Low carb dining at WDW

[Wilderness guy]

We follow a low carb diet for health reasons, and I suspect there are others on this forum who do the same, not to mention those who are trying to lose weight and those who are diabetic. So far, we are finding this hard to do, especially at lunch. So many of the restaurants load everything with sugar. E.g., the Flame Tree's bar-b-que great - but based in brown sugar. Not to mention the sugar in the baked beans. We have found the caesar salad with chicken a good choice; that is at several places. I'd like to get some sharing going here - any other suggestions for low carb (i.e., less than 20 net carbs per meal) food in the parks? Especially lunch?

[Kerry823]

I am very concerned about my upcoming trip. I have recently lost 35 pounds low carb eating and am trying to identify places to eat in all the parks that offer foods I can eat. Just read Pecos Bills is getting rid of burgers and the fixings bar which now limits me even more. I despise chicken and Caesar salad so I am starting to panic. Why does everything have to be served with rice, coated with deep fried breading or stuck between 2 buns! Looks like I am going to EPCOT every day for the steak in America!

[Wilderness guy]

Good luck on your search and please post here any good options you find. We are at Fort Wilderness right now and have had to eat most of our meals in the motorhome. We even went to Downtown Disney yesterday with the express purpose of eating out. No luck. Everything was breaded or full of sugar or both. Subway and Hardee's have both made good low carb options available. Surely Disney chefs can find a way to do that - and guests could go home after 4 or 5 days without gaining 10 pounds.

[Wilderness guy]

One make-do help I have found is I carry some Jerky in my camera bag into the parks. You have to be careful - some jerky is full of sugar (Oberto is 6 carbs per ounce, for example). On the other hand, Wild Bill's has only 1 carb per ounce, as does Jack Link's Bacon Jerky. Jack Links Original has 4 carbs per ounce. This isn't a meal, of course, but if you like jerky (and I do - guess it is still the military in me), these protein snacks can keep the cravings in check. More ideas?

[VWL Mom]

Columbia Harbor House may have some options for you. They have two sandwiches I enjoy (you can either split them or simply toss one slice of the multi grain bread), one is hummus and one is tuna. They also have a broccoli salad and a grilled salmon plate.

[Wilderness guy]

I appreciate the suggestion. Unfortunately, one slice of multigrain bread has about 10 net carbs. So that one slice of bread would be half of your meal allowance. The WDW dining site doesn't say what condiments they put on the tuna sandwich. If it is mayo, that would be low carbs and okay. However, if they put Miracle Whip (or similar) on it, that is loaded with sugar would would likely take you over the 20 net carbs max for a meal. (For those of you who don't know, the pancreas kicks in the insulin at about 20 g of carbs, and that insulin dump is what causes the hunger cravings to kick in shortly after eating. That is also the figure most diabetics use to estimate how much insulin they need to take). It would be great if WDW would follow Hardee's example and use lettuce leafs as a support for their sandwiches, at least as an option.

[texas211]

I think that is a tough one. Epcot you might have more choices, plus more chef based restaurants where you have some say.

MK has fewer of that, so the toughest. Though there are a lot of squirrels on TS island.

Could Monorail over to the Contemporary or something, and maybe have better control on the meals.

[Wilderness guy]

Being a Southern boy, I have eaten a few "bushy tailed rats" (aka squirrels) in my day. Not sure the MK folks would appreciate my building a campfire, though.

[texas211]

Being a Southern boy, I have eaten a few "bushy tailed rats" (aka squirrels) in my day. Not sure the MK folks would appreciate my building a campfire, though.

Why not? There are injuns in the hills doing the same thing. I see it all the time when on the steamboat.

[bunch]

You should try the Pork Shank at Gaston's Tavern in Fantasyland. It is so yummy, it is roasted and not laden with a sweet sauce. Don't think its too high in carbs.

[SurferStitch]

I think you would be safe at most dinner buffets (Hollywood and Vine (DHS), Biergarten (Epcot), Crystal Palace (MK), etc.). These places have plenty of veggie salads, fresh veggies, carved meats, cheeses, etc. If you can resists the rice, breads, sweets and other carbed up foods, you'll have plenty to choose from.

The ABC Commissary in DHS has great grilled salmon. I've had their grilled salmon on a mixed green salad with quinoa last year, and it was fantastic. Made a wonderful light lunch.

The Plaza Restaurant in MK had a delicious chicken strawberry salad with a champagne vinaigrette (not sweet). Just skip the strawberries, and you'll have a substantial meal (I never finish it).

All of the signature restaurants offer fresh grilled meats and seafood. Get veggies as your side(s), and you're good to go. Narcoossee's, Cali Grill, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Flying Fish... they're all great!

[Dulcee]

Quick service won't be too easy unfortunately. If you poke around though I'm sure you can find more then just steaks.

The Harbour House in MK has salad options other then cesears, grilled salmon that you could replace the couscous with a double order of broccoli.
Pinocchio Village also has a salad with chicken, hard boiled egg and a veg mix.

AK at Harambe Market there is a chicken skewer with a tomato broccoli salad. There are also ribs with a chickpea salad, though you'd need to check on the sugar content in the rub.

HS the ABC commissary has both a steak and a salmon option. Again ask to swap the carb for a second veggie serving. The Backlot express has a pretty good southwest chicken salad, just omit the tortilla strips.

Epcot there are tons of options. The Tangerine Cafe has awesome hummus, tabouleh and lentil salads. You could make a lunch of just sides there. Sunshine seasons I vaguely remember a quinoa chicken salad, they also had spit roasted chicken breasts. The Patiesserie in france has a really nice nicoise salad as well as quiches that you could avoid the crust on.

[Wilderness guy]

First of all, thanks for the suggestions. Keep them coming.

In response to the suggestion about the ribs at Harambee Market - I had already checked that out with the manager. It has a sugar based rub and there is nothing they can do about that. I suspect, though I don't know for sure, that the same would be true of Flame Tree.

This really should not be so difficult. Hardee's (to use one commercial chain as an example) has a 1/3 pound Angus hamburger, just like many of the WDW fast food places. Hardee's says its burger is 355 calories and 56 carbs. That is just the burger, no fries. However, their low carb version of exactly the same burger is 277 calories and 9 carbs. If Hardee's can do it, why can't Disney?

[Wilderness guy]

I keep learning more. I don't normally think of hummus, so I checked. 1/3 cup of hummas has 16 carbs. While it is nutrient rich in other respects, unless you were VERY carful what you put with it, you could set yourself up for problems. Quinoa is even worse. One cup of quinoa had 39 carbs - that is as much as two meals, and thus is going to set off a major insulin dump - assuming you are not diabetic and your pancreas is still able to produce insulin. The message here is "salad" is not necessarily a healthy choice. Like everything else, it depends on what is in it and how it is made. Keep the suggestions coming. We have some good ones and I'll keep learning and investigating more.