piercedqt78

A great way to avoid taking big bites is to use baby silverware. I bought the disposable animal shaped spoons and forks, made my dixie (I think) for about $4 (8 spoons, 8 forks), they are reusable but cheap enough to toss. I carried a set in my purse for restaurant use. They were great, small and really helped control the size of my bites. ~Mandy

We are the exact same size and have the same delima. My hubby also says I am great where I am, I want to lose another 20ish pounds. I also have to have a lower body lift. That will take another 12 or so pounds off. I am in a jr 11, but want to be in an 8. We will see what happens. ~Mandy

Ask about IBS Irritable Bowel Syndrome. That is a huge symptom, of IBS, it can also be constipation. There are several meds out there that help with it. I have the same problem if I eat chicken or eggs. The doc says I don't process the bacteria in those items very well. If I cook these things at home, I am fine, if I order them out I better be close to home. ~Mandy

What they are referring to is acid reflux. When you have reflux problems stomach acid comes back up in your throat when you lay flat. This is a result of being overweight or having your band too tight. I have never really experienced either. I have had my band for 19 months and have never had the feeling of choking even when having a really bad PB. I do get the stuck feeling, more of a sharp pain in the middle of my chest, what some refer to as a golfball. I try walking, it usually makes it pass, if not I pb and it is gone. Never a choking sensation though. Hope this helps. ~Mandy

We did the white elephant giving one time. I end up with the worst, it was a tin that appeared to have fudge in it, but when I opened it, it was filled with rocks and stale bread. I am going to a white elephant gifting this year and everyone has to bring a good gift and a gag gift. I am bringing a black and decker gizmo as my real gift and a gift certificate for the recipiant to come over and do my laundry as my gag. ~Mandy

I usually order fish or shrimp if they are on the menu, both reheat well. I will also order an appitizer or side dish. We often order 2 meals for my DH, DD and myself. Usually my DD and I share a meal. She isn't much for hot dogs and chicken tenders, and I would prefer her to eat a more healthy meal over a kids meal. ~Mandy

I too have a healthy BMI, but am not at the goal I have set for myself. My doctor is totally pleased with my band results. We just talked about the fact that they consider me a great success. I lost more that 80% of my excess weight, that is the goal with the band. I am there, but want to go further. I have another 15 or pounds to go but most of that is skin. It will go when I have the lower body lift next year. ~Mandy

All is good in my neck of the woods. Abi saw the doctor today for a followup and she is still saying eczema, but with a new script for a new steroid creme and something by mouth for the itching. She went to school yesterday and again today, woohoo! I went to Meijer (kinda like walmart) and walked around in a daze, no kid and I was able to order a quick starbucks latte and enjoy that while walking. I still don't have a clue as to what I want for Christmas. My MIL is getting me the cordless vac that I wanted for my stairs. I also asked for a spa thingy for the tub, it's under the tree sometimes you have to make sure the right thing gets bought . I am going to get the princess off the bus, I'll be back later. ~Mandy

Consider the fact that after banding the Metformin might be a thing of the past, weight loss will do that for you. Also consider, fills, follow-up appointments, I go every 3 months and have a panel of blood work done at that time. I also have my fills under flouro, that can be expensive. ~Mandy

Most doctors have a form that they want filled out. Ask for that form and any psych doctor can do the eval. I know that the group that I use gives a basic form and the patient takes it with them to the eval and gets it filled out. Simple as that. ~Mandy

I am 20 pounds from goal but 12ish will come off with the lower body lift. I went from a tight 22/24 to a jr 11 now. I couldn't be happier! ~Mandy

Hubby and I get something for the house and then something small for each other. This year we got a vcr DVD burner combo for the house and he is getting supplies for painting his garage. I am getting a spa mat for the bath, it does heated bubbles. woohoo!!! Most of out speanding is on the nieces and nephews and of course Abi. I also get small gifts for our pets. ~Mandy

Thanks about the tattoos, I love them. It depends on the policy, some require 6 months of medically supervised weightloss attempts some don't. I would call the prospective surgeon and ask about their billing codes, then call the insurance company and ask about the policy regarding banding. You will need the codes that they bill with, or they will give you generic information that might be incorrect. I was told the weightloss surgery was covered with a certain set of guidlines, then when I submitted for preapproval I was told that the band was excluded due to it being exerimental. I fought that and won. Make sure you note each and every call that is made to the insurance and the employer, write down the date, time and persons name. This can be a huge help, if you need any help or have any questions please let me know. ~Mandy

I am almost fisinshed shopping, only a few gifts left to buy. I am having the in-laws over before the holidays to exchange gifts and we will have a big dinner, then we are going to my mom's for Christmas eve. We spend Christmas day at home, my mom and step-dad come over for dessert. I am spent about $600 so far, and still have another $200 or so to go. Plus buying 2 dinners. ~Mandy

I have 2 people that are interested. I have some summer stuff I think they are 14 and 16. I will look when I get back, we are running out shoe shopping. The other person PM'd me so I guess all is spoken for now. ~Mandy

I mentioned in a previous post that I had some clothing to give away at the next get together. I have 4 full sized kitchen garbage bags to give away. I need the room now, so if anybody wants them, they range from 14 to xxl 18's. I am in Romeoville, shoot me a PM and let me know if you want them, they are in washing now. They have been in a garage for about a year so they were a bit musty. ~Mandy

Depends on the policy, sounds like you definatly qualify for the band. Do you have 6 months of medically supervised weightloss programs? Does the policy cover WLS? If so do they cover the band? Ask the surgeon that you are considering what CPT code they use and then call and ask the insurance company. Good luck, Mandy

The dvd recorder I bought was at walmart and it was an off brand. My walmart had tons of them and they were available online also. Here is the link to what they have online, there are some good deals on there. If you have a VCR you can link it to a dvd recorder and you don't need the combo, we don't have a vcr anymore but have plenty of vhs tapes, LOL. I bought this one to record movies off of HBO and to copy Abi's past christmas tapes and the tape of her ultrasound. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=105664&fromPageCatId=62055&catNavId=62055 ~Mandy

Trees up, the windows are decorated and Santa is gonna wrap tonight. I am getting ready to start a couch throw sized for Abi tonight. It is a Disney Princess design, the princesses are on a stair case, I am going to quilt around their dresses and the stairs. It will have a bright pink back, and I am doing double batting. This is my second attempt at quilting anything. I didn't make the top or bottom, I bought the fabric panel and I am just adding some quilted texture to it. The last one was a wall hanging, I cut 13 x 13 squares of pastel fabric and had the characters at Disney sign them with fabric markers. I then sewed them together to make a top and I found the coolest pinstriped fabric for the back. I quilted them and trimed it with princess satin border. It hangs on Abi's wall. I am no pro, that's for sure, but I like doing it. Actually I just setup my machine in the basement this week, I am going to start and hopefully finish this project before Christmas. I would love to give it to her for Christmas eve. I will keep you all updated on the progress. I have an advantage with this whole holiday thing, I am a stay at home mom and my only child has been home from school for 2 weeks. I have had a ton of time to get stuff done. LOL, I am soooo ready for her to go back to school. I love her to pieces but I need a few hours each day with no tv, no whining and not having to make food, drinks or anything else for anyone else. Sounds bad huh? ~Mandy

I have the 100 calorie bags at least once a week with my daughter. So I actually get about 40 or so calories. That is one of the few snacks that I have. I think it's a good choice, 40 calories, very little fat and I am filled up and not continuing to snack. We usally watch a movie and share a bog od popcorn on at least one weekend night. It's better for me than chips, or candy. ~Mandy

I have to wrap, if I don't stuff gets found. I have game night at my house on a regular basis and the people that come for game night are the people getting the gifts that have been laying on my futon in the basement for the last 2 weeks. I had to hide them in my car for Thanksgiving. LOL. Now my trunk is filled with Barbie stuff, Abi is also bad about getting into closets and other hiding places. Tonight I am bringing it all in and wrapping that stuff, what a job that is. She asked for a bunch of small things so that means tons to wrap. Santa wraps everything in matching paper, I bought 6 rolls at the dollar store, it has Disney Princesses on it with jewel tone background, really very pretty and not babyish at all. She is getting a ton of Barbie stuff and a cotton candy maker from Santa and her grandma got her art supplies and a kids mp3 player (has tinkerbell on it). My mom got her games for her v.smile (a learning video game system) and more barbies. We are going to give her the play doh stuff and several barbie dvds. I am totally finished with her shopping and I have 5 of my 7 nieces and nephews totally done. of the other 2 one gets a gift card and the other is 1/2 done. My DH is done, my inlaws are almost all done. I have had a ton of time with Abi being home sick. I did a bunch of online shopping and some black friday deals. I have a small list left and then I am done. I have a phobia of crowds, and if I am not done by the first of December the ones that are not bought for have to get gift cards. ~Mandy

Happy belated b-day Cindy hope it was great. Hi all, well I survived Black Friday. I got soooo many good deals, and had a blast doing it. This was the first year I had to go alone, but I did ok anyway. I went a bit later this year, I am usually in line at 3am or so. This year I didn't even get up until 7:30. I really didn't have that many things that were door busters. It was mostly price adjustments for previous purchases. It helps to have the ads early. :girl_hug: I did buy a few things for my in-laws and I got a few good deals for some extras for Abi. I got her a huge pack of play doh for $2 and a cool play doh activity table for $15 at Walmart. That is one of her favorite things, playing with play doh, and now that she has the activity table she won't have to play on the dining room table anymore. I also got DH a dvd recorder/vcr combo, that was really all he asked for and I got one for $99. I got tons of stocking stuffers and some candles for my house. We have a hardware chain here called Menards and they have a great day after sale. They have good prices anyway but they are really cheap for the day after. I got handheld suduko for $3. The 18 oz jar candles were only $2, and I got bath sets for the teen girls in dh's family for $4.88 and they are actually really nice. I had to do some rebuying yesterday. We don't have to ToysR'Us near us, it's over an hour away. Well I did major shopping there with my MIL and SIL 2 weeks ago for my niece and nephew. Of course everything I bought was way cheaper at target and walmart yesterday and I wasn't going to drive all that way for a price adjustment so I rebought the items at target and walmart and I am going to return to TRU. If it were minimal I would have just let it go, but I saved like $60. Over all I saved over $300 yesterday. I am wrapping today and Abi is working on her school work that she missed. She only has a few worksheets and she is all caught up. I will check in later, when I get some wrapping done. ~Mandy

Today I am thankful for my friends here at LBT. I set my alarm 15 mins early so I could pop in and say Hi!! I hope each and everyone of my NJ friends/band sisters has a wonderful Thanksgiving. I love you guys. ~Mandy

It's great that more and more companies are covering it. Seems a huge waste of money for them to deny it when they know they will lose in appeals. I guess they figure that making you appeal also weeds out those that are not serious??? ~Mandy

We are frying the turkey, and one for a friend. I made the deviled eggs tonight while DH peeled and chopped the potatos for the mashed, they are boiled and ready to be finished tomorrow. I have several cans of cranberry sauce in the fridge and several bags of frozen veggies ready to go. My mom is making sweet potato casserole, and pie. My sister is making ham and green ban casserol. I only have to cook the veggies, mash the taters, and heat the premade pies that I bought. There are going to be 13 of us tomorrow, I'm glad it's almost over. I also have my tree up and decorated tonight. I will post pics sometime this weekend, Abi helped decorate it and it looks really pretty and fun. I think I mentioned the second rash she had developed. It's eczema, and it's a bad case. She is on a steroid cream and several applications of body cream a day until it's all cleared up. Then we have to continue the body cream all winter. Poor baby the treatment for the pox has made her skin so dry and sore, she is misarable, but getting better fast. I will check in tomorrow after everyone leaves. Happy Turkey day all. ~Mandy