Hi WISH'ers
We had a perfectly wonderful time!! In all, I gained only 1/2 pound on this two week trip, far better than I have ever done in the past. I loved wearing my new "old" clothes that I thought would never fit me again. This contributed to some serious overpacking! I had enough clothes for a month; last cruise (in April), I could barely find stuff that fit. I was 35 lbs heavier then.
I have a lot to say about this vacay, but wanted to share some things I've learned about food and fitness-wise. I was so scared about gaining TONS, especially since I am using an ECV, pending knee replacements...
The food on the Dream was "dreamy" in the Royal Palace and in Enchanted Garden. Honestly, some of the best sea bass I've ever had was in EG. The desserts were also Deee-lish. I didn't restrict myself much on the cruise, but I note that I ate differently than I did on past cruises, when it was nothing for me to get two apps, a meal and two desserts and run the buffets! This time, I'd get one app. If I skipped the soup and the other app looked good, I had that app for the "soup and salad" course. Apps were small, so that worked. One main, no matter what. One dessert, except for once! LOL
In the a.ms, we had a continental breakfast delivered by room service. At home, all I usually eat for bf is a cup of cereal, so I ordered that. One day, I ordered a bagel instead. Added a cup of tea and split a fruit bowl with my DH and I was good to go. It was ever so nice! We really enjoyed our quiet and peaceful breakfast on our stateroom balcony. I recommend Room service as an alternative to a big, calorie laden breakfast buffet.
For lunch, I grabbed sushi from Cabanas or a half of a wrap from the fast food place (can't remember the name) with a piece of fruit. Maybe 3 shrimp, too. Of course, I indulged at the BBQ on
Castaway Cay. (THe ribs were fabulous!) You can eat healthy on Castaway Cay, but I just had to give in to everything there.
One day, I gave in to the Chocolate Pudding Cake at Cabanas, which was a rich chocolate cake, slathered in pudding, and topped with ice cream (you could top that with whipped cream and chocolate or caramel syrup). This may have accounted for my half pound gain all by itself.
Key for me: I did not hang out at the Adult Quiet Cove, which is just too darn close to all those tempting desserts at the Cove Cafe. Instead, I found a perfectly quiet and comfortable chair on Deck 4 and enjoyed the waves and reading. Proximity to food kills me, and I had to keep my distance. My willpower is so weak when I see and smell food.
Limited myself to one small plate of food on Pirate's night. What a tempting dessert buffet! They were making fresh crepes! Could have avoided these, but chose not to. Had a lovely strawberry and chocolate crepe. OK, had two--they were small! LOL
Beverages- (adult and otherwise)- We brought on one bottle of wine four the four nights and a small bottle of rum which we enjoyed greatly at Castaway Cay. Being the daughter of a tavern owner, I've learned a thing or two about drink-making! LOL. I made a shake with a blend of Chocolate and Banana soft serve ice cream, swirled with rum. Okay, I made two of them. Hey, I was on Castaway Cay on a perfect day and iced tea just wasn't going to cut it! LOL. We had our Hydroflasks, and so most of the time, kept those filled with Crystal Lite or just plain ice water and lemon. In the past, it would have been nothing for us to split a bottle of wine each day.
TIP: Hit the gym! OMGosh, the exercise equipment on the Dream is beautiful! On 2 out of the 4 days, I used the recumbent bike or the elliptical. I prolly overdid the elliptical, which is set up to look out at the sea, so I was happy to keep on truckin' on that. I had never even looked at a gym while on a cruise in the past. I'm a believer now. Loved it. They had the same brand of equipment at the resorts. Hey, you're paying for it! Use it! LOL
I didn't have to use my ECV much on the ship, though WDW was a different story.
We got pedometers for Christmas, so used those to keep track of steps. I made it a point to park the ECV as much as I could and walk . I usually walked about 1.5 miles/day, sometimes a little more. I do have to say that this well exceeded my limit, and I'm paying some for this now. I can hardly wait for that surgery next month when they can fix one of my knees. Thank goodness for that EVC, which we rented at Apple Scooters.
Eating at WDW. One night, we had a pizza at Via Napoli (split it), which was worth every calorie. Loved it there. Ate twice at Be Our Guest. The food was okay, but nothing special. In fact, I wouldn't return there--service is so rushed, room is so noisy and if you get a bad table, it's a dining disaster (I'll provide a review on Restaurant board).
We stayed at the BW Villas in a one bedroom. (This is our home resort). We rented a car, went to the Publix on Apopka, and stocked up on the "usuals", but this time, the "usuals" included LOTS of fruit and veggies. . We prepared every other meal in the room. Breakfast was easy--usually just cereal and maybe a cup of greek yogurt. I brought a small insulated cooler bag from home for lunches--it was about the size of a medium sized purse). I bought sandwich bags at Publix (good for lots of stuff) and each day, filled two with water and froze them to make an ice pack. Tossed it in the cooler with my food. Lunch was usually a half sandwich (turkey breast or something like that), topped with lots of good veggies, and a portion of Popchips or pretzels (around 120 cals). We had grapes or fruit as a midmorning or midafternoon snack.
TIP: Rent a car for just one day, and you can make a grocery run. We rented ours at the National desk right at the Dolphin. There are other on property places where you can rent cars. If you don't want to rent a car, consider allowing the Garden Grocer or a similar company to shop and deliver for you.
There are lots of nice little out of the way places to have lunch around the World. We were lucky that the parks we chose each day were NOT terribly crowded (except on 2 -4) January. I think our fave place to hideaway was the tables in back of Tusker House. Absolutely no one was there. Of course, if the counter serves are running full, DO NOT take up a table. But, if you eat later in the afternoon, there's no problem.
TIP: If you want to lunch on your own, bring a little tupperware container for your sandwiches and fruit. Those babies are perfect for lots of stuff. Your lunch will stay cool, and you can use the empty ones to contain small items on your way home. A portable insulated bag comes in plenty handy. Use lockers to store your lunch if you don't fell like carrying it around all morning. But, really, it's not heavy at all.
We carried our Hydroflasks in the parks as well, and the ice remained well intact all day long. TIP-- Consider purchasing one.
Dinners- Except for three dinners out, I made dinner in the room. One night, I broiled a very nice steak. Unfortunately, I set it a little to close to the broil element. It's not a vacation until you set off the hotel smoke detectors, right? I called down to the front desk right away and let them know that there was no need to send up RCFD to our room! They were very nice about it. Steak was tasty--I think the extra char added something special. I made up a baked potato and some broccoli, with a strawberry salad for that one. On other nights, I made spaghetti and meatballs, pork chops, chicken breasts, and stuff like that. It was easy enough to cook fresh vegetables (red peppers, mushrooms, onions, carrots just about anything) or some rice as a side dish. We had a nice green salad each night as well, topped with Ken's lite Balsamic vinagrette. For dessert, we had our usual Weight Watchers ice cream bar. I did bring some brandy filled chocolates from home: we had one each while watching fireworks from our balcony. Nice.
TIP: You can bring some non-perishables like some basic seasonings, etc from home and have more room in your suitcase for your return. I brought herb blends and they were great. I also bought a little bottle of olive oil from Publix. I'll keep the bottle and re-fill it for our next trip.
Alcohol: We went up to the Top of the Lounge at Bay Lake Towers and I indulged in a chocolate martini, so totally worth the calories. We also had a glass of wine with dinner (5 oz pours). Publix had a great selection of wines.
So, overall, I learned that I can indulge on a long vacay as long as I eat normally at least 2/3 of the time. I was so worried that I would gain a LOT more, but I can make this 1/2 pound disappear within the week, I suspect.
TIP--You can save some serious $$$ by making your own healthy meals at Disney. (We dropped around 80-100 bucks on each dining out: total food bill from Publix, including 5 bottles of decent wine was about $225 for ten days--That comes to just $22 per day for BOTH me and my DH. Choose meals that take about 30 minutes to prep and cook--you're on vacation! A carry in lunch takes only 5 minutes to prep and beats standing in long lunch lines at the QS places. Even if you have only a hotel room or studio, you can still make breakfast and lunch there. Rent a small fridge if you have to.
Well, time to unpack and get back to reality. Hope these tips and experiences may be of a little benefit to WISH members.