WeightWatchers Help

[Head_in_the_clouds]

Hi all,

Given the huge number of DIS Uk members who are on a weight loss programmes, I just wondered if any of you are on WeightWatchers and could offer advice on following the programme out in Florida. I am expected to be at goal for our holiday in two months but I don't want to put on whilst I am out there. To be honest, I usually lose weight out there but given that I am only on 17 points now, I will have to be pretty strict if I want to maintain. We are staying in our own place and due to food allergies/being generally healthy eaters we will be cooking quite frequently. It is mainly lunches that we will have to eat out or the couple of days at Disney/SeaWorld/BuschGardens when we may have to have dinner out also. What I wanted to know is if any of you know of low point snacks, lunches etc off the top of your head from previous trips. Obviously, I'll be taking my points calculator and will check out nutritional info on restaurant websites prior to trip too but any advice will be greatly appreciated !

 

[TinkTatoo]

I haven't done a Disney trip yet while watching what I eat, but when I go in the summer I plan on having chicken salads or sandwiches in the parks rather than the usual burgers and fries.

I found this great site that lists a lot of the off site restaurants and gives points values for most of their food http://www.dwlz.com/restaurants.html It's well worth a look, even if you just use it to work out what food to stay away from. I was amazed at all the high point values of some food and one that really caught my eye was Aussie Cheese Fries in the Outback Steakhouse which are a whopping 73.5 points Needless to say, I won't be ordering them.

I do know that quite a few of the restaurants have low fat options so you you'd be probably OK ordering those or my favorite place to eat in Florida is Sweet Tomato http://www.souplantation.com/ not only is it great food, it's also brilliant value and if you register for their club veg you'll get discount coupons too

 

[Gaynor]

Hi, I'm doing weightwatchers, but when I go away in August I'm planning to be at my ideal weight so won't be counting points. I'm hoping all the walking and drinking water will stop me putting on too much.
I would recommend eating in buffet style restaurants in the evenings you are eating out, where you'll be able to pick and choose the healthier options and the portion sizes you prefer and fill up at the salad bar. I would be tempted to make my own packed lunches to take to the parks, Walmart will have a good range of diet foods

Good Luck! I really admire your determination

 

[Latte Lover]

Hi
Although I haven't actually followed a WW diet in Florida I did notice that a couple of the restaurants had ww points next to some meals on their menu. Applebees is one of them, can't remember the other, sorry. I also had some amazing salads- my favourite was the chicken salad with pecans and cranberries at Smokey Bones on the 192.

In the parks we find we don't want a big meal at lunchtime, so we often share a counter service meal. This works especially well if you go somewhere that has a "fixings" bar, so you can add tomatoes, lettace, mushrooms etc to your meal. Also, you can ask for, for example, just a burger without the fries if you want.
Counter-service kids meals can also be quite good. You can usually have them with carrot sticks and fruit instead of fries and cookie. No one seems to mind if you're not a kid!

 

[Latte Lover]

Also, I forgot to say Walmart and Target both have a good range of diet snacks, like little packets of chocolate biscuits, cheesy biscuits etc. DD and I usually stock up on them to take home for our post-holiday diet!

Weight Watchers also do different food over there too. I bought some delicious ww yogurts in flavours like Key Lime Pie from Walmart as I like having yogurt for breakfast.

 

[T16GEM]

I have been following WW for about the last 4 years, having been at goal for 18 months now, I must say that when I am in Orlando I don't count, and I still either stay the same or lose weight, mainly due to the amount of walking that is done. And I honestly have everything that I want to eat, deserts, sauces the lot.

We find the buffets to be a good choice though as many have salads and healthy choices on their menu, grilled chicken and steak etc.

Good luck.
Gems

 

[Head_in_the_clouds]

Thankyou everyone for your advice!

Like I said I am hoping to be at goal by the holiday as I only have 6 or 7 lbs to go but obviously I will be following the maintenance plan to obtain gold status. I am only 5"2 and a dancer so I will have to be really careful out there as 3 or 4lbs of a gain looks more like half a stone on me! So regardless of the 5lbs leeway for gold membership I want to track as much as I can. I will have the odd no count day though of course! I do tend to find I get really hungry in between meals in Florida and for some reason I end up craving greasy salty junk food like Checker Hot Fries and Chilli Cheese Dogs which is strange because I am very health conscious and don't eat junk food at home because I tend to find it makes me ill! I don't often give in but I do end up eating things that I wouldn't usually (like brick sized pieces of chocolate peanut butter fudge from premium outlets!). Only as a one-off but one-off's seem to add up over three weeks .

We tend to take things like Subways into the parks (although SeaWorld wouldn't let them in last year so we kept them in a cooler in the car). For lunches, Panera was really good last time as were Publix salads and wraps. And like I said, I have lost weight the last few times through mall walking and carrying heavy shopping bags! Thinking about it logically and reading the posts I feel more confident. Also I am going to use my points calculator instead of following the points values they give you out there as they are calculated differently in the States - I think I would be on 36 points a day on their programme which puts the OutBack Fries in perspective a bit - I would only have to avoid eating again for two and a half days instead of a week !