I’m sure most of you have heard, if not used the term NSV or non-scale victory. I for one have experienced many NSV’s during my journey from 400+ lbs. Coming to terms with the fact that success is not only measured on the scale, was a game-changer for me, as I am sure it has been for many of you.
These victories come in all forms… some fairly expected (buying smaller clothing, no longer exceeding weight limits) others are a little more surprising (better sleep, folks not recognizing you) and in the case of my latest, some are totally off the radar!
A few days ago I went to renew my driver’s license. I had to go into the DPS office to renew (as opposed to renewing by mail, or online) because my DL had expired while we were in Florida for Dopey, Princess, etc. I did give a fleeting thought to getting a Florida DL but put that idea on hold for now at least. Anyway, I figured it wasn’t all bad, having an updated picture on my DL would be nice since the old one was about 10 years and 160 or so pounds ago. Long story short, I handed in my paperwork and stepped in front of the camera, gave my best mugshot grin, and snap… all done. Or not. “Hmmmm?”, said the DPS employee at the computer. Then, “Let’s try that again”. I stepped back in front of the blue backdrop and snap… done? Ummm… nope. Now the “hmmm?” was accompanied by some tapping of keys, and a closer look back at my old license. By this time, I was certain it had finally happened. I really had broken the camera. “Is there a problem?”, I asked. She said, “well, the software is telling me the new photo is not you. You’ve lost some weight haven’t you?” “Yeah, like 160lbs”, I laughed. We tried again. The third time (and some magic keystrokes) seemed to be the charm. The DPS computer was finally satisfied that I and the random guy on my old DL were indeed the same person, albeit somewhat less of that person.
So yeah, NSV’s can come at you from many directions. Sometimes your clothes are a little looser, sometimes the DPS facial recognition software doesn’t recognize you. Either way, keep up the good work, and…
“keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things”
-Walt Disney
