Healthy Travel- Dos and Don’ts for Airport and Airplane eating

Since I’ve been up since 4:30, (I kind of like Euro jetlag) and it’s fresh in my mind, I thought I’d offer up my two cents on airplane travel with examples from my most recent trip to Amsterdam.

Outbound 8pm flight

I’ll admit, I felt virtuous as I prepped for this trip. With no kids to pack for, it was an opportunity for selfish self-care.  I planned to take Le Pain Quotidien’s frittatas (they boxed them up with sliced avocado) and cut veggies to consume pre flight.  Best-laid plans…while sitting in traffic on the way to JFK, I realized my Eat Play Rose’ bag with frittatas and crudité had stayed home. I called my (yes my babysitter, kids are away) babysitter and she popped it all in the freezer. I still bitched and moaned for the remaining hour to the airport. Marc finally snapped at me, “you’ll live” I wasn’t so sure.

At the airport, I had to forage. Not only was I meal-less but the long-weekend traffic had delayed us. I ended up with a very red onion heavy tuna with capers and olives (first class sodium) and a small container of Caprese salad I scarfed these at the gate, bringing tuna and onions on a flight is an aroma offense I wasn’t willing to commit.

Once on board, I chugged a bottle of water, put on noise cancelling headphones, and a cashmere scarf, and airplane socks. I know my next move flies in the face of typical nutrition advice (oh well) but when the drink cart comes around I get a scotch and a glass of water. I take magnesium and Zyflamend nighttime (anti inflammatory with valerian root), use a disposable toothbrush and go to sleep.

I have a strict no airplane food rule (just like Anthony Bordain) so no dinner or carb-inental breakfast they offered. I’ll have more water and coffee before landing.

Return flight 10:40am

The way back our flight was during the day, which can be tricky. It’s easier to avoid eating when you’re asleep. We always try to have a hearty meal before take off. Luckily, we found omelets with ham and green smoothies. Once on the plane I had water whenever it was offered, Wakaya turmeric tea and New Primal jerky halfway through the flight. My husband had a Yes Bar and jerky.

We both felt energized having kept our eating lighter. Once home, we went for a bike ride and early dinner to acclimate.

What’s your airplane eating routine? Any road rules to share? 

Ready, Set, December (if not "set" we can help)

Food First Aid Kit, must have accessory for the holiday season or always

Yesterday, we sent out our Holiday Helper Newsletter. We covered holiday parties (and strategic pre-gaming), family time/relatives (think omega 3 foods all day long) and holiday travel (see Food First Aid Kit above). After doling out what I thought was good, fun advice,  my first client of the day said "the holidays aren't really a thing for me", hmn noted.

After contemplating and dismissing that our info was cliche',  I concluded that even if the holidays aren't your thing (they're not really my thing) December is generally busy. My calendar has reached that too-full point and it's not parties and "events" that are filling it. It's work and kid stuff (my son thankfully said,  "mom, you don't need to come to the holiday concert at school, I only mouth the words anyway) and tipping the doormen. I'm not looking for sympathy, it's just that cooking and planning and the things I like to use my extra time for are cut down. Can you relate? I bet my client from yesterday cannot. And by the way she has two trips planned this month....

For work, we're knee deep in January and our "Whipping Weeks". I'm trying my best not to race through this month but to enjoy some Christmas music, the pretty city etc. But if you're looking for a January jumpstart, we have recipes and secret weapons are a great food plan in store, email info@foodtrainers.com for whipping info. Cheers.
Are the holidays "a thing" for you? Is December busy as hell? Do you like Christmas music?

My must-haves for healthy travel

Monday we sent out our Spring break newsletter. If you placed an order, be patient. Many people did (thank you) and my partner in food crime, Carolyn, is conveniently Spring Breaking in Cartagena.

I’m going away late next week (thank fucking god). This week I’ve been readying clients for their trips (I love hearing where people are going).  So what do I bring?

Green juice/airplane meal- I am obsessive about both starting a trip on track healthfully and avoiding plane food. Chugging a green juice while I wait on the security line and bringing a kale salad or and avocado sandwich on Paleo or gluten free bakery bread are my staples. Who knows what lies ahead, control what you can.

In flight- I’m very ritualistic which is the best euphemism for compulsive. I bring my Wakaya for when the drink cart comes around. Generally I’ll get hot water. If it’s an overnight flight this may be Wakaya/vodka (feel free to judge). 

Vitamins- many people leave these at home and I feel they’re even more important away. Chances are, you probably will not have many probiotic foods (I take cocochia and Sunbiotic almonds for this reason) or may wear sunscreen thus blocking vitamin D potential- use the sunscreen, pack D drops if that was unclear.

Vacation Constipation (VC) maybe it's because my diet is pretty consistent at home or my body’s regulated or I was told once my colon was sluggish (so I have colon insecurity now, I hate anything sluggish) but VC sucks. My family jokes about my digestion away. So I take preemptive action. Natural calm, triphala, probiotics, chia are in my Food First Aid Kit.

For more ideas and newness check out the newsletter. And if you’d like to place an order here’s our store link. 

 **NYC orders can be filled within 24 hours on weekdays.

What do you pack in your Food First Aid Kit? What are your biggest food challenges away? 

What I bring away with me

I have fun prepping clients for their vacations. In order to figure out a game plan I need to know how long they’ll be away, whether they’ll be staying in a hotel or a house and how they typically eat when away. And since we refer to ourselves as “nutrition troubleshooters” I like to think that no challenge is too great. Weight restrictions for your baggage? We know which snacks are the easiest to pack (chia bars work well). Flying for almost 24 hours? We’ve done that as well and we never bank on refueling during a layover…you never know. However, like the cobbler’s children (who have no shoes) it’s easy for me to get suckered into “I know what to do” and to end up winging it, which never works.

 

This weekend I put together some of my tried and true favorites. I always bring a Nutcase and nuts to refill it with. I know jerky isn’t for everyone but I find protein, that is protein without added hormones and antibiotics, isn’t easy to come by so I like the Real Sticks. I like bars for travel; Marc and I have been loving the Jalapeno “Strong” Kind bars.  And just in case I put in something sweet, in this case one of our Dark Chocolate Coconut cups. We developed the Food FirstAid Kit Pouches so that your snacks, tea bags and other “secret weapons” are all in one place. We also put together this video on how to pack your kitcomplete with bloopers at the end. The golden snack rule is 1 item per day away.

As you go away (or if you’re already away), remember I’m here via Twitter @Foodtrainers so you can Tweet it Don’t Eat It #TIDEI when tempted. And on Instagram show me your travel snack stash with the hashtag #Foodtrainers for a chance to win our Summer Sampler Kit (complete with on-the-go metabolism boosting contents).

I was going to say “happy trails” but for some reason googled. Seriously Urban Dictionary, does every saying have some gross bodily reference?

Save travels, there.

What goes in your Food First Aid Kit? What’s the most difficult part of staying healthy when away? Did you know what happy trails meant?

I lost weight doing this (and know this sounds like an Infomercial)

This morning we sent out our March Monthly Morsels newsletter.  The subject? All things spring break and by that I mean all food-related things of course. We asked some of our favorite experts what they bring when they travel (love to see what others do), included highlights from the LBT “pre-beach” chapter and we did what we do best- we tested anything and everything we possibly could. Last month it was chocolate but this month there were teas and sprays and roll-ons (more on that Thursday) and lots of dandelion greens and lemon slices. We sipped and sampled all in an effort to select the items we could tell subscribers and clients about to help shed that little extra before their trips. Or so I thought…

I don’t write that much about my weight because it’s a boring story. Although, as a 5 foot 3 inch person a few pounds can make a difference in how I feel my weight, grief aside, is very stable. So when I stood on the scale last week and saw a number four pounds lighter than my usual, without really trying, I smiled. If you want to know what I did it’s a little complicated because I did a lot of different things but here are the new items  I was happily consuming daily for the past couple of weeks.

Sunbiotic probiotic

I take a probiotic from Renew Life. I write about probiotic supplements and probiotic foods in LBT.  They help with GI function, immunity, mood (yup serotonin is produced in the gut) and most interestingly for some people weight. The Renew Life supplement contains a strain Lactobacillus rhamosus that has been correlated to weight loss. I added in Sunbiotics chewable (and yummy) probiotic the past couple of weeks as we were test-driving them.  The Sunbiotics chewable has prebiotics that perhaps were giving my probiotics a boost?  If you aren’t taking a probiotic these are two great options.

Green Dream

I’m a smoothie girl and an ingredient snob so it’s hard to find a protein powder that meets my standards. Welcome Philosophie. I have and love all 3 flavors but I’m partial to the Green Dream. I’ve been adding fresh mint, extra spirulina, a little avocado or coconut oil, greens and almond milk (which I make or I found this Manuka almond milk that’s pretty great).

Bitters

Carolyn, oops sorry One Smart Brownie, has been pushing bitters on me for a while. Bitters for the occasional hangover (it happens), bitters for travel and digestion but then I found these while in Vermont. They remind me of binaca but help with appetite and bloat. They’re not for everyone, our snack queen wasn’t initially a fan but as we sprayed and giggled she now can’t resist. Positive peer pressure at its best.

Tummy Tea

I have tea every night. It’s a ritual I love and typically it is something like a Pukka Nighttime tea with lavender or Traditional Medicinals makes another one I like. We had heard great things about Heather’stea. I love these jumbo tea bags and let them steep a while. The first time I had the fennel tea bag- I was a fan. I “debloated” the next morning, in LBT I have a “makes you pee tea” and this had similar effects.

So those are my new discoveries, they’re in my Food First Aid Kit in my purse. As I said, I can’t pinpoint which change was most effective because I switched many things at one but hey maybe it’s synergy. I’ll take it.

Have you tried any of the foods/items mentioned above? What do you eat to debloat or pre vacation? What's in your Food First Aid Kit when you go away?