How to STOP the WDW weight-gain YOYO

[Punkrockbebop]

My BF & I have been SO excited to be new AP holders! We love WDW, for everything it offers, including the great restaurants and park snacks. The problem of course, is the toll this is taking on our waistlines, as we go through this vicious cycle of gaining WDW weight, then working hard to lose it, only to gain at the parks again.

I really thought after a couple of initial visits, we would get over this phenomenon, just like we've finally gotten relaxed enough to stop trying to do everything there is to do in the parks in one visit.

In fact, this last time we went, I resolved to not go too crazy, keep the indulgences more balanced, and most importantly, try to keep my digestion healthy. And I started off fairly well! The first morning, I took an Uber to Publix and stocked the fridge with Kombucha, carrots, celery and nut butter to make high-fiber snacks during the week, and some instant oatmeal for morning, with berries and cut up cucumber. But then, after the two decadent dinners of the week that we had planned (one being O'Hana--if you catch my drift), things started to unravel a bit and the indulgences increased. Ok, so it was only 2-3 bad days....I thought I could course correct easily at home. But then my father visited us for 1 1/2 weeks back home, and then my diet really went to hell because it was then his vacation, and my dad and I can be indulgent together.

I actually have a very healthy diet at home, especially when I'm in motivation mode, but I've clearly got a real bingeing problem when I go into vacation mode, and I need to learn a little dirty word called moderation. Crazy, I know.

Anyone have any tips to eat more healthy and moderately while in the parks and resorts? I'm desperate not to gain again while I'm in the parks during the DIS 20th week. Summer is coming.

 

[Tink_83]

I don't eat more healthy I just like to save money by sharing meals at quick service restaurants. I don't eat a lot anyway so I've been known to encourage my sister and I to split a meal with me and my DD 4 (it was like the largest breakfast item at Pop...). Anyway, I believe both my sister and I lost weight that trip so I'd say my efforts to save money and our waist lines were successful! I also don't have a problem throwing out food after I've had a little (so an ice cream that I split with DD, 1/2 will probably end up in the trash). Doing this I don't feel like I'm depriving myself of treats I want to eat but I don't overeat either. Oh, and I'm known for doing a late breakfast and then an earlyish dinner so I don't eat three times during the day, just two main meals plus a treat.

 

[Accident]

How do you wander through the parks? I've found that lately I'm dropping 3-5 pounds per week by doing more walks around the theme parks. Maybe something like that where you take 20 or 30 minutes and just loop around the place not really stopping.. When I was going more ride to ride with waiting, I was also going up and not down but now I'll purposely criss cross the parks doing about 3 miles of walking for no reason except it's the first thing that is actually making an impact. Maybe 1 extra loop around world showcase, walking the very long way to get to the first attraction you might be interested. The loops have really helped me over the years with crowds. We would come in, loop the park to find what area was least crowded (every park has one and it moves). then when we noticed we collided with the crowd, we would do our loop again and find the area that is least crowded.. This was basically my who needs a fastpass way to tour the parks and it's been very fruitful where I can pull off more rides in less time while sleeping in than many rope droppers think you have to rope drop to do.

 

[DisneyOma]

I've always lost weight at the parks! All that walking, late nights, early mornings of it. We tend to be grazers though - very few table service meals, and we split meals most of the time. I can't stand that full stomach feeling, and have trained myself to only eat when I feel hungry. You don't have to eat three full meals a day (or even two!). i don't know when that tradition started, but human beings were grazers to start with, with hunting and farming added in later

 

[Teresadoxie]

Following along too. Last trip I started well as you did but then the call of the treats won. I gained 3 lbs but lost it the week after. For me, I have a sugar addiction, which is hard to control at Disney.

 

[Disneylover99]

Drink lots of water, share meals, eat slow, and skip desserts.

I do love buffets but I pick them for their ambiance/character interaction. Of course I want the food to be good too, but I don't pig out. Don't go with the mindset that you've got to eat your money's worth.

Some of our DW trips are over two weeks long. I've never gained, just maintained. But my legs are definitely toned with all that walking.

 

[kla]

I feel you, OP - we were AP holders last year and it totally wrecked our healthy eating patterns and actually ended up spilling over into our home life. Wicked sugar addictions here, too. We were most successful by completely avoiding treats and high-carb meals, instead just eating healthy meals and snacks that we brought from home (salads, almonds, boiled eggs, tuna & other proteins). Tried to do one or two "special" meals each trip at places that had good protein/veggie options. Found that buffets with all those delicious desserts and breakfast buffets were ones to avoid at all costs due to the "unraveling" that you mentioned. Keeping to a regular, controlled eating schedule of our own food also helped.

Also instituted a $5/day snack limit for all of us, which helped us save money and be more choosy about where/when to splurge. It became like a little game in itself to figure out where we were going to spend our "snack credit" that day. Even that sometimes ended up being a gateway to overindulgence, though.

Definitely not as fun as full vacation mode and really hard to do at Disney. Part of our decision not to renew APs this year and just do one or two longer visits instead with a zero-tolerance policy toward sweets. Being a grown up stinks sometimes.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

I don't gain weight at the parks, i usually lose a few lbs! I don't think a short vacation is your problem, you'd have to be eating a ton of calories to put on significant weight in a week's time. Maybe the bad eating on a trip just starts the spiral of bad eatingthat continues when you get home? I can totally relate to that.

Anyhow, just be aware of your choices. I find a food diary helps. Then when it comes to dinner I can see that I ate terribly at lunch and be sure to pick a healthier option for balance.

 

[PSUGuy]

How do you wander through the parks? I've found that lately I'm dropping 3-5 pounds per week by doing more walks around the theme parks.

This. We go for 9 - 10 days of Food&Wine, we deny ourselves nothing but I at least come away down a few. We hit rides at some park in the AM before hopping to WS every afternoon and of course WS is about 1.3 miles around if I recall a Robo map correctly so all in all it's a healthy vacation.

Bill From PA

 

[KittyKitty]

This last year was the 1st time I gained weight, then Xmas was right after, so gained some more. I have not lost it. I've read where as we get older, our metabolism slows down, I'm over 65, so I blame that. In my case, I may just have to embrace it, and keep exercising.

 

[Tink_83]

You may have also just been retaining extra water. The fast food type of food is very salty so water retention is real. Also body weight can fluctuate by up to 5 pounds so a temporary noticed increase could be cause by a lot of other factors. I would't worry about a few lbs here or there that come off after a week of being back to your normal habits.

 

[Punkrockbebop]

I don't gain weight at the parks, i usually lose a few lbs! I don't think a short vacation is your problem, you'd have to be eating a ton of calories to put on significant weight in a week's time. Maybe the bad eating on a trip just starts the spiral of bad eatingthat continues when you get home? I can totally relate to that.

Anyhow, just be aware of your choices. I find a food diary helps. Then when it comes to dinner I can see that I ate terribly at lunch and be sure to pick a healthier option for balance.

Yes, this is partly what happens. As I said, it's a roller coaster. But, you might be surprised how fast the pounds pack on. The unraveling happens from clicking over into "vacation mode", and it snowballs into my return home for a couple weeks. Then, after my pants don't fit, I'm usually able to stop and get back to eating healthy again (I'm already quite active), and shed the weight over several weeks to a few months.

Part of the problem is a pretty nasty sugar addiction, as some posters commiserated on.

The other part of the problem is that my metabolism took a nosedive after hitting (early) menopause recently. My body just can't handle anything bad any more. One cocktail or glass of wine makes my legs and feet hot and swollen (alarmingly, a lot!). Also, overly salty food and too much sugar causes similar effects. So, I know that much of it is water retention and inflammation, which actually is at the root of many diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, so there is plenty of reason to be alarmed.

Thanks everyone for the great tips. Keep them coming. I'm especially interested in if anyone knows where to get more vegetables and salads in this joint, particularly in quick service places.

 

[Punkrockbebop]

Oh, and I noticed the thread was moved to W.I.S.H., but I don't know what W.I.S.H. is?

 

[kla]

Check out menus for Be Our Guest and Columbia Harbor House in MK; Sunshine Seasons in EP; Hollywood Brown Derby and ABC Commissary in HS; Rainforest Cafe in AK. The new Satu'li Canteen menu looks fairly promising, we'll probably give it a try later this year. I like the salads at Earl of Sandwich in Disney Springs. Though a lot of the quick service places at the parks have salads on the menu, I don't think they're all equally good or filling, so you have to hunt around to find something you like. Other veggies that are not potatoes can be sort of tough to find.

I am very prone to gaining weight, so try to stay away from wheat and other grains, legumes and sugar. You can imagine that there's not a whole lot of restaurants at Disney that cater to my way of eating, so try to "eat around" some of the off-limits stuff. I have ordered a burger or grilled chicken without a bun at Cosmic Ray's, then piled on the shredded lettuce & tomatoes at the fixins bar, but this might seem over the top to a lot of people. Some places (like CHH) that offer broccoli or other veggies on the side will sometimes give you a double portion in lieu of the side of grain or french fries/potatoes. Definitely challenging, but can usually be worked around. My biggest challenge is just consistently saying no to some of my favorite treats.

Good luck and have fun with it!

 

[mom2rtk]

Yes, this is partly what happens. As I said, it's a roller coaster. But, you might be surprised how fast the pounds pack on. The unraveling happens from clicking over into "vacation mode", and it snowballs into my return home for a couple weeks. Then, after my pants don't fit, I'm usually able to stop and get back to eating healthy again (I'm already quite active), and shed the weight over several weeks to a few months.

Part of the problem is a pretty nasty sugar addiction, as some posters commiserated on.

The other part of the problem is that my metabolism took a nosedive after hitting (early) menopause recently. My body just can't handle anything bad any more. One cocktail or glass of wine makes my legs and feet hot and swollen (alarmingly, a lot!). Also, overly salty food and too much sugar causes similar effects. So, I know that much of it is water retention and inflammation, which actually is at the root of many diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease, so there is plenty of reason to be alarmed.

Thanks everyone for the great tips. Keep them coming. I'm especially interested in if anyone knows where to get more vegetables and salads in this joint, particularly in quick service places.

If you're an AP holder and going to the parks often, you need to stop eating in the parks like you're on a once a year vacation.

 

[Punkrockbebop]

If you're an AP holder and going to the parks often, you need to stop eating in the parks like you're on a once a year vacation.

YES! I'm looking for strategies. Credit where credit is due; we were much more relaxed the last trip and ate better and less, but we have a LOT of room for improvement.

 

[Punkrockbebop]

Check out menus for Be Our Guest and Columbia Harbor House in MK; Sunshine Seasons in EP; Hollywood Brown Derby and ABC Commissary in HS; Rainforest Cafe in AK. The new Satu'li Canteen menu looks fairly promising, we'll probably give it a try later this year. I like the salads at Earl of Sandwich in Disney Springs. Though a lot of the quick service places at the parks have salads on the menu, I don't think they're all equally good or filling, so you have to hunt around to find something you like. Other veggies that are not potatoes can be sort of tough to find.

I am very prone to gaining weight, so try to stay away from wheat and other grains, legumes and sugar. You can imagine that there's not a whole lot of restaurants at Disney that cater to my way of eating, so try to "eat around" some of the off-limits stuff. I have ordered a burger or grilled chicken without a bun at Cosmic Ray's, then piled on the shredded lettuce & tomatoes at the fixins bar, but this might seem over the top to a lot of people. Some places (like CHH) that offer broccoli or other veggies on the side will sometimes give you a double portion in lieu of the side of grain or french fries/potatoes. Definitely challenging, but can usually be worked around. My biggest challenge is just consistently saying no to some of my favorite treats.

Good luck and have fun with it!

Thanks so much for this! These are great strategies which I'm going to implement this next trip, and I'm going to bring along my carrots and celery and cucumber and oatmeal again, as well.

I think a big part of the problem I saw this last trip, when trying to eat better, was the high amount of sodium, which kills me, and the lack of vegetables. At home I eat probably 50-75% vegetables or fruits, leaning toward almost vegan except for some fish once in a while.

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

On our last trip we brought lots of berries-blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries, and a cantaloupe, some almonds and some bananas, lite microwave popcorn packs. We were in villas so had room. However, in 8 days I still gained 3 lbs. I cannot deny myself dolewhips or the soft serve at Typhoon Lagoon!. I did have a bunch of salads but I think the dressings are full of sugar. I try and avoid sodium so the food at WDW always seems very salty. In fact 2 of got the Tuna sandwich at CHH and it was SOOO salty (like someone dumped a shaker in the mix) we both returned them. Truly not edible. I find I try to stay away from the starch but that is so much of the menus. Even my DS18 that can eat anything and never gain an ounce puts on a few while at WDW.

 

[rinnythepooh]

1.SKIP THE DINING PLAN
2.Share meals with spouse. order apps as main meal.
3.drinks TONS of water
4.Stay at Beach Club and take nightly walks around the lake.
5. Walk to and from Epcot and Hollywood Studios
That's Our Plan For Next Trip

 

[2disneyboys]

1.SKIP THE DINING PLAN
2.Share meals with spouse. order apps as main meal.
3.drinks TONS of water
4.Stay at Beach Club and take nightly walks around the lake.
5. Walk to and from Epcot and Hollywood Studios
That's Our Plan For Next Trip

^^^ Exactly - Well, change the name of the resort and if you can't (or don't want to) stay within walking distance, just make the effort to get extra walks in...
I also deal w/ sugar addictions - I'm fine & then I "induldge" and then I feel like for weeks I have to battle getting over them... one things I've started doing is when I do allow myself a special treat, I follow it with several Very Low Carb days' & the only carbs I allow myself are veggies... sort of like a Purge It helps to get me back on track and lose the cravings. Good Luck!