DISNEY BRIDE DIETS - How are we all doing? PART 2

[NatsyNoo]

Liz that $600 is nearly all the spends you'll need with DDP. Bottle of wine at TS is about $40 or so I think, tips about $15 so that's $55 per day, so unless you're paying OOP for tonnes of meals and wanting to go crazy with shopping, then that's one thing almost done! Fab!

Busy old day at work again. You're right Liz, it's all exhausting and definitely easier said than done with intentions to exercise for X amount of time, and cook fresh meals, and spend time with family, and keep the house tidy, and take care of bills etc (and Dibb )... but eating well will help those energy levels so it's worth it.

Yes, dinner last night was lovely. Just a small portion of tortellini with tomato herb sauce and a small rocket and parmesan salad with a home made dressing. We can't make our own tomato sauce as Matt doesn't like all the ones I've tried, he only likes jar ones which are expensive and not as healthy but the tortellini was always pretty good points wise on WW so I consider that to be a pretty good meal. It's pasta, yes, but not a lot of it really. I tend to plan my meals so I get several low WW points values ones (as that's how I've always understood nutrition/cals so what is good for me makes sense that way) and a couple of higher ones so very balanced.
Going to do Hollywood workout when I get home and then got lasagne with the leftover rocket and parmesan salad tonight. Enough lasagne to freeze the other half so that's good as it means an easy meal some other time. Think we've got chilli tomorrow, then takeaway Friday (will just have chow mein) and Saturday is the BBQ at lunch and then pasta dinner with Matt but I will either skip the food at the party or just have a light meal and dinner with Matt at home. Sunday will keep light. Checked the scales and things are moving again so I'm happy that last week was just a catch up and I am still doing things right. I hope the exercise helps too but I personally haven't found in the past that it makes a big difference but it does tone etc which is my bigger concern for next year.

We got a VIP slot for Next sale yesterday so looked at preview - I've got a couple of bits put away in store and a couple of things for me and lots for Matt online so hope we have some luck! It's all stuff for his hols next year and there's lots of shorts and shirts etc for him so I hope he has some luck! He's a bit excited about that I think so that's nice.

Yvonne my runs the last two days have actually been about 10.5 minute miles but I'm sure I could have pushed a bit harder and got there. I feel really pleased about that and definitely prefer that route. Less scenic but I don't just feel like I'm going back on myself so it's more encouraging psychologically as I go around. It definitely gets easier after 8 mins or so I find. I think I'll be DVDing tomorrow too as our sale slot opens at 6pm and we want to get in there so I'll do it as soon as I get in and then do sale before shower while Matt cooks dinner. I would like to find time on Friday and should be ok as meal is not til 6.45pm so I should have time. I'd like to run if I can on Friday as I want to increase distance at that pace if I can.

Yvonne sorry I can't help with I Drive as I've only ever stayed onsite (and am frightened to venture off!) but I can help with DVC renting. I hope I'm right when I say the only reason it would be cheaper nearer the time is if a seller is desperate to sell their points and drops the price but there is always the risk that there won't be any for sale. I have mostly seen points for sale at £7 each and a week in a Savannah room during November is 116 points so you'll be looking at £812. It's 16 points per night (18 at weekends) so season matters. Thing is, if you went during free DDP time, you could get your food included which doesn't make it such good value to rent points IMO but you have to weigh up what is best for your needs. In the end we booked DVC accommodation through CO as the free DDP made it better value but price up the options.

Right best get back to work, will check in later
Last Apprentice task tonight with the final (interviews this year) on Sunday night...who's gunna win? My money's on Helen but is that too obvious?!

[Watergirl]

Hey Nat, was going to ask about drink actually, as the bottles seem so expensive, especially at the places that require 2 credits. Do people normally have a bottle or not bother?

Good to hear that will do me nicely for drink and tips though! One less thing to bother about. Yeah, it is hard working, cooking, cleaning etc. We all deserve to win the lottery really. I would make such a good housewife if I had a chef and a cleaner
Next sale sounds promising for you!

Not sure about Apprentice, as we sky plussed a load, but then skipped to the final 5 show, as just no time to catch up on it all.
Did anyone watch Falling Skies the other night?

I've made a cottage pie with cheesy leek topping for dinner, at only 316 cals per portion! Also got a banana bread in the oven. Actually in my mouth now. Am starving again today. Can only think my body is starting to realise I'm dieting and it's rebelling! Also been having white bread, as the shop I went to didn't have the burgen I wanted. Think that might have something to do with it.

Talking of bread, does anyone else think soda bread in Orlando tastes like sponge cake? We had some and said 'mmm, we'll save that and have it for dessert'
As much as I love bread, and salad, I cannot get my head around having loads of bread first as it fills me up, or a salad on it's own, then an appetiser, then a main and then a dessert. I have a pretty big appetite, but don't know how people manage that.

[Watergirl]

double post

[Guest]

Was just having a look at Complete Orlando (is this the best? I hear you all taking about it lol) and AK and its £800 for 5 nights(from our wedding night) in a standard room and £1200 for a savannah view! Think thats a bit much. Saratogo Springs is only £500 for a studio which seems reasonable and there is DDP free as well.

Is that where you said you are staying next year Liz?

Dont mind that price, then we could stay in I drive for a few nights, then Disney for 5 and then Jet off to the carribbean. Gordon may want another few days back on I drive tho... does this sound like too much moving around and organising?

Remember im a novice!

[alkel2730]

Hello everyone,

Just got home from work and had tea. Feeling a bit better tonight, thanks Liz, not quite as knackered but I went to bed super early last night and clearly I needed it as I was trying to read about joints but was out like a light so I’ll have to start my joint chapter again I think. Lol.

It’s funny we were talking about mortgages as we got a letter through from our provider (Nationwide) today saying if we stayed with them we could do the switch online, no form filling or valuations, and they would send us a cheque for £400 as a thank you! Ker-ching! So I had a brief look and it looks like with our LTV we can get 3.89% which is higher than we pay now but doable I think so that’s good. Hopefully on Friday (working from home Liz) we can have a look at swapping it over. If this works as it seems it should this has got to be the smoothest mortgage application I’ve ever been through! Lol. And of course the £400 will come in handy and Alex wants to put it into a business account for us which is a great idea.
My little protégé came back today from her two week holiday, bigger I may add by quite some way, (tut tut) but I told her she was joining the gym and I was gonna train her so she has, so as soon as we get our insurance things through we will start that up which I’m looking forward to.
The rest of the day can be summed up in 2 words: Work sucks. Lol.

Nothing else to report, had good healthy food all day and feel good and exercise fine, clothes feeling looser and not getting much bloating despite doing low GI rather than low carb so that’s good also. I’ve decided to ban ready meals from our household from here on in, Alex is using a great app at the moment – a bit like weightloss resources – and the sodium coming up in some of these ready meals we’ve looked at, well, these manufactures should be ashamed of themselves. Sadly and, quite obviously, deli meats are also quite high so I’m trying to stick to real meats/fish – chicken, turkey, beef, tuna – that kind of thing with no added salts but it’s hard cutting out my ham but hey ho, I’m on a mission at the moment.

Liz – Wow, great find on the Fairfx there! That will be a good chunk of your holiday money. We had a bottle at the Yachtsmans and I went for the cheapest white they had and it was $60 but to be honest the food portions are so big that it was almost a struggle to drink it all if that makes sense (and trust me, gimme a straw normally and I’ll drink a whole bottle like an alcopop) so I’m gonna stick to cocktails and glasses next time rather than bottles. Besides $60 for a bottle is scandalous really when you think about it isn’t it? It’s only bloody Blue Nun! I’m going to get some in the room though and have a drink on our balcony on a night. We tended to have a couple of drinks with the meal rather than the bottle aside from that one night.

We will set a date to meet and have some drinks at DTD. There’s a nice bar there called Paradiso 37 that I’ve always wanted to try or House of Blues has an outdoor bar area either, both seem nice places to go for a drink. Or we could even go to Jellyrolls on the boardwalk or something but that seems a bit daft when we are next to DTD, who else is there then? I think Kim is?
Saying about the bottle, actually with us two at it, might be cheaper to buy a bottle when I meet you! Lol.

I know what you mean about cooking. I got in tonight and I was supposed to do a salad which doesn’t sound much but its quite a lot of different elements to prepare so instead I shoved a chicken breast and a sweet potato each in the oven and set some fresh green beans on to boil and then some frozen cauli, broccoli, peas and carrots on to boil too and basically just left it for half an hour! I so couldn’t be assed to chop, slice, and prepare. It’s a shame cause I like cooking and I like eating well but I’m so tired by this time but I’ll have to try harder, not that tea wasn’t good stuff but just not what planned.

LOL – the hips are always our problem!. I said this exact thing to one of my friends today as she emailed me and was like ‘’Argh my top half is thin but my bottom half is still huge and everyone is saying I look gaunt in my face! I’m so frustrated, what can I do? Can Alex do me a plan?’’ and I just said the only thing she can do is keep on with the cardio and it will happen, particularly now she’s lost all her upper body weight as the fat loss will now attack the bottom.
Alex said it’s very hard for women as we naturally have bigger hips and we naturally carry more fat that men and fat grabs our hips - that’s where it likes to go and to slim down and lose fat just takes time. Trouble with my friend is that she’s training for a marathon at the moment and so she obviously running a lot and of course running can cause your leg muscles to grow in size and if the muscles are under the fat, they look even bigger, so it’s a toughie for her. I also advised her to do upper body weights to try and balance herself out a bit more, give the illusion of being in proportion.
We do have it tough though Liz and if you ever find that magic wand zapper – send it my way! Lol.
No, I haven’t tried horse riding but fair fancy the Segway though!

Bex – the food sounds good, but like Liz I’d say just make sure you shove some veg in that evening meal if possible, best thing you can do for your body is keep your metabolism ticking over by regular eating, its all about quality and quantity, you have the quality down just need to watch the quantity and by that I mean not too low cals so your body goes into starvation mode and not too high cals so it has excess calories and stores it as fat, just in the middle somewhere! Lol. What did you have in salad and in your frittata?

Cripes you do, do long days and 6 days a week that is immense! If you can do days like that and make it to the gym, nobody has any excuse against that, I’m well impressed!

Yvonne – I’ll skip the bit about Coco, DVC (although I will say never leave it late to book DVC, its not quite like normal holiday bookins 7 months out tops) and CO as they have been covered. We are going to Saratoga as well as Kim and Liz but we booked through Travel City Direct, go for the cheapest as they are all much of a muchness but pay on credit card in case they go under as you'll get your money back.

I did think last night of the Floriday’s resort which is on south I drive and is supposed to be lovely – it’s a dibber favourite although I’ve never been myself but perhaps you can consider that too?

Its up to you on the moving thing and how you feel about it, personally I don’t like it, I don’t travel light and I absolutely hate all that packing and unpacking and having to check out at 11 and then not being able to check back in until 4 and having all our valuables and luggage in storage and having to cut days short to get back and check in, not being able to go to the pool as you have to transport wet stuff, calling bell services to pick stuff up, tipping bell service, carting luggage around – not for me! In fact we did it on the honeymoon and I swear it robbed us of the first few days, as I just couldn’t settle at all. But then again that’s just me and some people love to move and experience different places, I love to open my suitcase, hang all my 9 hour flight crumpled clothes up or put them in drawers, unpack and go and not have to think about it again.
In fact I really really hated it. But don’t let me put you off! Like I say some people love it, but then again some people love backpacking and that kind of stuff but I hate even the idea of it! Lol.
Organising it will be fine though, many travel agents will help you or you can DIY which is what we normally do but if you go for SSR with free DDP you’ll need an agent for that.

Natalie – I’m pleased for you the running is going well and you are getting into it. Hope the DVD goes well tonight. I think Helen or Jim to win apprentice myself.
Hopefully you can find a white cardie from the Next sale.

Okay I’m off now to do my weights and boxing.

B: shake and Burgen bread (2)
S: plain nuts
L: shake and some beef
D: chicken, sweet potato and veg. SF jelly.

30 min weights, 30 min boxing.

[Watergirl]

Hey Yvonne, yes I'm at Saratoga Springs (SSR) and so is Kel and Kim next year, but Kel has stayed at AK and it looks amazing. We get the free DDP but you have to book by 31st July to get this.

Are you planning on having a car? What is it about i-drive that attracts you? Just asking, because if it's the nightlife then that is what always attracted me. Since coming on here I know that Downtown Disney has just as good a night life, but you can always taxi it to i-drive if you wanted to.

Entirely up to you about moving around. I'm not a fan and I don't think Kel is, because we're settlers (lol, sounds very funny put like that) I think we both spend a while getting ready and like our hair and makeup and things all laid out in their place!
There are lots of people who like moving around though. Although I think if you did i-drive, then Disney, then i-drive again, then Caribbean, you'd be shattered.

Everyone is different, but I know after our wedding we were emotionally and physically drained and we'd have probably had a better time if we had slightly slowed things down a little and not crammed so much in and moved around so much.

We are doing 2 weeks in SSR, with tickets included and free dining and it's coming to £2500 or thereabouts, but that's for 1 bed villa, as Dan lies in and I don't (he'd be nagging me about noise if I didn't have a separate place to go!) Think it was nearer to £1800 for 2 weeks, so it depends. Just wanted to let you know the options as I've always felt night life = idrive or Universal, but turns out I was wrong!

Dan is going to be a later tonight, so I'm catching up on telly. Supernatural watched and onto Brothers and Sisters. Dan has developed an unhealthy obsession with some American cr*p programmes he found over there. Pawn Stars, Storage Wars and such like. Can't see the fascination myself, but then he doesn't like my programmes and they're pretty much all American dramas.

[alkel2730]

Oh hang on, got confused bottle of wine was $37 not $60, just said to Alex ''did we really pay $60 for a bottle of wine?!'' and he was like ''no, it was $37 you are getting confused with something else''

[Watergirl]

Lol double post - how do we do it?!

Kel - glad you're feeling a bit better today. Sometimes it's good to just have a sleep catch up. That mortgage is good and sounds so easy! I'd have jumped on it. Great that you'll be able to use that money for the business too.
I had no idea what you were on about with joints there for a minute. I was thinking you were talking about your trippie for some reason and thinking 'did she have some sort of strange experience with a joint?!'

I think what you've suggested is exactly right for us with the wine. We only had one glass each at Emerils when we went as they were $10 a glass. I do think it's a lot if you're eating out a lot, so we bought some wine for the room and it was a lot cheaper.

DTD for a meet up sounds great. Defo you, me and Kim, but wondering if anyone else is there at that time. Shame we're all not really. I was looking at Jellyrolls the other day, as would love to go - we went to Howl at the Moon on idrive and loved it, but we got a cocktail bucket thing (thinking, hardened drinkers, we'd be fine) well I think it must have had so much sugar and enumbers in it, it made us both feel quite ill. I could have stayed a bit longer, but Dan was really rough and very sick when we got back to the room. That'll learn us! I gave the rest of the bucket to a table full of girls on a hen and they were absolutely amazed and so happy and grateful!

I love House of Blues. I can remember having a very green cocktail there first time I ever went to Orlando, something to do with a Gator if I remember rightly. Met another couple there, but my miserable ex was unsociable and didn't want to go out, so I went out with them and we have a fab time!

Heard of Paradiso 37, but never been.

Your dinner sounds tasty and a lot easier than mine, which I almost wish I hadn't started - cottage pie with cheesy leek topping. Loving, recipe by Delia with half the potatoes and exchanged for sweet potatoes, so really low GI too. Took an age! Got one to freeze though for next week.

Will send you that zapper if I ever find it. Seems a lot of us are cursed with this.

Haha at your description of moving around, as that is exactly what we thought. It's a pain. Maybe one move isn't too bad, but we had Gatwick Hotel, then Homewood, then Universal, then Siesta Key. Never again!

[Watergirl]

Originally Posted by alkel2730

Oh hang on, got confused bottle of wine was $37 not $60, just said to Alex ''did we really pay $60 for a bottle of wine?!'' and he was like ''no, it was $37 you are getting confused with something else''

See more...

At Emerils we didn't see any under about $50 sadly. Not sure why this should be a problem as we were happy spending $10 on a cocktail!

[bexlee1]

Evening all,

Couldn't face the gym tonight so walked the 3 miles home instead!

Liz that cottage pie sounds awsome? Is it in one of Delia's books? I struggle as my OH Lee is strictly a 'cook from a box in the freezer' kind of guy. He doesnt like veg or fruit or what I would call 'normal' food. Has anyone else ever heard of a non vegetarian bloke who doesn't like steak?!

My salads usually constist of lettuce, cherry toms, cucumber, pepper and spring onion. My fritatta was ham,mushrooms, red onion, orange pepper and eggs with a little bit of grated cheese on the top. It was lovely, I make one and it does for 2 days lunches, had the rest today actually.

Yvonne- we have got the rest of our holiday booked with CO staying at the Rosen Inn at pointe Orlando where Amy has just stayed. They have been great so far, their customer service is fab. We stayed at the Homewood last year too and that was a great hotel but like everyone else has said not very honeymooney (i dont even think thats a real word lol)
I think the reason we got our stay so cheap is 'cause its november before thanksgiving and after halloween and we are stying tues and weds night which is less points than thursday onwards.

Anyhow im going to cook my tea and put the kettle on, chicken stir fry with edame beans tonight. Be back later