Tips for Eating Healthy on the Plane

It can be really tricky to eat mindfully when you’re tens of thousands of feet in the air, but it is possible! Depending on which airline you take and where you’re going, you may actually have some healthy options! A recent survey compiled a list of which airlines have the healthiest food, and some of them seem pretty tasty. So if you’re considering taking a flight somewhere, see if you can get on board with these airlines and their scrumptious menus. And if you can’t, never fear--you can always pack your own!

The survey was conducted by Charles Platkin, a nutrition professor at Hunter College and City University of New York. Platkin investigated 12 of the major airlines in the U.S. with 10 criteria in mind, like whether the airline offers low-calorie meals or items that are actually nutritionally redemptive. He looked primarily at meals available for domestic economy-class passengers.

So which airlines came out on top with the healthiest in-flight options? Virgin America claims the top spot on the list, as they were the first airline to offer nutritional information about the food they serve. Virgin America’s meals are also all low-calorie: the average calorie count for a meal is a happy 408, and many options are also high in protein.

Just behind Virgin America is Delta Airlines, which has really turned its food game around recently. Delta also provides nutritional information for some of its choices (though not all), with plans to expand the release of that information next year. Some of its food options are made by Luvo, a company that makes healthy frozen meals.

The following three places are assumed by Jet Blue, Air Canada, and United Airlines. However, the two losers in the health category don’t offer anything Platkin would even recommend eating: neither Hawaiian Airlines or Frontier Airlines offer nutritional info or anything good to eat at all. "The worst offender [on Hawaiian] is the Island Princess Mele Macs, which are candied macadamia nuts that contain a staggering 1,120 calories," says CNN.

Happily, you’re not out of luck if you’re flying on one of the airlines whose food isn’t as good. Platkin expects that airline food will continue to change and improve as companies seek to respond to consumer interest--and demand--for healthier food choices. Until then, you can always pack plenty of healthy snacks for the flight, like fruit and nuts, sandwiches, or crispy veggies with a nice dressing!

Do you have a favorite in-flight snack? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below!

5 Ways Holidays at Home Can Hurt Your Health—and What To Do About It

Try to stay healthy during the holidays by eating in moderation and keeping up an exercise routine--even if it's light.
Image: Shutterstock

Copious amounts of home cooked food, an endless supply of alcohol, and all of your relatives together in one room might sound like a great time around the holidays, but sometimes it can be a bad thing. Despite the good eats and time off from work, holidays can really take a toll on our wellbeing for a variety of reasons.

Don’t get me wrong—I love spending time with my family, and the holidays are wonderful excuse to skip town and get down to see them. But going outside of my normal routine is hard because it’s so easy to miss out on the things that normally keep me healthy—like regular exercise and portion control. Here are some things to keep in mind to maintain your good health this holiday season.

• There are no gyms in sight. If mom’s cabin doesn’t have a treadmill, try weightless workouts to help improve balance, flexibility and core strength. Bring resistance bands, yoga DVDs and maybe a jump rope to help keep your fitness levels from dropping too sharply. I try to get exercise in first thing in the morning when on vacation, because otherwise I just get too busy doing other things. Like drinking eggnog…
• Every holiday meal is enough to feed a small village. The average American will consume over 3,000 calories at a traditional holiday dinner. It can be hard to resist the temptation of high-calorie food when it’s all sitting there on the table. Drink a lot of water, take it easy with the alcohol, and try to stock up on greens and lean proteins. Of course, it is the holidays, so don’t beat yourself up over having a slice of pie or some eggnog—just try to keep things in moderation.
• Don’t mindlessly graze on leftovers and snacks. It’s easy to munch when you have easy access to leftovers and are cozied up inside. Rather than chowing down on whatever crosses your path, try to schedule snacks ahead of time or keep a food journal so you are more aware of what you are eating. I tend to go to the fridge when I’m bored, which is a terrible habit because then I end up eating when I’m not even hungry.
• When traveling and spending all that family time, there is no alone time to decompress. Try to carve out some chunks of alone time, even if you need to wake up earlier than everyone else to get it. I try to schedule ample time between friend & family meet ups, or at least take 15-30 minutes at night to read a book and just be.
• You expect everything to go perfectly and your family to be perfect. Give up hope that all holiday events and gatherings will go as planned. You might think this is finally the time that everything will go right, but you need to realize it won’t. You can only control how you behave and react to others. So take some deep breaths and try to accept your loved ones with an open heart. No one’s family is perfect, which for me means that my dad will drive my sister crazy trying get things ready for dinner, my mom will try to help and will actually make things worse, and my brother and I will sit quietly in the other room while they all get frazzled. But then—this is how the holidays always seem to be, and that’s okay with me. I get to be with family, so I’m happy.

4 Healthy Travel Snacks

A no-frills latte and a banana is a good travel snack.
Image: Shutterstock

When I was in college, I often used to drive home for the weekend or for a holiday. It wasn’t a short drive—five and a half hours or so—and no matter what, I’d always end up getting hungry sometime during the trip. There’s nothing worse than stopping at a gas station when you’re starving—and trying to find something to snack on that will fill you up and won’t make you feel sick.

Now that I’m a little further from home, I usually take those trips on a plane—but even though the flight time isn’t very long, all that waiting around at the airport has a way of making me hungry.

The fast food, Cinnabon shops, sweet espresso drinks, and pastries are the most tempting options when I’m looking for a snack. But (sigh) time has taught me that those things a) will give me a tummy ache and b) will fill me up for about thirty minutes until the sugar burns out. Luckily, though, I’ve also learned over time that there are several easy and healthy snacks that make great roadtrip and airport food. Next time you’ve got the travel munchies, snack on one of these:

Greek yogurt and a banana 

Don’t hesitate to get full-fat Greek yogurt—it’ll actually help keep you filled up longer. Just watch out for the amount of sugar in it. I recommend getting plain yogurt and adding a banana, as the banana will both sweeten the yogurt and will give you a helpful boost in potassium and other vitamins. You can usually find both items in convenience stores and airport kiosks.

Try a KIND bar to tide you over.

KIND bars (or other healthy snack bars)

Filled to the brim with nuts, grains, and bits of sweetness (chocolate, coconut, and more), this is a granola bar with some major POWER! Plus, it’s easy to pack ahead of time and stow in a carry-on bag or in your car’s center console.

Chocolate milk

Delicious and nutritious (but it doesn’t taste like chicken)! Snag a carton or bottle of chocolate milk to load up on calcium and protein. It’ll give you a good boost in energy but isn’t pure sugar—so you won’t just crash half an hour later.

Latte and a banana

Coffee contains caffeine, which is very effective at tiding you over until real food. Skip the sugary syrup and get a plain latte (12 oz), pairing it with a banana or other fruit.

What do you like to snack on when traveling? The holidays are approaching, and I’d love to hear some more ideas for how to keep energy up during long trips!

Travel Tips: 10-Minute Workout

"All my bags are packed. I'm ready to go..."

It’s that time of year again—the 4^th of July is nearly here, and if you’re like me, you’re planning a few days to get out of town. While the prospect of travel, seeing friends and family, and getting away from work for a few days is appealing, there’s one part of the whole shebang that I’m not overly excited about: missing out on my regular workouts.

Stretching can help loosen tense muscles.
Image: Shutterstock

I am the type of person who thrives on routine. If I have a set workout schedule, I’ll stick to it—no ifs, ands, or buts about it. But if I have to, for some reason, break that schedule…. Well, let’s just say it all sort of goes out the window. Sometimes it’s the weather and other times I might get sick. This time, it’s travel. I’ll be out of town for more than a week, and I don’t want to get out of the habit of exercising. It’s so much harder to start up a routine than it is to maintain one.

So here’s the plan: a short daily routine to keep my body active while I’m away. I’m sure I’m not wrong in assuming some of you are also planning a trip around the holiday weekend—so you could probably benefit from this as well.

I know you might be stuck in the car all day, in the airport, and visiting friends and family—but it’s so important to stay active. The last thing on your mind during those out-of-town days might be exercise. But really, what is ten minutes? Nothing. Nothing at all.

Start your mini-workout by stretching. We’ve all had to sit in a car, bus, train, or airplane all day—and it has a surprising affinity for making you sore. Doa few stretches to lengthen those tight muscles, especially those in your back. Stretch out your calves, hamstrings, quadriceps, hip flexors, iliotibial band (ITB), lower back, shoulders, and neck. A gentle forward fold (legs together or shoulder-width apart) can also do wonders.

Get your heart going. If you have one, pack a jump rope and spend five or six minutes getting that heart rate up. A resistance band is also great for strength training. If you have one, do a few quick exercises with it, like rowing, wrist extensions, and lower leg extensions. If you don’t have any equipment, don’t worry! Take a short, brisk walk or run, do jumping jacks in place, or see how many burpees you can do in three minutes.

Not in the mood for a run? Try a brisk walk instead.
Image: Shutterstock

I think it’s easy to get the idea in our heads that to qualify as a “workout,” we have to spend a lot of time doing it. And while getting at least 30 minutes in several days a week is best practice, that doesn’t mean it’s all or nothing. I tend to be of the mindset that every little thing counts. If all you can fit in is ten minutes, that’s okay! Instead of feeling bad about not working out for long enough, feel good about having got a workout in!

Give 100% every day, respectively. Some days, 100% might be more or less than the day before. That’s not important—what is important is that we are always striving to do the best we can. And there’s no reason to ever have to feel bad about that.