Any flight attendants out there?

[mel_s12]

I think somebody said that ReneeH was a flight attendant? Anybody else?

I am having trouble eating raw when I am working. My problem is that my schedule is all over the place. I am on-call so I basically travel anywhere in the world and I receive maybe about 2-3 hours notice of where I'm going. It's really difficult to be raw since not a lot of airport hotels have markets and sometimes I will be gone for 5 days at a time. Another issue is that you can only take certain fruits and veggies with you across the US/Canada border. I take lots of dehydrated foods with me and whichever fruits and veggies I can, but I run out of food. :(

Any advice?

[Green Life]

I have an idea. I just thought of it, too.

Maybe take some onion bread and then when you stop to eat somewhere, roll up some raw veggies in the bread and hold it like a burrito.

Somettimes when I go to Subway with my family (I'm a STHHSM), I will order a bag of fresh veggies of my choice. i used to just eat them them out of the bag with a fork. Now, I can eat them as a wrap!!

[rande]

i was just hired as a flight attendant and have been wondering about this..i havent started working yet though so i dont know how hard its gonna be..

[mel_s12]

Thanks GreenLife! That's a great idea. Do breads have to be kept refridgerated though?

I will just have to figure it out depending on where I am!

[mel_s12]

rande!
Congratulations! It's a great job. Definitely doesn't pay a lot (well atleast not the airline I fly for) but it's a lot of fun.

I am warning you now.. you will come across mothers asking for milk with 5-10 packets of sugar for their babies! My friend even had somebody ask for Coke with extra sugar packets on the side. UGHHH.

[SharonC]

rande!
Congratulations! It's a great job. Definitely doesn't pay a lot (well atleast not the airline I fly for) but it's a lot of fun.

I am warning you now.. you will come across mothers asking for milk with 5-10 packets of sugar for their babies! My friend even had somebody ask for Coke with extra sugar packets on the side. UGHHH.

Such unbelievable stories I have heard over the years! My sister has been a flight attendant for almost 20 years.

I am always trying to get her to eat healthier, and she says that she has a hard time eating healthy when flying (when she is not flying too, but that is a whole other story). She is not on call, drops a lot of trips to coordinate with her husband's pilot schedule, so one of them will be home with their 6 year old son. She is domestic, does not even fly full time, and does a lot of turns. She does not know how easy she has it compared to you!

I am sure that it is difficult. It is admirable that you are so determined!

Nori and kale chips to get in the greens if you are not already doing them.

[mel_s12]

Wow! She does have it easy compared to me! lol
It will be good to build up seniority to choose my flights. But before that happens I will most likely be onto a new career!
Kale chips is a great idea!! Thanks! I never even thought of that for my greens and I LOVE kale chips.

[Green Life]

Thanks GreenLife! That's a great idea. Do breads have to be kept refridgerated though?


I am not sure, but most likely. I wouldn't take a chance in hot weather, but they should be fine in mild climates. Refridgeration is the best option when available.

[rande]

rande!
Congratulations! It's a great job. Definitely doesn't pay a lot (well atleast not the airline I fly for) but it's a lot of fun.

I am warning you now.. you will come across mothers asking for milk with 5-10 packets of sugar for their babies! My friend even had somebody ask for Coke with extra sugar packets on the side. UGHHH.

thanks! i'm really excited about it! how long have you been doing it? do you mind if i ask what airline you fly with?

wow, i come from a really (compared with most people) healthy family and i cant imagine a mother giving her child that much sugar! i'm sure i'll have stories of my own pretty soon.

[sfdreams]

:confused:
Somettimes when I go to Subway with my family (I'm a STHHSM), I will order a bag of fresh veggies of my choice. i used to just eat them them out of the bag with a fork. Now, I can eat them as a wrap!!

Perhaps I'm just dim-witted (it IS getting late!) but for the life of me, I cannot figure out what STHHSM is!!
Please enlighten me, Green Life!

p.s. I am loving your picture...if it's you, you look like someone who is fun to know!:)

[ReneeH]

Hi there fellow RAWbie in the Sky!!!!

Yes, I've been a flight attendant for 17 years...recently a RAW flight attendant... I don't have problems when I'm at work because I usually take so much with me, I end up bringing food back home!!! I do the red-eye flights, though...

When I go on a trip, one of my favorite things to bring is a Nori Roll. How do I do that? Well, I take the Nori sheets seperately. Then before I go, I make up the inside of my roll: 1 Romaine Lettace leaf, shreadded carrots, shreadded zuchinni, sprouts, red bell pepper, and avacado (whole). I put all of that in a zip-lock baggie. When I'm at the airport, it's easy to just take the made up roll and put it on the Nori and eat it! I even have a small 3oz bottle I got from the Dollar Store and put some Nama Shoyu in it! You can even do this for Alissa's Collard Roll!!!

Also, I LOVE to bring these with me: Flax Crackers (with Almond butter in 3oz bottle, honey, and Banana), Onion Bread (with slices of Tomato, Onion, and Avacado--maybe a bit of sea salt), Lara Bars, Dehydrated Apples, Raw Cookies, I love Alissa's Corn Chips, and they travel well!!! Also, I love to fix Carmella's chop suey, since it has to marinate anyway, and have it for dinner on the plane! Another great idea is to fix the Walnut Pate or Alissa's not Tuna Pate! I save those containers from Whole Foods and put it in there! The Pate's are great because they won't go bad on you! I have even made up Alissa's marinara sauce and put it in a container, then have in a baggie the Zucchini already spiraled with the Saladacco, and the Pate' for the "meatball"!!! The Piolets and Flight Attendants are always DIEING for a sample, so I try to bring a lot!!!

Also, when I do a layover, I love to bring my little mini-blender and make smoothies in my room! Most of the time, even when I go Internationally, I can find a banana anywhere--if I can't bring my own... I try to stay away from the food we serve for obvious reasons!!! I find that if I bring enough with me, I'm not nibbling on the bad stuff...

HOPE THIS HELPS!!! SAFE FLYING OUT THERE!!!

[mel_s12]

Rande,
I'm not sure if I'm allowed so I will abbreviate it and I'm sure you will figure it out! I fly with AC in Canada ;)

[mel_s12]

ReneeH!
Thanks so much! What great ideas!!
Red eye flights? Yikes! By choice? I try to stay away from those!

[ReneeH]

:) Yea, believe it or not!!! I only do 2 Red Eye flights a weekend so I can Homeschool my kids during the week... That way, they don't "miss" me because they're asleep when I'm working. :) And, it's ony 2 a weekend, so it's not so bad when you get used to them!!!

Being RAW while flying truly helps me because, as you may know, Flight Attendants gain at least 10 pounds during the first few months of flying because of eating the food. It's loaded with Preservatives and Calories and is just NOT the best food to eat. Even the peanuts are bad for you! Believe me, with just a little bit of effort on your part in prepreation before you go on your trip, will help you tremendously in the longrun!

:)

[exurb]

MEL, what airline do you work for? When I fly Air Canada out of Toronto, they have as a special meal option a "fresh fruit plate" or something like that. If you're not on Air Canada, I would say check really well as to what the special meal options are and order one that will give you some fruit. I think the "low fat" meal comes with fresh grapes, etc.

That'll at least get you some fresh fruit while flying. Especially if you get a per diem, you should also think about calling room service and asking them to make you something off menu with raw fruits and veg.

When I cross the Canada-US border, they always ask if I have any fruit, they don't ask about veggies. Maybe some packaged veggies could get past them, such as taking a bag of california baby carrots back into the US.

I like to take raw nuts and or dried figs, dates, etc. I have these pretty cellophane bags and I tie them off with ribbons, they look like you bought it from a fancy store, so it doesn't seem to set the radar off at all.

[ReneeH]

Well....the airline I work for, I can't order meals for myself. At times we have "crew" meals, but we can't choose what goes in those... We end up eating what's "left over" from our service...

Yea, I tried the room service thing in the beginning of my RAW journey, but it usually ends up costing you more than it's worth, and they don't give you very much for your money...at least that's been MY experience.

There are many options for you to take things with you, even when you fly Internationally (see the above post). I think that if you DON'T bring ANYTHING with you, then you will be exposing yourself to having a setback and eating what's "available"--all the wrong choices...

I think of it like this: I recently ordered "The Box" from Matt Amsden which is a box containing freshly prepared, organic, RAW foods for the week. Great! But I know that I can't order that all the time. Alissa's book is great because it teaches us HOW to ARM ourselves with preparing our own RAW food.

Hence, you might get away with ordering things on the airplane sometimes, but in the long run, you will probably be more successful RAW if you prepare things to take with you. You'd be surprised what you can take! Just try it. :)

[mel_s12]

Thanks for all your help! As crew we can't order a fruit plate. We can order special meals but only with a doctor's note stating a particular medical condition. It's a little tricky. I need to find myself a doctor friend! lol

ReneeH - I have been pretty good with bringing things such as dehydrated foods and salads but being on reserve is more difficult. When you think you will be gone for 1-2 days, that can turn into 5-6 days. I agree with you that ordering room service can be pretty pricey. It's good as a last resort though. :rolleyes:

[ReneeH]

Absolutely! I totally agree! I remember being on Reserve, and it can be a challenge...but YOU *** CAN *** DO IT!!

The best thing to do in that case, is to pack your mini blender (like the Bullet)...that way you can make smoothies in your hotel room... Sometimes I find that I can go to the grocery store that may be near the hotel for some fresh fruits and veggies... But, honey chile', let me tell you... I am NOT working to be spending ALL my per-diem on layovers!!! The day before your "R" day begins, spend a little time dehydrating and preparing what your meals will be out of town... If you bring enough things to "nibble" on (like Lara Bars, Flax Crackers with fixin's, Onion Bread, etc), it will keep you from the bad stuff...

Also, I tell the crew I'm RAW... Talking about your "diet" will help you keep it in mind constantly...:)

[rande]

thank you so much! i know this i didnt post this and it wasnt directed to me, but i'm in flight attendant training at the moment, and this post has been very helpful!

[exurb]

As crew we can't order a fruit plate. We can order special meals but only with a doctor's note stating a particular medical condition. It's a little tricky. I need to find myself a doctor friend! lol


I was thinking that you are maybe in a union. Perhaps you should ask whatever union rep to see if there is a possibility of changing the policy to allow flight attendants to be able to order healthy meals.

In spite of the fact that the courts have upheld the rights of flight attendants to not be discriminated against for gaining weight, there is still all this subtle or not so subtle pressure for flight attendants to be slim.

I would think hope the airline could be convinced that it would be in their interest and not that costly to allow flight attendants to choose a healthy meal from the meals that are options already for the passengers on those flights. I wouldn't think the catering company would charge all that differently depending on which meal is selected.

[ReneeH]

Boy, I'm glad I'm on your team!!! (smile) :) My computer has been down, so that's why I've been MIA :) ... Anyway, glad the suggestions have been helpful... The onion bread has just been golden for me right now! I just have to hide it when I'm on a flight because everyone wants some as soon as they see it!!! Also, the other day I made Alissa's Eggplant Pizza and it was totally to LIVE FOR!!! And, I had leftovers on the plane with some salad! YUMMY!!!