When my family decided to take a trip to Disney World in Orlando, I have to admit, I was a bit apprehensive. Don’t get me wrong, I was totally excited for the excitement and fun that I was sure my son would experience. The dilemma traveling through my brain was, “What the heck are we going to eat?” My family has been Paleo/Primal for many years now and eating fast food or artificial snacks and convenience foods is just not an option anymore. Goodbye MacDonalds salads, farewell peanut M&M’s! These bodies that we have here on Earth are a gift from God and we want to fuel them with quality food that will heal and support us through our daily lives. I do not consider this to be “being difficult” or “picky” as some would label it. This is about keeping my family healthy and being able to enjoy a vacation without having bloated tummies, headaches, and energy dips. This is about keeping my little guy seizure-free and keeping my husband free of asthma (as he has been for many years now since changing our diet–yay!). I decided that I had two options. Option #1: Just wing it–we have all done this before and yes, it may be the simple route, but it is not the wisest or healthiest decision. Option #2: Plan, plan, and when you think you have it all figured out, plan some more! So, I went with Option #2 but with the idea that I would not freak out if we weren’t 100% perfect over the course of our trip. The first obstacle to conquer, the airport!
Eating Paleo at the Airport
I love to travel, love it! I have to admit that in the past, the best part of flying somewhere was the permission that I gave myself to pig out on Little Debbies, Dr. Pepper, and Doritos just because we were “on vacation”. Since these are all snacks of vacation pasts, I needed something satisfying to nosh on at the airport. We were traveling during the dinner hour and my boys get cranky when they are not fed so this is what I came up with.
Here we have Paleo sandwich bread with some nitrate/preservative/sugar free bacon and some grass fed cheddar in between, half of an avocado, green bell peppers, blueberries, trail mix (cashews, macadamia nuts, no sugar added dried cranberries, and dried coconut flakes), and a bag of avocado oil potato chips. ( I know, I know, potatoes are one of those hot buttons in the Paleosphere as to wether or not they are caveman approved. You have to decide what works best for you and your own family. Since these are fried in healthy avocado oil, I allow them for a treat – yummy! I figure it’s better than Cool Ranch Doritos any day.) This was a big hit with the family on the airplane! Lots of things to chew on and keep you occupied during the flight. Don’t have time to make an airplane meal? I found some healthy treats at DFW airport, you just have to look!
I spotted some Coconut water, raw veggies, and fresh fruit. I also saw lots of salads (yup, I brought my own salad dressing) and raw nuts at both airports. No excuses to grab that Wendy’s Value Meal!
Eating Paleo at the Hotel
Our first stop once we landed in Orlando was to stop by the local Whole Foods store. What I failed to realize was the time change had us landing at the exact time the store was closing. Never fear! I had snacks enough for breakfast the next morning before we could get to the store. (See my post about all of the favorite Paleo Snacks that I packed.) This was our first food challenge and luckily we were prepared and didn’t succumb to the breakfast drive-thru on our first morning.
Click here to see my must-have Paleo snacks for any trip!
We headed to Whole Foods armed with our list and had fun luxuriating in all of the different products we found. There are so many healthy ready-to-eat options as well. Even if you don’t have a car, you can always have the taxi driver swing by a health foods store on your way to the hotel. The amount of money you will save from not eating out 3 meals a day will more than cover an extra 15 minute taxi cab ride. My mom packed her Nutra Bullet and we picked up our smoothie essentials so we could count on a healthy start to our mornings. We used my basic “Super Smoothie” recipe with coconut milk, avocados, frozen berries, spinach, banana, Metagenics UltraClear, and some coconut water. Everyone likes their smoothie a little different so we changed the formula according to our individual tastes.
Paleo Eating in the Parks
As you read in my earlier post, I packed a ginormous amount of snacks to keep my family fueled when we couldn’t find a healthy option for a sit down meal at the parks. The great thing about Disney and Universal for Paleo eaters is that there is always someone selling a giant turkey leg nearby! I realize that this may not be grass-fed or 100% organic but I still count it as a viable Paleo meal because it is actual “food”, not processed or packaged. At Universal Studios, we visited the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and I was determined to eat at The Three Broomsticks! (Yes, I am that dork. Yes, I would have dressed up like Hermione if it wasn’t so darn hot!) I also spotted lots of healthy food stands with chopped pineapple, grapefruit, apples, and bananas. We got a giant turkey quarter that came with corn on the cob, and caramelized onions. We supplemented this meal with dried fruit and nuts and were all pleasantly full. I am never without my lemon Stevia, it was fantastic to drink a nice glass of iced tea on a hot day at the park.
At Disney, we visited Gaston’s Pub for lunch (Yes, like Beauty and Beast Gaston–loved it!) The menu focused on some lovely roasted pork shanks. They were fall apart tender and incredibly tasty. Simple food with very few ingredients, this is the key to eating clean while traveling. We got some sides of raw veggies and tossed the chemical laden salad dressing in the trash and broke out the Tessemae’s dressing instead. (Can I just say, that dressing was SO awesome? I would eat anything with that yummy vinaigrette poured on it). I also brought some Jason’s Almond butter for the celery sticks. This was such an easy meal and we were all satisfied but not bloated. Every one of us remarked at how happy our tummy’s were after each meal. No headaches, no body aches, no gas, no blood sugar crashing, it is amazing how well our bodies will function with the right fuel.
We also had a turkey leg at Disney Hollywood Studios. If you don’t like to eat large chunks of meat with built-in handles, I would recommend grabbing a salad from the fresh markets throughout the park and dressing it up with some healthy dressing, nuts, seeds, and an avocado brought from home. You could add a banana slathered with some almond butter for a dessert if you are still hungry. There is always an option to eat healthy. No one stopped me on the street and forced a funnel cake in my mouth – although that would be a great story! Eating healthy is our choice, and no one else’s.
When hunger hit us while walking through the park or waiting in line, we happily munched on our prepared snacks and many bottles of water. If you don’t want to carry around food on your back (my husband readily agreed to carry the food so he wouldn’t starve) you can check your food in a locker at the entrance and fetch it when you are ready to eat. We even found a cozy Chinese restaurant while strolling through Epcot and snagged a soothing cup of hot tea during one of the many deluges!
Dining Out in Disney
Here is the easy part. Disney makes it so easy to make dinner reservations for those of us on a special diet. There is a website that lists all of the restaurants on and off Disney property and their menu. I was looking for places that were not buffet style but were also not fine dining. Once you select the restaurant you want to visit, you choose the day and time to reserve a table. At this point, you can check what food allergies or sensitivities you may have. This information is relayed to the hostess that seats you and then on to the chef. At each restaurant we visited, the chef came out of the kitchen and explained some options that we might enjoy from the menu.
We visited Wolf Gang Pucks, Raglan Road, The Rose and Crown, and the Sci-Fi Drive In. I have to say, Wolf Gang Pucks was a bit of a disappointment. Not only did we find out that Wolfgang doesn’t own the restaurant, he has nothing to do with the menu or the food preparation. As a die-hard foodie, this was really disappointing. Nevertheless, I had a flat iron steak with an arugala salad and some broccollini. It was tasty but not as thrilling as I imagined it was going to be. Oh well, live and learn!
Our big “cheat” was at the Raglan Road Irish Pub. They have an extensive gluten free menu and we got an order of gluten free onion rings and gluten free fried fish. Now, this is NOT PALEO! Go ahead and call the Paleo police, it was worth it! I think that you have to make smart eating decisions and you have to find what works best for you and your body. I didn’t feel one bit guilty indulging in this special treat and it didn’t bother our stomachs like the original gluten laden version always did in the past. I did my research and I planned ahead to have a non-Paleo dinner one night and it was fantastic!
Starting the day with our Super Smoothies really helped keep us energized and ready to hit those parks! I highly recommend that you plan ahead for any vacation and bring anything and everything with you to stay on track. You really can’t be TOO prepared. I like to look at it like the 80/20 plan. If I can stay 80% compliant on a magical vacation and only splurge 20% (I personally never splurge with sugar or gluten) I feel like I have done a good job of keeping my family on track health-wise without feeling deprived. We had a fabulous time and none of us had upset stomachs or bloating from making less than stellar food choices. What is the hardest part about traveling for you and your family? Do you need ideas about what you can do to stay on track during your next vacation?
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