Non Scale Victories

Ahhh, the dreaded stall. Every WLS patient and dieter has them. You're doing everything you're supposed to do and you're working out, drinking water, but the scale just isn't moving. Or, it's dancing around between two numbers. How frustrating!!

How do you deal with a stall? For me, I try to concentrate on the Non Scale Victories, or NSVs. Sometimes I think I worry about NSVs more than the scale numbers. That's good in my opinion. It means that the scale isn't ruling my life. Don't get me wrong, I'm ecstatic when the scale shows a lower number, or a new decade, or, better yet, a new century. I sent a text to everyone I know the day I hit the 200's and I did a happy dance in my bathroom that I'm very happy wasn't filmed! It was a great day.

Sometimes, though, the scale doesn't move at all...for days. I could very easily start thinking that my WLS isn't working, or is done working. That's when I have to start looking for changes that aren't related to the scale. During my last stall, I actually managed to walk out of a pair of work pants. I put them on, buttoned, zipped, then started to walk and they dropped to the floor. I just stood there for a few minutes in awe that my pants were pooled at my feet. At first it didn't even register that pants on the floor meant they were officially WAY too big for me. I'd lost an entire size!

After that, I started really looking for those NSVs because losing that full size meant as much to me as losing 10 pounds on the scale.

Some of my recent ones are:

1.  I had to adjust how I sit when I drive. My seat belt used to dig into my hip, so I sat far to the left. Now I sit dead in the middle of the seat and that seat belt doesn't bite me anymore.
2.  I had to buy new undies, in a smaller size!
3.  I can sit in a booth at a restaurant without the table digging into my belly.
4.  I walked the length of the mall AND back without feeling like I was going to die.
5.  My towel now wraps around me with a very small overlap. Before that wasn't happening at all!
6.  I'm starting to like pictures of me. Yeah, I'm still fat, but the pictures show me that I am making progress.

It seems like I lose pounds, then my body shrinks while I'm in a stall. So, I need to learn to embrace the stalls just as much as I embrace seeing the numbers drop.