Changing your eating habits while at WDW.

[Conservative Hippie]

For myself, I ate foods I normally wouldn't at home, but then went right back to my obessively-healthy diet when I got home (I could not and would not bring myself to drink soda, even at WDW, though!). I got to try so many different things that I would not have if not for the DDP, so I am happy with it!

 

[Merriwind]

Haven't read every reply, but I wanted to chime in.

I try not to go crazy at WDW. We're there a lot and I am tiny, so the weight can come on fast. DD8 and I share meals a lot. Sometimes I just order an appetizer. My weakness is dessert and that's where I'll splurge.

One tip I try to keep in mind: I read somewhere that after three bites of a food your taste buds are saturated. Have you ever noticed how the first bite or two of something taste best? That's because your taste buds are being stimulated. AFter bite #3, the taste sensation is greatly diminshed. So, if I've got something really decadent, I try to limit myself to three bites--or at least not much more. If you pay attention you will really notice how the taste changes after the first few bites.

Congrats on the weight loss!!

 

[SandraVB79]

I had lost 18 pounds between my USA visit in October and my USA visit now i May, and I didn't want to gain all those pounds again. But I also didn't want to say NO to all tha "wonderful" American food (no, it's not wonderful food, I just like it a lot, bwahaha!!)

So, I tried to limit myself to only 3 Krispy Kremes a day during work-part of the trip (as opposed of sometimes a dozen of those donuts I ate when I was in Texas a couple of years ago... ) and I also tried to limit myself at WDW.
I didn't eat everything I wanted to try, but tried more than I had planned. It is vacation, so I can splurge a little bit!!

In the end, I only gained 2 pounds, and I blame that on the one Sprite (as opposed to the diet coke) and the alcohol I had!! (and the ice cream, krispy kremes, funnel cake, sundaes, ... )


I try to avoid appetizers/ desserts and sodas that are not diet. I am not going to count calories on vacation (as if I do that at home! ha!) but I still try to be reasonable...

 

[millerjudi]

I have struggled with my weight my whole life, and I had just lost 20 pounds before my trip to Disney last year; trip was for three nights and four days. I did not gain any weight while I was there and here was my strategy--I went with DH, DS and DD. I let them use the CS credits for lunch (as we were there for 4 lunches but had dinning plan credits for only 3 days of lunches) and I just got a salad. I used many of the snacks to buy fruit which I saved and ate for breakfast and snacks. Then, for dinner, we ate at TS restaurants and I ate whatever I wanted, including dessert. It was a good compromise for me. Plus, all of the walking there helped burn calories!

 

[mrsltg]

I find I snack more on vacation. It's nothing for me to have a Mickey bar at 9:30am - however, I usually eat a few bites of most of my snacks and dh finishes it. I usually loose weight at WDW and he gains it !

On vacation I do things I wouldn't normally do. Sometimes I have 3 desserts in a day. Sometimes I have some sort of fancy frozen drink (those things are about a billion calories!). I eat stupid carbs (french fries, white toast, breakfast pastry) like I'll never see them again. All in all I find the walking really keeps things to a minimum, though. The one thing I won't do is stuff myself. I try to eat until comfortably full and it really helps.

Have a great trip!

 

[fakereadhed]

I totally understand where you are coming from. It's almost scary to eat things you haven't when you've been working so hard on weight loss. You can fall off the wagon by eating things you don't usually eat, then climb back on when you get home. But I would caution you on the portion sizes. That is something harder to get back into. If you overstuff yourself on your trip you will be very hungry when you try to go back to your healthy ways. I would suggest asking for a box at the beginning of the meal, making the portions into what you actually should eat, and handing the box to the server when they come back around. That should keep you on track. Have a great trip!

 

[Barbers2005]

My Dh and I have been eating healthy, exercising and watching our weight for the last year, so at home we don't even have unhealthy foods in our house. That being said...last week at WDW we ate everything. I seriously thought they would need to roll me out of Le Cellier like a big beach ball. By the end of our trip, some of my clothes were too tight to wear . Now that we're home, it's back to healthy food and lots of exercise. Our philosophy is that one week of vacation is ok to not worry and just enjoy ourselves.

 

[Kath2003]

I eat more calories, but probably not more food. Back home I have a mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack and then dinner. On vacation I'll probably just have an ice cream for lunch and a big dinner; or a buffet lunch with a cookie for dinner.

 

[DLBDS]

I don't know what the majority do when at WDW but I plan to GRUB when I go at the end of the year. I never get breakfast food at home. I LOVE a big breakfast when on vacation. We will either have late breakfast/dinner or early lunch/ dinner when we're there. It just depends on what we're doing that day. This is what I've planned anyway. BTW, we aren't on the DDP. I'm getting the DDE before I go. I'll probably share my meal with my DD9 quite a bit while there. I'm REALLY looking forward to those buffets and family style meals!

 

[Christine]

Yes, I do tend to overeat at Disney. I've never done the DDP so that's not a factor.

I don't usually order appetizers, so I don't think I would on the plan either. I just like to order rich meals and dessert. I shouldn't do it though. I have, kind of, an AHEM, delicate system can we say. When I left Disney last year, I had to take a few Immodium or else I wouldn't have made my flight. Not pretty.

 

[themudd4]

I would not say you are "forced" to eat differently or eat more...but the temptation is there that is for sure!

Congratulations on you weight lose so far. When we went last year I had lost roughly 80 lbs. I like you with in reason aloud myself to eat as desired. It was alot harder than I thought to resume the right eating habits at home. While we are going back in a little over 2 weeks, I still watch what I eat and hope to maintain that while there, but allow myself some splurges as well.

 

[honeybee30]

Eating is part of the fun at WDW. I really look forward to eating all the meals that I've meticulously planned over the months before the trip. If I ate that way everyday, then vacation wouldn't be so special.

But I think it's also important to try and savor not only the food you're eating but also the time you're spending with your family in such a wonderful place! I think it's a silly waste of energy to get uptight about DDP or food in general! Eat what you want and enjoy every minute. You can count calories when you get home.

 

[DisneyJen0504]

We eat more food and more junk when we go to WDW. At home we both eat relatively healthy so vacations, especially those to WDW are a time for us to splurge. Our trips to WDW always include lots of cheese fries, ice cream, krispie treats, cookies, chips, popcorn and more!
But honestly, from all the walking, DH and I have never gained more than a pound during our WDW trips. There is a lot of temptation in WDW!

 

[checkwriter]

We were very impressed by the number of healthy choices at restaurant after restaurant. My sister-in-law was with us during our visit, and said she ate better -- meaning healthier -- at WDW than she did at home. We spent 10 days at WDW in April, me coming in after losing 45 lbs, and I was maybe 3-4 lbs heavier at the end than I was at the beginning. All of which went away the week after I returned.

It's easy to pig out on the DP, certainly. But it's possible to make reasonable choices and still take advantage of the flexibility and freedom from worry that are what attracted me to the plan in the first place.