{"id":39390,"date":"2015-06-02T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-06-02T16:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/?p=39390"},"modified":"2022-05-04T23:59:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-05T03:59:18","slug":"staying-fit-healthy-disney-vacation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/staying-fit-healthy-disney-vacation\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying Fit and Healthy on a Disney Vacation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ShoeswithText\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ears, MagicBands and sneakers – I’m ready to go!<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>About five years ago, after a startlingly high cholesterol test, I decided it was time to shape up and get healthy. I managed to lose, and keep off, a little over 20 pounds, and put my cholesterol levels back on track.<\/p>\n

I was worried, however, how I was going to keep on this healthy path while doing one of my favorite things \u2013 enjoying time at Disney parks and resorts. In hindsight, I shouldn\u2019t have worried at all. It is much easier than I thought it would be.<\/p>\n

FOOD<\/strong><\/p>\n

How was I going to stay at the Polynesian and not indulge in Tonga Toast? And could I possibly make it through the buffet line at Goofy\u2019s Kitchen without having a slice or two of macaroni and cheese pizza?<\/p>\n

Turns out that there is healthy food throughout Walt Disney World and Disneyland. I just hadn\u2019t noticed it before. Every domestic Disney park has at least one stand that sells fresh fruit and veggies. The quality tends to be good, but you might not be near one when hunger strikes. So it might be a good idea to pack your own snacks. Disney will allow you to do this as long as it is in a small, flexible cooler, and you have no glass containers or knives.<\/p>\n

Nearly every counter service location has a salad option. And even if you don\u2019t call ahead, you\u2019ll find healthy selections at the table service restaurants featuring lean proteins, whole grains, low-fat dairy, fresh fruits and vegetables. I was most surprised at the buffets. Not only is there invariably a salad bar at each, but you\u2019ll find plenty of interesting and varied lean protein\u00a0options.<\/p>\n

\"apples\"<\/a><\/p>\n

When in\u00a0doubt, pack your own snacks<\/em><\/p>\n

At Captain Cook\u2019s at the Polynesian Resort, I was able to skip that Tonga Toast (although I had a bite of my husband\u2019s!) and enjoy a fruit and yogurt parfait topped with granola. At Goofy\u2019s Kitchen at Disneyland, I sampled the catch of the day and made a huge side salad with plenty of fresh fruits and veggies. \u00a0I even splurged on a no-sugar-added cupcake for dessert.<\/p>\n

There are some places where you\u2019re not going to find anything healthy, period. The fish and chips shop in Epcot, for instance, sells fish and chips, period. And don\u2019t wander up to a Disneyland churro wagon expecting to find kale.<\/p>\n

\"Goofy's\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Goofy’s Kitchen, at the Disneyland Hotel, has many healthy options<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019m planning for my very first Disney Cruise, and I was delighted to learn that there is a section on each table service restaurant\u2019s menu devoted to \u201cLighter Note Offerings,\u201d as well as a selection of no-sugar-added desserts.<\/p>\n

And perhaps the happiest moment of all is when I discovered that my beloved Dole Whip has only 80 calories per serving! I\u2019m certainly not suggesting that it\u2019s health food, but hey, I\u2019m on vacation.<\/p>\n

EXERCISE<\/strong><\/p>\n

About two years ago, I was wandering through the gorgeous grounds of the Disneyland Hotel and peek through the windows of the Goofy About Health Club. I spotted a young woman running on the treadmill. And a year later I spotted another young woman using the jogging path through the beautiful Polynesian Resort on a steamy summer day.<\/p>\n

All I could think was: Are these people NUTS? Don\u2019t they realize how much WALKING you do at Disney parks?<\/p>\n

The theme parks, especially at Walt Disney World, are huge. If you\u2019ve ever tried to rush from your dinner Advanced Dining Reservation at Be Our Guest to make sure you\u2019re in place for your Main Street Electrical Parade FastPass+ reservation, you know that you\u2019ll be walking, a lot, sometimes very quickly.<\/p>\n

\"TheLand\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Those veggies you’re eating in Epcot restaurants might have been grown in the Land pavilion<\/em><\/p>\n

Although the parks at Disneyland are smaller, everything is much closer together, which means you\u2019ll not only be walking inside the parks, you\u2019ll be walking plenty outside them. There are walking paths from the Mickey and Friends parking structure to the entrance plaza. To get from the Disneyland Hotel to Downtown Disney, you walk. To get between the Paradise Pier Hotel and the Grand Californian, you walk. To get between Disneyland Park and California Adventure, you walk. Sure, you can take a tram to the parks from the parking structure, and you can take the monorail from Downtown Disney to Tomorrowland. But other than that, you\u2019ll be on a walking path. There really aren\u2019t any other options.<\/p>\n

If you still feel like you need more physical training, by all means check out your resort\u2019s health club. Many of Walt Disney World\u2019s resorts have fitness centers, and each of the three Disneyland resorts have one. And of course you can use one of Walt Disney World\u2019s jogging paths or rent bicycles and explore the area that way.<\/p>\n

And if this isn\u2019t enough, you can go big time and sign up for a RunDisney event. Marathons, half marathons and 5Ks are held at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Disney Cruise Line has even added an informal Castaway Cay 5K for those who stop at the island.<\/p>\n

According to my iPhone Health app, during a rope-drop-until-World-of-Color day at California Adventure, I took 18,201 steps. And that\u2019s in Disney\u2019s SMALLEST park. I shudder to think how many steps I took during my last day in Epcot.<\/p>\n

Of course, you\u2019ll find a different experience on a Disney Cruise. Although the four Disney cruise ships are massive, you simply won\u2019t find yourself in the same GO GO GO mode as you would in one of Disney\u2019s theme parks. Happily, there are many opportunities for fun physical activity, both on board and during shore excursions.<\/p>\n

\"CarthaySalad\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A healthy and scrumptious salad at Carthay Circle Restaurant<\/em><\/p>\n

Each Disney cruise ship has a fitness center that has weight machines, treadmills and ellipticals. They also feature a sports area, where you can play mini golf, basketball, and a variety of fun sports.<\/p>\n

If your ship will be stopping at Castaway Cay, know that in addition to the aforementioned 5K, you have the opportunity to rent bicycles for a fun ride around the island, ride pedal-powered boats and enjoy yoga on the beach. Other ports offer golf, walking tours, and snorkeling.<\/p>\n

All in all, I\u2019ve been on lots of Disney vacations since I adopted my new healthy lifestyle. And I\u2019ve managed to maintain my weight during all of them! I\u2019m inclined to think it\u2019s because of the massive amount of walking, since I will definitely blow my diet when the desserts come out. It\u2019s a vacation, after all!<\/p>\n

What do you do to keep your healthy lifestyle while visiting a Disney destination? Share in the comments so we can all learn together!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ears, MagicBands and sneakers – I’m ready to go! About five years ago, after a startlingly high cholesterol test, I decided it was time to shape up and get healthy. I managed to lose, and keep off, a little over 20 pounds, and put my cholesterol levels back on track. I was worried, however, how…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":39583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1688,1691,506,507,1695],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wdw-dining","category-disney-cruise-line-food","category-resort-menus","category-walt-disney-world-resorts","category-theme-parks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39390"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39739,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39390\/revisions\/39739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.themouseforless.com\/blog_world\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}