FOOD COACH NYC

On the plane

Now that you are on the plane, what can you do to mitigate jet-lag?

1. Immediately adjust your watch to the time at your destination and sync your body clock to it.  If it’s midnight, start preparing for sleep.  If it’s 8am, get a coffee.

2. Avoid the salted peanuts and pretzels no matter how hungry you are.  The salt will cause you to retain more fluid, which means puffy ankles and a puffy face. Your meal will arrive shortly (and be one of the first if it’s a ‘special’ meal), so be patient.

3. If you ordered a gluten-free meal, skip the rice cracker.  It will shoot up your insulin levels faster than a piece of bread.  You’ll get fruit for dessert so feel smug that you can be virtuous on the plane while everyone else downs 400+ calories in poor-tasting cheesecake.

4. Take your sleeping aid of choice.  I almost always have a script for something soporific, but consistently run out of time to have the prescription filled, which means, I’m left to my own devices: 50 mg of 5-HTP and 1.5-3mg of melatonin.  I don’t go higher than 3mg of melatonin as it often leaves you groggy upon waking.

5. Listen to binaural beats such as Brainwave Entertainment to induce a deeper level of sleep and block out the engine noise. Add sleeping mask, aromatherapy oils and so forth to get you to sleep.

6. If you can’t sleep, try a meditation MP3.  If you haven’t meditated before, this is the perfect time to do it.  Don’t let the word ‘meditation’ scare you, it’s just you focusing on your breath. I picture myself taking in the positive and expelling the negative.  It’s also a great time for self-reflection and goal assessment.

7. If you get hungry, explain to the flight attendants that you’re gluten-free or milk-free and you can’t eat the snacks (I’m all for lying if you get better food choices).  Smile sweetly and they’ll often get you a piece of fruit or something from first class.

8. Upon waking, lift the cabin window and stare at the sun.  The light shuts off melatonin. Drink coffee. Have the eggs for breakfast, skip the waffle or pancakes and avoid the heavily sugar-laden fruit yogurt.

9. Of course, drink loads of water. Bring an empty bottle and have it filled continually if you don’t want to keep buzzing the attendants. That’s their job, so I buzz away.

Upon arrival

To be continued…