Apr 8 2012

8 Things You Should Always Fly With: Tips and Tricks to Dieting and Air Travel

Traveling and dieting isn’t the easiest thing to do, but if you want it to work, you will make it work. No excuses.

When you have a goal of losing body fat, you have to work it. It’s not simply going to happen. It takes dedication and consistency. Maintaining your body allows you to ease up, but when your goal is to lose body fat you have to be consistently diligent, even on vacation.

I am going to give you the tips and tricks to staying on target even during air travel. These are the same tips and tricks I give to all of my personal clients, and expect of them while they travel. Some may think I’m over zealous or intense with my approach. The fact is that losing body fat requires intense effort. It’s hard work. You have to be deliberate, purposeful, and whole heartedly committed to your goal.

I am not only speaking as a fitness professional. I am speaking from personal experience.

Keep in mind there was a time that I was 197 lbs. Everyone in my family over 40 is obese. My family seems to be genetically predisposed to obesity and all of the health problems that accompany it. My own personal success doesn’t come easy. I, personally, have to truly work it.

I’m not going to placate you by telling you it’s easy. If your goal is to lose body fat, I’m not going to tell you that it’s OK to go on vacation from your goal of losing body fat. It is not. It is also unbelievably hard. If you want to continue to lose body fat while you’re on vacation you are going to have to do some things that may seem extreme.

Yet, does that mean that you should be afraid of vacations while you are trying to lose body fat? Does that mean you should not treat yourself with a little get-away until after you have reached your goal? Absolutely not. You just need to go into it with your eyes wide open.

I’m going to tell you the truth. Staying on point with your diet is hard. It becomes even harder when you add in air travel, hotels and our society’s preoccupation with food.

Someone who has never struggled with their weight before may see my solutions as obsessive. Some people may say, “Just go on vacation, enjoy life, and worry about it when you get back.” If you have struggled with your weight in the past and you now have a goal to get serious about losing body fat and taking the control back in your life, somewhere deep inside you know this isn’t the right attitude to have.

Somewhere deep inside you’re craving for more. You believe you can do more. You believe you can succeed. Yet you may also be afraid to go on vacation and lose all of your momentum and hard work.

It’s not easy.

I’m not going to tell you it’s easy.

I’m not going to tell you that you should just go on vacation and worry about it when you come back.

I’m going to tell you how to succeed. I’m going to tell you that you can go on vacation, enjoy your life, have a wonderful time and still move forward in your goals. You just have to be willing to work for it.

This is not for competitors. This is not for extremists. This is for anyone who has set a goal to get serious about losing body fat and taking control back within their own life.

I know some of my tips and tricks may seem extreme, over zealous and absolutely crazy to some people. I challenge that with this thought… maybe believing in your ability to succeed in your goals, setting yourself up for success and being dedicated to making your goals a reality is actually the way we are supposed to operate. Maybe it’s crazy to act any other way.

8 Things You Should Always Fly With: Tips and Tricks to Dieting and Air Travel

8 Things You Should Always Fly With: Tips and Tricks to Dieting and Air Travel 

Your Goals. Your Plan. Your Success.

When you have a goal, it is solely your responsibility to turn that goal into an accomplishment. Others can inspire and help you, but the responsibility ultimately lies within you.

With responsibility comes pressure and uncertainty. The idea of a vacation can be intimidating when you are not familiar with how to stay on target with your diet and nutrition during air travel. There are are so many questions.

How do I stay on target with my nutrition? Should I check my food or can I carry it on? If I carry it on, is peanut butter allowed? What about yogurt? Egg whites? Chicken? How on earth do you travel with fish? Can I travel across the ocean with fruits and vegetables? What about nuts? Should I just cook all my food once I get there?

I equate it to being a brand new parent and flying with your new born baby for the first time. You might have similar questions. Is breast milk allowed? What about formula?

You might have the same anxiety. What if my baby cries the whole time? What do I do?

You have to prepare meticulously, remembering to pack the pacifier, sippy cup, diapers, wipes, etc.

When you are traveling with a newborn infant, you don’t say, “Forget it. I will just take a vacation from being a parent for this trip and I’ll make it up when I get back.” You don’t resent the baby for requiring so much care from you. You don’t complain about it. You just simply do it.

You organize. You plan. You make a list. You check it twice, then you check it again.

Don’t take a vacation from your goals. Don’t take a vacation from your health. Don’t resent your diet. Don’t resent the time it takes to be healthy and successful in achieving your goals. They are your goals. Remember, you want to achieve them. Don’t complain about it. Be proud of it, just like new parents are so proud of their new baby.

Yes, it’s time consuming, but you make it work just like a new parent makes it work. Flying and dieting requires the same dedication and commitment. It’s not impossible, you just have to want to make it work.

Cori’s Must Have Flight List

Here are 8 things you may not usually travel with when you book a flight, but you should!

The Plan

You are in the infancy stages of learning how to make this new, super clean, healthy lifestyle work for you. New parents may be afraid to fly with their infants at first, but at some point they have to learn how. You also need to learn how to travel while staying true to your health and fitness goals.

You can vacation and still stay on target, not only maintaining, but continuing to lose body fat and gain muscle mass. It can be done! You just have to make a plan.

Tips and Tricks

• Prepare your protein a few days before you leave. Cook your fish, chicken, and red meat.

• Once your protein is cooked, measure all portions of your protein and put it into baggies with a sturdy zipper lock. Measure out your pasteurized, liquid egg whites too. Baggies work better than tupperware because they take up less room. Press out all the air, neatly fold them up, and put them into another larger, sturdier freezer bag. All the red meat is with the red meat, all the chicken is with the chicken, all the fish is with the fish, all the egg whites are with the egg whites. Staying organized makes it easy to see what you have. Freeze them all solid. This way you can take them right out of the freezer, put them in an insulated cooler of some sort, put that in a suitcase, and check it. If they’re frozen solid, they won’t thaw before you land. I recently had a 10 hour layover and 8 hours of flying time during a trip. My protein was still frozen solid when I picked up my suitcase at baggage claim. The baggage area of an airplane seems to stay pretty darn cold.

• Keep at least one day worth of your pre-cooked, pre-measured protein with you in your carry on luggage. The last time I traveled, TSA let all of it through, even my frozen egg whites. I honestly was a little surprised at that! Frozen egg whites seem to be OK, while liquid egg whites are not, although different airports may vary. You should know that peanut butter and yogurt are both not allowed in your carry on luggage since they’re considered liquid.

• Measure out some protein powder and keep it in your carry on luggage along with a shaker cup, just in case you have an unexpected lay over. Even if it’s not on your current menu plan, it’s better to have it than to be stuck without anything.

• Measure out your starchy carbohydrates, like dry oats, potatoes and sweet potatoes. If you use rice in your diet plan, pre cook it, measure it, bag it and check it. When you’re flying across the ocean or into different agricultural areas, you may want to rethink packing any produce like potatoes or sweet potatoes. In some cases, produce is frowned upon, even if you check it. Produce will most likely be allowed, just frowned upon.

• Make sure your hotel has a fridge & microwave. Even better, try to book a room with a kitchenette. For my stay in Hawaii, I booked a room with a kitchenette, but there was a problem and the only room available had a fridge. No microwave. No kitchenette. You know what? No problem! I was prepared. My protein was already cooked. My carbs were already bagged and ready to be enjoyed. I had mapped out grocery stores near by already. I eat everything except for my protein raw, so that makes things easy.

• Bring a mini George Foreman grill in your checked luggage to heat your meat. This is also helpful for little problems like when you think you have booked a room with a kitchenette or microwave, but it ends up not being available when you arrive. Just knowing you have a back up plan takes a lot of pressure off.

• I personally only bring a few greens and I don’t check them. I carry them on. I don’t pre-cook them since I eat all of my greens raw. Veggies are easy to find at grocery stores once you land. There are organic produce stores in almost every city. If you get delayed at the airport, it’s easy to pick up a raw salad and pick out the things that might not be on your diet plan. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Pre cooking and packing your veggies isn’t something I would spend a lot of time fretting over.

• Bring some super greens. This makes worrying about your veggies even less of an issue.

• Bring an empty gallon container for water. This way you won’t forget to drink your 1 to 2 gallons of water each day. It’s easy to forget when your traveling, especially on a plane.

• Bring some high quality zip lock baggies. You really can never have enough of these.

• If you’re prepping for a competition, or just really serious about your goals, bring your food scale. It might get a little banged up, so carry it on. Yes, it may require a little explanation when you go through security, but what if your baggage is lost? At least this way you have a back up plan. You could buy your protein when you land, cook it up and make sure you are eating the correct amounts. Portion size is key. Again, just knowing you have a back up plan helps to take some of the anxiety away.

• Bring some exercise bands in your carry on luggage. Delayed at the airport? Awesome. Bust out a workout.

• Bring your vitamins in an organized pill box. Pack it in your checked baggage.

• Bring your gym shoes. Either wear them or bring them in your carry on luggage. If you have your shoes, you’re prepared for a workout, a run, a hike. No excuses. I love stilettos too, and flip flops, but the whole idea is to set yourself up for success. Not having the right shoes can easily turn into an excuse later.

Did you go on vacation? Did you try these tips? Tell me in the comments!

Please share in the comments. Don’t be shy! Your comments may help to inspire another. Your questions may help someone else who has the exact same question, but is too shy to ask. I love hearing from you!

By Cori Ann Lentz • Food & Diet • 4 • Tags: Diet, Egg whites, Food, Gluten free, High protein, Lactose free, Nutrition, Protein Powder, Raw, Recipe, Super Greens