Weightloss Update: Where I Am

It's been awhile since I've been here talking about weight, dieting, my mentality in it all... It's been mostly Disney World this and Disney World that which is great, but I'm taking a break today to just talk about weightier things (hilarious, right?).

found on interest

Weightloss has been REALLY REALLY REALLY hard for me since I stopped HCG.  I regret (yes, REGRET) not tacking 4 more weeks onto my plan to lose the last 10lbs I needed to to reach my goal.  I wanted to finish with Weight Watchers.  I was ready to go at it on my own.  I couldn't pay another chunk of money to keep going.  The timing worked out to finish since I started the stabalizing plan the day after Josh's Grandpa passed away and we left for California and that was SIGNIFICANTLY easier to do than the HCG program would have been while traveling.  SO I shouldn't regret it.  The decision was right.  But losing these 10, no, now 15lbs in post has been so hard!!!

The first few weeks I pretty much maintained and gained a little.  I expected that because I immediately started eating more Weight Watchers and less clean.  Then I lost.  I started Weight Watchers at 170 and got down to 164 within a few months (just in time for our anniversary).  9lbs to go!  And then at 16 weeks into Weight Watchers when I finished my first book, I was 170.  So in the course of 16 weeks I basically lost and gained 6lbs thus becoming great at maintaining 170lbs.  That sucked.  And guess what?  After 16 weeks I could have afforded that last 4 weeks of HCG.  I was paying the same amount and not hitting lifetime as quickly as I thought I would.  SUPER disappointing. 

 So last week I was more intentional in my workouts.  I had done running and T25 until we bought a coffee table on our anniversary trip.  Since stopping T25 I upped my running game a ton, but my arms and stomach are flabbier because they're not being faithfully worked.  It felt good to work up a plan in my head to target these areas in addition to daily running.  I also stopped eating carbs 2 days in the week to balance out 2 days I didn't track points in the week.  It worked and I got back to 169lbs.

There's still SO many good and positive changes in my life because of what I did.  I have to remember that.  I'm a runner now.  I'm running a 5k in 30 days with my sister and I'm running a half in the OKC Memorial marathon.  I've learned I LOVE distance running and each week I look forward to a long Saturday run (I'm training for the half by adding a half mile each Saturday to my distance - I hit 7 this last week!).  I used to hate running and couldn't do it and didn't try.  Now I can run without stopping 1 hour and 17 minutes.  That blows my mind!

I've learned to make healthier eating decisions.  I've learned balance.  If I spend a day eating junk, I need to spend the next two days eating well.  I've learned how to maintain a weight for a long period of time.  These are all good, good, good things!  These are all things that indicate I've changed and even though I "held" 170lbs, I did HOLD 170lbs and then start going back down and I'm not on my way back to 250lbs.

And yet... I'm still 15lbs from my goal.  I'd like to lose 20 more pounds.  Then I will have lost 100lbs!  I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out what my current mental hang ups are with all of this.  Why am I content to maintain and not lose?  Because I am really, really content.  Except for feeling devastated when I hit 170 (my panic weight), I've been fine with the little gains and losses the last several months.  I think there are a lot of reasons...

We're talking about if we should try for baby 3 this next year (my IUD "expires" next December) and at this point I know I could reach a goal and not have a long time to sit there before I get pregnant.  The same applies to goals.  If I reached mine I'd be a size 8/S and would need another new wardrobe again and I feel bad spending more money on clothes and then outgrowing them when pregnant... Just a lot of hypothetical mental talk.  I also feel if I can master maintaining this weight, I'll do better gaining less weight while pregnant.  My Mom pointed out though that if I gain 30lbs at 150, I'll end at 180, but if I gain 30lbs at 170 I'll end at 200.  Well I NEVER want to see 200 again even when pregnant!!!

I'm also telling myself I'm enjoying this phase.  And I am! I worked hard to get here!  I feel pretty confident in my body (aside from my stomach flab) and am just enjoying shopping and that 10s fit and Mediums fit... I feel good!  When you feel good about yourself and have peace in who you are and not in the number, it's hard to find motivation to keep going.

At this weight, I can maintain and pretty much still enjoy eating.  I can have big meals or slurge and recover and just enjoy eating without thinking too much.  I'm honestly not utilizing Weight Watchers AT ALL except to weigh in each week.  I'm rarely tracking and I'm not going to meetings.  That's the truth.  So I know at this weight I just have it figured out.  Losing requires being restrictive again and I'm just enjoying for once eating how I want to while still being "small."

And speaking of Weight Watchers... I've learned an important thing about my relationship with diets.  When I'm on HCG or when I'm with a Nutritionist or doing something extremely rigid with strong accountability and financial commitment, I am great at thriving.  My money is on the line.  My options are few.  I'm in this thing.  Because I've been on Weight Watchers so many times and failed or because I know I can eat technically whatever I want as long as I track and the focus is more on points tracking than healthy choices (in my mind), I just don't succeed as much. ...Or those are my excuses to not succeed as much.  I'd really like to try Advocare but don't have the money to shell out for that right now.

So where does that leave me?  I DO want to lose.  I want to achieve my goal.  I've come SO far so why the mental hang ups?  Why stop.  I've lost EIGHTY POUNDS!!!! EIGHTY!  But I'm only 20lbs away from losing ONE HUNDRED POUNDS.  And that was the goal.  So I'm doing my very best to mentally engage back into a losing mentality.  I'm trying to make good decisions.  I'm trying to balance out clean eating days number for number with bad eating days (3 for this week).  I'm debating doing clean eating the next 30 days so I can detox and shrink and lose before the 5k/Thanksgiving/the holidays.  And I'm working out.  There was a short season I had a hard time finding any motivation (after vacation), but now I'm back at it.  I've ran the last four days.  Today I only had 15 minutes but I laced up and did it because I knew it would help me mentally as I worked through the rest of my day.  I'm engaging.  I'm trying.  I WANT to do this.  I want to want to do this.

Are you here?  Have you lost weight, but you're stuck?  Are you mentally content with maintaining a great weight, but know you have more to lose to reach your ultimate goal.  My friend, we are selling ourselves short.  We might be great and feel great, but we could be better.  20lbs on me will make a huge difference.  It didn't from 250 to 230, but it will from 169 to 149.  I hope you can find new motivation too!  Especially now before the holidays since it's the American way to gain!  Thanks for listening!

Disney Vacation Club

So this post has been a long time coming.  I'm sorry for not being a better blogger of late -- especially since we are post Disney World and I have so much good stuff to share!  Life has been busy lately with sick kids and a lot of other things so blogging has definitely taken a back seat to all the other things!  But for today, I'm happy to carve out time and sit down and share with you guys about Disney Vacation Club.  I have so much to say!

at Wilderness Lodge January 2012

This is an EXTREMELY basic overview... Disney Vacation Club is a program Disney started in the 90s.  They built a resort on property (now called "Old Key West") that people could buy into in exchange for points.  How many points you bought would translate to how big of a room you could stay in or how often you could stay.  Buying points is a one time expense that gives you points for about 40-50 years from the time the resort you own at opens.  Each year your points renew and you pay dues on your points.  You use your points to book your hotel room only for your upcoming Disney vacation.  You get discounts on merchandise, some restaurants, and annual passes as a DVC member.  After building Old Key West, Disney built resorts at Hilton Head Island and Vero Beach and then focused on building more on their properties.  At Disney World there are two exclusively DVC resorts: Old Key West & Saratoga Springs (we own at Saratoga Springs).  There are also many deluxe level resorts that have DVC exclusive rooms built onto them including: Boardwalk, Beach Club, Animal Kindgom Lodge, Wilderness Lodge, Contemporary (Bay Lake Tower), Grand Floridian and coming soon Polynesian. There's also a DVC resort at Disneyland called "The Grand Californian" and a Disney resort in Hawaii called Alunai.

view from our room at Wilderness Lodge

Explaining Points

Every year DVC members get a packet with charts of all the DVC resorts.  The charts are broken down into seasons which simply put are: slow season to busiest season and everything in between.  There is also a breakdown on the chart of each level of rooms within a resort: studios, 1 bedrooms, 2 bedrooms, 3 bedrooms.  In the charts are the points needed per night to stay in one of those rooms (the points will be x price Sunday-Thursday night and then a little higher for Friday and Saturday nights).  Here's what that looks like:

image taken from here

So as you can see, if you stay at the Grand Floridian in a studio with a standard view in September, you would be using 125 points for that stay.  Grand Floridian is the most expensive of all the resorts right now.  You can stay a week in Old Key West at the same time for 64 points for the week.  

You get new points each year.  We get new points every October.  If we know we aren't going to use our points that year for some reason, we can bank our points to have for the next year or if we want to take an extra trip we can borrow points from an upcoming year.

This looks like this, for example:

Banking

It's 2011.  We just had a great trip with baby J but surprise! I'm pregnant with E.  We had 40 points left in our use year and won't get to go again, so we call DVC Customer Service and bank the 40 remaining and now we have 160 points for 2012.  Yay!

Borrowing

We used up all our points in 2012 and now it's February 2013.  We want to book our September trip, but we don't get new points until October 2013 deposited into our account.  We borrow 117 points for our trip out of the 2013 use year which means we have to wait until October 2013 to book anymore trips when we can now borrow from the 2014 use year.

the beach at Wilderness Lodge

More often than not we borrow ahead because when we received our points we were behind a use year (this is because we bought through resale, not Disney, which I'll explain later).  This is fine and only catches up with us if we're booking two trips for one year (which we are in 2014) because we have to wait until October to book a trip for January and there's not much left in the way of rooms available.  Because our points are our property until 2048 at the rate we are going, we will just run out in 2047 one year earlier and be cut short that one year.  Unless we have a year we don't go to Disney which may happen! You never know.

So, to recap, when you buy into Disney Vacation Club, you are buying points at a certain property to be used to book vacations at any of the DVC properties.

beach at Wilderness Lodge

"OWNING" property and "HOME" resorts explained

We own at Saratoga Springs.  But what does this mean?  Why does it matter.  Because we own at Saratoga it is called our "home resort."  You can book a vacation at your home resort 11 months in advance.  You can book a vacation at any other resort 7 months in advance.  You don't need a big booking window to book at Saratoga.  It usually has availability always.  But there are other resorts that book up fast.  Bay Lake Tower, for example, books fast.  They also have value rooms which are significantly less points but that space is limited.  We bought into DVC in 2010 and it wasn't until 2013 that we were able to get a studio at Bay Lake Towers when booking 7 months out because they fill up so fast.  I have two friends who own there, however, who are able to book right away 11 months out and never have problems getting a room.  

park at Wilderness Lodge

When you buy through Disney, you can only buy where their selling so your options of were to own are more limited.  When you buy through resale and can choose your home resort, you just need to keep the 11 vs 7 months booking window in mind.  If being at the same resort every time is important to you, buy there.  If you like to explore all the resorts, you have more options.

Dues

Also, because we own at Saratoga, that's where our dues go.  Dues are due each January and are different for every resort.  You pay per point on your dues and although point rates never increase (more later), dues do.  Dues go to the upkeep of resorts, etc.  Dues are more for newer resorts.  Our dues are around $4 per point each year but when we toured the DVC facility in 2009 to consider membership and they were selling Animal Kingdom Lodge property, dues were starting around $7 a point.  

Points Ending

I mentioned earlier our points are good through 2048.  Every resort is different in when your points end.  The idea is they'll last your whole life.  In 2048 Josh will be 68 and I'll be 60.  We will probably not be done with Disney World and although we don't know what options will be presented to members when their time runs out, there's rumors they will offer small extension packages which we may take or maybe when we're in our 40s we'll have more money to buy more points at a resort that's points last until 2060.  Either way, that's a great run.  We got the points when Josh was 30 so we have 30 years of only paying dues on our hotel stay at Disney World.

balcony at Animal Kindgom Lodge September 2012

balcony view

Explaining Point Value

This part is complicated and I want to do my best to explain it but I may not.  While dues increase with the economy, points do not.  Remember how I said at Old Key West you pay 64 points for a week stay but at Grand Floridian you pay 125?  OKW opened in 1995 but GF opened in 2013.  In 95 new members could buy a lot less points for their buy in rate.  I'm not sure the amount, but let's guess it was 85.  So say I'm in 1995 with my white KEDS and high jeans and I'm signing the contract on that DVC sale.  I know I can only afford 85 points and that they'll last me until 2040ish.  I also have a guarantee that with my 85 points, I'll always be able to stay at least a week on property because even though my dues will increase, points will stay pretty consistent.

park at AKL

Now fast forward to 2013.  I'm signing on to buy at Grand Floridian.  The minimum buy in is now 180 through Disney and I'm signing the contract for 180 points a year and I know I can always get a studio for about 125 or so for a week if I go in the off season.

Now fast forward to 2020 and some new resort is opening and the minimum buy in is 250 and a week is 200 points.  Again, I know I'm safe.  My 1995 self cannot afford this newest resort unless I bank and borrow or have bought more points, but I can still afford the older resorts.

I hope that makes sense!  I think it's important because you know your investment is safe.  You know 2020 won't roll around and you won't be able to afford anything without buying more points.

pool at AKL

Financial Benefits of Buying DVC

This can best be explained through example, I think so I'm going to use our trips since becoming DVC and give you the current room rates (if you were to go in January 2014 which is off season) for what we would have paid to stay here:

January 2011 - Saratoga Springs & Animal Kingdom Lodge, 6 nights $2207.28

January 2012 - Wilderness Lodge, 7 nights $2425.50

September 2012 - Animal Kingdom Lodge, 7 nights $2940

September 2013 - Bay Lake Tower (compared to Contemporary), 7 nights $3997

January 2014 - Old Key West, 6 nights $2207.28

TOTAL = $13,777.06

(or $137,770.60 over the course of 30 years if rates didn't increase!!!!!!)

That is how much we would have paid for all our resort stays only (no tickets, food, etc) since becoming DVC.  We paid less than half of that for our points so within 3 visits our investments had already paid for itself and let me remind you we have those points until 2048!

The reality is we would have NOT stayed at those resorts had we been DVC.  So what if all those trips we had stayed at the value resorts?  The CHEAPEST on property.  For the 33 nights stayed, we would have paid $3897.96.  Now that's less than what we paid for DVC, but within the 30 years we go on vacation at Disney World?  We would pay significantly more than that.  If rates didn't change, that value resort would add up to $38,979.60 over the course of 30 years and we definitely paid a LOT less than that for our points!

room time at AKL

Is it worth it for ME?

If you go to Walt Disney World every year, it's worth it.  If you go to Disney World every other year and stay at deluxe level resorts, it's worth it.  

My Dad always told me your past is the best indicator of your future.  Josh has been going to Disney World at least once a year since the early 2000s.  From 2008 to 2010 when we bought DVC we had been to WDW 4x.  We both loved Disney World and we knew even before we had a family that we wanted this to be our big family vacation every single year.  Sure, we may want to go to the Grand Canyon but THIS, this would be our family's thing.  So based on our history and our desires for our family's future, we bought into DVC.

Maybe someday something will happen and we'll stop going.  Maybe our kids will hate it or we'll get tired of it or medically we won't be able to go.  If that happens, we can always sell our points.  Actually, because of inflation and the great deal we got, right now we could sell our points for more money than we paid for them.  People love Disney.  People have always loved and will always love Disney and so any investment will hold it's value.

Talking about the cost

If you buy points through Disney right now, say for Animal Kingdom Lodge (they're still selling ownership there), you have a buy in of 180 points (I think) and the points are about $150 per point.  That's $27,000.  You will definitely recoup the cost several times over in time, but it's a huge investment up front.  In 2014, you could stay at AKL in a Savannah view studio room for 102 points for a week.  You could stay at a standard view room that is a one bedroom (kitchen, dining area, living room with roll out bed, 1 bedroom with king sized bed, washer/dryer, jet tub, stand alone shower) for 160 points.  So that's an idea of what that investment gets you.

If you buy Animal Kingdom through resale right now, you can buy 180 points at $79 a point for a total of $14,220.  That is a SIGNIFICANT savings.

Buying resale points

We bought points through resale.  We could have never afforded to buy through Disney even with the payment plans they offer.  We bought through www.dvc-resales.com and had the BEST experience with this company and all the agents we worked with.  Their reputable and have a good relationship with Disney.  They did all the work for us and worked well with us.  (And they're not paying me to say any of this, by the way!)

When we bought our resale points, Disney didn't have anything against it.  We were no different than someone who bought through Disney because we bought through resale and because we bought before any changes, we'll always be that way.

Since then, Disney has caught on to the savings through buying resale and they've changed the rules.  If you buy resale, those points are only valid at Disney properties (WDW, Hilton Head, Hawaii and Vero Beach).  Those points CANNOT be used for the other perks DVC membership offers like Adventures by Disney (international travel) or used at hotels around the nation partnered with Disney.

The other factors of points and where you can use them

On that note, let me talk about those things.  You can do "Adventures by Disney" as a DVC member which looks INCREDIBLE.  Basically you go with a small group of DVC members to another country.  Let's say it's Scotland.  You get there and Disney covers transportation and you have an incredible tour guide and unique experiences including staying the night in a castle.  It sounds amazing and if I ever traveled internationally I'd want to do it, but you know what?  Those trips cost at least 600 points per person.  PER PERSON.  I'll NEVER EVER have that many points and you probably won't either (unless you're just really, really rich and reading this!).  If you COULD afford this and you want to do it, don't buy resale.  Buy through Disney.  If you buy through resale, your points won't work for this.

As for using points at partner hotels...  Say you're going to NYC.  Disney has hotels there they're partnered with and you can use some points for a stay at those hotels.  I've looked at this one time and thought "WHY in the world would I exchange points for THAT?"  The rates are high.  Maybe I would some day if our family vacation was less Disney and more NYC, but honestly it doesn't seem like a good value to me.

beach outside Bay Lake Tower

Being a DVC Member

I'm going to wrap up this novel of a post now and just talk about membership for me.  I love being a DVC member.  I love that I get to stay at deluxe level resorts when I go to Disney World I couldn't afford otherwise.  I love being around other members because we all love Disney and the community is awesome.  I love the extra amenities I get while on property like free access to laundry (which wouldn't matter as much if we ever save up and stay in a one bedroom!), community hall (a DVC member area in each resort where you can rent movies for free, have activities and crafts for the kids, check out board games, hang out...), free wifi, discounts on annual passes, parks at the resorts, outdoor movies.... Just so much great stuff!  I love Disney and being a member of DVC was a dream for Josh and me.  It's exciting to be there now and we just really enjoy the amplified Disney experience.

kitchenette at Bay Lake Tower (there's one in every Studio!)

Downside of being a DVC Member

The ONLY negative has been not getting "promo" packages.  Before DVC we'd go to Disney under their promos (YOU SHOULD ALWAYS DO THIS!!!) so we'd have free dining or something neat.  We'd also have our whole trip wrapped up in an easy package.  Now we're responsible for saving money for food and buying our own dining plan (never discounted) if we want it.  We also have to take care of our own park tickets.  DVC Customer Service is EXTREMELY accommodating to help with these things, but we're independent and we do it ourselves.  ON THE PLUS SIDE though, we now buy annual passes basically at the same rate a Florida resident would pay so this year we bought annual passes for 3 people for about $1400 and we will use them for 3 trips.  So for this January trip we have annual passes, room taken care of and our only cost will be travel and food.  So while we may miss promos and the ease of packages, I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to just go in January and not have to spend much money at all because things are already taken care of!

If you're really considering DVC, I'd recommend you do the DVC tour on your next trip to WDW.  We did it and it takes about 2-3 hours but you get free ice cream at the end and sometimes they have other promos (a good friend did it and got a $50 gift card for their families time).  You don't have to commit, but you get to tour models of the rooms, you get any question you have answered, you learn more about dues and points and just get a great understanding of the whole thing.  You should DEFINITELY do it.  It's really fun and I promise the sales people aren't too pushy!  If you want, you can always ask for Jim McCoy.  He worked with us and was fantastic.  He is actually still our agent even though we bought through resale and gives us a call every time we check in to wish us a great vacation.  Can't say enough good things about him!

So I hope this post helped you and answered any questions you had about Disney Vacation Club!  I'm off to ice my fingers now.  ;)

This is all my own opinions and research, by the way, Disney did not pay me to share any of this.

Bay Lake Tower Resort Review

Thank you all for your questions! I can't wait to get to some of these posts about Walt Disney World and our latest trip!  One topic that came up a lot was questions about our Disney Vacation Club membership.  I am super excited to write about that and am planning on putting out that post next week.  

For today, I wanted to "review" our experience at Walt Disney's Bay Lake Tower which is the Disney Vacation Club part of the Contemporary Resort shown below.

The Contemporary is an iconic Disney hotel.  It's often seen in commercials and a toy replica of it is even sold in gift shops as part of the Monorail play set (the monorail runs through this resort that can take you to Magic Kingdom or to the Ticket Center which is a connecting monorail to Epcot).  We were really excited to stay here and experience it.

Before becoming DVC members we did a tour with Disney (which I recommend!).  One of the model rooms was Bay Lake and I remember telling Josh I did not like it.  Other resorts' rooms were so themed... Animal Kingdom, Old Key West, Wilderness Lodge... they were exciting and beautiful and so detailed!  BL, however, was just modern.  I'm not a fan of modern design but Josh is so he liked it.  We walked away from that room thinking the most appealing thing was monorail access and the 10 minute walk into Magic Kingdom.

Because this was our 4th trip as parents, we knew Magic Kingdom was king and we knew how difficult and stressful it can be to unpack tots, fold strollers, and load on and off buses.  Because of this we wanted to try Bay Lake so we could walk to MK (where we knew we'd spend the most time) and monorail to Epcot (where we knew we'd spend the next longest amount of time).

I have to say, the walking to Magic Kingdom was as wonderful as I thought it'd be!  I was spoiled to that walk very, very quickly and after one day of being back on buses I was ready to have another MK day just to avoid bus transportation (which isn't bad at all, but walking is a piece of cake!).  One thing we could do we never have done was stay late at MK that first night for Extra Magic Hours.  J & E were awake for the Electrical Parade and J held strong through Wishes and then we walked around the park with the boys asleep in the stroller and had a little "date" eating cinnamon rolls, croissants, shopping and talking.  It was wonderful!  Had we gotten on a bus, we would have had to wake up a kid and it would have been really difficult 1) dealing with them at 11:45pm 2) getting them back to sleep 3) enduring the ride home if they were cranky while also feeling bad for causing a ruckus for others.  Instead of the stress, we simply left at 11:45 and walked home and slipped both boys into bed.  Easy peasy and WONDERFUL.

So what about monorail access?  The monorail wasn't as dreamy as I thought it'd be but it was still better than buses.  Getting the monorail was kind of tricky.  There's only one elevator and it's packed with strollers so when it's crowded (and keep in mind that in September it's really not that crowded) you'd have to wait a few rounds for an elevator.  Getting on and off the monorail was easy and again, not having to fold up our stroller was great!  We got to the TTC and switched to the Epcot monorail.  From there it was easy!  The real trouble came going home from Epcot.  We waited for a monorail as long as we would have waited for a bus, but bright side: our kids had guaranteed seats and the stroller didn't have to be folded.  There were a lot of delays on the way back and then we switched monorails to go back to the resort.  More delays while they moved tracks for another monorail (including being stalled over Bay Lake which left me horrified - weird phobia, I know) and then we found out the Contemporary was not the first stop.  Our second night coming back Josh figured out it would be smarter to switch at the TTC from Epcot monorail to MK monorail and walk home instead of the the resort monorail.  This might have not saved us time, but it was less stressful.  If you do this, be aware of MK hours.  If it's EMH at Epcot, MK may be closed and the monorail may not be running.

Also a note regarding travel... we hated buses so much we decided that our afternoon in Hollywood Studios would come after a morning in Epcot so we monorailed to Epcot and then walked past Boardwalk/Beachclub and took the 1.3 mile trail to Hollywood Studios.  That night we left around 8 to be back in plenty of time for Epcot closing and walked back to Epcot to monorail back to MK and walk to BL.  Dramatic?  Maybe.  But buses at night are the worst.  If you're looking to escape buses, I really recommend this plan.  ;)

So enough about transportation! Let's talk resort!  We stayed in a studio with a Bay Lake view.  We had a queen sized bed for us and our love seat pulled out into a full sized bed for the kiddos.  All DVC studios have kitchenettes, but this was our first experience with a kitchenette that had 3 walls around it thus making it like it's own little true kitchen.  I really liked that.  I also liked the lighting in the kitchen and used the mirror there for getting ready while Josh used the bathroom.  

Speaking of which, I did not photograph the bathroom, but in other DVC resorts we've stayed at (Saratoga Springs, Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom -- Kadanai and Jambo Houses), the bathroom sinks have been outside the shower/toilet room and have had a lot of counter space.  This bathroom was a standard shower/toilet/sink room with a very minimal amount of sink space.  I really didn't like this.

The rooms were nice enough, but BL seemed less "kempt" than other resorts we've stayed at.  The shower had some rust in it and our toilet paper holder was broken.  I know this sounds like little nit-picky things and it really is, but when you're a DVC member you buy into a property.  We own at Saratoga Springs and so every year we pay dues that go into the upkeep of the resort.  When we stay there I like to see things pristine because this is my "property" and knowing it's well-kempt makes me proud to be an owner.  I don't own at BL, but knew I would have been annoyed with the quality of our room if I did especially considering it is the most recent DVC property build (that's opened) and should still be in really good shape.

Our Bay Lake view was great! So was our balcony.  Very roomy and the kids and I played their one morning.  We were on the second floor so we had a clear view of the beach and the lake.  The first night Josh and I watched the water pageant go by and as you can see in the above photo, we had a great view.

Overall the room was comfortable and met our needs.  I did find that BL had more storage than other resorts and since I unpack and move in, I liked that.  And like I said, I loved the kitchen and the walking is AMAZING.  We also had a great experience with the Community Hall in the resort and enjoyed spending time coloring there and playing with toys.  The cast member there was also super friendly!

And the pool at Bay Lake is great!  There is a Mickey shaped splash pad.  My kids were neutral on that, but LOVED the pool!  We took a morning (after eating at Chef Mickey's) to just swim and relax.  The pool is 0-entry which is perfect for independent toddlers.  The pool also has a handicapped water slide my boys enjoyed using and a BIG water slide they loved!  The big slide is about 3 stories tall.  My oldest and I went up.  He is 3 and is a great swimmer when in a life jacket.  The life guard told me I could go down first and catch him so that was the plan.  I was disappointed BL didn't have a life guard stationed at the top of the slide because when we got up there I had no idea how to go first and guarantee he'd get down and I didn't want to send him first because I didn't know how fast he'd go.  Fortunately a Dad came up with his daughters who were older and they offered to send J down after me.  He LOVED the slide and did great.  Going forward we knew both parents would have to be involved in the slide process so one would hold E and let him go down the handicap slide and then the other would give the signal and send J down.  Finally E lost his patience and we decided to let him go too.  He is FEARLESS in the water and is determined to swim even though he can't.  He did great with it!  We spent almost an hour taking turns going up with them and sending them down that slide.  I was really happy with the BL pool.

(We did not visit the Contemporary pool.)

In the photo above you see a bridge behind me.  The bridge connects floor 5 of BLT to floor 4 of the Contemporary.  It was a short walk from our room to floor 4 which is were all the "action" happens at the Contemporary.  About 5 minutes.

At floor 4 you have Chef Mickeys, Contempo Cafe, monorail elevator access, and 2 gift shops (1 toy, 1 everything else) and a small "market" shop.  The toy store runs through the middle of the giant floor and I didn't like that.  While it looks neat, it's difficult to see around and of course it's the first thing your kids see and they want to go in every single time.  I just wished it all would have been more open.

Contempo Cafe was pretty delicious!  We had their flatbread pizzas, sandwiches, and some pasta.  The flatbread pizzas were our favorite and the sandwiches we got were our least favorite.

We did eat at Chef Mickeys and I wasn't as impressed as I thought I'd be.  Our meal was $100 (2 adults, 1 child, 1 free infant + tip) and the food was not good.  I felt excited to have biscuits and gravy but the gravy was just greasy.  The eggs tasted powdered.  The bacon was bland.  Minnie's pizza was yummy, but the Pinterest copy cat recipe I've made was just as good!  Overall I was disappointed in the food.  We weren't there for the food though; we were there for Mickey!  We've eaten at Crystal Palace, Hollywood & Vine and Garden Grille and I felt like the characters spent more time with us at those places than here.  They blazed through.  I know they were busy, but because we've had better character dining experiences, this one left us feeling very "meh."  Also our kids didn't eat ANYTHING because they were too preoccupied with watching characters.  At other places you don't see them while you eat all the time but because Chef Mickey's is so small, they're constantly in your line of sight.  Food for thought.

My last thought on the Contemporary is regarding the cast members.  We actually talked about this later in the week and were glad the other noticed so we didn't feel crazy.  At ALL the resorts we've stayed at while at Disney (including non-DVC) the cast has been incredible.  They're friendly, outgoing, interested in you, and overly helpful.  At Contemporary they came off more like hotel staff.  Josh went looking for the airport check in one night and they could not have been less helpful if they tried.  We had to call the front desk twice for various reasons and the cast was not warm.  We also discussed this with the DVC cast member in Community Hall at BL who said she had noticed this about BL too and had worked at other resorts (Wilderness for example) where it was not this way.

Our theory is this... There are a TON of conference rooms at BLT.  We saw a TON of business men while there.  This is a business hotel on Disney property and while it's still Disney, it's much more like a normal hotel than any other place we've stayed.  Some people might like that, but we did not.  We didn't hate it, we just felt like we missed out on some of that extra Disney magic we love.

So all in all, Bay Lake Tower had it's appeal.  The walk to MK makes me want to stay there every time... But that's about it.  Despite how appealing that is, I don't think we'll stay at Bay Lake again.  Our favorite is still Wilderness Lodge (review coming) and even though you can't walk to MK from WL, you can boat and that's not too shabby!

So there you have it!  I hope this helps!  Feel free to ask any questions!

We're Home!

Well, we're home from the most magical place on earth!  We flew back Saturday and I still have a whole bag that's yet to be unpacked.  What can I say?  Reentry has been difficult!  Where's my magic pixie dust that does everything for me?

This Disney World trip was amazing!  It was our fourth as parents and definitely the best yet!  J is 3 and he was just so alive the whole time and absorbing everything and having SO MUCH FUN!  E is almost 2 and he loved, loved, loved rides but wasn't a fan of meeting characters any more!  He also got a little sick in our trip, but overall he had a great time and just like his big brother has asked me to go back many times each day since being home! 

So now that I'm home I have lots and lots of ideas for posts about Walt Disney World, but I wanted to ask you guys... what do you want to know?  I get a lot of questions from people about taking toddlers, which parks are best, information about Disney Vacation Club... so if you have a question, please ask me and I'll work it into a post for an answer!  Because I'd LOVE to stretch this vacation out even longer by posting about it.

Posts I'm already planning for the next couple of weeks...

• Bay Lake Tower resort review
• How traveling went for us (to follow up on my airplane bags post)
• How we got J excited for meeting characters after him being scared in the past
• Weight and diet in relation to Walt Disney World (more of a personal journey post)
• Updated parks review with a 2 and 3 year old in mind
• Post Disney World detox

So if you have other ideas or questions, just ask!  I'll be happy to answer any Disney questions you may have!  Although I'm not a bonafide expert, this was my 8th trip in 5 years and my 4th as a parent so I like to think I have a little knowledge.  And passion too, of course!  I'll get to all these posts over the next couple of weeks so you have plenty of time to ask!

In the meantime, here's to a 3rd cup of coffee and figuring out how to procrastinate laundry and cleaning some more.

Airport Bags

Y'all know our Disney trip is right around the corner and we are flying once again (because we drove to California this Summer and that was pretty intense... too intense to repeat for awhile).  Our flights aren't bad; they're each about 1.5 hours.  But still.  When you have an almost 2 year old and a 3 year old you need to keep in their seat and entertained for 1.5 hours?  Things can get ugly.

Josh and I have been collecting this and that when we've been out and about for the last month or so.  This last weekend I took my last trip to the dollar store pre WDW to finish off the loot for the bags so I could check that off my list.

Each of my boys has a backpack.  J who's 3 has a Mickey Mouse full size bag and E who is almost 2 has a small Buzz Light year bag.  They'll each wear them like big boys through the airport.  They'll also be unaware of the bags contents until we're on the plane.

In addition to having our iPad stocked with their favorite shows and movies, the bags will contain the following:

Coloring pad (Dollar Tree)

Pack of Minnie Mouse crayons (Dollar Tree)

A Pez dispenser (Toys R Us)

A new Fisher Price "robot" toy (Target)

Stickers (Dollar Tree)

Bubble gum (Dollar Tree)

Play Doh (Target dollar bins)

Not too much, but enough to give them little surprises and treats and keep them occupied when they get bored with the TV.  All in all filling these bags cost me about $15 combined, but buying them ANYTHING like that in the airport or at WDW would have been way more money.  ;)

Also going along with us?  Take N Toss cup, bags of goldfish, Teddy Grahams, and peanut butter crackers (these things will be great to have in parks too.)

What are your must haves when traveling with tots and preschoolers?

5 Tips for Maintaining (continuing to lose) after Rapid Weightloss

So here I am at 84.8lbs down with 10.2 to go to hit Lifetime at Weight Watchers and 15.2 to go to lose 100 (because let's face, who doesn't want to say, "I lost 100lbs!"... It just sounds better than "I lost 95!")  As most of you know I lost my first 25lbs fairly slowly through over a year at Weight Watchers.  Then, over the course of 14 weeks I lost about 55lbs doing a rapid weightloss/healthy eating program with a Nutritionist.  And now I'm back at Weight Watchers and down 5 more pounds from the last 10 weeks (boy did everything slow back down!).

When you lose a lot of weight quickly it's mental.  When you lose ANY weight it's mental because it goes a little something like this:  At one point, I was 250lb woman.  I ate like a 250lb woman.  I thought like a 250lb woman.  Now I'm a 165lb woman.  But I can still eat like a 250lb woman.  Just stick a bowl of queso in front of me and watch me put the food away.  I'll ALWAYS be able to eat like that.  It's just the sad reality because my mind has been there, my stomach has been stretched that far... it's possible!  And a lot of people - wether they do rapid weightloss or not - gain weight back at some point.  It happens.  Christmas rolls around and it's no longer appealing to eat like the weight you are or want to be, you want to eat like you used to be because hello! Fudge! Cookies! Rich, salty food galore!  I completely, completely, completely understand!  

And so today, I'm sharing with you my tips for maintaining your loss and still losing when you transition out of a program (or just switch to a program that's more of "what real life looks like now") and into learning to eat like you want to eat the rest of your life to look how you want to look the rest of your life!

Plan Ahead

The last two weeks I've posted on Instagram my plunder of fruits (and one time) veggies after I had chopped everything up for the week.  This is something I started doing recently, but oh it is so vital!

A typical week in produce for my family of four (a man, a woman, and two toddler boys who want to eat every hour) looks like this: 1 watermelon, 1-2 canteloupes, 1-2lbs strawberries, 8 apples, about 20 bananas (purchased throughout the week), 2-3lbs of grapes, 2-4 oranges, 2 bunches of romaine lettuce or 1 2-3lb bag of salad, 1 head of cauliflower, 1lb fresh green beans, 1lb bag baby carrots, 2 cloves of garlic, red onion, pickles, 4-6 tomatoes, 2 sweet potatoes, 2-5lb bag of potatoes (lasts 2-3 weeks).  We eat a LOT of produce.  Produce, milk, and meat is where we spend the bulk of our grocery budget.

Anyway, usually the day after I shop or the night I shop after I've recovered, I go on a chopping frenzy.  It always starts with the strawberries and ends with the watermelon.  Typically my kids are awake when I do this and are watching TV or playing and my baby E (who's not a baby -- he's almost 2) figures out what I'm doing and gets about 4 bowls of the various fruit as it's chopped.  He's my fruit loving kid!  I chop, bag or box the cold stuff, put the room temperature fruit in the fruit bowl and walk away.  

The BEAUTY in this is that is now easier to go get watermelon than it is to make a bowl of popcorn.  It takes me as much effort to give my kids a bowl of strawberries pieces as it does to pour them a bowl of goldfish.  It makes choosing to throw together cauliflower chips almost as easy as eating potato chips.  It makes salad so easy.  It's just a good decision.  My "stock pile" usually lasts 5-6 days and by the end of it I'm ready to do it all again.

Keep Moving

Most people fall in love with exercising.  I did!  It's addictive now.  And no, it's not addictive like I need to train hours a day.  I still max out around an hour and spend an hour of my day working out only 1-2 days a week, but when I'm in my rhythm, I need that 20-30 minute run or that 25 minute workout video every day.  And right now, that's what my body expects!  It needs that to feel better and healthier.  And it pays off!  Even in weeks I'm up in my weight, I'm down or the same in my measurements.  And even though I've only lost 5lbs in the last 10 weeks, I've seen my stomach develop definition and 10 weeks ago it was still quite flabby!  Moving also continues to motivate you to eat well.  I make better choices because I've already chosen to put all this effort in work in so reaching for popcorn is less appealing.  And if you're a Mom, it's SUCH a great break!  I love starting my day running because it's doing something for me.  It makes the demands of the rest of the day easier to take.

Don't Buy What You Can't Deny Yourself

Chips! Cookies!  Popcorn!  About 2 weeks after my big results diet, I had free reign and so I bought rice cake chips.  They were delicious.  So delicious in fact I waited until my husband and kids were in bed one night and ate the WHOLE BAG.  It felt terrible and I felt again like I was just a 250lb person living in a 165lb body waiting to become a 250lb person again.  So I don't buy those anymore!  Recently my grocery store had Pop Chips for 99 cents and people love those things so I bought a bag!  Same problem.  I know I need to buy chips.  My husband who has weight management down loves them in his lunches and my kids get them a couple times a week so I buy chips I don't like they do.  IE salt & vinegar or dill pickle flavor (ew!).  I also try not to buy goldfish for the kids and instead get pretzels because I don't like pretzels very much.  And as far as desserts, it's strictly graham crackers, marshmallows, vanilla wafers, and animal cookies - nothing I like much so I'm not tempted to dive in!  Popcorn I bought again lately and while I've controlled myself with it, I see it as a problem.  I'm trying to decide now if it's a treat or a bad influence.  I'm tracking it and controlling myself but those 7 points of buttery goodness are not good for me at all!

Be Consistent 

I've said this before.  Eat the same things.  This is what skinny people do.  My best friend Reagan literally eats a half of sandwich with a few chips or a cup of soup for lunch every single day.  Even at a lunch out she'll order this.  It's her thing.  And she loves it!  I see this in a lot of slimmer friends and I've tried to adopt the habit.  Today my Mom brought us McDonalds to the park.  She and I always get the Southwestern Grilled Chicken salad.  While I was tempted to stray and enjoy a burger, I knew I'd have a better burger later this week at home and I needed to stick to my guns.  I also eat a turkey sandwich for lunch most days.  I eat an apple every day.  I eat eggs or Special K for breakfast.  I drink the same creamer.  My family eats most of the same dinners and when I am low in points those dinners always become a salad for me.  Being consistent is SO key to me because I know what I'm doing.  The days Josh makes waffles and we order pizza for dinner and I decided to get a burger for lunch are the worst days on me and I always, always, always go over in points, drink less water, feel unmotivated to work out, and feel awful!

Reward Yourself

This looks different for everyone!  Josh and I have "allowances" we get in our budget every pay check.  It's not much to most people, but it's something!  It's enough for me to buy a new top at Forever 21 or a pair of jeans during a great sale at Kohls.  Now that I've lost weight shopping is a really enjoyable experience and getting a size 10 and a medium or a small and consistently fitting in those sizes is very motivating!  But sometimes there isn't much money and I still need a reward.  Those days a reward can come in some time to myself.  I skip cleaning or working out at naptime and take a nap or watch TV or read.  We go to my Mom's house and I lay by the pool while my kids sleep.  I take a solo trip and walk around Target.... whatever makes you feel reconnected to yourself and motivated, do it!  And do it wether you're succeeding or not because sometimes your lack of success is because you feel so overwhelmed and want to EAT ALL THE THINGS! (Or maybe that's just me?)

.........

And just another note... surround yourself with positive people!  My best friends are so supportive!  My girls know I'm dieting and struggling to overcome this weight problem and they care!  Friends have made me Weight Watcher friendly meals they found on Pinterest for me during play dates, they've let me pick where we eat lunch, they text encouragement, they ask about the heart of the issues, and they listen when I say I'm failing and offer support and tough love!  My husband is encouraging and he is the best at helping me take the time to work out!  Morning work outs are my favorite and I appreciate so much how he watches the kids and takes care of breakfast so I can do that.  My family is supportive!  My Mom is also on Weight Watchers and so instead of us saying, "Let's be bad and eat Mexican food and queso today!" we buy salads and take the kids to the park.  I hope you have people in your life who can encourage you too!

And if you're failing... if you're gaining or struggling, don't lose heart!  Tomorrow is a new day and you can find new resolve!  Sometimes I get off 1-3 days.  I don't exercise and I don't track and I stop caring because all the work!  But then I think about how I want to be THIS person not who I was before and I think about how far I've come and it helps motivate me all over again!