*JillD*

Quote: Originally Posted by SIMBASIM I am confused myself...There was an extra per person charge over my 20 guests but alcohol was included in the price she gave me?? correct Quote: Originally Posted by Hartyt509 I was told that after the 3 hour international bar ran out you had to pay $$ pp per hour to keep it open! I said no way if they want anything after 3 hours to go the bar you've already paid for lol what you're talking about is the reception. Your package includes a 3 hour reception, if you want your reception to go longer, then they require you to pay per person (I thought it was like $10 per person, but I could be wrong) but there is no need to pay this fee because the bar is right there in the tower and I know we went longer than 3 hours and the waiters were still bringing us drinks, no one ever told us we had to leave. Quote: Originally Posted by cancunbride Ok so this is what I have came down to... The Ultimate Package includes the 3 hours of open bar correct? Any other additional guests above the 20 people we have, we must pay $30.00+ for drinking (3-hours) Now anything above the three hours, for example we want 4 we MUST pay for all guests!! Am I wrong? I know there is a drinking fee, thinking of this is making me drunk myself...lol Again, you're talking about the 3 hour reception, drinks are included in that, but the fee for over 20 guests is for the cocktail hour and the dinner, not for the bar. If you want the reception to last longer, then they have the additional fee per person, but as I said above, you really don't need to pay that. The only way I would say you should probably just pay it, would be if you're having the reception on the beach, because they may start dissassembling everything after the 3 hours, but I'm not sure because I had my reception on the terrace.

Quote: Originally Posted by cancunbride Even though some of my guests are staying at Dreams, the Ultimate Package only serves alcohol to 20 guests anything over that is like $30.00+ per person to drink unlimited for 3 hours. I also tried to go around that but they said NO. I am still confused about this as well, it does sounds like a rip off if you are staying at the hotel and still have to pay for additional alcohol for your guests... Are you talking about the cocktail hour?? Yes, there is an additional cost for cocktail hour, but it's not for the alcohol, it's for the appetizers and the service. I didn't see anywhere on the website where it says you're paying for unlimited drinks for 3 hours, did I miss something??

wish I had better news, but no luck. the closest I could find had more of a green color to it, than blue. But I'll keep my eyes open if I see any.

okay, let me see what I can find...BRB

Quote: Originally Posted by *lauren* i still dont understand why you guys are paying for alcohol during a reception. i think you're wc is trying to pull something over on you.............i'd ask to speak w/ her boss and ask for an explanation as to why you have to pay for alcohol. jill is right tho, you're better off starting w/ the package. Lauren, I agree with you, I don't understand why people keep saying they are paying for alcohol. We didn't pay anything extra for alcohol, they served us during dinner and during the reception and the bar was right in the lobby if we wanted to get our own drinks.

Quote: Originally Posted by yamille Hey ladies, I am on my 2nd day of Alli and I am following it as best I can. It was tough to start on a weekend but I figured why wait? Last night I had greek food for dinner which I do often but I was so paranoid that my grilled halibut would have more olive oil than I expected on it (high fat content) that I only ate half and was so anxious thinking that I would have to run to the bathroom. Also FI was eating their ridiculous olive basted french fries and I couldn't resist having 2 but trust me if it weren't for the fear I would have had like 10. I have a question: I know that if I am having a meal with no fat in it ( ex: fruit) then I don't take the pill but if I am having frozen yogurt for dinner lets say and I have 1 cup which will probably be 5 grams of fat do I take a pill with that or just skip it? Or should I try and add some peanut butter to make the fat content highter? ( not that this is a habit or anything but Fi left town for the next 2 days and I am just doing homework and that's prob what I will do..) I know it's not the healthiest choice but I am in the mood and don't feel like cooking tonight. I am aware that I need to be watching caloric intake as well. TIA! I think that if I was going to have this for dinner, I would just add something to it, like PB, to raise the fat content. You want to be taking the pill 3x a day, if possible, to have the best effects, and if you don't eat enough fat, then alli can't really do its job. It can be challenging the first few days, I had a really hard time adding fat to my breakfasts, but once you get the hang of it, it's not so bad. I tend to eat a lot of the same things because I know the fat content. So maybe if you just have fruit for breakfast, maybe you can add something else like a protein shake, or some toast and PB. PB is a great one for adding fat to your breakfast, I usually just have 1 tablespoon, so that I don't go over. Quote: Originally Posted by Tracy i ordered my Alli today from drugstore.com (the $10 off coupon from the Alli web-site wasn't working, but drugstore.com also had $10 off) -will get it later this week. In the interim, I am watching the regular things I eat to try to become more aware of fat content...it's fascinating actually - like margine on toast has 6G!!!! WOW - going back to the spray, with 0 It's crazy isn't it!! I usually use the spray butter too, so I can use my fat and calories for something else!

have you checked michael's?? That's where I bought all of my metallic paper

Maura, you look beautiful!!!

congratulations Kat, you're a married woman!

Quote: Originally Posted by tvt OH, I also wanted to tell you all about this great icecream I found... since I know we all love it. It's called Dreyer's Slow Churned Rich and Creamy Yogurt Blend Chocolate Fudge Brownie. .5 cup is 120 calories and 3.5 grams of fat i usually make room in my dinner to eat this as my dessert. First night I tried to eat a whole cup... way too much ice cream for dessert. It's SOOOO good. Tara, I practically have one foot out the door to go buy that ice cream, lol!! It looks so good, I'm going to get some today! Last week I tried Duetto, by Turkey Hill, it's ice cream swirled with, I'm not sure what it's swirled with, almost like a sorbet or slush type thing. So the one I bought was vanilla soft serve ice cream and cherry slush/sorbet stuff. It was really good and the fat and calories were about the same as the one you listed. Just another option. Congratulations on the weight loss Tara, it really is working! Maura, I don't think I realized that you should take alli after a few bites, I'll have to remember that. I can't believe the chinese did nothing to you, I really wanted chinese last night. I agree with you about alli opening my eyes. It really has helped me realize how much fat is in common foods. For instance, if I eat PB now, its usually just 1 tablespoon because 2 would be too much fat. But when I used to make PB toast or a sandwich, I used to pile the PB on, probably had like 4 or 5 tablespoons, no wonder I'm so fat! Geez....it really does help that I HAVE to watch what I eat, it's not like I can say, Oh, I'm just going to cheat who cares, because I'm afraid of what will happen if I really went overboard! Oh, another thing, I was craving pizza all week, and of course DH had it for lunch twice this week and had to tell me all about it. Well last night I got home and really wanted pizza, but knew I couldn't have it. I had a lean cuisine pizza in the freezer, normally I would have said screw lean cuisine I'm getting a real pizza, but I knew I couldn't so I made it, and you know, it actually did kind of curb my craving that I was having for pizza, it was good. So we just have to find substitutions for things we really like, we can do this!

Quote: Originally Posted by tvt So tonight I set out to test my alli........ i'm not sure this was the best idea, but I wanted to know if it was working! So... that said, here's what I ate for dinner fried crab cream cheese wontons in sweet and sour sauce, and breaded/fried sweet and sour chicken and white rice. i started eating and was getting so scared, that i didn't eat a ton, but i definitely pushed my fat intake. we'll see what happens! tomorrow i'm going to up my fat grams a bit. i am tracking calories too and am staying within the range. Maybe it just takes a while. I know online some people say it was 2 weeks before they saw results.... but hell, if this doens't work for me, nothing will. i am doing EVERYTHING right! working out, eating the right stuff, etc. go away extra pounds! jill, if you don't mind me asking how much have you lost? ROFL!! Oh god Tara, I can't wait to hear your stories today! It really does scare you doesn't it, when you know you shouldn't be eating something! My weight loss... keep in mind I have more to lose than you and the 3 weeks leading up to starting alli I was on vacation and then back home, and I was completely STUFFING MY FACE! So during those few weeks I gained quite a bit. So I'm sure some of what I've lost so far is probably water weight, I think I've lost around 12 pounds so far, but I'll let you know on monday when I weigh myself again. I think I lost 10 the first week and then I weighed myself midweek this week and I was down around 1.5 to 2 pounds, so it definitely comes off slow, but that's okay. One of the reasons I haven't started working out yet is that sometimes I end up gaining weight when I work out or stay the same and I get so discouraged I would stick with it tara, it might take you a couple of weeks to start losing, but I do think it will work. So, how's your butt today? I can't believe you ate crab rangoons, I'm so jealous! Quote: Originally Posted by Tracy Well, Y'all have sold me on this!! I am going to buy some this weekend and see if it will kick-start what WW doesn't seem to be kick-starting (or more likely what I am not kick-starting). I'm not always good at knowing the fat grams per serving though - especially eating out and stuff - so I will have to try to do some research before I start heading out for lunch and stuff. Maura, Tara and Jill - thank you all for the tips, the motivation and sharing your stories.....I'll keep you posted on how it works for me Quote: Originally Posted by Tara Hahaha! You stuck a booger on him! That is great. Hiram threatens to pick my nose all the time so I threaten to fart on him. We're never going to grow up! I just got back to this thread as I have decided with now less than 8 months til the wedding, I really need to buckle down. We went to Canada this weekend for my fi's friend's 30th birthday bash and I saw some pictures that we're taken of me and I was physically disgusted by how I look these days. I don't even recognize myself and feel really bad for fi. He tells me I'm sexy, but I'm 60 lbs heavier than I was when we started dating 7 years ago. It's not a pretty site but I think it was the motivation that I needed! You all have given such wonderful feedback on her including the greasy butt story that I think I just have to dive right in and get myself back into a not so round shape. Thanks all! Yay! hope you girls join us, it will be good to have more stories and ideas!

Amy your pictures are so beautiful!! I couldn't believe the church you got married in, it was gorgeous! And I loved how you added the sash to your dress after the ceremony, so pretty! Looks like you guys had a great time!

Quote: Originally Posted by ash0628 did any of you bring your own decorations / centerpieces or flowers I am a designer and would love to do some of my own stuff is this possible at Dreams I used the floral centerpiece that they provided, but then brough additional centerpieces. (I did the long table setup) I also brought a few other things, shells, starfish, etc... If you wanted to use fake flowers, they wouldn't have a problem with you bringing your own. I don't know about buying them off property though and bringing them in, I'm not sure what their rule is with that.

Quote: Originally Posted by tvt Jill, remind me, how long have you been taking it? Ok, here's my typical day. AM - work out on elliptical, some ball excercises and light weights. nothing cray, probably a total of 40 minutes Breakfast - regular bagel, with 2 Tbsp regular cream cheese = 9 grams of fat Lunch - usually some sort of Lean cuisine and a 2% cheddar cheese stick @ 6 grams = 12-13 grams. OR Lunch - whole wheat pita, turkey, provolone cheese, lite mayo =10.5 Dinner - addicted to wheat spaghetti lately, so 2 cups spaghetti, 1/2 cup sauce, 2 Tbsp parm cheese, glass of milk, 100 calorie cookies for dessert = 12 grams of fat For snacks I usually have 100 cal popcorn, or some fruit/veggies So I think I'm eating enough fat. I take Alli right before I eat. Each meal. Did it take a while before you noticed the oily spots? (part of me still can't even believe we have a thread to discuss oily spots in the toilet!) I almost want to eat something over my fat limit just to see what happens. Monday I will start my third week. I only notice the oily spots I think when I am right at my fat limit for the day or maybe even slightly over, but not realizing it. So it's not all the time. Hmm, it seems like you're eating enough fat and you're working out, I don't really understand why you're not losing. Have you been watching your calories too and staying within the limits? I can't believe we have a thread discussing oily spots either!

typically the package is a better deal and you can usually get a substitution if there is something you won't want, like the photographer. We hired our own photographer too.

I guess it would depend if you had claudia or one of her associates. claudia is the owner, so I would say no, but her associates are not owners, so I would tip them. with that being said DH didn't even want me spending money on a photographer, so if I had tipped them, he probably would have divorced me on the spot, lol! But my dad tipped both of them.

Quote: Originally Posted by tvt it is kind of hard to live with someone who wants to eat different, i totally agree. on the alli site, the good thing is that their recipies are all for 1 serving. That chicken, cheese caserole i posted is REALLY easy to make. When FI goes out of town or doesn't want what I can have, I usually make this. I usually make extra of the potato stuff, so then all i have to do is throw a chicken in the oven. are you girls working out too? Tara, I haven't started working out yet, I wanted to start today, but got lazy, I'm going to try to get started with working out this weekend, but it might not be until monday. Quote: Originally Posted by tvt Ok girls, aside from weight loss, how do I know that Alli is working? Haven't had any weight loss yet, however it's only been a week and I know it can take a few to see results. I have not had a single side effect. Nothing is out of the normal for me... if you catch my drift. I wish there was some way to know if it was working. I've lost weight, but I need to lose a lot, so that probably has something to do with it. So you haven't noticed anything different? I have seen some tiny oil droplets in the toilet and once or twice some larger oil droplets, when I think I may have eaten a little too much fat (it was a difficult meal to count fat grams) I would think you would notice something. Are you eating enough fat? I know that sounds silly, but Alli rids your body of 1/4 of the fat, so you have to make sure you're eating enough fat for it to do its job. It seems so crazy to me that I'm constantly trying to add more fat to my meals because most of the time my meal aren't really that bad. This morning I added peanut butter to my granola because my breakfast was only 5 grams of fat, so with 1 tbs. of pb it made my breakfast 13 grams. I know maura said it worked better for her too when she was working out and I think she mentioned the first week she didn't really see a loss. Tell us about a typical day, maybe we can analyze.

God, I keep catching up on this thread, but I really can't pick just one, there are so many girls that I love here!

Quote: Originally Posted by Marnie&Peter Im trying to check out pricing for our honeymoon (looking into couples negril), and on the couples negril site, I typed in hotel only (because we will already be there a week before at a different resort) and then the week that i wanted, and then picked a room that i wanted and typed in 2 ppl for that room.....the price that came up was $2898.00 or something like that.....now is that for each person or for the both of us!? I have never really had to look around at pricing so Im not too sure... Can anyone let me know?! I merged your two threads together, next time rather than reposting, just ask a mod to move it to the right area. Thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by tvt this thread is quickly turning into my favorite one out there! New recipies, good feedback, and lots of support! I will try and top weighing my self so much, but I've been doing it everyday for so long that it's kind of habit. Maybe 2 a week would work. Maura, I'm almost glad to know you didn't see results in the first week - that's so bad! But here I was thinking it wasn't working at all, and maybe it is and I just don't know it yet. But I do feel better. Went horse back riding today, and was so nervous that this would be the time I'd get some crazy urge and need to haul ass to the bathroom, all the while I'm in the middle of the desert. I told you! It's so mental for me! Nothing happened, but leave it to me to worry about it! I also bought a digital food scale last night. SOOO much easier to figure out correct portions now! I know, I love this thread! I need a digital food scale too, I have to remember next time I go to the store. I've noticed that usually within 15-20 minutes after I eat, if I'm going to have to go, that's when it is, after that I'm usually good until the next meal. Quote: Originally Posted by JBinjour I made this the other night for the hubby and I. I used the weight watchers whole wheat pita bread. There were only 1 gram of fat each. I also used olive oil spray. It had 0 gram of fat. So, I sprayed each side of the pita with it to make it crunchy. I chopped up fresh garlic and mixed it with the pizza sauce. It turned out really tasty...YUM!!! servings per recipe: 1 fat per serving: 9g calories per serving: 310 Ingredients 1 pita, white, 6 1/2 inches 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, extra virgin 3 tablespoons pizza sauce 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, part-skim 2 tablespoons tomato, chopped 1 tablespoon onion, white, chopped 2 tablespoons basil, fresh, chopped Preparation preheat oven to 425 degrees F lightly coat pita with olive oil evenly spread pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese over pita top with chopped or sliced tomato and chopped onion sprinkle basil over pizza place pita pizza directly on oven rack and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until the cheese is melted that sounds good I'll have to try it! I'm going to try to check out the alli site more tonight if I have time. I really need some new recipes. One of the problems I've been having is that Hailey has been away a lot and DH doesn't always eat dinner or he wants to eat something I can't eat. So I don't really make a lot of real meals because it's usually just me. Sometimes I eat lean cuisines or smart ones, boca burgers, sometimes I'll cook some wheat pasta with something, I also have the individual chicken breasts, which I'm eating tonight w/something not sure what. Its just really hard to cook a meal for just me! But I'm still going to check out the recipes tonight and maybe at least I'll have leftovers for another meal if it makes a few servings.

thats a great idea betsy! the starfish I had broke, but I still had the starfish and I made it into a pin, I wore it to a xmas party last year, it looked really pretty! but I really like your idea, I have a bunch of shells and sea glass left over from our wedding and have been saving it so I can do something with it, maybe I'll have to throw the starfish in too!

she usually sends you a contract by email

that sounds SO good!

Quote: Originally Posted by tvt Dang it. I literally just emailed FI to say "I'm hungry for tacos". But good for you for sticking with it!! I have to say, I am a little dissapointed that I have not seen any decrease in the number on the scale. I know it's only been 4 days, but I was kind of expecting to see something, even if it was small. Tara, try not to weigh yourself too often, I find that I tend to get discouraged when I weigh myself more than once a week and I end up eating something I shouldn't. I've just been weighing myself on Monday and am trying really hard to stick to that. God, I was dying when they were eating their tacos, all loaded up with meat and sour cream, I wanted one so bad, just one, but I knew I'd be paying later. At least having the salad gave me a little taste of tacos even though it was more salad than anything, but it had the flavor, so I think it killed the craving at least.

Quote: Originally Posted by tvt I've completed my 3rd full day on Alli. I have to say, the poop thing is totally psychological for me! Day number one I was fine all day long, no worries, no strong urges, but the second I left the house I was like "ahh, i gotta go" but really, it was all in my head. kinda funny. FI was laughing so hard. He got a kick out of the fact that i was so OCD about poop, that i actually made myself think i had to. He told me i need a hobby! Since then, I haven't had anything strange. TMI, i go more often now, but nothing crazy and it's not like i'm screaming running for the bathroom at all. So, i am totally loving this diet. Today I had a bagle with regular cream cheese for breakfast (total 9 grams of fat, 300ish calories, i can't remember exactly right now). As soon as i finished my bagle a coworker came in with mexican breakfast burritos. Old Tara would have said "what the hell, i might as well have one since she went to the trouble to make it" new Tara says "how will I ever know how many calories and fat is in that?! I didn't make it. I can't put it on my food journal, I can't eat it! Plus I just ate and am not hungry. Good job self!" I was a total skeptic at first... if you read the beginig of this thread you will see that, so thanks Maura for being a guine pig and testing it out! Good Job Tara! Quote: Originally Posted by JBinjour Okay, so I tried it again today. I didn't take any of my enzymes and prescription with it in the morning. I ate a fruit & nut salad from mickeyds this morning for breakfast. It was 8 grams of fat. LOL, the moment I got to work, I ran to the bathroom. After that episode, I've been fine so far. I ate a greek salad with a sprinkle of feta, two tablespoons of low fat greek dressing, and some salt and pepper for additional taste. I had my second pill after lunch. My stomach is rumbling. I am super gassy, but okay. I am not feeling nausea today. My constant battle with the toilet is over. I think the Alli was purging my system of everything. I also believe it was the enzymes and prescription that interacted with each other negatively i.e., puking. Enzymes and prescription were for digestion. I am going to stop taking them for now. Or, I will take them before I go to bed. I don't want the same reaction again. LOL, I am going to agree with everyone about limiting my greasy food intake. I had a smoothie last night for dinner. I made my husband get one too. We woke up this morning. He kept complaining about being hungry. I reminded that we had smoothies for dinner. So, he was determined to stop at MickeyDs for breakast. He has a thing for their McSkillet Burritos. He ordered his breakfast. Then, he looked at me and asked me what I wanted. I told him that I wanted a Fruit and Nut salad for breakfast. He said that he was impressed that I didn't get a McSkillet too. I told him that thought of greasy behind was enough motivation not to eat the McSkillet. So, we sat in our car and ate our breakfast. He was damn-near making love to the hash brown and McSkillet. He was licking his fingers after each bite. As, I ate my nuts and apples. He turned to me and told me that it was sooooo good. Even though, I wanted to eat it with him. The thought of shitting on myself seemed to curve my cravings. LOL, I did smell the McSkillet though. I won't get greasy behind from that, right? My hat is off to you Maura!! Thanks so much for testing it out for us and answering our crazy questions/concerns!!! That's great that you stayed strong and didn't get sick today! So, I had an early meeting this morning, didn't have time to make breakfast, but knew I was going to stop to get a coffee, so I quickly looked up the nutrition facts for dunkin donuts, to see if there was anything at all I could eat. I ended up getting a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich on an english muffin. It was 350 calories and 14 grams of fat, it was good and filling. So tonight we decided to make tacos, our daughter was home (she's been at her grandmothers & aunt & uncles practically the whole summer) I started looking up fat grams on the stuff in the tacos and almost passed out!! Now normally I would have just said screw it, I'm eating tacos tonight, but the thought of oil in the toilet was enough to sustain me. Instead I made a big salad and literally, sprinkled bits of the taco meat on my salad, tiny sprinkle of cheese, and a couple teaspoons of sour cream. I'm not exactly sure on the fat content, but I know I hardly had anything with fat, so I'll be fine. I'm very proud of myself for staying strong!