Stimulating appetite

[disneylove16]

Ok, so this may be a really bizarre post for some, but here goes. For months, leading up to our trip, I look at food pictures, make my must-try lists, and go over menus for all our ADR's. Basically, food is a big part of our trip. I consider DF and I "foodies", and we go out to eat pretty often at home. Then, we go to Disney, and I don't know if it's the heat, or walking, or what, but suddenly I'm not that hungry. I'm not in the mood for anything. All the unique and interesting snacks and meals I had planned, don't look appetizing to me anymore. Last trip, I mostly stuck to pretzels, and barely ate at our TS meals. Does this happen to anyone else? Any tips? I thought from all the walking, I'd be famished, but not at all.

 

[Disneylover99]

Ditch the ADR's and eat when you're hungry. Those are my favourite kinds of trips.

 

[Alice777]

Nope, you were not the only one. I did months of research as to what and where we were going to eat. Had per day agenda of all the wonderful food people talked about here and especially where all the "must" have snacks.

We did 8 straight days of park (including Universal) from morning to night. I had terrible feet pain and was tired from walking. Weather was nice, not too hot. However, when we got our lunch/dinner and snacks everyone loved here, took few bites and wasn't hungry anymore. Since we had so much CS credits left due to being at Universal for 2 days, we sort of "forced" ourselves into eating. Only thing I really loved and wish I ate more of was Shrimp and Grits from F&W in April.

When we go back in November, we decided not to do meal plan and eat what we want to eat and eat often as we want (small snacks or small meals). When we had the meal plan in April, in order to get our money's worth, we ate most expansive items on the menu eventhough it was not what we wanted.

 

[disneylove16]

@Disneylover99 Thank you, I would love to be that spontaneous! I'll be traveling with DF, and there's a lot of restaurants we really want to try, that I don't think will happen without ADR's. We just "wing it" at DL here in CA, and same thing happens though. I go with a mental list of caramel apples, cupcakes, beignets, and all kinds of treats, and just not in the mood when we get there. So weird

@Alice777 So glad I'm not the only one! Ugh, I would hate feeling obligated to just get the most expensive thing on the menu to get your moneys worth. Especially if it's not what you're in the mood for!

I wonder if there's any little tricks to make you hungry. I actually considered bringing (or purchasing) apples, b/c even though DF thinks it's crazy, I truly feel hungrier after eating an apple. Every time, without fail. I wonder if it would help at the parks.

 

[Disneylover99]

@Disneylover99 Thank you, I would love to be that spontaneous! I'll be traveling with DF, and there's a lot of restaurants we really want to try, that I don't think will happen without ADR's. We just "wing it" at DL here in CA, and same thing happens though. I go with a mental list of caramel apples, cupcakes, beignets, and all kinds of treats, and just not in the mood when we get there. So weird

@Alice777 So glad I'm not the only one! Ugh, I would hate feeling obligated to just get the most expensive thing on the menu to get your moneys worth. Especially if it's not what you're in the mood for!

I wonder if there's any little tricks to make you hungry. I actually considered bringing (or purchasing) apples, b/c even though DF thinks it's crazy, I truly feel hungrier after eating an apple. Every time, without fail. I wonder if it would help at the parks.

I don't have any tricks since I'm always hungry.
Just avoid buffets and order an appetizer or just dessert if you want. Maybe share an entree.

 

[Lisa F]

@Disneylover99 Thank you, I would love to be that spontaneous! I'll be traveling with DF, and there's a lot of restaurants we really want to try, that I don't think will happen without ADR's. We just "wing it" at DL here in CA, and same thing happens though. I go with a mental list of caramel apples, cupcakes, beignets, and all kinds of treats, and just not in the mood when we get there. So weird

@Alice777 So glad I'm not the only one! Ugh, I would hate feeling obligated to just get the most expensive thing on the menu to get your moneys worth. Especially if it's not what you're in the mood for!

I wonder if there's any little tricks to make you hungry. I actually considered bringing (or purchasing) apples, b/c even though DF thinks it's crazy, I truly feel hungrier after eating an apple. Every time, without fail. I wonder if it would help at the parks.

I know that for me, if I don't eat regularly I lose all appetite and I can't make up for it when I sit down to eat. It's kind of like there is this point where if I wait too long to eat, I am RAVENOUS but if I get past that (distracted, busy, I may not even notice if I am busy enough) then I lose all appetite. It's not a good thing - I feel like it is my metabolism shutting down and conserving and even though I may eat fewer calories overall I always gain weight doing this. I wonder if you are just not eating frequently enough to keep your metabolism going optimally. It sounds weird but I'm sure it is some deep down conservation of the species thing that suppresses hunger when food is not available anyway. I always say I am built to survive the next ice age.

I think you are onto something with the apple. I would not "Save up" for big TS meals but have small snacks throughout the day and then have a nice meal but don't try to eat more than you'd eat for any other meal. order apps, share if you gotta. See the value in buffets in the variety and experience rather than quantity. You are putting your body through a lot more stress than most of us do on a daily basis with our sedentary lifestyles.. I think if you have small, frequent, healthy snacks you'll be ready to eat a normal meal at mealtimes... but you still may not be able to eat a TON.

 

[Belle5]

Yep. It happens to me. I remember eye-balling all the delicious cupcakes one year and planning out how I would get them. Never really wanted any that trip. I have noticed a pattern of being significantly LESS hungry during hot weather. During the December trips I can usually eat more.

 

[wilkeliza]

For me it is indeed the heat. Happened to me on our Skippers Canteen day. Just was never hungry. I went ahead and ordered what I wanted to try and picked at it. The waiter was awesome and said he liked that I tried because most people don't eat because of the heat and then they get super sick later from having had no input of calories but burning a ton. I felt bad wasting food that day but enjoyed what I did eat and also enjoyed getting out of the heat and into a restaurant for a little bit.

Just adding this happens at home as well. I almost never al hingu right after cooking because our apartment is open concept. It get so hot with the stove on that I loose my appetitie for an hour or so until I can coop down.

 

[squeezle]

For me, at least, thirst and hunger signals can get all crossed and go haywire. Make sure you stay hydrated - we take electrolyte replacement tablets for our water. Even if it doesn't stimulate your hunger back to normal levels, you will be healthier for being properly hydrated.

 

[GPC0321]

Happened to me too. I literally spent 8 months obsessing over what we were going to EAT on our trip, and when we got there, I was never hungry. We were on QSDP, so at least we didn't have TS ADRs to worry about, but we still didn't use all our QS credits or snack credits on that trip. Of course we were BC at CSR with continental breakfast every morning, so that helped preserve credits. But yeah, I had two meals at Pepper Market at CSR that I felt horrible about tossing in the trashcan at the end because I'd barely touched them. Then I had such a bad meal at The Express at Wolfgang Puck (the one by La Nouba, not the "good one" on the Marketplace side...never got to eat there) that I couldn't eat it even if I'd wanted to. I don't even know what we ate for dinner most nights. The three meals I remember eating and enjoying because I was actually hungry were: Casey's Corner for lunch, Flame Tree BBQ for lunch, and Columbia Harbor House for lunch. Oh, and a few of the Outdoor Kitchens at F&G were pretty tasty. But we were there for five nights and I couldn't tell you anything else we ate. Mom and I did share a Dole Whip just to say we'd tried it (it was ok), and I got a chocolate eclair in France before watching IllumiNations (pretty yummy). Oh, and we ate BOG breakfast. Meh.

As much as I loved the all-inclusiveness of being on the dining plan, I just didn't like the pressure to eat enough to get our money's worth or keeping track of credits and what could be used where, etc. Ugh.

I'm hoping that we'll eat better next time we go. We didn't do any TS last trip, and I think some TS meals would be more relaxing and allow us to enjoy our meals more. QS is kind of irritating because you have to stand in line, find somewhere to sit, etc. Sometimes it just seems more hassle than it's worth.

 

[MrsJamesPSullivan]

It happens to me too but we usually go the week after Thanksgiving and the weather is great so it's not heat related for me. We eat oatmeal or a protein bar in the room for breakfast and that's not a problem for me. You'd think with all the extra exercise we'd be starving by noon but I'm just not, sometimes one of the kids is so we stop but usually two of us will split a burger or chicken sandwich and it's more than enough. We never snack between breakfast and lunch either because we rope drop and try to get as much as we can in early so it's not that we've filled up on junk. By dinner time we should be starving, we certainly would be at home, but I can grab a fruit and cheese plate and a baguette in France and three of us nibble at that for dinner while waiting for illuminations. I'm glad it's not just us! I've never been able to figure out how the people who get the deluxe meal plan eat 3 full meals a day.

 

[BigAlsGal]

I've noticed since my touring style has slowed I'm definitely not as hungry. Pre fp+ we had to sprint to get fp. I was always sooo hungry during those trips! Now that we don't have to powerhouse anywhere my appetite has dwindled. That's good I guess. Saves money. I just get bummed when I have no desire to eat that snack I've been drooling over for months.

 

[disneylove16]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one! I do also eat a small breakfast (a bar or piece of fruit) and don't wait too long between meals anyways due to low blood sugar, but I don't want the things I drool over for months once I'm there.

 

[loves to dive]

I'm one of those people that tries to eat 5 small meals a day, like a pp stated, it keeps your metabolism boosted. I'm also a believer in not having to eat everything on your plate, eat as much as you want then quit, even if that's just 3 bites. I was raised very old south and my mother was a firm believer in a lady never eats everything on her plate and even when I'm starving hungry I'll always leave at least one bit on my plate. Our trick is to go slow and understand that you are not going to see everything there is to see so just enjoy being at the place and savor every moment. We don't run from ride to ride and frankly we rarely make more than one or two FPs during a day. If we want to ride something, we stand in line. We are the same way with meals, we rarely make ADRs until the morning of or even in the afternoon while walking around. We will decide we are hungry or tired enough for a TS meal and I'll hop on MDE on my phone and find something. We have never not been able to find somewhere to eat that way, keep in mind we have park hoppers and love to try new places so it works for us. We don't snack on junk between meals, my son nor I am big sweets eaters so none of that is tempting. We also tend to go during either F&G or F&W so we knosh around WS for most of our meals.

 

[happymommy]

I always have the same thing happen to me!

Planning for a trip, DD and I get all excited about the fun treats we PLAN on getting. We have the QSDP free next trip late August, and had it last late August as well.

Then, once we get there, we see all these great (mostly sweet) treats, and I'm not very hungry ever! I get full after a small meal, and we end up sharing a lot of meals so we're not throwing food away or trying to finish a huge meal (I think portions are just way too much, especially when it's hot out).

Ended up bringing home 14 bags of treats from the resort gift shop last trip!

This coming trip, I'm planning on ordering many salads and fruit items, so hopefully we can just use up our credits!

 

[disneyfav4ever]

I blame the heat. I have an easier time heating in the fall and winter than when I go during the summer. Usually with TS meals I cool off enough in the air conditioning to be able to eat a decent amount.

 

[nco91590]

I blame it on having "excited tummy". I'm way too excited to sit and eat. Too much to do!

 

[anniemae]

I think it's the heat. We ended up canceling a couple ADR's last trip because we were so tired and not very hungry. We grabbed lighter meals at the hotel.

 

[bumbershoot]

Does this happen to anyone else? Any tips? I thought from all the walking, I'd be famished, but not at all.

You're not alone. DH and I lose our appetite in the heat. And DH's stomach is messed up anyway with his hunger signals (he'll go from not hungry don't talk about food to STARVING and throwing a tantrum in the blink of an eye), and when his blood sugar goes low it's not fun for anyone. WDW makes it easier b/c we generally have a TS each day already planned so food is on my mind (or, rather, getting to the reservation). At Disneyland it's harder because I rarely have a TS planned and it's easier to go, oh, 9 hours without remembering to eat. (true story) (figured it out when the 5 and 37 year old guys in my family were having a huge and ridiculous argument in Tomorrowland, and it suddenly dawned on me that no one had eaten since lunch and it was full-on nighttime)

Pre fp+ we had to sprint to get fp. I was always sooo hungry during those trips!

Now now, you should never have been sprinting. No running; just walking with purpose! We haven't slowed down any since FP+. I am not a saunterer by nature!

I was raised very old south and my mother was a firm believer in a lady never eats everything on her plate and even when I'm starving hungry I'll always leave at least one bit on my plate.

Yikes. Eat if you're hungry, dive.

 

[BK2014]

The heat makes me less hungry too. But if I stop long enough to cool down before eating, then my appetite comes roaring back.