Tiffany B

Hi everyone, My husband and I are going back and forth on the best way to go about reaching out goal, and wondered if we could get some advice from you guys! Our very end goal is to own a villa in Ibiza that we will rent out during the summer months to holiday makers. Looking at the types of villa we would like as our end goal, we're starting at €700k+ and obviously going into crazy monies the bigger and and grander they get. We currently have a pot of around €80k, and we're trying to figure out the best way to go to eventually get to our goal. We believe we have a few options: 1. Keep our current pot and keep growing it slowly with savings from our jobs to put together the large (40%) deposit needed for the villa in Ibiza 2. Use our pot to purchase one or two more rental properties in the UK, therefore increasing our monthly returns and saving for the villa - but the pot basically starts from scratch. We do currently have 1 rental property in the UK. 3. Buy property in the knowledge that we are going to re-sell in a couple of years at a profit. Note, at this moment in time we are living in Dubai and are moving permanently to Ibiza when we are able to. (supposed to move at end of April but obviously everything has stopped us) I'd love your thoughts on this everyone!

Scientifically, your body won't 'absorb' fat if you eat it to break your fast. Fatty food are satiating so they actually help you feel fuller for longer. Anyways - CONGRATULATIONS on your weight loss. Such a great goal, I've been seeing you drop down on MFP and saw your news when you checked in on there over the weekend. I used to always use intermittent fasting (skipping breakfast) to help with my weight loss goals, but I now work in an office where EVERYONE has breakfast and it's kinda a thing so now I just do it when I am on my holidays to try and limit the calorie intake. It's a great way to have bigger meals and obviously its working for you so well done! Keep it up! My only advice is to avoid the 'bro science' stuff that comes along with weight loss

Hey All, We're getting there with our first purchase, and we are at the stage where we need to put insurance in place. At the moment, the property is not tenanted, so should we just look at getting buildings insurance now? And then landlord insurance on top of that once we have tenants in place? Thanks in advance for your advice

Sleep is the best thing for recovery. Absolutely nothing else is anywhere close to helping you recover properly. I take ZMA's when I need a good nights sleep, some people take them daily but I generally sleep well so don't need them all of the time.

This food prep looks fantastic! Well done!

Congratulations on the weight loss - and it sounds like your measurement loss is going down much quicker as well if you're needing new belts already!! Are you tracking your measurements as well as your weight? I do find myself a bit worried about you being on a 1500cals target per day.... I don't know your height, but with your weight and age I would expect that calorie goal to be higher. Obviously we are very different people, but even my target is 1568cals with 158g protein per day. Good idea on the night time shake, Casein is great for that. A perfect slower digesting/release protein for when you're sleeping. Tiff x

This is a personal mortgage.

The rates will always be higher on expat mortgages unfortunately. We have one at 3.29% and Interest Only. We used liquid expat.

Hi Ivan I am British currently living in Dubai and have recently gone through the process. The lowest purchase value we can get a mortgage on is £75k, and this was at 70% loan to value. We used liquid expat and they are very helpful. Low value properties just simply aren't available to us unless you can be a cash buyer. Hope this helps Tiff

Well done! Sounds like you're doing well. Maybe keep a log of your measurements as well as your weight so you can see the trend in them both. You can log all if it in MFP too

Haha yes that is very true! If you need calorie dense stuff, take a look at things like an apple or banana with peanut butter or something. I have protein bars/cookies so I can always manage to find an extra 200-250 cals when I need them

Hey Darren, Sounds like you're doing really well - congratulations! Especially well done on getting the water in, people don't realise that water is an assistant to SO many functions within the body. I personally drink around 3 litres a day. Just a couple of notes on what you've said above with regards to your nutrition. It doesn't matter what time you eat your meals. I regularly eat between 8-9pm and there is no scientific proof that you should stop eating at 6pm or whatever they try and tell people these days. 1200 calories isn't a magic number. This was brought around in the 80's-90's diet culture as a number that women should stick to to lose weight. Unfortunately (or fortunately - however you decide to look at it) every-BODY is different and requires a different amount of calories and split of macro-nutrients to function and to lose weight. This is easily worked out, and I'm happy to help if you like, but I will tell you right now that 11-1200 calories is incredibly low for you. It may be sustainable for a short amount of time, sure, but that is basically a crash diet which you will bounce out of and possibly come out the other side worse off. Your PT (if he is a good one) should be able to figure out the correct amount of calories for you, along with a start-off macro nutrient split for you to work towards. I follow James Smith PT on Instagram, who is a straight-talking personal trainer who basically busts the bullshit in the fitness industry. Yes he can be a bit sweary and rude - but he gets his point across and he is very good. I also follow Courtney Pruce who is great at giving out the facts. Feel free to message me if you have any questions at all - I'm happy to help!

Hey Darren, WELL DONE on starting your fitness journey! I'm a qualified PT so I see this all of the time! It's tough, especially at the beginning, but you've taken the correct first step to get you started. You'll soon figure out what works best for you with regards to your nutrition timing around exercise. Personally, I train first thing in the morning and I don't need/like any food in my body. I then eat breakfast when I get into work. Matt on the other hand, needs food pre-workout. Everyone works differently and you'll soon work out what is best for you. Don't be sad about your 'hiccups' - it's called balance! Though if you are serious about 10kg in 10 weeks, you might want to portion control those yummy snacks a little more. Good luck and keep us updated!!

Hi All, Wondered if anyone had any recommendations on a sourcer in the Birmingham area (or close by)? We are a couple living in Dubai looking to invest in the Midlands, so looking for someone on the ground who can help us out! Thanks in advance!

Hi Iain, I hope you don't mind me jumping in on this. I'd love to send you an email with some questions I have - would you mind? Tiffany