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? 

Please read if you’re contemplating a “teatox"

 I try to be in the know when it comes to nutrition trends and I’ll freely admit I had no idea “teatoxing” was such a thing. Snobessentials (love that name) asked me to weigh in on this trend.

So, what is a teatox?

Teatoxes are generally teas sold in sets with both a daytime and a nighttime tea.

The names of these products are pretty amusing: Showgirl Slim, Skinny Bunny, Naked me, Strip Teas (above). The daytime teas tend to contain some sort of upper and debloating spices. In the night version there’s a laxative ingredient and usually something sleep inducing.  On some websites, it was difficult to locate the ingredients. If ingredients are hard to find it’s never a good sign

Is teatoxing healthy?

Tea is healthy and teas are a big part of our programs at Foodtrainers. What is questionable is the notion that tea alone will result in your body looking like the bikini-clad (if that) women on the teatox websites. There are also a few ingredients in these teas that are no-nos even if they are in the same teabag as delicious decoys (ginger, cinnamon, gojis etc.).

Does tea in general assist in weight loss / detoxing? If so, which kind(s)?

There are certain teas I refer to as “metaboteas”. Actual research (gasp) has shown that teas such as green, matcha (a powdered green) and puEhr can provide a slight metabolic boost. 

Which ingredients are risky?

Let’s break it down into tea categories:

Uppers- green is great but I wouldn’t go guarana too often.

Debloaters/laxative- dandelion, fennel and ginger are safe and effective but senna (a laxative component) isn’t only habit forming, it’s dangerous when used regularly and the dangers extend well beyond diarrhea (I’m talking liver, kidney, intestinal function). 

Downers- many of the night teas are where the laxatives lie. I’m not sure I’d suggest sleep-inducing herbs such as valerian combined with poop-inducing products. If there is going to be any digestive drama, I’d prefer to wake up for it.

So, I’d skip any teas with senna. I totally get the desire to lose weight, debloat, and “go” but we can’t play regime-related roulette and risk our health. Go for the highest quality teas you can find. I love Panatea matcha, Bellocq for green and puEhr and Wakaya ginger tea.

Have you heard of teatoxing? Been tempted to try it? What’s your favorite tea to drink?
Any "burning" tea or weight loss questions? Email me at Lauren@foodtrainers.net

Superbowl Challenge and Recipe

Most years, I have more interest in the food than the football on Super Bowl Sunday. But we love the Broncos; our dog is named Bronco so I’ll be watching. And according to statistics, so will most of you. This concerns me, I have heartburn just thinking about Super Bowl food where team healthy is the biggest underdog around.

Instead of suggesting what to skip, Carolyn and I decided to make a crudité plate that could compete. No sad, wet baby carrots and a hummus container can do that.

If you need some crudité coaching, check out our #CooCoo4crudite video

Crudite Starting Lineup

Here is the recipe for the dip we mention in the video

Super bowl Spicy Tahini

¼ cup Tahini

2 Tbs lemon juice

2 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs Apple cider vinegar

¼ tsp. Sunny Bang probiotic hot sauce

¼ tsp. Wakaya turmeric

Himalayan salt and pepper to taste.

Complicated Instructions: mix/whisk together & amp up spice, salt & pepper if needed.

*I’ve made with coconut oil but you need to increase the heat if you do so.

*Any hot sauce or salt will do, we used our MVP incredients.

I think our crudité can compete but can you beat us? We’re veggie voyeurs, please post your plates with the hashtag #coocoo4crudite on Instagram or Twitter. If you’re not that social, email us your cool creations and we’ll see who wins this crudité competition (and the game).

Will you be watching the game? Which football foods do you plan on eating? What do you think is the secret for crudité that can compete/interesting veggie plates?

And of course some pregame

12 Swimsuit Diet Secrets

Fun slideshow via Health Magazine for some summer inspo. Yes, I voted for our beloved green tea (extra cred for matcha, try unsweetened almond milk matcha latte at Fika if you haven't). And of course because Foodtrainers help you be booze trainers and "lose while you booze" a fun "healthy' cocktail idea utilizing the superpowered Wakaya ginger.
I'm not sure I agree with the intro that summer best time to lose, summer has its own challenges.
See what you think.
What do you do to keep it healthy when it's summer (even though technically isn't)?

Wakaya and Foodtrainers a match made it heaven (or Fiji)

There are foods and food products I like and then those I love. When I love something there is no limit. Wakaya’s ginger and turmericteas and more recently their coarse sea salt (avocados love this) and dilo cream (natural sunscreen in it) are on my love list.  So I’m honored that Wakaya interviewed Carolyn and I and posted our new Double Golden Milk recipe. Check it out for our 5 favorite food trends and more.

And here's the recipe

Wakaya Double Golden Milk

What you need (and if you don’t have all of these, it’ll be ok)

1/2 tsp. Wakaya turmeric

1/2 tsp. Wakaya ginger

1 cup water

Pinch Wakaya sea salt 

Pinch black pepper (pepper increases the effectiveness of turmeric)

1 cup almond milk (homemade or brand with no carrageenan)

1 tbs coconut oil (traditional recipes call for almond oil which I didn’t have)

Few drops almond extract 

Few drops Nu Stevia (optional) or Manuka honey

*Add more sea salt or stevia as needed 

What to do

1.     Put turmeric, ginger, pepper and water into a small saucepan, add water and simmer 8-10 minutes or until this mixture reduces and thickens.

2.     Add almond milk and coconut oil (and honey if you are using). Stir until oil is incorporated. Continue until mixture is warm (a few minutes).

3.     Add salt, almond extract and stevia (if using) and stir again.

4.     Voila- you’re golden!

    Have you tried Wakaya? Or Golden Milk? What would you say are food trends you've been hearing about? Maybe we'll do a smoothie version (if it ever stops snowing) but in the meantime....

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? 

Wakaya and Whipping

For us, January 5^th is the real start of the year. We’re back in the Foodtrainers’ offices and sent out our  “We’re Ready To Whip You (and you’ll like it) newsletter. About the “whipping”, we developed a Whipping Week (to whip everyone back into shape not like that…) and let’s just say it’s only been a few hours and many of you want a whipping.

As much as I liked cracking the whip Carolyn bought us from Pleasure Chest (Pleasure Palace? I forget but I do remember learning whips are pricey 60-something dollars?) there’s something else I’m even more excited about. Sure, it says a little about me that I’m dying to get to the office because this has arrived.

I travel with this (for some reason flight attendants are always curious and I reluctantly share).

You can add  Wakaya ginger or turmeric to smoothies, oatmeal, bone broth or cocktails but really straight up is how I take it.  It’s great for immunity and inflammation and it tastes great. Carolyn and I think we should really go to Fiji to ensure that production standards are up to snuff, we'll bring our whip.

I think what’s clear is that we all like a little newness for the New Year. Out with the old (I had my first colonic on New Years Eve to make sure this happened. My ER doc client lectured me).

Anyway blogging and teatime are over, off to crack my whip.

Are you doing any new for the new year? New workout or food regime or attitude? So you want to be whipped? Email us at info@foodtrainers.net