Weight gain at WDW?

[1 DISNEY FAN]

I didn't gain weight and came home a lot fitter. Lots of walking.

 

[flicx]

We never do the free dining, so actually we probably lose weight because food is so expensive we eat less and less often.

 

[capeseal]

I'm a jogger and try to eat healthy and stay active at home and I can put on 3-5lbs from a week of Disney eating despite all of the walking. The one time we did the dining plan, both DH and I also came home feeling quite sick from a week of restaurant eating. (No matter what choices we make, we cannot fully replicate our diet at home where we rarely eat out.) Luckily, I shed Disney weight gain fairly easily after about 2-3 weeks back in my normal routine and I've had better luck during more recent trips where we bring more food from home and rent a car to make a Whole Foods trip to get some slightly better quality food to make up 1-2 of our meals each day. Fortunately, I only crave a small amount of the fried stuff, desserts, and pastries made by Disney. Unless it is made fresh, it simply doesn't taste very good to me so it is easy to say no to a lot of things they sell, in terms of food.

 

[disney meema]

I may eat several times a day but I eat small meals so I haven't gained on our trips. Even on the dining plan it's more about eating where we want or quality of food rather than the quantity of food for our money. I drink bottles and bottles of water or ice tea rather than sodas but that's what I do at home as well. As far a desserts I'd rather have a creme brûlée over a piece of cake so it doesn't make me feel as full. Or many times I try to get a cheese plate or fruit as my dessert.
Overall I am eating more but with activity level it's about even : )

 

[msupulski]

I got back from a 6-day Universal/WDW vacation about two weeks ago. I came back and my scale said I was about 6 pounds over what I left as, but within the next 2-3 days it went down (I eat healthy at home and decently at WDW, but I'm sure all that excess salt was keeping some bloat) and within the next week I was back towards weight loss. However, this was actually a super pleasant surprise because about a week prior to going I just turned 21, so you can bet that I was indulging in that.

Some weight tips:

If you drink coffee, buy coffee/a cheap coffee pot from Walmart (they have cheap pots for around $8-$9) and your own coffee creamer, sugar, etc. The mocha iced coffees at WDW kill me, but I need one coffee each morning (and maybe another back at the hotel for a mid-day break). By making my own coffee, I can decide just how much I put in it (fyi. I use 2 tbsp of coffee creamer which is about 70 cals and then stevia for the sweetener). All of those coffees at WDW will add up, so this is an easy place to cut back.

I also had some snacks at the hotel, so I rarely ate any snacks at the park. I would have low cal cheese sticks, trail mix, and low cal/low fat chips at the hotel that I would have when I went back for a break in the day. Again, cheaper and healthier than a Mickey ice-cream or popcorn (though I definitely did enjoy a Disney cookie and some kettle corn...everything in moderation!)

At the parks I would just attempt to make good choices. I didn't eat a single hamburger during that trip and I tend to stay away from fries for the most part. Also there are some meals that are actually real big and can be split, or you can at least mix and match. For example, I got a greek salad at Cosmic Rays while my mom got the chicken and ribs combo, and we just split everything. We love trying everything we can, so if we would pick 2 menu items that interested us and just split it (but NOT at flame tree BBQ...I need those chicken and ribs all to myself). Also, there are some healthy options if you look around. Be Our Guest even has quinoa salad which was pretty good.

Since I had just turned 21, I did over indulge in the drinks, so if you'd rather skip those you obviously have more freedom with food choices. I just love the fruity drinks by the pool. Each day I had 1-3 drinks, so that's easily at least 500 calories. Aside from the drinks though, I only drink coffee (like I said, 1-2 cups) and water--I don't drink soda or anything like that.

Basically everyone is different and will eat differently and walk more/less miles or some even manage to work out during their trip (though after a day in the parks I am way too tired to run and getting up at 6-7 is already early enough for me) so each person will see their weight differently, but just make smart choices and indulge, just don't go too crazy.

Whew, sorry for all of that, but hopefully that advice helps someone.

 

[kiramay]

We lost weight with all the walking, even with snacks, buffets, and alcoholic drinks.

 

[Momof2Singers]

Agree with most on this.

You learn after a few times to AVOID the burgers and fries. They not only add weight, and a huge amount of sodium, but they make you feel horrible.

There are better choices out there. And the size of these plus fries is way too much food. If you must get one, I would suggest splitting it and adding a fruit cup

The buffets are the problem. We have 5 of them this trip. The breakfast one is easy, we eat, we leave and work it off, the lunch, pretty much the same, and you really can have two plates of food and keep it moderately healthy when you include fruit options and lean meats.

DINNER, another story. We have 3 or 4 of these booked. One CRT at 9:15 which was all we could get for dinner, which works out since MK is open until 2am and we definately stay. At least food has time to digest before you go to bed.

If you stick to some basics, avoid too much sodium and SWEET drinks, we are southerners and can't live without our tea, but have been using 1/4 sugar these days and now really can't take it when it is too sweet..my husband is the soda drinker in the family and basically uses it to KEEP GOING as he calls it, not realizing he comes back down shortly thereafter.

ALSO those snacks in the park are brutal. Choose wisely, and if you only get 1-2 high calorie ones, you will still be ok for the week.

We usually lose a few pounds a week walking to the parking lot and attempting to find our car LOL

 

[ArwenMarie]

Be Our Guest has the calories listed on that website where you get the FPs for lunch (not sure if they have the dinner calories on there). I love that, I wish every restaurant at WDW had something like that posted.

 

[ShannonMB]

I have the same experience as some other PPs, that it's hard to get my appetite back in line after coming home. I attribute it to "carb addiction", too, as someone else mentioned. I try to avoid the breads/pastas/potatoes at home because they start a cycle of blood sugar spikes/appetite surges that I do better to just avoid.

As a carb lover, I do indulge at Disney. And boy, is it fun!!!! Carbs, carbs, and more carbs! When I get home (or after any time I indulge such as holidays, etc), I have voracious cravings for sweets and starcy stuff! If I can white knuckle it about 3 days and get back on track, the cravings really do subside a lot.

I generally do gain a couple pounds that end up sticking, but the real concern is getting right back on track after the trip!

 

[thisismyusername]

We usually gain. We are avid gym rats at home and exercise at least an hour a day, generally 6-7 days per week, and have trouble fitting in an hour of exercise during our vacations at Disney since there's so much for us to do and no where to leave our kids. We also eat very health consciously (paleo-like, mostly organic), and that's hard to do at Disney as the only meals that fit that bill are generally sit downs, and we can't afford (nor want to) do all sit downs.

Also, even the foods that seem healthy probably are really not: For example, I know someone mentioned the quinoa salad at BOG: I remember the last time we were there thinking I was going to order that as it probably had the fewest calories, and I was shocked to find it had something like 550 calories, which I have no idea where those calories were hiding, unless Disney is preparing it in a high caloric way.

I've taken to looking at what the stands offer in order to keep calories in check. For example, the stand by VOLM offers a nice minestrone soup (at least over the winter), which, along with an apple, was my lunch several days during my last trip. The sweet potato over in Liberty Square was a good lunch one day, too. (And both options cheaper than a QS place.)

Simply, I think if you're fairly sedentary at home and don't necessarily follow a strict diet, you'll probably lose at Disney since you're getting more exercise than normal. But if you're subbing an hour of intense cardio at home for a day of 8 interrupted miles of walking around Disney, it's not really an equal exchange. Add in less healthy eating options, and it's definitely a recipe for weight gain.

(Packing for Disney as we speak… taking gym clothes and sneakers with good intentions and hoping to find some time during this trip…)

 

[tsme]

I always gain 5lbs at least when we go. And I don't stuff myself & try to eat one salad for a meal a day (usually lunch). I have stomach problems so getting alot at once or a bunch of rich foods at a time would make me sick. But I do eat alot more sweets (to go). So maybe that's what it's from. But I don't worry about it there. I worry about it once I get home. I do wish it were as easy & as much fun to lose it as it is to gain it. Gettting older doesn't help.

 

[ladydi24]

Just returned from a 12 day disney vacation and lost 6 lbs.
I always lose weight from all the walking. I eat whatever I want but notice I make healthier choices at the TS restaurants and usually kids meals for lunch.
I have a couple of snacks a day. I almost always have iced water with lemon for all meals.

 

[CinderElsa]

It's usually a wash for me.

I eat the same quantity of food that I normally do but I eat as much junk food as I want. Mmm, grease & sugar.

 

[jennynyholm]

My problem was still having a "vacation food mind set" when I returned! Once my body gets used to rich desserts every day, it's hard to get back to my normal healthy eating. I also run most days, but with how much I walked every day, I do feel like my body was burning as much or more than at home though. (I wear a fitbit everyday, so I was able to see easily that i was indeed moving more on vacation)

 

[goneviral]

I just lost four pounds after nine days there. Fitbit indicated that we walked an average of 12 miles a day. We were on the dining plan but did not have an even balance, winding up with 12 table service meals. The rest were burgers and fries, which are getting a bad rap in this thread. Four of our TS meals were buffets. I am quite finicky so if anything, I under-eat at those. I did have dessert a lot more than usual. We spent almost all of our snack credits on bottled water, though. Neither of us is a midday snacker or big breakfast eater. We had pop tarts every morning.

Math does matter when tracking calories. It is the constants and variables that are the unknowns. People who move a lot during a regular week will not get much benefit from constant park walking. And those who eat much more than usual on vacation will have it canceled out anyway. I work from home and jog 15 miles a week. Disney was a huge spike in calorie burning for me. Plus, the steaks at TS are almost exclusively strip steaks, so the meat is much leaner than a ribeye. Those are the little things that can add up for someone like me. The only ways I ate bad were having Cokes with meals, something I rarely do at home, and having decadent desserts like The Grey Stuff.

 

[Disneychick75]

My clothes fit as well or a little looser after a WDW trip. We're here now and while I think I'm famished at meal times, I don't eat much at all. I think all of the walking takes the edge off my hunger.

 

[Couchy]

It's almost an impossibility to gain five pounds in a week at Disney. That means you'd have to consume around 24,500 calories MORE than what your body requires for maintenance and the exertion of a Disney day.

Okay, so I guess it IS possible, if you ate 75 Mickey bars in a week, on top of your normal food consumption...

(It's all water retention, from the sodium.)

I PROMISE you that you cannot gain (actual fat weight, maybe water and bloat) 10 pounds in 10 days. It doesn't happen that fast!!!!!!!!! You should be walking a lot to offset all the bad stuff.

I had 5 pina colodas, 3 cupcakes and we ate 6 TS on a 4 day, 3 night trip and I didn't gain a pound.

You can definitely gain significant real weight. My DH and I have, At home we eat very lean. At WDW we really let go

Sample of our day on vacation
Breakfast in the room: greek yogurt with some granola mixed in, fruit and black coffee
Morning Snack: split a cinnamon roll
Lunch by the pool: straight up Hendrick's martini ( no mixers so not high in calories as those fruity drinks), me: chicken sandwich or salad, and fruit, a few fries; DH: burger and fries or pork sliders and fries and a martini same as me
Afternoon Snack: usually ice cream
Dinner: Usually signature TS: Me: 2 Martini , salad app and a bite of DH's app, fish dish of some sort, split dessert; DH: usually and appetizer steak or pork tenderloin and potato ,2 martini, split dessert ( dinner even with some smarter choices like mine holding sauces and dressings on the side can run close to 1500-2000 calories, DH's steak dinner can be close to 2500)

Usually we have a night cap as well, maybe a snack of some sort

We gain like 3-4 REAL pounds in a week. Real as in it takes weeks for them to come off and with a lot of work. FWIW we walk about 10-12 miles a day there as well

It would be very possible to gain 10 real pounds

If a person went and had a real breakfast, burger and fry lunch, and full dinner of app, entree, dessert, a few pina coladas or fruity drinks throughout the day ( can be between 400-600 calories a piece !), and a few snacks you can easily consume 6-8 thousand calories a day. You aren't walking that off

 

[NinaBella]

I am not reading all pages on this thread. But, YES, the way I see others eating at WDW, they are eating enormous portions of high fat foods. My family does not eat like that, nor could I finish that size portion. We also are not the type to walk around the park with leftovers. So our solution to this is that we share plates. We have four kids, so I will share a plate with one of the kids and DH will as well, etc. I know how my kids eat and who likes similar dishes. Sharing plates also saves us money as well as doesn't waste food.

 

[michsig]

Surprisingly - no! I work out a lot at home but not at all at WDW. Somehow all of the junk food and alcohol don't cause me to gain anything - and my metabolism isn't what it used to be either!

 

[Autumnslight]

It's basically a wash for me. I eat a little more at Disney, and maybe a little higher calorie foods, but I'm also walking a lot more than at home, so thankfully, it all seems to cancel out!