Diets and New Year's Resolutions

The Magic Kingdom

Welcome to 2015!  What diet are you going to start?  How much did you gain over the holidays?  More than you wanted or desired?

I was on a trip of a lifetime for myself and my family.  A special trip I had planned for three years.  We went on the Disney holiday cruise to the Caribbean followed by 10 days in Disney World.   All in all, we were gone for 18 days.   18 days of eating out, being catered to on the ship and having all kinds of sweet things available almost 24/7.

I also had a theme for our trip while we were in Disney World.  I focused on visiting all the highly recommended themed dining experiences.   Guess what the highlight of our experience is, what we talk about the most....the ship and the food.   Very little about the rides or the shows.  We loved Epcot!  My son wants to eat in every single restaurant in every country.    We'll need to go back for an entire month in order to do that.

Awesome cod on lettuces with peppers and shrimp

 What I was most impressed with was that Disney does a great job of lower carb and calorie offering options.  There was a healthier option at the sit down dinners on the cruise, they labeled gluten free and no sugar added items.  I pretty much ate whatever I wanted, enjoying their specialty bread, one slice only, not several.  I ate dessert every night and enjoyed my wine, port and champagne, I even had two beers.  Every once in awhile I had an ice cream cone.  I didn't count one single carb.

I was full beyond comfort on several occasions.  There wasn't a scale for me to check on everyday so by the time we got off the cruise, I was hyper sensitive to make sure I walked a lot and I brought my steps up to at least 12 or 13K steps a day, one day I made it to 22K.

We arrived home and I weighed in yesterday.  I was up only 1.5 pounds.  Well within my acceptable weight range. When I think back on what I did well it was the walking and choosing the no sugar added desserts. I kept with lower carb sides, salads, mixed vegetables.  Steering clear of pasta, potatoes and rice and any type of starchy carb for breakfast.  No Mickey Mouse waffle for me.

Favorite breakfast - lox on cucumber!

I actually think, I could have lost weight on the trip if I actually had to.  If I had skipped the desserts and held off a bit on the port, beer and champagne.  When in Disney World, I exercised the split plate at many restaurants and took my tupperware everywhere.  We loved our trip and we loved our food.

I know that one of the main new year's resolutions for many of us is to start a diet.  I was pleasantly surprised to see on US News & World Report cited the two diets I recommend in the top 3.  Mayo Clinic Diet and the TLC diet.  TLC just beating out Mayo Clinic.   TLC doesn't talk about carbs as much as the Mayo Clinic does but if you check their suggested meal plans their carb counts are in the 50s.   TLC is a great way to look at low carb if you have any heart and cholesterol issues and a wonderful maintenance plan.   Mayo Clinic diet is a good choice if adult on set of diabetes is an issue. Here are some quick links to both:

TLC

Mayo Clinic

One of the characteristics both of these diets mention is that they are ways of life...that to ultimately achieve your goals long term and get out of the danger of health issues, one must make a lifestyle change.   May your New Year's resolution be a lifestyle change and not just to go on a diet.

Happy New Year and Happy Carb Counting!