So, I am going to Disney Land in August with my family. On Mothers Day, we were talking about what kinds of foods we wanted to have in the villa while we were there. I mentioned that I wanted to have veggies, turkey, and oatmeal while there. My uncle looked at me like I was crazy. He seemed like he was in shock that I wanted to eat on plan while there. I am not going to change my mind about this at all. I know its vacation, but I don't want to eat off plan, because I don't want it to derail me at all. I would like to come home not having gained anything back. It may be unrealistic, but I am going to do my darndest to make it happen. I still have a couple months untill vacation. But I wanted to hear what you all thought about this.
If staying strictly on plan won't cause you to binge, do it!!! Many times, I've been on a trip (even short ones) and I decide to let myself go off plan. I end up feeling crappy afterwards because I typically eat very, very healthy. Then, once I get home, I've gained some weight and it's hard for me to get back on track.
That said, however, don't let your 'diet' destroy your trip. If you're really inconveniencing your family at every meal because you can only find "your" foods at one particular restaurant, etc, then strike a compromise by ordering the lowest calorie option wherever you are... Eating a smaller portion... And drinking lots of water to fill up. Or maybe pick one day out of your trip (I'd think the last day would be best) to eat one meal + a special treat that you'd really like. Good luck!!
Good for you! Plan plan and plan some more to be as successful as you can. Isn't it amazing that folks just can't believe a person would want to eat healthfully on a vacation.
We often go to Cape Cod to visit family. When I go - I make it my 'fish fest' - trying different kinds of fish prepared healthfully. That makes going out to eat fun and healthy.
I've been out of town visiting for three separate weeks since the first of the year. I stay on my plan the best that I can - I have allowed myself a couple of hundred extra calories a day, if I want them. For, me having that little tiny bit of wiggle room was helpful. Two of those weeks I actually lost a pound. One week I stayed the same.
You've got a good amount of time to get really settled into your food plan, too.
Interestingly, Disneyland was where I had my epiphany that if I just lost 25 lbs a year, I'd still lose 100 lbs and I'm well on my way (and will hopefully beat that timetable).
It sounds like you are going to be with a fairly large group, which does make things a little more complicated. But it also sounds like you are going to be preparing at least some of your meals rather than eating out all the time, so that's really helpful. I would maximize the opportunities to prepare your own food - even if you have to make something for yourself while everyone else is sharing a different meal.
And as Lizzie says, just do your best when you are having restaurant meals. There aren't tons of great choices but there are some, esp. at some of the nicer sit down restaurants. Try to stock up on healthy, transportable snacks that you can nibble to take the edge off and make it easier to keep portion sizes of restaurant foods under control.
Also, I'm not sure how much activity you regularly get in, but you'll be doing a LOT of walking.
And just practice smiling and changing the subject when someone wants to comment about your food choices. There's so much to see and do at Disneyland, it will be easy to have other, far more interesting things to talk about! lol!
I think that if you plan as much as you can, and take advantage of all the opportunity for activity, you can definitely come home without a gain.
You definitely can eat on plan anywhere you go- even on vacation! Vacation doesn't mean stuff your face- heck my coworker goes on vacation and still takes time to exercise during her vacations.. Doesn't matter where she goes.
So, I am going to Disney Land in August with my family. I am not going to change my mind about this at all. I know its vacation, but I don't want to eat off plan, because I don't want it to derail me at all. I would like to come home not having gained anything back. It may be unrealistic, but I am going to do my darndest to make it happen. I still have a couple months untill vacation. But I wanted to hear what you all thought about this.
I went to Disney Land and Las Vegas in March and was perfectly able to stay on plan with a little flexibility. We didn't stay in places that had kitchen facilities so we were stuck with restaurant dining. I brought my laptop with me so when we planned on eating out, I looked up menu options and calorie counts.
Our day started a bit later (9am) than my typical work day started (7am) which might not be an option for you if you are travelling with lots of people with different ideas about when to get moving. By starting my day a bit later, I was able to just eat a light breakfast, take a water bottle with to sip on during the day, had a snack sized lunch mid day and then an early dinner.
The places I chose to eat almost always had a salad bar, so I stuck to big salads with tons of veggies, protein (eggs, cheese or chicken) and a drizzle of the lightest dressing they had. A few nights we ate out and I picked the healthiest thing I could find on the menu, ate half and left the rest. I allowed myself a little bit of alcohol as it was vacation but didn't go nuts with that either.
It sounds like you will have kitchen facilities (and even if you don't) just bring food that you want to eat to help you stay on plan and have the other food for other people. Be true to yourself and your healthy eating plan. My boyfriend thought I should just go hog wild while on vacation as a treat to myself but that's what made me fat in the first place. Try not to worry about what other people think about your plan.
One thing about Disneyland, you will walk your a** off so you will get plenty of exercise. BRING COMFY SHOES!!! I forgot mine and got blisters the first night, the next day I had to scout out a Target to get running shoes to not further kill my feet. Also for any kids under age 7, borrow a stroller from Disney. There is nothing worse than a cranky tired young one.
If you haven't been to Disneyland before, spend some time really scoping out their website and have your game plan mostly set before you go in. It's more efficient to have a plan than to walk around from here to there making it up as you go along. If there is something you really really want to do like ride the Small World ride make that your first stop. Plan for a break in the afternoon to go back to the room to rest, if that is an option (I don't know how far away you are staying). Its nice to rest for a couple hours then come back in the evening for more fun and then watching the fireworks. HINT: To watch the fireworks in the evening, head over to the Small World ride and hang out there, I don't know why but there was hardly anyone over there compared to the other more popular places for watching fireworks where you literally had to step over people sitting in the middle of the sidewalk. I found an empty bench for b/f and I with no trouble.
Have fun!!
Last edited by Michelle98272; 05-25-2010 at 11:48 AM.
I went to Disneyland a few months ago with DH and had a blast. While I didn't stay entirely on plan per say (I'm on South Beach), I didn't gain any weight, and actually lost a little over the course of three days. It was actually pretty simple- I split every meal with DH. At first he was skeptical, but after our first meal, he was sold. There is way more than enough food for two people! On our last day he said he wanted his own clam chowder in a bread bowl.. and felt stufed afterwards. So, for the most part, I ate what I wanted, split all my meals with the hubs, and only had one treat per day. It worked well. We're going back in June for our anny and will follow the same plan- except that we will make sure to keep some snack foods in our hotel (we were hungry at night when the day was over and stopped at Dennys... no bueno) and bring stuff for our own breakfasts (also a Denny's stop).
I have to recommend this site though http://allears.net/dlr/din/menu/menus.htm They have all the menus for all the resturants in Disneyland, and make it easy to pick where you want to eat in the park. (they also have DCA, Downtown Disney, and Disneyworld). Luckily, Disneyland is also really cool about snacks/food/water etc that you bring in, as long as you're not bring a huge amount, and are courteous about it. If you don't have someone to split a meal with- you could always split it up yourself, order the kids meal (especially some of the pizza places, they have some pretty cool kids pasta things!) or bring one meal in (say a turkey sandwich on ww bread with some carrot sticks and apple slices) and eat the other at the park. We brought snacks with us too- some nuts and 100% fruit fruit twists, and those were a real life saver. I recommend a camelback too to carry lots of water, especialy in August.
Vacation woes
