Somewhat specific question that I’m not sure others here can answer:
This is probably going to be an exercise in futility, but my mother and I are both doing Weight Watchers. While I’ve lost a significant amount of weight over the past few months, I’ve fallen short of what my goal was to be by vacation. Neither my mom nor I are planning on staying within our points while we are at Disney next week, but I would at least like to stay conscious of the little things throughout the day that add up- like pop for example.
I’m just wondering if anyone here has ever tracked for weight watchers while at Disney and if so what are some of the lower point foods at run of the mill quick service- like if my family decides to eat at Cosmic Rays, I don’t want to blow my diet on that kind of thing, ya know? Or accidentally drinking pop and snacking all day. In other words, I don’t mind splurging, but if I don’t track, I’m going to over do it and I don’t want to over do it! Tips and tricks are much appreciated!!! Even if that tip or trick is to suggest I just don’t worry or count at all while on vacation
I was doing Noom and had some of the same concerns - wanted to splurge a little, but still cut the calories where I could. I brought my own breakfast (granola bars) because I didn’t want to splurge there. I also brought my own snacks. I steered towards salads some places but also some flatbreads which were pretty small but in some places, pretty tasty. If I could swap our a veggie or salad for french fries, I went that route. And in some instances, I split meals with DS (like a burger at SciFi). I splurged on gnocchi at Trattoria Al Forno, dinner at Teppan Edo (but I went with chicken instead of the beef) and the parker house rolls at Ale & Compass. I had a good idea going in where I wanted to go all in on meals
I made sure I didn’t beat myself up for the splurges. And once I got back home, it was right back on track.
Your best bet is to stay away from fried foods. Roast chicken at cosmic ray over a burgers, find fruits and veggies where possible and share treats when you want to have something. Remember all of the activity points you are gaining from all the walking and don’t be afraid to use them.
Congrats on the weight loss @MagicFinder. After tracking food myself for a long time, I find that I’m still doing the mental calculations even if I’m not actively keeping a log. You’ll find yourself making good choices to balance out the maybe not so good choices.
Try to split meals or select smaller meals options as much as possible. That will help you control the amount of food you are eating. You can always add more food later if you are still hungry.
Great tips, thank you! I think sharing will definitely be a strategy that I use because I am always curious about what new things taste like. I don’t need a whole portion for myself, just a bite, or if it is something I like just a little bit of it. There are five other people in my group, I’m sure someone will let me have a taste
I also find myself doing mental calculations even when I said I wasn’t going to count that day. I’ll definitely be swapping out fries for veggies when I can
I have a ‘one fry’ rule. DS has to give me one french fry from his order. So I love it when they are steak fries instead of the teeny McDonald’s fries!
All the menus are available online, and via blogs like DisneyFoodBlog.com you can find pictures of most menu items to get a sense of size and presentation. So if you wanted to try to pre-plan, at least for your ADRs, you probably could.
Adults can totally order off the kids menu, which can be useful if you want a smaller portion.
Onsite, they have something called the “Disney Check” on paper/physical menus that is supposed to denote healthier choices. It looks like a yellow Mickey head with a green check mark on it.
You end up walking A LOT at Disney. Enough that it’s probably going to offset whatever you eat anyways. So consider not worrying about it. Just be mindful, you’ll do fine.
I’ve done WW in the past with DW but never did points while at the parks.
Every park has at least one snack stand that is fairly healthy, and we make regular visits to them. Often afterwards, when other guests see us eating healthy snacks we get questioned “Where did you get that?”
Congrats! I’m doing WW (also haven’t met my WDW goal - oh well!) and am going in a few weeks and I’m planning on not worrying about WW AT ALL during my week. For one thing I’ll be walking so much that will help minimize the effects of my splurge.
I’d say review your specific plan (I’m Green) to see what your zero point foods are and stuff if you’re really concerned. WW really does give you the tools to make better choices.
The fact of the matter is pop is high in points and there’s no way around it unless you go with diet. Maybe just aim to drink more water? There are those stands aound the parks that sell fruit and healthier snacks. Maybe hit up one of those if you want a snack with lower points.
I think these are all good ideas. I’ve been working at it and lost close to 60 pounds since the beginning of the pandemic (gotta be able to control something afterall). The only thing I would caution is overestimating how many calories you’ll burn by walking all day. On my best day at WDW, I probably burn 700-900 calories per day walking. That’s only 400-600 calories more than a normal workout for me, which is one cupcake. Sorry to be a buzzkill.
So are you sick of starving to death on WW and other high cost diets? Here’s the key believe it or not. A number of years ago it was all calorie count and the big three. Atkin’s appeared on the seen and everyone screamed FOUL! Dr. Atkins was a cardiologist and knew what he was talking about. LOW CARB! notice these days how now after being proven wrong WW is sliding this way as well as South Beach, Keto,and many other low carb diets which are basically Atkins diet or rather lifestyle, because that’s what it is you know, a life style. Here’s the thing. It still takes willpower but not nearly as much as the rest. It still takes exercise but here again not a lot. Does it work. YES. Now it’s mostly protein but here’s the kicker, vegetables are NOT free. Many contain more carbs than you think and here lies the problem. You can eat like a pig but only low carb foods. What to do? First go to the app store on your smart phone and down load two programs for free. That’s right, there FREE. Value Diary, and Atkin’s Carb counter. First one puts a limit on how much you eat and the second the number of carbs you can have. They work. Twice now I have lost 70lbs and 55 lbs. and being diabetic I am now in the normal zone and no more pills. So the question is can I go to WDW or Universal Studio and eat like a pig? YES! Why, because you will walk it off. I did just that at Universal and thought I gained 8 to 10 lbs but in reality I lost 2lbs. You can believe what I am telling you or you can stick with good old WW (I have my lifetime membership) but I was hungry all the time and weight loss was slow. On this plan which is free I lost 44lbs in one month, let’s see WW do that for you. Why am I posting this. So you can quit worrying about eating on vacation and enjoy yourself. After vacation you jump back in the Atkin’s Lifestyle and be the you you always wanted to be. JON
I haven’t done WW at WDW, but there is one thing that I’ve noticed in general when eating out. Sometimes when you look at the nutrition info, the fat/calorie count can surprise you for certain foods. I’ve seen salads that had more fat and calories than hamburgers, for example. If you know where you’ll be eating, you can look up the nutrition info for the menu ahead of time so you know which dishes are more reasonable and which have a surprising profile.
I just want to echo what @ScottFL said: don’t overestimate how many calories you’ll burn by walking. An average person burns 100 calories per mile ran. Walking a mile burns a lot less unless you are hoofing it. So even if you walk 15 miles you’re only burning an extra 1000 calories or so, which is basically a venti Starbucks drink and a cup of soda. Would you rather eat your extra calories or drink them? Splurge a little…you are on vacation! But watch for sauces/dressings (that’s what makes salads so caloric) and beverages. Those will add up quickly.
