First timer, first world problem? How do I not eat too much and get sick?

[mylael]

As far as buffets whatever you didn't get to try one day will probably reappear another day.

It took me a few days to figure that out on my 11-night cruise, but it's good advice, and I hope to follow it on my next cruise. There are so many delicious things you'll want to try, but remember -- they keep replenishing the food. There will always be new food, every day of the cruise. No need to try to eat it all on day 1-2. The ice cream station, for example... it stays in that one spot throughout the cruise & they keep refilling it with more ice cream! You don't have to eat 3 cones in the first 24 hours (which... I did. YEP.) Pace yourself; your stomach will thank you, and you'll be better off physically so you can enjoy all the fun activities.

One tactic I'm going to try on my upcoming cruise is: if I want to get a dessert in the MDR, I'll plan ahead and only order 1 appetizer, and also maybe just eat one piece of the bread. 2 apps, entree, PLUS dessert... well, some people can manage it, but I can not.

 

[Geomom]

We stayed on deck 2 and used the stairs often--even when going to deck 9. My kids still need to learn this lesson in the buffet, but I just take a single spoonful of something that looks interesting--I just want to taste it, not get full on 1 thing--if I love it I can always go back and get more later. I would say that the MDR portions are an appropriate size to eat. Normally in a restaurant I'd eat half my meal, take the other half home. I had no problem finishing my meal here, even after having an appetizer and a salad, and a dessert. The meal is also timed well enough to be able to eat that amount of food.

Basically, walk around as much as you can, and take small portions any place that you're serving yourself. And yes, tums/antacid of some sort is also good for those days you overdo it!

 

[mmouse37]

I try to walk by the buffet first and scope out what I may want and see all the options...then I will go get what I find interesting.

I often skip dessert int he MDR's....I just don't find them that great. I do like the bread pudding and vanilla sauce at the lunch buffet (when they have it).

MJ

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

We stayed on deck 2 and used the stairs often--even when going to deck 9. My kids still need to learn this lesson in the buffet, but I just take a single spoonful of something that looks interesting--I just want to taste it, not get full on 1 thing--if I love it I can always go back and get more later. I would say that the MDR portions are an appropriate size to eat. Normally in a restaurant I'd eat half my meal, take the other half home. I had no problem finishing my meal here, even after having an appetizer and a salad, and a dessert. The meal is also timed well enough to be able to eat that amount of food.

Basically, walk around as much as you can, and take small portions any place that you're serving yourself. And yes, tums/antacid of some sort is also good for those days you overdo it!

Totally agree with this. The served portions in the MDR are MUCH smaller than at most restaurants, so that helped keep the portions down. The extra activity helped too.

One other suggestion, we often enjoyed the sit-down breakfast, or on days of early excursions, the room-service breakfast, instead of the breakfast buffet. This helped us to keep our morning portions down and left more room the rest of the day.

 

[Dug720]

Totally agree with this. The served portions in the MDR are MUCH smaller than at most restaurants, so that helped keep the portions down. The extra activity helped too.

One other suggestion, we often enjoyed the sit-down breakfast, or on days of early excursions, the room-service breakfast, instead of the breakfast buffet. This helped us to keep our morning portions down and left more room the rest of the day.

However, if you have food allergy issues or are gluten-free, room service is not an option - they cannot guarantee allergy-free prep for room service. And "breakfast" is all pastries and non-gf stuff.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'll just need to figure out what to do when multiple things are as good as they look

If you're like me you will find that this isn't a problem.

Not sure if they still have the celeriac dish at AP, but that was literally the ONLY dish that I found to be delicious.

Oh wait, the pesto at Pali was really nice the first time I had it. Second time it was NOT good. And it has cubed zucchini, which I thought was brilliant, but I seem to be allergic to zucchini now...

Oh wait, the almond croissant at Palo brunch. I could have eaten my weight in that.

So, Palo croissant and the celeriac dish. That's it.

 

[timrousbeastie]

Try to slow down at meals, but use all facilities like the gym and walk a lot on the deck. Get off the ship, esp at cc an walk around the island and enjoy. Enjoy and don't worry, you WILL have a good time and will feel good

This is excellent advice. If you are over 18 and healthy enough to be active, there is nothing better than a workout in between all that eating. I am actually really looking forward to going to the fitness center as a run on the treadmills somehow feels even better when I am eating far more than I normally do. Our family tends to end up walking a lot in ports and none of us, even those who didn't use the fitness center, have ever had a problem with weight gain after a Disney cruise.

In addition, I've found that, after a day or two of trying everything, I can cut easily cut down on that XL lunch at Cabanas and just get by with breakfast, snacks, and dinner. I feel better that way, too.

Congratulations on winning the cruise! I am sure you'll have a fantastic time.

 

[MinnesotaMouseketeers]

We are early eaters here at home, normally done eating and dishes cleaned and put away by six.
We have been on nine cruises; the last two cruises we had second seating, never again!!!
I found I was eating a lot more on these last two cruises because I was busy snacking around the ship leading up to the late dinner. With main dining I was not doing the snacking around the ship when we were done eating dinner, just too full!
We rarely eat at buffets here at home; so I normally skip the salads and fruit and go directly for the main meals. On the cruises I do go for the salads and fruit and try to hold back on the other food at the buffet.

 

[No Windows]

There's a saying that goes "Don't let your eyes get bigger than your stomach." I try to remind myself of this at buffets and only dish up what I think I will actually finish.
Also, remember that even if you do finish your plate, you can always go back for seconds if you feel you're still hungry. It's amazing how many people treat their first time through a buffet as the last time they'll ever lay eyes on food lol. So much of it ends up going to waste too, which is a shame.

 

[darnheather]

My strategy for the next cruise is to only have a salad, appetizer, and dessert at dinner. I didn't really LOVE any of the main courses that I can remember and I'm sure I won't miss them. For breakfast my favorite thing was eggs Benedict so I plan to stick with that and not get a bunch of pastries.

 

[EASchechter]

I don't really care if I gain any weight, I'm usually very responsible with my eating habits and expect I will loose whatever I could possibly gain, but... because of my usual habits I don't often eat a lot of heavy/rich foods.

The problem is that almost every meal has multiple special things that I would love to try, and because of our financial situation, we won't be in a position to go on more cruises for a while (we won this trip). I am a die hard foodie and I have a history of loving Disney food. but I don't want to ruin the rest of the trip just eating and feeling awful.

- Eat slowly. Put your fork down between bites and take a sip of water before you pick your fork up again. (Yes, this is a pain in the patoot, but it does work).

- Cut everything on your plate in half. Eat half only.

- ask for child sized portions.

 

[kiford]

For breakfast, the fare is pretty much the same every day. So if there are a number of different things you want to try, spread them out over several days.

At lunch, the menu changes daily in the MDRs but the selection is relatively minimal so just pick what's the most interesting to you. At Cabanas, it changes daily but there are a lot of standard items which show up every day. So, again, for those items, don't eat them every day but spread them out over the whole cruise. For buffets, take small spoonfuls of things you want and go back for seconds if you're still hungry.

For dinner, check out the menu prior to dinner (it's on the Navigator app and posted outside the restaurant). Make your decisions in advance and stick to them.

If you really want to try everything (and I'm with you on that!), just eat lots of smaller meals or snacks and just have a taste of lots of things. You'll really feel like you experienced a lot but won't actually overeat.

Don't use the elevator if you can (they're really slow anyway). Walk around deck occasionally. Use the gym if you're feeling particularly energetic. If you're taking port excursions, try ones with lots of activity.

We feel that we have eaten and drunk to our heart's content using these methods and never gain weight. Last cruise we even did Palo brunch and dinner and Remy brunch, dinner and dessert and still didn't gain. There's also lots of healthier options if you are careful what you choose which helps to prevent feeling awful afterwards like when you've eaten too much fat, salt or fried foods.

 

[dclpluto]

I eat what I want. I'm going to get my money's worth. I will lose it when I get back home.

 

[Cackyschmackers]

It's not even about gaining weight, to be honest. We are so active on vacay, that doesn't seem to be a problem. I feel I get physically overstuffed and uncomfortable. I want to enjoy all the offerings but sometimes just don't have room. I just can't even imagine doing Palo brunch, which is a shame bc I'm sure I'm missing out. I know what OP means.

 

[lizabu]

It's not even about gaining weight, to be honest. We are so active on vacay, that doesn't seem to be a problem. I feel I get physically overstuffed and uncomfortable. I want to enjoy all the offerings but sometimes just don't have room. I just can't even imagine doing Palo brunch, which is a shame bc I'm sure I'm missing out. I know what OP means.

I'm the same way. I hate the feeling of being overfull.

 

[ciniminis]

LOL when I first glanced at the thread, I thought the title read "How do I eat too much and not get sick?"

Seriously though, my usual problem with the dinners was that by the time we finished the main course, I had no room for dessert. The solution was easy! Our MDR servers were happy to give me the desserts under a "to go" dome to take back to the cabin, and I enjoyed having a yummy dessert treat as breakfast the next morning instead of the room service pastries.

Oh just another note, this strategy does not work for Palo or Remy - they generally don't allow taking their food outside of the restaurant, other than the little "parting gift" bites that they give out at the end.