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5 Hacks for Eating Healthy at the Airport

Boing on runwayIf you’re a transplant like me, then you know what the holiday season means: trains, planes and automobiles. Unfortunately for my husband and I, our families live entirely too far for trains and automobiles, so we’re big airport peeps around this time of the year.

Usually I just make do with whatever I can find when I arrive at my terminal, but we flew in the beginning of my second trimester to Aruba, and I swear to the fit bottomed gods I have NEVER experienced that level of hunger/pickiness in my entire life. My husband had to bring a whole bag of food for me because we knew the plane foods weren’t gonna … fly.

It was that trip and huge bag of goodies that got me thinking about how to prepare for long flights and how to avoid the common fallback of filling up on snacks filled with preservatives and ick from the magazine shops. Thus, these five FBG travel hacks were born.

5 Hacks to Eat Healthy at the Airport

1. Avoid the extras. Try to avoid sandwiches that have cheese, mayo or specialty dressings. Sadly this means passing up the tuna and chicken salad mixes. I know … it hurt me, too. TSA will actually let you pack your own sandwiches. Just make sure they’re wrapped in clear baggies and not foil if you want to avoid beeping noises and needless searches.

2. Produce the produce! I always pack apple slices when I fly because they travel well. Whatever fruit you dig will do, but be advised pomegranate seeds don’t do well if your flight is more than six hours long. I learned that the hard way. I’m also a big fan of hummus with veggies, kale chips and popcorn.

3. Arrive early. There are two types of people in this world. People who hate getting to the airport early and folks like me who delight in the two-hour window rule. If you get to the airport early enough, you have time to sit down at a restaurant and order a filling meal that gives you the fiber and protein necessary to gangster out the flight ahead.

4. Go spy mode. Doing some research before fly day is always helpful. Once you know your airline, find out what restaurants are located in your terminal. I found this great article that breaks down healthy eats at airports all around the U.S. Arrive too late to sit? Even McDonald’s has a nutritional information available to help you choose wisely.

5. Step away from the booze. Unless you’re flying to Vegas (which sort of mandates party time), try to avoid drinking before you fly. While it may take the pressure off of thoughts of you and Aunt Mildred duking it out at last year’s turkey dinner, it’s going to dehydrate the stuffing out of you. Although, if you must, might I recommend a Guinness after you land? After learning it’s usually okay for the gluten sensitive, I’m an even bigger fan.

How about you? What’s your plan of attack for holiday traveling? Any tips or suggestions you’d like to share with the fit and flying? —Tish

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