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? 

Foodtrainers' hits LA and the rain hits Foodtrainers

Lauren posted all about our Expo West Experience, but she left out our “adventure” getting there.

Here’s a travel day follow up, because there are always things (monsoons, traffic, room reservations gone missing) that throw off the best laid plans.

Foodtrainers' LA picks:

Pre-Flight breakfast:

As predicted, we omeletted it up with veggies and hot sauce (greens instead of toast), and tons of coffee. Lauren whipped out pre-flight probiotic coconut shots and I drank a liter ++ of water (thank god for aisle seats).

Mid-flight:

We had our nutcases, filled with living organic sprouted pecans, while plotting our Pre-Summer Squeeze Program. get excited.

Post-flight lunch:

Heaven is Gjelina in Santa Monica. Lauren and I could have spent all day there tasting -- and sipping -- but the winners were the tuna conserva over arugula (almost Nicoise but better), and the asparagus with crispy sunny side egg.

Bulletproof shop:

We were full but had to make a pit stop at the Bulletproof mecca. While the café isn’t anything too exciting, we went for small bulletproof coffees and were all caffeinated for our 3 hours in traffic (not still annoyed, or anything).

Moon juice:

You know we love our moon juice dusts so we were excited to see what was in store at their home base. We saved our purchases for breakfast pre-expo – Lauren raved about her Fennel, Frond & Herb (Fennel, Cucumber, Green Apple, Basil), the Golden Milk was delicious too.

Packing House:

We found the one “cool” spot in Anaheim near the expo and while food was forgettable, the spicy margaritas hit the spot. We have to end a travel day with tequila; it’s a Foodtrainers rule.

So that’s our travel day recap, what are your fave LA spots?

Coffee, Crickets, Kombucha and other trends from Expo West

So sad this is among best photos with both of us from the trip

I’m sitting on the plane. My magazine binge is complete (Food & Wine’s “The New Healthy” issue good but Bon Appetit’s Culture even better), inbox has been cleaned out, the book I’m reading at a lull and it’s not yet time for a snack…so I thought I’d tell you a little about Expo West. Expo West is this massive Natural Foods Show; all the big players have booths and events and rookie players or new food companies come to get a jump-start. People spend days at this show. Carolyn and I were determined to see it all in one day and 23, 000+ steps later we did.

If I were to pick out a few trends or things we saw a lot of I’d say jerky is a big deal. These new offerings are a world away from Slim Jim. If you don’t think you’re the jerky type I’d do some taste testing. Carolyn said she felt many more products geared toward men and I’d agree. “Mancakes” is an example of this  (get it man + pancakes?). We saw some tea but coffee, particularly jazzed up coffee, was everywhere. There was coffee mixed with other ingredients (maca and guarana) and also coffee blended with nut milks. And our favorite of course….lattes on tap.

There was a whole lotta kombucha happening but many of the newer brands had more sugar than the Heathade and Synergy we covet. In terms of other beverages, a few of our favorite companies have come out with unsweetened versions. We’re saving our winner for May and our Pre-Summer Squeeze  program (so good, sorry to tease). In terms of sweeteners, monk fruit is making a name for itself. It’s zero calories and has no aftertaste. To be honest, I haven’t monkfruited a lot and initially dismissed it so I have to do some tasting.

 

And for anyone who said gluten free was a fad, read this study and take our word for it, it’s bigger than ever. And I’m not talking gluten free treats or gluten free crap but gluten free meal items like our beloved Banza. See their new packaging?

Carolyn and I were determined not to over sample. We tried to divide and conquer- Carolyn would taste sweet and I’d cover savory. We ended up both tasting both. I refuse to really ponder what I ingested but there was gluten free pizza (sample size but it was 9:30 am), Banza’s new mac and cheese, every coffee product offered, apple cider vinegar and more.  Did I mention we walked 10 miles? I said to Carolyn we’d need to do it again to make up for our excessive testing.

Oh and the nastiest item of the day was definitely a nutrition bar made from crickets  (not Exo…those are fine) and flavored with matcha. It had the worst aftertaste and we felt ill but as we rounded the corner Hu Kitchen to the rescue, a chocolate chaser makes every better.

Which of these trends or categories would you like to hear more about? Would you eat products made from crickets (you will likely see more…protein)? What’s your favorite magazine or podcast these days?

What this Foodtrainer Eats on a Travel Day

Lauren and I have the travel bug in a major way; we are both Semester at Sea alums and plan our lives around our next trip. She’s off to Nicaragua; I’m Moab and Amalfi coast. But first we have a quickie work trip to California this weekend (Expo West, anyone?). Quick trips can actually wreck you more than long ones. There’s little time to recalibrate or workout but there are still restaurant meals -- ok and drinks too. We all can all fall victim to “plane pounds” if not careful.

So here is a sample day or a “walk through” for my travel day tomorrow:

Night before

I’ll pack my Foodtrainers’ Food First Aid Kit. I never go away without it. Contents vary but I always have our nutcase and nuts (current love: Organic Living cinnamon pecans), 1 snack per day away (I’m thinking Yes Bars) probiotics, tea, cocochia, natural calm and green magic.

En route to airport

Water spiked with with apple cider vinegar + coffee, coffee, coffee.

Pre flight fuel: 

2 hard-boiled omega-3 eggs (Lauren will likely force hot sauce packets on me)

Water and we’ll pop our probiotic

Pre-flight shots- green elixir

Beverage cart upgrade

I ask for hot water and lemon and add Wakaya ginger

Plane snack  

I'll grab a Greek yogurt once through security (I’ve even spied my beloved 2% coconut Siggi’s in many airports) and pair with a packet of cocochia

More water and tea, probably a green tea this time

Travel-avo: 

Lauren has taught me the magic of the travel-avocado. If needed we’ll cut it in half; it’s the best snack on the planet (or at least on the plane).

Post flight bite

Gargantuan Greens

We’ll be on the hunt for a great salad, ideally a spinach salad (vitamin B6 is a VIP for trim travel) with salmon or tuna.

Afternoon Ammunition: 

Kombucha or green juice (1 fruit max) + nutcase.

We are hoping to hit up Moon Juice and the Bulletproof mecca, so afternoon snack is up for edits. (but trust me, we don’t skip snacks).

Early Bird Dinner 

Cocktail (ok maybe 2), poke or tartare/sashimi and we’ll likely go for cooked veg, if I’m dreaming there will be asparagus action.

Sleep Secret Weapon

Natural calm and BED! 7+ hours so we don’t get those “munchieZZZ”

IF you’re traveling any time soon, check out our latest newsletter and pick up our beach bundle but 3/10 (today) is the last day orders will go out until 3/21. 

What’s your typical travel routine?  Any travel trouble or potential "plane pounds"?

Fave new snack because I heart ranch (anything)

order beach bundles by 3/9 as we're headed away too

I took tennis lessons when I was younger. I don’t remember anything about the lessons or the instructor. I don’t even know exactly what age I was. I recall taking a taxi home so you’d think I was

a teen or preteen but that wasn’t necessarily the case in my family. I’m thinking 5^th grade but who knows? I do remember something and that’s the snack I had after EVERY lesson. I had cool ranch Doritos and cranberry “juice”.  I still remember enjoying this combo in the comfort of the taxi and thinking it was the best snack ever.

While my Dorito days are done, to this day I  like ranch flavor. We mentioned in our newsletter today that there’s something trashy about ranch but I don’t care. Whether it’s the memories associated with it or just the flavor, I like it…a lot.

Recently, I was reunited with ranch. Organic Living who makes sprouted, organic, top-notch nuts sent us a sample of Ranch Cashews (combined with Buffalo almonds). I had a Buffalo wing phase too but that happened in high school for obvious reasons (if not obvious see Carolyn’s Friday post). I had the sample, ordered the Ranch nuts for the office and have had them in my nutcase every day since.

If you’re team ranch flavor, you must try these. We have them on their own or paired with our other favorite spring break essentials in the bundle pictured above.

Yum.

Any somewhat nasty items you enjoyed as a child? I’d love to hear.

What Lianna Sugarman, founder of Lulitonix, does everyday

 I’m going to start hump day with an apology. Yesterday our newsletter featured the daily rituals of top fitness and food experts. Sounds good, right? I think it was except somehow my friend Lianna Sugarman became Leanna Silverman. Even pre-caffeinated Foodtrainers know better than that. Lianna is the founder and  CBO “Chief Blending Officer” at Lulitonix and is always experimenting with cutting edge ingredients and flavors. We asked her a few questions:

What is your #1 daily ritual?

While there are a million rituals for life that I really love, and that I mean to implement every day [At Foodtrainers, we call these “wish-uals”] truly the only one I do EVERY day, and the only non-negotiable, is to make and drink a big, huge, green blend with avocado.

How does this affect the rest of your day?

Whatever else I do, eat, drink, or think, whether I sleep or not, am happy or sad, whether I oil pull, spin, meditate (ha!) or just sit on my butt working in front of my computer, the daily custom blend, the perfect mix of greens, avocado, and lemon and water, creates that incredibly necessary sense of grounding, energy, harmony, clarity and balance.

OK, I definitely want all that you describe (harmony please!), any tips for blending at home?

For me, nutrition is about more than staying physically healthy or fit. What I take in impacts my mind and my emotions; I feel like I get to play at being a wizard every day. I’m very interested in both Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese medicine and often use aspects of those constructs to make myself the perfect blend of the day. I base this on what is going on with my emotional landscape.

Anger and stress- these are stored in the liver. If that’s what you feel add a handful of dandelion leaves and some turmeric, liver boosts.

Sadness or grief – are stored in the lungs and the large intestine, so if that’s on the emotional horizon, opt for foods that nourish those organs, spicy blends with avocado, daikon radish or garlic.

What do you suggest for “blending” when you travel?

Even when I travel, I bring green powder, some adaptogens and a nutribullet. You can generally find avocados most places that I go (ahem, Mexico!), and I blend myself a little substitute blend. I walk around with my mason jar on the beach like a crazy person. People probably laugh, but we've all been laughed at for worse, right?"

Um totally but I now know why we are friends, by the way I’d steal your mason jar versus laugh but you know that. Maybe we’ll organize a healthy retreat if you’ll forgive us for botching your name. Thank you LIANNA

Do you have any questions about blending we can ask Lianna? Have you tried Lulitonix? What’s the craziest gadget or food you’ve traveled with? 

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?

Healthy Scavenger Hunt: Austin Edition

Lauren is off enjoying warm weather (she reports back that she found a Jamaican hotel with green juice and has a new favorite green callaloo), so we are dreaming of other destinations too.... We've hit up Chicago and New Orleans in the past, and Carolyn recently did Austin, TX, Foodtrainers style.

I am not one to truly veg and do nothing on vacation, but recently took that to the next level and grabbed 8+ of my friends to run a destination half marathon in Austin, TX. I’d only ever experienced Austin on what we called “hurrication” (pre – Katrina) from Tulane. Years later both my style of eating and my “activities”  were a little different, but the margaritas were a constant. Here's what I found...

Whole Foods Austin: The original Whole Foods is in Austin, so I barely dropped my bags at the hotel before beelining for the Foodtrainers mecca. I had a whole week (and a kitchen) so I stocked our hotel room up with the essentials, from Mary’s Gone Crackers to avocados, fresh fruit and green juices. The juice bar was funky too, with drinks made with bell peppers and sweet potatoes.

Daily Juice:  The Daily Juice was my daily go to spot, from spicy after-flight immune boosting shots to pre and post run fueling smoothies and greens. They also had our office favorite Hail Merry Snacks on hand so I was in heaven. My top pick, and the spiciest thing I’ve ever had, was the MR. RESISTOR: Lemon Juice, Cayenne Pepper, Ginger, Oregano Oil.

Uchiko: Uchi and Uchiko are restaurants by chef Tyson Cole (James Beard award winner). The “Japanese farmhouse” style food was my favorite meal of the trip – the Brussels sprouts were out of this world and the Hamachi with pickled green apple and jalapeño also hit the spot.

Blenders and Bowls: Right next to our hotel was Blenders and Bowls, part of Wanderlust Yoga studio. They make the most insanely beautiful “smoothie bowls” that are a dream come true for post yoga breakfast.

La Condesa: Our post run meal was at La Condesa, a swanky little Mexican restaurant on 2nd street. My favorite part was what our friend Damien called the “poshy guacs”, one made with pomegranate and queso fresco and the other with jumbo lump crab, apple and coconut vinegar.

Milk and Honey Day Spa: I treated myself to a 90 minute deep tissue massage post-run and it was a game changer…. And will now be a built in for future runs.

Workouts: in addition to the long run (a fantastic way to learn a city), we did a few short runs and walked (15k + steps, thank you fitbit!) all over the city. I also hit up several yoga studios. Wanderlust and Core Power Yoga are both heated studios that play great music. Friends went paddle boarding but truth be told, I went margarita-ing instead...

Rainy street is a block of old bungalows and formerly rundown houses that has morphed into bars and cocktail lounges with huge porches and yards. We went to Clive Bar but I don’t doubt you could have fun at any or all of them on a given night. 

There is so much to see in Austin, so we weren’t too disappointed when our flights got cancelled back to snowy NYC. I still didn’t get to hit all the juice bars I wanted but there’s always next year...

 

(My friend Liz taking an LBT-break and quoting it for the entire trip)

So have you been to Austin? Done any destination runs?