Healthy Eating at The Airport – Is it Possible?

Winter is well and truly here, and to many of us in the southern states, that means booking travel to warmer destinations. (I’ve already started planning!) This will in turn mean plenty of travel time surrounded by airport and plane food.

Despite the things said about airport and plane food, I have noticed some pretty amazing progress with regards to healthy options. Although do be cautious, as those “healthier” “lower fat” options can have more salt and sugar than you could imagine – which is the last thing you need when taking a dehydrating flight.

Here are some of my tips for how to be healthy while traveling via air:

Arrive early and pick up a healthy meal at the airport: At Sydney and Melbourne airports, I am more and more impressed to see healthier options available. So there is no excuse to not eat healthy at these airport. Sushi is a great choice and sandwich bars offer wrap and salad options. A great way to decide exactly what you want in your salad while having it made in front of you. Yoghurt and fruit can always be found along with freshly squeezed juices. Eating before a flight is a great way to avoid snacking on the plane.

BYOS (Bring Your Own Snacks): This is the best option for you and it will save you money! In the packaged goods sections at health food stores, you can find organic “greens” bars and natural protein bars, as well as organic nuts, low-fat wheat-free dairy-free cookies, an assortment of cereals, and so much more. Stock up and pack these away in your carry-on to sustain you through your flight and even at your destination. Ideally you want to focus on hydrating, alkaline foods so make your own fresh snacks too. Here are some ideas for fresh travel snacks:

• Fresh fruit – simple, easy, hydrating and delicious.
• Chopped vegetable crudités
• Smoothies, particularly green smoothies – these are wonderful for you while you’re traveling and easy to drink from a bottle. Keep it wrapped in an ice pack.
• Pure water – an essential!
• Coconut water –so hydrating and delicious.
• Raw food snack bars – you want to be careful not to overeat these bars otherwise you will feel tired, heavy and constipated from the density of the bars. Enjoy one along with some lighter choices.
• Homemade raw snack bar  – this is a better option if you can plan ahead. Grind some nuts, seeds, coconut, vanilla, cinnamon and coconut oil and favourite dried fruits like cranberries and sultanas. Set in the fridge and slice up and pack enough for your trip.
• Trail mix of raw nuts, seeds and dried fruits (get organic trail mixes to avoid preservatives and colours in the dried fruit).
• Organic dried fruits
• Olives
• Homemade or purchased salad from an organic cafe – it’s better to pack a salad rather than choose one that has a calorie rich dressing and processed meats.
• Baked vegetables – only if you like them cold like I do (I love cold sweet potato and find it so filling).
• Raw cereals or whole grain cereals – you can take portions of these in a ziplock bag or take the whole bag!
• A sprouted grain bread sandwich or wrap with avocado, tomato, lettuce, sprouts and mustard.
• Baked organic corn chips or whole grain crackers. If it must be junk food this is a fabulous choice served with salsa.
• 70% plus dark chocolate or raw chocolate – for indulgence only.

Bite the bullet and buy a water:
Airports are filled with tempting high-calorie drinks like iced coffee and smoothies. Bottled water is expensive at the airport, but bite the bullet and buy a large bottle. Not only is water the healthy choice, but you don’t have enough hands for everything. If you’re carrying water, you’ll be less tempted to purchase a different drink. Try and steer clear of coffee and alcoholic beverages while traveling. Wait until you hit the destination to indulge!

Change your airline food preferences:
You don’t have to be in business class to request your preferred dietary requirements for a flight with a meal. All airlines should allow you to choose low calorie, raw, diabetic friendly meals. So whenever I have a long trip I make sure this is set to low calorie. (You usually get served first so you can have a snooze while the plane fills with strange smells from the other foods being served).

Do the best you can with what’s available on flight:
If you ran through the security check and onto the plane and didn’t have one spare second to pick up some food, do the best you can while ordering from the plane menu, but try and eat real food. It does not make sense to eat things that are totally foreign to you, because guess what? They’re foreign to your body, as well. If you need a protein hit, opt for nuts (preferably non salted) or a fruit and nut bar, if you need some sugar have a fruit juice.

The key really is to be prepared and then you will be able to enjoy yummy travel-friendly snacks that keep you hydrated and satisfied while not sacrificing your Health, energy and vitality (and money!). After all, what’s the point of getting away for some rejuvenation time if you’re going to end up constipated, sluggish and heavy when you get there? No thanks!

Safe travels!