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Planes, Trains, and Automobiles: Holiday Travel

 

airport


If you are like many Americans, the upcoming holidays mean travel. Travel might be by car or by plane, close by or far away. Whatever it is for you, it has the potential to wreak havoc with your weight management if you don’t take the time to do some planning ahead of time.

 

I started thinking about holiday travel after some recent experiences. My first experience involved an unusually long wait at an airport. On one hand, I had enough time to be able to walk quite a distance and more than enough time to scour the airport for healthy choices. On the other hand, there was potential for adding up a lot of food calories over the several hours wait. My second experience involved making my connecting flight just as the flight was boarding, leaving me no time to grab some food.

Overall, the good news is that there seem to be many more healthy food options available in most airports. Why waste calories on airport food when you can wait for your destination and make your calories count! Here are some tips I have found useful in planning:

1. Bring your own snacks from home when possible. For those of you in Phase 1, that is, of course, a critical strategy to stay on the diet. When you are Phase 2, however, you have more options, although meal replacements are still an easy choice. Fruit or cut-up veggies such as baby carrots are a possibility. Consider the portability of the food (apples, for example, are easy to carry) and whether or not the food item can be taken through the security line (sometimes containers of yogurt make it and other times they do not).

2. Weigh your options. Whenever possible, don’t simply pick the first restaurant or store you come to. If you have extra time, it is possible there could be another place just a little farther away that might have healthier options. There is a chance that calories will be listed on menus giving you the option to compare various choices.

3. Do your research. Of course, it’s easier if you are familiar with the airport and know the options ahead of time. However, most airports have some chain restaurants, so you could do some research ahead of time to find lower calorie options. For example, Starbucks lists 35 menu items all under 350 calories (http://www.starbucks.com/menu/nutrition/35-under-350).

4. Pay attention to portion sizes. Be careful buying large snack bags and think you will eat just a little. Some of those large trail mix or pretzels bags can have as much as 10 servings. That could be your maintenance calories for the whole day in just one bag of snacks!

5. Be prepared whenever possible. When I had no time in between connecting flights, for example, I had at least put some fruit and a BeneFit® Bar in my bag the night before. It was not a perfect situation but it got me through the flight.

What have you done to make traveling easier for your weight management? Do you have any suggestions to share?
 

 

 

by LindaGotthelf on 11/12/2012 | Share Story With a Friend

tags: Weight-Loss, planning, strategies, travel, holidays

About the Author

Linda Gotthelf

Linda is the Director of Research and has a Ph.D in Psychology specializing in behavioral medicine. She is a founding member of HMR, starting as a health educator and working in several roles since 1984 and has been a co-author on many professional articles.

Comments (6) Post a comment
Thanks again for all the thoughtful comments. It really does show how a little problem-solving upfront can make a big difference.
by LindaGotthelf on 11/15/2012
My best take-along for the plane is baby carrots mixed with crisp red or black grapes. I usually bring a gallon-sized ziplock bag. They're not messy and don't get smashed in my backpack. On a road trip I pack as if I'm going for an extended picnic....ready Shakes in bottles that I can pour into my cup with ice from a convenience store, Entree casseroles in a wide-mouth thermos, Baked Cereal and fruit dessert in the cooler, fruit (I love berries!), any more leftover veggies from the refrig. I'm good to go, and I usually have extra left for after we reach our destination. Speaking of destination -- in addition to my HMRs, I always bring my own FVs + extra when visiting family or friends. That way I'm sure to have the quantity that I'm used to without feeling like I'm eating them out of house and home.
by PeggyatHMC on 11/15/2012
I traveled 3 weeks each month during my first 3 years on the program and became very proficient at being able to stay in the Ph1 box (Healthy Solutions). I would have the Dept Admin ship my food to my destination each wk. I also had my company pay for my HMR food while I was traveling - a bonus. It seemed like I spent 2 days each wk in an airport or an airplane and staying in the box became completely effortless. I also carried twice as much food in my computer bag as I would normally eat - as well as a little extra in my carry-on suitcase in case of an unexpected hotel stay. I always carried 3-4 entrees with me, and an apple and an orange and a bottle of H2O, a thermos (refillable at any airport Starbucks), and several disposable forks, spoons, and coffee cups. Packing the computer bag became an art. I also used the 70+ shakes exclusively (because they traveled so well) and would have small baggies of 2 each stashed everywhere. I remember a 4 hr delay while out on the tarmac, and reaching into my computer bag and grabbing a Lasagna and devouring it - followed 5 minutes later by a 2nd one. If you were stranded - I was the person you wanted to be sitting next to. If I had an hour layover, I could usually find a kiosk or deli where I could find a decent salad. I would scrape off any undesirables and then add an entree such as Chili, enchiladas, 5 Bean, or Raviolis. Or I would grab a salad and a turkey sandwich (Phase 2) and take the turkey meat and add that to my salad. If I was running to catch a flight, I would grab the salad on the run, then get to my seat and after take-off would open the salad, scrape the cheese and olives into the lid, and add my entree. Then I would take out an orange, place the peels into the empty Entree box, and put that in the seat back. Then I would grab an empty Venti starbucks cup, add about 6 oz H2O, mix up a double Choc 70+, and then add in fresh hot coffee for a Mocha Grande. It was easy. If you want to do it - you can !
by ChuckBent on 11/13/2012
Thanks for all the healthy traveling tips, Linda! Definitely walking around and looking for healthy options works for me--last time I flew I found a grilled chicken salad, apples, bananas, seltzer, and Starbucks hot oatmeal to eat throughout the day (I was flying from Boston to CA!). Luckily, I got through security early and had the time to search for those foods. However, I did have fruit in my bag, too.
by sailGirl on 11/13/2012
Thanks for your comments. I'm sure your problem-solving ideas will be very helpful to others.
by LindaGotthelf on 11/13/2012
I have travelled a lot while on Phase 1, Decision Free. I've always been able to bring entrees on the plane with no problems and I typically take a shaker bottle and several packets of shakes. I can always get water on the plane. A couple of bars as backup help, too. My rule is to take twice as much food in my carry-on as I should need in case a flight is delayed a long time. I've even put some SF Syrup (Torani, etc) in a 3 oz bottle and brought that with me in my ziploc bag.
by JudyJB on 11/13/2012