Dr. G vs The Airport

Traveling while trying to eat a healthy (plant based of course) diet can be a bit of a challenge.  Even the airport can be full of booby-traps.  Everywhere you look  (and smell) there are enticing junk foods all crammed into a small area.  Maybe you are stressed, or tired, or just so freaking starving and willing to eat anything that you are considering getting into line to get a cinnamon bun the size of your face.  Stop, pull yourself together.  You are probably on vacation if you are in an airport and there will be plenty of opportunities to stray from your healthy food choices; don't waste those opportunities in the airport. 

Let the epic battle of Dr. G vs The Airport begin!

Dr. G vs Airport Breakfast

Steel cut oats with berries, walnuts, and agave nectar and iced blackberry & tea.

Simple, healthy, and delicious.  I didn't even have to look very hard, there were three places in my terminal that were serving oatmeal.  

Dr. G: 2   Airport: 0

Dr. G vs Airport Lunch #1 (on the way to vacation)

Ban Mi sandwich with chili tofu and vege summer rolls. 

I'm not going to lie....this was f@&*ing amazing.  

I found this in the food court where there were 3 other places serving tofu options (all Asian cuisine).  There was also lots of salads and vege burgers available too.   Don't forget smoothie places like JambaJuice, they always have animal free options.  

Dr. G: 2   Airport: 0

Dr. G vs Airport Snack

Fresh fruit cup & a soy latte (yes with chemicals that taste like pumpkin spice, I was on vacation).  There seems to be more and more fresh fruit options in the airports lately.  Usually the fruit is more expensive than it would be otherwise, but hey, it is still cheaper than a heart attack.  

Dr. G: 1.5   Airport: 0.5 (for the pumpkin spice)

Dr. G vs Airport Lunch #2 (on the way home from vacation)

Portabello mushroom "burger" with a carrot dressing and side salad.  

Roasted beets over a fennel puree with cheddar cheese (what? I was on vacation)

Dr. G: 3   Airport: 1 (cheese!)

Final score:

Dr. G: 8.5   Airport: 1.5 

I won!

By the way, I do make food choices that I typically wouldn't while I'm on vacation, doesn't everyone? This past spring I took a trip to South Carolina and I ate southern BBQ…like the kind with meat (ethical vegans, please forgive me).  Whatever, I wanted to try it.  When I stray from the plant based diet I do so thoughtfully, meaning that I don't just go crazy and eats food that I normally wouldn't just because they are there and I am on vacation.  I make the food choices I normally would when I can, and stray from them when I want to try a local specialty or when something is just too good to pass up.  It's vacation, you've got to live it up.  You aren't going to develop heart disease from eating animal based foods a few times a year.  When all was said and done, by the end of my vacation I still ate less than 10% animal based foods.      

A few other travel tips:

1. If you are staying somewhere for a while (hotel, resort, whatever) and you don't want to eat out every meal, hit up the grocery store and pick up some whole food plant based snacks and meal items.  If there is a Whole Foods near by, even better.  They have tons of prepared plant foods - veges of all kinds, tofu, grains, soups, etc.  Make some veges bowls or salads and pop them in the fridge in your hotel room.  You might spend a little more than you would if you cooked the food yourself at home, but it is still probably cheaper than eating out (and healthier too) and is definitely cheaper than developing diabetes.
2. Choose the lesser of 2 evils - haha that is a little extreme, but what I mean is when I am not going to eat plants, but am not necessarily choosing to stray (aka the restaurant doesn't serve any plant based options) I often will opt for fish instead of beef or chicken, or at a breakfast place have eggs and veges but hold the cheese and meat, or get a salad topped with chicken instead of a cheese burger. 
3. If you are going to be sad that you didn't eat (fill in animal food that you really want here) then just eat it!  Again, you are on vacation!
4. Fresh fruits are your friend for snacking.
5. Exercise on vacation.  Go for a hike, rent bikes to ride around and explore your surroundings, take a walk, go kayaking, do yoga on the beach, etc.  

Happy vacationing and best health,

Dr. G

Dr. G vs Weekend Food Temptations

Finally, it is the weekend!  Are you planning to order take out and watch a movie Friday night? Or go out to breakfast Sunday morning?  Go ahead, you deserve it!! I bet you are worried about how you are going to find plant based foods while you treat yourself this weekend.  Stop worrying.  Dr. G is here to help.  I battled some of the toughest weekend food temptations taking pictures the whole way and (spoiler alert) came out victorious.

The food temptation gauntlet:

Friday night:  Chinese Takeout

Vegetable chow mein
Broccoli with ginger garlic sauce
Vegetable egg rolls with taro and shiitake mushrooms
1 chicken wing, not pictured (had to try one...what? Stop judging me!)

On the menu there was also vege fried rice, lo mein, dumplings, hot and sour soup, and almost every main dish was offered with a tofu option instead of meat.

When ordering take out take a look at the whole menu.  You don't have to limit yourself to the vegetarian section.  You will be surprised at how many plant based options you will find scattered throughout the whole menu.  Don't fear the takeout menu.

 Dr. G: 3  Animal foods: 1

Saturday:  Food Truck Festival 

There were 18 food trucks at this festival, 2 of which boasted vegan options and 3 more claiming to be vegetarian friendly.  BUT, I found plant based options at most of them...definitely not at the Bacon Truck though.  I found plantains, vegetable curries and stews, grilled vegetable skewers, funky salads, egg rolls, rice and bean burgers, lots of tofu options, and more.  It was not even a challenge to find amazing animal free foods at the food truck festival.

 I ate a:
Soba noodle salad with tofu from Bon Me
Falafel pita pocket with hummus and loaded with veges underneath from Mediterranean Home Cuisine
Vegan ice cream sandwich from Frozen Hoagies

To be clear vegan ice cream does not equal healthy ice cream, but I was excited that this food truck offered 3 vegan ice cream flavors. It was delicious by the way.

Dr. G: 3  Animal foods: 0


Medusa Brewing Company

Beer is made from plants, right?  Please drink responsibly.

Dr. G: 4 Animal foods: 0

Sunday:  Out to Breakfast

We intentionally chose a place that is not known for plant-based options.  I found 2 items that were plant-based on the menu as is; house-made granola and oatmeal with berries.  But I wanted a true Sunday morning breakfast.

Sorry about the reddish hue, the umbrella was red above me, as seen in the reflection in my spoon

I ordered a South of the Border Breakfast Burrito and asked if the eggs could be substituted for hashbrowns and more veges.  The server said, "No problem" and she was right, it came out amazing.  They threw in some extra salsa instead of cheese and sour cream too.   As long as your substitutions are not ridiculous and not increasing the cost of the meal most places are willing to make plant-based substitutions, just ask...nicely :)

Dr. G: 1 Animal foods: 0


This adventure was to demonstrate that you can eat out and order in and still eat plants with little to no sacrifice and minimal effort.  No more excuses!  Go out this weekend and conquer your food weekend food temptations!

Final score:
Dr.G: 11 Animal foods: 1

I won!!! It was easy.  Give me a real challenge next time.


Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G