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Healthy Airport Eating
It's a fact: When you take trips,
it is difficulty to eat healthy. Airports are chock full of restaurants touting
greasy fried foods and food that is full of fat and low on nutrition. After
partaking of these offerings, you arrive at your destination feeling bloated
and queasy, and you've just blown your vow to eat healthy right out the window.
Then you have to turn around and do it all again when you go home.
Take heart, travelers: You can fly and
still eat healthy. With a few tips and tricks, you can cut your consumption of
unhealthy foods and forgo both the guilt and physical symptoms that sometimes
come with eating badly. Read on for some good advice.
Eat a big, healthy meal right
before you go to the airport. Fix yourself something delicious and nutritious
right before you have to fly and fill your stomach full of good food. If you
arrive at the airport already satiated, you will be less tempted by foods that
are bad for you, and you won't have to grab something quick between flights.
Bring
along nutritious snacks. Stay away from the salted pretzels and nuts they
hand out on the plane - all that salt can make you feel bloated, and your hands
and feet may swell. Fruit, veggie slices, and protein bars are also easy to
transport and ultra good for you.
If eating beforehand isn't an
option, check out the restaurants in the airport ahead of time. Read menus and see if they have
nutrition information available (many restaurants do), and pick the best of
them. Don't just rush in and grab a cheeseburger and eat it on the run - with a
little research, you may be able to find something that suits both your
digestive system and your diet. Some
restaurants have inherently healthier options than others - for example,
choose Mexican food with beans and without extra cheese and sour cream instead
of Chinese. You'll have a high fiber meal that will keep you full for hours.
Alternatively, try one of the chain restaurants that offer salads with grilled
chicken breast. Just make sure to order it with the dressing on the side and
without some of the high-fat extras. Avoid caffeine, processed, greasy, or
sugary foods. If you don't, acid reflux and indigestion may very well be in
your future.
It is also important to check out
the city that you are traveling too and may have a layover in. Nobody expects
to have a flight cancelled but things happen. The last thing you want is to be
left in an unknown city over night to fend for yourself. I experienced this
once in JFK airport in NYC. Fortunately, I was able to do some quick research
on a site I found with consumer reviews. I got a great list of New York City
hotels and restaurants and was able to plan accordingly and even follow my
nutritional eating plan. Needless to say, it is very important to plan for
anything!
Give yourself plenty of time to
eat. Enjoy your food and take time to savor it. Even the healthiest of foods,
if eaten fast, can give you indigestion and make you feel bad. The last thing
you want to do is feel sick on the airplane. Give your system time to adjust to
the food, and give yourself a chance to unwind.
Make sure you drink plenty of
water. While you can't bring water past security, you can bring an empty water
bottle and fill it up at the closest water fountain. Flying can dehydrate you,
and you need plenty of fluid. If you want to make sure that you don't
retain that extra water, bring along lemon slices to add to the bottle.
Eating healthy while traveling is
always an option. With a little preparation, you can arrive at your destination
feeling healthy and ready to enjoy your vacation or business trip, instead of
sick, bloated and tired.
