Dietary Requests at WDW

Per the WDW website disneyworld.com, "The Walt Disney World food and beverage team is committed to offering a wide range of choices to accommodate Guests who require lifestyle dining options, as well as most specific requests from Guests with food allergies or intolerances. Note that in many cases, advance notice is required—usually at the time of your reservation."

Below are locations and links to locations in the parks that can accommodate special requests. From my personal experiences, you can make these basics requests at most restaurants that will help you stay on your diet:

• Ask to "hold the cheese." As far as I am aware no restaurant in any of the parks have fat free cheese.
• Ask for the dressing on the side. Some restaurants have packets of fat free dressing.
• Ask for portions to be baked and not fried.
  
• For kids portions, ask for carrot sticks instead of fries. If the meal comes with both, ask for double carrots and hold the fries.
• I hope you like Diet Coke, because after about 50+ meals at WDW parks I have never encountered a restaurant that has any calorie free drink besides Diet Coke and water. Be sure if you order a soda you ask for a Diet Coke.

Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park – Special Dietary Information for Quick Service and Counter Service Locations
The locations listed below have menu items or products that may meet many dietary requests:

• Restaurantosaurus
• Flame Tree Barbecue
• Harambe Fruit Market

Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park – Special Dietary Information for Quick Service and Counter Service Locations
The locations listed below have menu items or products that may meet many dietary requests:

• Sunset Ranch Market
• Backlot Express
• Studios Catering Co. Flatbread Grill
• ABC Commissary
• Toy Story Pizza Planet

Epcot theme park – Special Dietary Information for Quick Service and Counter Service Locations
The locations listed below have menu items or products that may meet many dietary requests:

• Liberty Inn
• Sunshine Season Food Fair

Magic Kingdom Theme – Special Dietary Information for Quick Service and Counter Service Locations
The locations listed below have menu items or products that may meet many dietary requests:

• Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café
• Pecos Bill Café
• Main Street Bakery
• Toontown Farmer's Market
• Liberty Square Market
• The Pinocchio Village House

A Thanksgiving Post

I hope you are having a happy Thanksgiving. Disney posted this on their blog today. Disney states that 1.6 million turkey drumsticks were consumed last year at WDW and DL. That's 1,817,600,000 total calories and 8,640,000 total grams of fat served in a year just on turkey legs!

That's enough calories to feed an entire football team (53 people) the recommended 2,000 calorie diet for the next 47 years!

At Wellspring Camps and Academies we recommend a very low fat (VLF) diet. 20 grams of fat is the max, with the goal of shooting for zero. How does a turkey leg fit into this? At 54 grams of fat in a leg, it's 2.7 days allotment of fat. Turkey sandwiches with lean meat (usually 1 gram of fat per serving) is a much better option!

Toontown Farmers Market- Where to Buy Fruit at the Magic Kindgom

Toontown Farmers Market

Toontown, located between The Barnstormer and Donald’s Boat.

Like the Main Street Bakery, Toontown Farmers Market is an official location for purchasing fresh fruit. The Market is conveniently located across the street from the character meet & greet site at the Judge’s Tent, allowing one parent to wade through multiple queues obtaining pictures and autographs from various princesses and woodland creatures while another forages through the cotton candy and popcorn to find apples, fruit cups, oranges, grapes, bananas, yogurt cups and frozen lemonade.

Parkwide obesity refurb in store for Disneyland: Disney’s post-Small World plans

Here is an interesting cartoon I found online.

Perhaps instead of having to revamp rides, Disney could begin by encouraging healthy eating on the grounds with appropriate serving sizes and the promotion of healthy eating choices.

The biggest irony of all has to be that much of the “magic” of Disney is created through the dream of being a fairy princess or prince who always has the perfect figure.

Healthy Obsessions at WDW

As an Executive Director for Wellspring, the leading provider of effective, scientifically based treatment for obese and overweight adolescents and young adults, I specializing in behavioral change that helps young people lose weight and keep it off for a lifetime. During my family workshop presentations over the summer, I often discuss how it takes an undying commitment to change, what we call at Wellspring a "healthy obsession."

The initial weight loss success (average 4 lbs of weight loss per week) and long-term results (weight loss continues after camp, on average) of Wellspring campers have been presented at scientific conferences, published in journals and covered by media organizations around the world. These outstanding results are due to the our ability to instill this overall attitude change. An example I give at the family workshops is how I can be found practically every weekend at WDW walking around with my family carrying a backpack loaded down with sandwiches made with fat free cheese, fat free mayo, and lean slices of meat- all something that is not available for purchase at WDW.

We live in what scientists call an "obesogenic culture" meaning that it is almost a natural consequence of our society to become overweight. Afterall, 2/3rds of us are overweight or obese in the United States.

Factors that have contributed to our obesogenic culture include:

· Supersized Portions: Portion sizes have grown rapidly in the last 20 years as companies aim to maximize their profits.

· Meals Prepared by Others: In 1975, Americans ate 25% of their meals outside of the home. Today we eat nearly 50% of our meals outside of the home. By going out to eat, we’re giving up control of ingredients, method of preparation, and portion size.

· The Economic and Psychological Power of Advertising: Food and beverage marketers spend more than $15 billion per year in the United States and Canada promoting their products to kids. Studies show that 70% of foods advertised on TV do not meet nutritional guidelines.

· The Steady Decline of Physical Education: Many schools have been forced to cut electives such as art, music, and physical education due to the increased focus on math and reading scores. Today only 8% of American elementary schools, 6% of middle schools, and 5% of high schools provide daily physical education.

· Digital Entertainment: Almost half of all children age eight to sixteen watch 3-5 hours of T.V. a day. With such inventions as the X-Box and Playstation, that number can be much higher.

· The Car-Centric North American Lifestyle: In the Unite States and Canada, only 10% of city travel occurs on foot or by bicycle. Today, only 13% of all kids walk or bike to school.

· Good Intentions of Protective Parents: Years ago it was considered acceptable for parents to let their children play unsupervised in nearby areas. This sort of behavior is now seen as unacceptably risky and dangerous.

It does seem clear that we do live in a society where becoming overweight or obese is a likely consequence, and being at WDW only amplifies this effect. Let's face it, not only are there sugary and fatty foods everywhere; low fat, low calorie foods are almost non-existent.

Probably the best piece of advice I can give is that when you are packing for WDW, be sure to bring your "healthy obsession" - meaning don't forget your commitment to your health. When you see fatty foods and sugary snacks, just tell yourself, "these foods are not for me." Better yet, do like I do and bring along some apples, specially prepared sandwiches, and other low fat, sugar free snacks.

Think a Turkey Leg is Diet Food? Think Again!

One day while at WDW I purchased one of those giant smoked turkey legs thinking that this would be a good option. I mean, turkey is lean meat, right? And protein is good for staving off hunger, so what could be wrong with ordering a giant turkey leg? At least it's not smothered in cheese and topped with two pieces of bacon, like the turkey sandwiches you can get at many of the "quick service" stops around WDW.

I enjoyed the turkey leg, but realized while I was eating it that I am also eating the skin which is the most fattening part of turkey. Something just didn't seem right about the turkey leg. It seemed much more fatty than the lean turkey slices I get for making sandwiches. Therefore, then I got back home I looked into it a little more in depth.

What I found shocked me. According to WebMD, the total calorie and fat count for a giant turkey leg is 1,136 calories and 54 g fat!

The difference between this and lean turkey meat for sandwiches is that you are eating dark meat in the leg, and you are also getting skin which is absent in the sandwich slices. So my advice if you are wanting protein to help keep hunger at bay is to keep these snacks handy:

• One serving Gogart's (yogurt packed for kids)
• Lean beef jerky. Most beef jerky is lean, just don't get the Slim Jim type processed beef sticks as they are loaded with fat.
• Sandwiches with lean slices of meat. Hold the mayo and use fat free cheese.
  

Magic Kingdom Tips

Here are some random tips for low calorie, low fat meals found at the Magic Kingdom- the main park at Disney World.

For a tasty treat, you can purchase fat free ice cream at the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor. It is the last store on the right heading down main street just before you get to Tomorrowland.

You can purchase a baked potato at the Liberty Square Market. They are not sitting out so you have to ask for it. It took me a year to discover this! There is also a selection of fruit available at Liberty Square Market.

Pinocchio Village Haus has a chef salad. Request it without cheese for a fat free salad, and you can get a packet of fat free salad dressing there as well.

There are several restaurants that serve hamburgers and have free "fixin's" bars. I have ordered just a bun before and made a tomato and lettuce sandwich.

Be careful of the buffets at the Magic Kindgom. Most salads there come with dressing mixed in. The dressings tend to be very rich and probably high in fat and calories. When you eat a salad with the dressing mixed in you give up control of your caloric intake.

Probably the best tip, which I will cover in subsequent follow up posts, is to bring in your food from outside. I generally bring in 6-8 bottles of half frozen bottled water, about 8 apples, and enough sandwiches from my entire family.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. I am a Florida licensed psychologist and a long term weight controller. Having once been overweight, I am consistently diligent about the food I eat. I count my fat grams and calories.

I am also an avid Disney fan. I go to Disney World in Orlando about once a week with my wife and two children; Monty age 7 and Madeline age 5. It is difficult controlling my weight in a place know for tasty treats- candy apples, ice cream in the shape of mouse ears, popcorn, cotton candy, etc.

To make matters worse Disney does not provide nutritional information on food served in their restaurants. I know that sounds strange; but it's true. Disney has recently promoted a healthy initiative for kids with Michelle Obama, but they still have not addressed the nutritional content of the food they serve at their parks.

The purpose of this blog is to share with others my efforts to control my weight while being a Disney fan. I hope others can benefit from my experiences.

If you have a child that needs to lose weight, you might want to consider a summer camp session at Wellspring. For more information please call us at 855-247-3378 or visit: http://www.wellspringcamps.com/

You can also check out my private practice website here:  http://www.besteducationalconsultant.com/