Hi --
Before I went to Sandals Resort in Negril, Jamaica, I posted a
request for information about food and exercise options available.
In addition to the responses I received, I also got requests for me
to provide information (when I got back) for people who are
considering going to Sandals. So, here goes:
For background, Sandals is a couples-only all-inclusive resort. The
one we went to is in Negril, Jamaica, but I think the other Sandals
are similar. In brief -- I tried, they tried, and I managed to put on
3 lbs anyway! I'm not sure how, and I know this is not a tragedy on
the scale of an earthquake, but I am feeling sorry for myself in the
way that only someone to whom 3 lbs. is "another 3 lbs!!!!!!" can.
Breakfast is served buffet style, with fresh fruits
and assorted boxed cold cereals available (including several
varieties that meet the guidelines of this list). Plain hot cereal
is available upon special request. (The stuff on the buffet has milk
and / or butter.)
Lunch is also buffet style, with salad (fairly
plain, but there are usually some veggies besides lettuce) and fresh
fruit available (though the variety of fruits is limited and gets old
after a few days). There is no fatfree dressing on the buffet (or
the ingredients to make your own, as far as I could tell), but the
chef whipped some up for me from fruit juices, honey and vinegar when
I asked him to. Plain pasta is available upon request -- the
stuff on the buffet has some kind of oil / butter on it. In
addition, there are "fitshape" choices available for spouses who do
not choose to follow the guidelines of this list, but do not want to
go full fat.
For dinner, I spoke with the food manager the first
night and had a specially-cooked-to-my-specifications main dish each
night. The sous chef met with me and noted my dietary requirements
and I was given a beautifully arranged plate of boiled or blanched
veggies each night with a puree of herbed veggies as a sauce. Fresh
fruit was available upon request each night as a dessert and for
anytime snacks.
I took advantage of the fitness center, land and
water sports and beautiful beach for walking (safe during the day
only), and managed to avoid desserts that looked fantastic and
reportedly were. I did cheat and eat the rolls. (They probably were
not fatfree.) Knowing I was going to write this message to all of
you kept me eating pretty close to what I should (I didn't even eat
the piece of cake they put the candle into for my birthday!), being
careful about quantities (obviously not careful enough) and
doing more exercise than I ever have in one week in my life. The
resort was amazingly nice about catering to my dietary needs. I
really thought I'd be writing about going on vacation and losing
weight. I guess vacations are about living your fantasies and maybe
some fantasies are just too good to be true. At any rate, I wanted to
let you know that it is possible to go to Sandals and follow the guidelines
of this list. The staff never made it seem as if my dietary needs
were an imposition or crazy, and they really tried hard to keep the
food interesting and accessible to me.
Meryl P. Gardner
gardnerm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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