Keeping Fit

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RatMan
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Keeping Fit

Post by RatMan »

Greetings Fellow Aviators!

I’m looking to get some top tips / best practises on how to keep fit whilst living the airline pilot lifestyle. Finding a gym to crush iron at should be fairly straight forward. I’m thinking more of how one ensures proper nutrition whilst travelling. Is there a prepfered industry cooler bag? How many days of meals can you bring on the road with you? What’s your MO when it comes to the routine of spending 3-4-5 days on the road? What are your favourite / easiest foods to bring with you? Anything else you think may be relevant? Thanks ahead of time!
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tkdowell
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Re: Keeping Fit

Post by tkdowell »

Hi there,

Since noone is replying to your post I thought I'd throw you a couple nuggets....

For lunch kits, my company provides one but if you need to order one EBags is pretty good...I got one from them back in the day andthey blend in well and keep things cold.

On that vein, keeping things cold. I've lost more ice packs than I can count in hotel rooms, front desks, etc. Scoring ome of those medicine bags worked well for me - just seeing by an ice machine and fill it up before you head to work.

Staples in my bag - baby carrots and celery and then either hummus or guacamole. Almonds or spicy peanuts. For breaky I got back and forth between yogurt and almonds and hard-boiled eggs with bacon / avocado. Cosco has a great salad in a bag that's tasty and easy to pack, you just need a container to mix it in. I use my own salad dressing out of a bottle because the little pack that comes with the bag is hard to re-use without making a mess.

Tuna is a good staple, easy to pack and open, but never open it in the flight deck. Same as hard-boiled eggs. Doesnt matter if your winger says it's ok, it's not. Just dont do it.

That's all I got, hopefully it gets you started.
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Blowin' In The Wind
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Re: Keeping Fit

Post by Blowin' In The Wind »

tkdowell wrote: Mon Feb 04, 2019 5:04 pm Hi there,

Since noone is replying to your post I thought I'd throw you a couple nuggets....

That's all I got, hopefully it gets you started.

You know what they say, “nuggets everyday keeps the doctor away.”
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gustind
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Re: Keeping Fit

Post by gustind »

Wow, I did not see this at all otherwise I would have replied a lot earlier.

It's very easy to get bored in flight and resort to a crew meal or food. I encourage drinking lots of water and even flavouring it with lemon/lime as you'll be more likely to drink something flavoured than just water. Average 8 hour day and I'll drink 3L.

I use the 6 pack bags, https://www.sixpackbags.com, and I really like it. It's been great packing for a three day pairing with your own containers, bananas, apples etc,. I'd take note they all come with plastic containers which are great for cold pre packed meals like sandwiches, wraps etc,. For soups, left over steak I would 100% say either get the cheap aluminum stuff or glass containers you can heat up in an onboard oven. Just make sure you remove the plastic lids before giving it to the FA, no matter how much they reassure you that they know to take it off.

Always carry with me emergency packets of oatmeal for breakfast - get a variety of flavours. Sometimes going into the states, it can be difficult trying to get proper fruits and veggies with you. I would suggest stopping into secondary, explaining to them that you want to bring in fruits and vegetables and they will give you a list of things you can bring and avoid. Both US and Canada customs will do this for you.

It all comes down to making your own food and bringing it. On board food sucks, a lot, and I'm sure it can't be good for you to be eating airplane food for 2/3 of the year as a meal no matter how tempting it may be to have.

Ice packs are fantastic and a must have. If you're always bringing food with you, you should have a habit of checking the fridge before you leave the hotel room for your pairing. As tkdowell said, you will lose them once in a while, but you may also gain one once in a while. Food to bring, anything homemade.

As for hitting the iron. Hotel gyms can blow. Always have runners with you incase you are forced into cardio on a treadmill or around the hotel. Otherwise get used to only having up to 50lbs and one bench. You will learn to make do with what you have. I've brought resistance bands and even yoga mats on pairings with me when I know the gym is garbage. It'll take some getting used to but with a little bit of effort and willingness you can make it work each time.

Good luck and stay healthy!
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Daniel Gustin
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Re: Keeping Fit

Post by altiplano »

You can get a pretty good work out in at most hotel gyms. Sure maybe not fully stocked gyms at every stop, but enough to work with... get a run in... sometimes a sauna and a pool... does the trick for me... but I'm not training for an Ironman or anything...

I don't haul around a lunch kit. Maybe pack a lunch for first day out and a couple protein bars in the bottom of my bag just in case... but that's it. Restaurants and grocery stores on the road have healthy enough options in this world for me, and I'm not looking to eat humous and carrot sticks for 4 days... besides dealing with customs is a pain at times.
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RatMan
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Re: Keeping Fit

Post by RatMan »

Thanks very much for the tips! I didn’t think anybody had replied so I didn’t check back till now lol. I like the idea of the six pack bag. Should be a great start :)
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Hilroy
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Re: Keeping Fit

Post by Hilroy »

How hard is it for crews to carry veggies and fruits across the US border?
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gustind
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Re: Keeping Fit

Post by gustind »

Not very if you know what to bring. Alas the First Commandment: Thou shalt not import citrus.

Stop by secondary and ask them for a list of things you are allowed to bring, they'll happily give it to you. Then plan accordingly.
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Daniel Gustin
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Re: Keeping Fit

Post by Beefitarian »

Blowin' In The Wind wrote: Mon Feb 04, 2019 6:07 pm
tkdowell wrote: Mon Feb 04, 2019 5:04 pm Hi there,

Since noone is replying to your post I thought I'd throw you a couple nuggets....

That's all I got, hopefully it gets you started.

You know what they say, “nuggets everyday keeps the doctor away.”
I laughed. What sauce do you guys recommend?
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