Eating Paleo in Disneyland

[MrsPinup]

If you are trying to lose weight, I wouldn't recommend the turkey leg! It is one of the most calorie dense things you can get at Disneyland--it has over 1,000 calories and 50 grams of fat!

I would have never guessed! Congrats on the weight loss! I am hoping to be down by another 35lbs. before my 30th in July.

Thank you for some of the GF options...it is my son I am concerned about.

You are welcome! I hope you saw the link the pp put up

 

[BELLEDOZER]

I've lost 12 lbs so far and dropping. I hope to lose at least another 30 lbs by the of Aug or sooner. The turkey leg probably has more additives than I would like, but it sounds soooo good! What may sound revolting to one person is heaven to another. I can honestly say that I've never felt better on Paleo, and with my various allergies dragging my heath down all these years, it's nice to actually feel healthy for a change.

 

[cmwade77]

Since I see that sugar is one of the main issues here, I will note that many locations have many diabetic friendly options, including gluten fee, diabetic options. Most of the gluten free, diabetic options can generally only be found in table service locations with at least 24 hours notice though.

 

[JoRo]

Hi we are starting Paleo this Monday so thanks for the post. My blood work came back and little high for inflammatory issues and I would like to be ahead of the game and not on defense.

But we are going to the parks in July and will do our best to stick to plan while there. Sugar will be the hard one, and of course carbs. However we are renting a car this year and hoping to hit up TJ's and grocery to save us some $$ this trip.

Thanks again for all the posts!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Since I see that sugar is one of the main issues here, I will note that many locations have many diabetic friendly options, including gluten fee, diabetic options. Most of the gluten free, diabetic options can generally only be found in table service locations with at least 24 hours notice though.

problem with that wade is that people who are on true sugar free diets cannot eat things like splenda or equal ....because they do have certain sugars in them and sugar has many many different names...the only true non sugar items are things made with xylitol, eythritol, truvia or stevia and I may be wrong but I dont think DL or wdw has ANY sf options made with any of those ingredients...

 

[CanadianDISfan]

I know it's going to be hard to eat paleo on our upcoming trip this summer but I'm going to try really hard and maybe inform restaurants of a gluten/dairy allergy.

 

[Mugglemama]

We visited for 8 days last year and managed to stay gluten-free (plus, I don't let my kids eat a lot of sugar). We brought in a lot of foods/snacks that kept us going - maybe some of these suggestions will be useful to you?...

carrots
dried fruits
raw almonds
no sugar-added applesauce cups
sunflower seeds
raw fruit (bananas, oranges, apples, etc.)

we also brought in banana chips, but they are made with honey so you might not be interested in those. Seriously, I could make it through an entire vacation packing in only these types of foods and grabbing a salad here and there. Especially when it's hot...I don't feel like eating at DLR when it's hot, anyway. My kids can have dairy, so we also packed in yogurts and cheese, but it looks like you're avoiding those.

We bought the skewers at Bengal BBQ on our trip previous to that one and thought they were terrible.

The sight of those greasy turkey legs makes me sick, so I've never tried them, but a lot of people on the boards seem to think they taste really good.

Hope you have a great time!

 

[CanadianDISfan]

We visited for 8 days last year and managed to stay gluten-free (plus, I don't let my kids eat a lot of sugar). We brought in a lot of foods/snacks that kept us going - maybe some of these suggestions will be useful to you?...

carrots
dried fruits
raw almonds
no sugar-added applesauce cups
sunflower seeds
raw fruit (bananas, oranges, apples, etc.)

we also brought in banana chips, but they are made with honey so you might not be interested in those. Seriously, I could make it through an entire vacation packing in only these types of foods and grabbing a salad here and there. Especially when it's hot...I don't feel like eating at DLR when it's hot, anyway. My kids can have dairy, so we also packed in yogurts and cheese, but it looks like you're avoiding those.

We bought the skewers at Bengal BBQ on our trip previous to that one and thought they were terrible.

The sight of those greasy turkey legs makes me sick, so I've never tried them, but a lot of people on the boards seem to think they taste really good.

Hope you have a great time!

Great advice and tips for eating paleo at Disney!! Thanks so much!

 

[nwlovely]

We eat Paleo at home but decided to indulge in all of our favorite treats (Monte Cristos, corn dogs, sundaes) in Disneyland last week! I was so happy after our trip to get back to my normal eating!! I think I might try to stick to Paleo next time! I'm happy to see so many great suggestions.

 

[ociana]

I will be there in a few weeks for a solo 2 day trip where I intend to eat Paleo/Low Carb the whole time. I have scouted out food pics of stuff I can eat and will let you all know how it goes with pics when I return.

If anyone has any great tips before I go I would love to hear them!

 

[aliceindisneyland]

This may already have been mentioned, but would the meat skewers and veggie skewers at Bengal Barbecue work if ordered without sauce and seasoning (the veggie seasoning just tastes salty to me but it may have sugar for all I know)? The veggies on it are potato, yellow squash +/or zucchini, mushroom, red onion, red+/or green bell pepper (as I recall ) -- if any of those are not on your list I bet they would be happy to make you a custom skewer.

 

[syudelson]

Congrats on going Paleo - my husband and I have been Primal for about a year and a half. We started just for the health benefits as neither one of us really needed to lose weight and we have never felt better in our lives. All sorts of little issues I attributed to aging (achy joints, eczema, menstrual cramps) completely disappeared never to come back. This June will be our first trip to Disney on the diet as well (we started 2 days after getting back from our last trip). Our plan, which we always do traveling now, is to make sure we stay gluten free for sure, because most places understand and can accommodate GF, and worry less about hidden soy and sugar. Our plan is to eat a lot of eggs, salads, grilled chicken, fresh fruit and veges - unless you know you're super sensitive to soy, sugar, dairy, etc, I wouldn't stress too much about it sneaking into your food and return to clean living once you get home. My guess is if you attempt to stay close to Paleo, coupled with all the walking you do in DL, you're still going to feel great and may even continue to lose while you're there.

 

[CanadianDISfan]

I would love to read about your paleo trips to Disney with food pictures! That would be so helpful. This summer I'm going to keep a trip report blog so I can refer back to it on future disney trips. I really want to stick to the diet while we're there because my health improvements have been great and I don't want to feel like I did before: lethargic, exhausted, brain fog and achy all the time!

 

[CanadianDISfan]

This may already have been mentioned, but would the meat skewers and veggie skewers at Bengal Barbecue work if ordered without sauce and seasoning (the veggie seasoning just tastes salty to me but it may have sugar for all I know)? The veggies on it are potato, yellow squash +/or zucchini, mushroom, red onion, red+/or green bell pepper (as I recall ) -- if any of those are not on your list I bet they would be happy to make you a custom skewer.

Those sound amazing and would be perfectly paleo!! I wish they had them at Disney World. Thanks for the tip, next time we're at DLR, I will be trying them for sure!!!

 

[SMD]

if any of those are not on your list I bet they would be happy to make you a custom skewer.

They will not, the skewers are pre-assembled. Someone I know asked for one without peppers and they would not do it.

 

[Jules04]

We have been a primal/paleo family for five years now. I think that what has changed for us the most is that vacation is not food centric. We plan a few good meals and the rest of the time we just eat what we bring.

For our disney trip last week, we stayed at homewood that has a complete kitchen and hot breakfast. I either made breakfast in the room or we grabbed some bacon and eggs (a little yogurt for the kids) from downstairs. At the park I brought lots of snacks for the kids. We had lunch back at the hotel during nap time.

Most of the counters and restaurants have something that you can paleoize. We ate at Pilots Grill and got the burgers bunless. They have a big condiment bar so we just piled on the veggies. At Ariel's Grotto we just ordered gluten-free food and told them we didn't want the gluten-free rolls ("You don't want ANY bread?"). The tri-tip was good. DH and I were so full from those two meals that we didn't eat until after lunch the next day!

The key is to not worry about hidden things like soy and sugar or if it is technically "paleo". Go ahead and get sauces (unless you have an allergy) and don't worry about the oil it was cooked in. Just stay away from the obvious grains, legumes, and dairy and you will be fine.

Good Luck with "going paleo." It has literally changed my life. I am so much happier now

 

[CanadianDISfan]

We have been a primal/paleo family for five years now. I think that what has changed for us the most is that vacation is not food centric. We plan a few good meals and the rest of the time we just eat what we bring.:

Wonderful tips, thank you! Not being food centric really rang true for me. We'll have a full kitchen so we can stock up at Whole Foods and do some of our own cooking too.

I googled "Paleo-friendly" restaurants and there are quite a few around Disney in both Anaheim and Orlando.

 

[Spwhoney]

I have been wondering about the Paleo diet. What's a good resource? Sugar is my downfall. I think it would be really hard.

 

[CanadianDISfan]

I have been wondering about the Paleo diet. What's a good resource? Sugar is my downfall. I think it would be really hard.

I read Dr. Loren Cordain's books after seeing him on Dr. Oz a few weeks back and another book called 'Paleonista' by Nell Stephenson who was also on the show. Dr. Cordain's website really helped me a lot:

http://thepaleodiet.com/dr-loren-cordain/

As for the sugar, you could always replace it with a bit of honey. Good luck!

 

[Spwhoney]

Thanks for the link. Have plenty of honey, were are beekeepers