Travel Trials

It is before 6am as I type this, and I've just returned from a trip to drop M. off at the airport. Darn that 6:25am departing flight! Siggghhh...This spring has been a whirlwind of travel for me- and it isn't over yet! This Thursday I head out for the last of my trips to other people's weddings this spring... and then I'm off to my own wedding (traveling for that too) next month.

Travel-- particularly air travel-- can present some really valid challenges to the Weight Watcher member these days. With the liquid restriction, general hassle at the airport, and paired back offerings on the plane (though I'm not complaining about not having an icky meal served to me in-flight), things can be difficult.However, with a few extra minutes of preparation, you can successfully manage even a long day of travel. Despite the restrictions, I still attempt to pack my own snacks, and in some cases, my own meals. My "go to" snacks include: fruit, Cliff brand "Z" bars (2 or 3 POINTS) or Weight Watchers snack bars (1 or 2 POINTS), hummus and carrots or pretzels (I've found that hummus is not considered a liquid or gel...), and nuts and dried fruit (in moderation). I've brought sandwiches for meals before too. Interesting note: Once I brought mustard in a little packet (like you'd get in a to-go bag at a restaurant). This was not acceptable and was promptly confiscated by the TSA. However, as a test, the next time I brought a sandwich I put the mustard on the sandwich (vs. carrying it separately) and of course it was a-okay (although my sandwich was slightly soggy by the time I got through security and was ready to eat). Apparently mustard is much less threatening when already smeared on a sandwich! So, lesson learned: if you have mustard (or mayo, or the like...), put it on your sandwich, or else stuff it into your sealed quart-sized Ziploc bag along with your toiletries in order to get it past security (though something about mustard--even in a sealed packet-- in the same space as my toiletries grosses me out).

When it comes to terminal restaurants, I have a few favorites at DIA. In concourse B I will often hit up the "Itza Wrap Itza Bowl" (which is sort of behind the escalators that you take up from the train into the concourse). I get a veggie bowl with more veggies than brown rice, ask for the sauce on the side and have guesstimated it at 8 POINTS (again- emphasize more veggies than rice, and with the sauce on the side the 8 POINT estimate is assuming 2 Tbl. of sauce only-teriyaki- used).

Paradise Bakery in the morning has basic oatmeal that's just oatmeal, fruit and milk/sugar of your choosing. There's a Paradise in both concourse B and C (go upstairs inside the concourse in B to find it). Note that this oatmeal is also available served in an "oatmeal cookie bowl". As tempting as this may be (and it does tempt me each time...) forgo the cookie bowl and instead enjoy the berries and bananas that come with the basic oatmeal.

In concourse C, my go-to for lunch or dinner is typically a sandwich at Einstein’s bagels. I get a bagel (5 or 6 POINTS- depending on the type) with hummus (can you tell that I'm a fan of hummus...?!?!), tomatoes, sprouts and cucumbers. I count the hummus as 3 POINTS, and the veggies don't have any- so there's an 8 or 9 POINT sandwich (sounds like a lot- but trust me- much better than many airport options). If you aren't a hummus fan like I am, they have all of their typical sandwich fare too- just use your same restaurant requests and ask for no mayo, sub this or that, and pointy extras on the side to control portions.

Here's a link to DIA's restaurants, listed with concourse location for your convenience:www.flydenver.com/shops/food/index.asp. Apparently I don't fly much with the airlines based out of concourse A, since those don't seem familiar to me- but I'm pretty sure that Hope's Country Fresh Cookies is not a hopeful place for a Weight Watcher!

Although you can't link directly to the restaurant's site with nutritional information from this DIA page, with a few extra clicks you should be able to pull up the NI for most of these restaurants and use this information to plan accordingly.

Lastly, my sure-thing when traveling is always water. Staying hydrated while traveling is important anyway, and it certainly helps me keep tabs on my hunger cues. If I remember, I bring an empty water bottle and fill it up at a water fountain on the other side of security. Otherwise, it is a $3.49 bottle of water for me that I then refill throughout my travel day.

I'm off to New Hampshire on Thursday for my best friend's wedding. Thursday night meeting members- I'll miss you this week, but a neat leader will be subbing for me and I'll be back next week to check in. Safe travels for anyone else heading out of town this father's day!