I’m back. I went on a whirlwind vacation filled with exciting food endeavors! But before I delve into each city I will start at the start, our pre-arrival to Copenhagen food plan!
In my pre-travel packing a lot of my luggage was devoted to food. I am a vegan and very food conscientious so airplane food and airport food standbys were not going to cut it for me. So what did I do?
In preparation for flying I did a few things:
1. I worked out because I knew I would be planted to a seat for over 7 hours! Exercising helps your body detoxify through sweating and helps to move your lymph around your body. The lymphatic system circulates the body like the cardiac system except it does not have a pump like the heart. Exercise helps to move this fluid. Why is this important? The lymphatic system takes care of your immunity.
2. As a pre-dinner snack I packed pineapple. Pineapples are full of enzymes that help in detoxifying the body as well as with digestion. Being on a cramped plane, being exposed to higher levels of radiation, being exposed to stale recirculating air and not so great food are all reasons to get some more enzymes in your body.
3. For dinner (which we ended up having to wait for our flight) we ate raw veggies (broccoli, carrots, celery) and hummus with dark chocolate as a nice dessert. The veggies digest well and the hummus is lighter than a protein rich meal. As carbohydrate digestion is quicker than protein digestion, being cramped in a small space did not make me want to have any digestion issues.
During the flight:
4. My bag was all packed with more veggies and hummus but since I had already had a light dinner, I didn’t need more food. Needless to say I opted out of the dinner being served on board the plane. It did not look appetizing but I do remember loving them when I was younger. Times sure have changed! Nuked pasta and some red sauce ain’t so appetizing anymore.
After arriving:
5. We had an 8 hour stop over in London on our way to Copenhagen. I had packed some Green Vibrance as a green drink replacement and of course some lemon for a fresh start to my morning! I was really surprised to find a grocery store at the airport and did not have to leave in search of one (although I had a map and directions to one ready to go!)
I had fruit for breakfast when I was really hungry. For lunch I had veggies and hummus. It was the easiest thing to eat and the most healthy based on our circumstances. Normally I have hummus at dinner and very rarely but when you travel you have to adapt. It tends to be my go to food when no other vegan option is available!
6. As an option you can also bring along some organic rolled oatmeal baggies. I got this idea over at foodbabe.com. Her site is pretty informative when it comes to traveling and health. I made a few of these for my fiance. He likes more dense food in the morning. The baggies contain some rolled oats, cinnamon and dried fruit. It is pretty simple to get hot water on the plane or from a local Starbucks or coffee shop and ta-da instant oatmeal with only 4 ingredients!
So the moral of flying is to eat as much fresh, unprocessed food as you can as we do not want to compromise our body’s digestion at all.
Whew…and finally we made it to Copenhagen, the land of many many bikes! More details to come soon!
