 minutes ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

I wanna join in!!! When I started this journey, I weighed 421 pounds. I was in a size 28/30 and 5x clothes, size 10 ring, and size 11 wide show. Fast forward 2 years and I weigh 176, I'm in size 12/L clothes, size 10 medium shoes and size 5 ring (I actually need a smaller size but that won't fit over my knuckle, so 5 is as low as I can go).

I had high cholesterol (228), I had type 2 diabetes (A1c was 7.9 and glucose averaged around 168-175) and I had high blood pressure (even on meds, my "controlled" bp was averaging 135/85). Now my cholesterol stays around 125-130, my A1c is 5, my glucose was 96 last time it was checked, and my bp actually runs low now (105/58 on average).

I always needed seats with no arms, tables in restaurants because I was so big my stomach would be smooshed against the table in a booth, couldn't sit in movie theater seats, needed a cane to get around because my mobility was so bad and I had so much inflammation in my joints. Snored when I slept. Couldn't stand for very long. No way could I ride a roller coaster or even walk around a theme park. Always needed an aisle seat and seat belt extender on a plane. Now I can sit anywhere I want, in any kind of seat, never need any kind of seatbelt extender, and never be smooshed against anything!!

On another note, I noticed 2 things that still mess with my head. The first is that when I see my reflection in the mirror, I NEVER realize or remember it's me!!! I always think "man, I'd love to get down to that size" and it takes me a while to put 2 and 2 together and remember it's me I'm looking at and I'm already that size lol The other thing that messes with me is something my husband pointed out. When I walk, there's a gap between my thighs and they don't touch or rub against each other. WHAT??? I didn't even realize it!!! So I tried to walk with my thighs rubbing against each other and I ended up tripping myself because my shoes kept hitting against each other lol That was definitely crazy. But I love it!!!

Congratulations on your many non scale victories. You have done so awesome. For the ring look into “jewelers balls” they are like two ball like dots of gold that go inside the ring to keep It upright. Makes it fit smaller while still allowing it to slide over the knuckle.

34 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

Congratulations on your many non scale victories. You have done so awesome. For the ring look into “jewelers balls” they are like two ball like dots of gold that go inside the ring to keep It upright. Makes it fit smaller while still allowing it to slide over the knuckle.

Thank you!!! I'll have to look into that. I've seen it mentioned on here a few times. Never heard of them before lol

I need to wear my watch on the 4th hole instead of the 3rd hole now! Not bad for 3 days post op!

28 minutes ago, NeonRaven8919 said:

I need to wear my watch on the 4th hole instead of the 3rd hole now! Not bad for 3 days post op!

Wow. Not bad at all. It’s pretty amazing how the changes just keep coming too.

Thanks for sharing everyone.. I pray I experience all of the above.

19 hours ago, TBeauty19 said:

Thanks for sharing everyone.. I pray I experience all of the above.

You will, just hang in there

On 04/18/2021 at 06:24, MandoGetsSleeved said:

Crossing my legs!

Yes. Not quite perfectly yet but I do it all the time now!!

I can bend, stoop and squat to tie my shoes while fully supporting my weight without having to bend forward (if that makes sense?). Before WLS, I suffered a very bad foot injury that caused a lot of my weight gain, one of the things I couldn't do is squat and tie my kids shoes or mine, had to either sit down and do it or bend my body forward with my backside for the whole world to see (not very demure nor mindful LOL).

My Achilles can now support my weight squatting down and my knee caps don't feel like they're going to pop out of their places. I can also sit kneeling down and not feel immense pain and tightness. My knees feel much lighter and my injured foot feels much better too.

Edited October 17, 20241 yr by Lilia_90

New NSV! I got a Pandora bracelet as a gift a few years ago and have built up a collection of charms. (8 or 9) I had to take off 5 of them because they bracelet was too tight! Now I can wear all of them and the bracelet is still a bit loose!

Recently found out a family member got engaged, and for the first time in my life, I'm looking forward to attending the wedding wearing something fabulous! I used to dread (and sometimes skip) attending weddings because it was impossible to find something to wear in my size.

2 hours ago, BigSue said:

Recently found out a family member got engaged, and for the first time in my life, I'm looking forward to attending the wedding wearing something fabulous! I used to dread (and sometimes skip) attending weddings because it was impossible to find something to wear in my size.

I can relate to this. I did that for years. I so wish I could have done this sooner.