Keto at Disneyland

#1

Our family is going to Disneyland in a couple of weeks. I found a website with a lot of helpful info about meal options in Disneyland for eating keto. https://www.slashfilm.com/keto-at-disneyland/

DH & I plan on sticking to keto as much as possible. I figured that I would start this to share the above-mentioned website and to also share my plans for food when we’re there…and to report how it goes!

Breakfasts:
The hotel we’re staying at offers free breakfast. It includes bacon & eggs or sausage & eggs as an option, so we’re all set for breakfast.

Lunches:
French Market - Normally, I am a sucker for their corn chowder in a bread bowl at this location. But this time, I’m going to do either the chicken caesar salad or the French Market chicken (extra veg, skip the mashed potatoes & gravy).

Galactic Grill - probably the chopped salad or the specialty burger w/o a bun

Coke Corner - I can just do a regular hot dog & not eat the bun. Have it w/mustard instead of ketchup. Skip the potato chips…I’ll probably eat a couple of the apple slices (you can get chips or apple slices w/it).

Dinners:
Flo’s V-8 Cafe - probably a Cobb de Ville salad & have them leave off the corn

Plaza Inn - pot roast (extra veg, no mashed potatoes or biscuit), chopped salad, or the salmon (extra veg instead of rice pilaf)

Hungry Bear - we’re signed up for the Fantasmic dinner package at Hungry Bear. All of the menu options for that do not appear to be very keto friendly. BUT I learned that for this dinner package, you CAN order off of the regular menu. So I’ll probably end up getting the BBQ double bacon cheeseburger and just not eat the onion rings on the burger. There’s also a BBQ chicken salad on the regular menu, but I’m betting that the BBQ sauce has a LOT of sugar in it!

In case anyone is interested, here are the entree/main course options on the Hungry Bear dinner package. You can probably see why I’ll be eating off the regular menu:

  • cedar-salt roasted salmon
  • bbq chicken
  • blackberry BBQ pork riblets
  • mushroom & leek fritatta

All of the dinner package meals come with:

  • cranberry-apricot grains & wild rice medley - nope, can’t eat that
  • kale & garbanzo bean salad - can’t eat the garbanzo beans, so forget it
  • fancy schmancy sodas by One Blue Sky - organic orange, cane sugar grape, cane-sugar cherry-vanilla, cane sugar Dr Becker, cane sugar cream soda, cane sugar lemon lime…NOPE! NOPE! NOPE!

I’m sticking to NO soda this time…not even diet soda. Water only (which you can get for free at counter service restaurants there, by the way). I AM going off of keto in order to have a corn dog from the Little Red Wagon. Those are totally divine and I don’t even LIKE corn dogs.

Snacks:
DH & I are bringing a small lunch box-sized cooler (it’s actually 1 of the kids’ lunchboxes, it will fit in my purse) into Disneyland each day. It will have an ice pack in it along with some cheese & Italian deli meats. Plus I’ll bring some macadamia nuts, too. That will keep us satisfied between meals.

On prior trips, I would be getting a Dole Whip, eating a pretzel or a churro (no thanks! not even interested now!), having a huge hot fudge sundae, etc., etc. This trip is going to be different! I’m looking forward to it.

(Mel Simpson) #2

We are just coming home from Disneyland and I ate like a crazed maniac. However I didn’t eat anything at Disneyland find all the food in there substandard. Sounds like you have it all figured out and you probably will do quite well. Before leaving I was about 7 lb from my goal weight I am sure I am 17 lb from my goal weight now. There was no way for me to weigh myself. I am bracing myself for a big shock when I get home tomorrow night. Or whatever I’m going to get right back on it and I’m actually going to do a fat fast and hopefully that will get me back on track. Good luck to you and your husband in Disneyland. It’s the most magical place on Earth. Make sure you go on soaring over the world. It is the best ride ever.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #3

@Mel_Simpson Probably not as bad as you think, unless you were there eating carbs for weeks. Likely mostly water retention from the carbs will drop quick. Expect some Keto Flu and act accordingly to keep up salt and water. You can do a fast if you want to rapidly deplete glycogen stores and get back into ketosis faster. Mostly please don’t stress about eating off plan on vacation, it’s bad for you. Just get back on the keto train. I spent 7 weeks in Florida over Christmas and all of January. I ate off plan several times during the stay. Not days in a row but now and then and some alcohol in moderation occasionally. I came home with 8 extra pounds and it was gone in 8 days with strict carb control, I shot for 10 net per day. @nerfherder Have fun on vacation without stress or you’re undermining the whole point of a vacation.

(Mel Simpson) #4

We are heading home now and I am looking forward to getting back at it. I even had a disgusting shamrock shake today. I think it said it was 1550 calories. My plan was to go off but stay at least 16/8 IF but the rails came off of that the last couple of days. It’s been a couple of weeks now. I am going to do a 4 day fat fast starting tomorrow night. Would anyone suggest IF with it or just eat the fat when I feel the cravings come on? Fat fasting seems to be the only way for me to get back on track

#5

I’ve gone off the rails a few times since starting keto just after Christmas. Usually just for a part of a day. I’ve found it pretty easy to get back into the swing of things. On this trip, I know that there are a couple of non-keto food items that I’d like to have. But what’s different from prior trips is in the past, I would just throw caution to the wind and eat whatever I wanted. This time around, even though I do expect to fall out of ketosis, I want to dole out the carbs like it’s precious gold. LOL. If I’m going to eat something super carby, I want to know it’s going to be super good!

So mashed potatoes w/the roasted chicken? No thanks, I’d rather use those carbs for a corn dog. Black beans, corn, & croutons on a salad? No thanks, I’d rather save those carbs for ONE delectable item from Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe instead. :slight_smile:

(Full Metal KETO AF) #6

@nerfherder Enjoy yourself and keep in mind all carbs are not equal. Processed carbs like refined grains and sugar are worse than wild rice pilaf or a potato. And alcohol puts you right out of ketosis until your liver can process it. Up to a day or more depending on the amount drank. No ketone production during that time so fat eaten will be stored. If you’re going to drink I have heard it said by another forum member you’re better eating carbs and less fat while drinking. I don’t know if it’s true or not.

#7

I usually don’t drink when we go to Disneyland, so I think I’ll be ok there! That’s good to know, though, about alcohol and ketosis.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #8

@nerfherder I think the logic is that if you eat carbs while you’re drinking you’re likely to gain some water weight from it, but higher fat will be stored creating new fat cells. The water weight from inflating old fat cells with the glycogen will drop off quickly so it won’t be as bad for you.

(Mel Simpson) #9

I usually find it hard to get back on track but home now and ONLY up 4 pounds in 2 weeks so not as bad as I thought. I still feel horrible after eating all I did. I just hope I can get through the fat fast I am planning starting tonight at about 7pm.

#10

Only up 4 lb isn’t that bad. It’ll come off soon enough!

(Full Metal KETO AF) #11

See, it wasn’t worth the worry. :cowboy_hat_face:

(Mel Simpson) #12

Started my fat fast at 730pm tonight. Hopefully it will be as easy as the last one.
I do seriously feel like crap. Can’t wait for this cleansing!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #13

This is somewhat plausible, but I don’t believe it’s correct. Not everyone is capable of creating new fat cells on demand, for one thing.

For another, in someone who’s fat-adapted, their muscles are burning fatty acids instead of glucose. Why would you want to deprive them of fat?

Ketogenesis may or may not come to a halt when we drink; I’m not sure. If I understand it correctly, I don’t believe ethanol actually spikes insulin, and if that’s the case, ketogenesis ought to continue, no?

Gluconeogenesis will certainly not halt, because it is essential in the absence of dietary glucose (starches, sugars, etc.). I suppose a rationale for providing starch along with alcohol could be that it allows the liver to focus completely on the ethanol/fructose pathway, but my understanding is that the liver is quite capable of muttitasking.

But supplying dietary glucose will definitely spike insulin (and thereby bring ketogenesis to a halt), which is not something a lot of ketonians consider a good thing. Moreover, if the carbohydrate is sucrose (= 1/2 sucrose, 1/2 fructose), the fructose will overload the ethanol/fructose pathway, leading to de novo lipogenesis in the short term, and a possible fatty liver in the longer term.

#14

I found this article about drinking alcohol and the keto diet --> https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/alcohol

I know someone who’s been doing keto for about as long as I have, but really hasn’t lost any weight. However, she drinks a fair amount of wine every evening. Not a 4-6 oz glass of low-carb wine. More like 18-24 oz of low-carb wine. According to the above-mentioned article, “Fat metabolism is reduced by 73% after only two low-carb alcoholic beverages.”

The main reason I’m not drinking at Disneyland is because when I do drink alcohol, I like really fruity tropical cocktails. I hate the taste of beer, don’t like wine, and don’t like spirits by themselves either. So I sort of figured for myself, “Why bother?” :slight_smile:

(Full Metal KETO AF) #15

Thanks @PaulL What you’re saying makes sense. I heard what I posted here from a regular and with my limited knowledge of human biology it sounded plausible. I believe he also recommended fasting some before and the whole day after as well. But maybe he’s just dragging his body through the mud more that way.

He also mentioned that when drinking it brings up some carb craving which makes sense… when inhibitions are lower, [spoiler]fuck it[/spoiler] I’m going to have some of those chili cheese fries and pizza!

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #16

With me, it would be glazed doughnuts, dozens of glazed doughnuts. And I wouldn’t even need to be drunk first!

Yeah, it does sound plausible. It may even be right, too, though I personally don’t think so. If my explanation is wrong, I do hope someone will speak up and correct it with an even better explanation. This stuff may not be rocket science, but that doesn’t make it easy.

P.S.—Forgot who said it, but “It’s not the things you don’t know that get you; it’s the things you know that ain’t so.”