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Airplane Eats Exposed! Survival Guide to Guilt-Free Travel Treats

While in-flight meals have come a long way, there are still some scary snack options being served up. Airlines have tried to health it up, offering snack packs (many trans-fat-free) with tons of goodies instead of just TV-dinner-style fatty entrees. Unfortunately, the calorie and fat counts on these packs are often, well, sky-high. Here's the lowdown on what's guilt-free at 30,000 feet...

United Air Lines - The folks at United actually offer 4 separate snacks packs (on flights at least 3 hours long) at $5 a pop. However if you gobble up an entire one, you'll take in anywhere from 600 - 900 calories and fat grams galore. The Minimeal and the Rightbite are your best bets, but be selective and share the rest. The Minimeal's unsweetened applesauce and wheat crackers are good choices, but pass the cookies and the greasy chips to the cutie sitting next to you. The Rightbite's seasoned tuna and baked pita chips are awesome options, but 86 the chocolate bar and stinky Gouda.

Delta Air Lines - Sadly, Delta's Snack Basket (items available on short flights) is a nearly 800-calorie ickfest. They go carb-crazy with cookies, crackers, and chips. The only redeemable item here is the Quaker granola bar.

US Airways - This one's kinda lame as well, and is only served on flights that are 2.5 hours or longer. Cookies, crackers, cheese, and a fruit 'n nut mix will cost you nearly 500 calories. Stick with the fruit 'n nuts...

Continental Airlines - For flights between 2 and 3.5 hours, the sandwich snack baskets they offer up are actually decent choices; served with light mayo or mustard, each of these mini-sandwiches has around 200 calories. They're also served with carrots (go for it!) and candy bars (skip it!). For quickie flights, the mini pretzel packs (with only 50 calories) are a lower calorie choice than the honey-roasted peanuts.

American Airlines - For three-hour+ flights, their morning muffin selections will break the calorie bank with over 400 calories in each. The Afternoon Snack Box, loaded with cookies, crackers, cheese and nuts, clocks in at 700+ calories.

JetBlue Airways - JB's free-of-charge snacks are served individually, making it much easier to portion control your snack intake. Most are under 200 calories each, but the 100 Calorie Packs Wheat Thins Minis are definitely your best bet for a filling, low-fat snack.

HG's Guilt-Free Jet-Set Snack Pack

Something Fruity - Start with your favorite produce pick: a juicy pear, some grapes, a couple of clementines. Just remember to pack some napkins (even better, some wet naps) for those sticky sweet selections.

Something Crunchy - Nature Valley Cinnamon Apple Fruit Crisps, Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs, and pre-popped single-servings of low-fat popcorn are great airplane eats. They're filling, satisfying, and crunchy good fun!

Something Protein-Packed - A single-serving can of tuna (look for the ones with the easy-open lids), some jerky (HG LOVES Tasty Eats Soy Jerky!), turkey pepperoni slices and low-fat string cheese are all great ways to keep hunger at bay when you're airborne.

Something to Savor - Low-cal hard candies, light lollipops and sugar-free gum are all awesome low-cal ways to keep your mouth busy. Plus, they'll protect your ears during take-off and landing! Just be careful not to doze off with any of those suckers in your mouth!

Guilt-Free Sweet Treats

Toss a Hostess 100 Calorie Pack (Chocolate, Carrot, or Golden Cake!) into your purse, tote bag, or backpack for instant cake-y satisfaction that won't cost you hundreds of calories and dozens of fat grams. Quaker Mini Delights (90-calorie packs of yummy rice snacks -- some drizzled with icing!) are also an awesome on-the-go option -- the Cinnamon Streusel ones have saved us from stuffing our faces with actual gooey, fattening desserts more than once.

Sugar-Free Drink Mix Packets
Sometimes a sweet, fruity drink is all it takes to kick a craving. For those times when you've eaten enough but simply must satisfy your sweet tooth, just spike a bottle of water with a packet of sugar-free drink mix. Lots of companies (Crystal Light, Wyler's Light, and even Disney) make them, and they have just 5 to 10 calories per packet. They come in a gazillion flavors from lemonade to fruit punch to strawberry banana. These sips will get you guzzling water and avoiding extra sweets.

Tips 'n Tricks for Airplane Trips

Keep in Mind Your Travel Time - It can be easy to underestimate your travel time, but even a short flight could mean many more hours before your next meal! There's getting to the airport, waiting in line, picking up baggage... a 2-hour flight could equal 5 hours of travel time! Plan ahead by bringing plenty of healthy snacks (no gels or liquids!) or even a light meal.

Stay Busy! - A long trip sandwiched between two strangers and nothing at all to do? It can be tough not to crave snack food! Bring magazines, handheld games, crossword puzzles, a pen 'n paper to doodle or to jot down some thoughts. By keeping your mind busy you'll keep your belly quiet!

Plants Need Water and So Do You! - Staying hydrated is always important, but it's especially so during air-bound trips. It's easy to get dehydrated during hectic travel and when contained in a cramped cabin. And dehydration can cause grogginess and make it difficult to make smart decisions (like choosing to chew that apple you packed over those chips being passed around!). HG Tip: Pick up a big bottle of water at one of the airport stands before boarding, as well as some of those low-cal on-the-go flavor packets if water bores you (we've seen Crystal Light ones sold right there next to the water!).

The Seatbelt Sign Has Been Turned Off - Take advantage of the "free to walk about the cabin" part of your trip. Stretch your limbs, stroll the aisles, and keep your blood flowing. While you probably won't burn significant amounts of calories (unless you're sprinting thru the cabin, which we're pretty sure the flight crew won't appreciate!), you'll be less likely to munch mindlessly if you're alert and aren't achy. Happy travels!

ABOUT HUNGRY GIRL
Hungry Girl, the guru of guilt-free foods, is on the case. She's always ready to make over a meal or find a diet-friendly answer to any craving -- in a flash. No diet dilemma is too large, or too small, for the goddess of grub. Hungry Girl is not a nutritionist... she's just hungry. More information about Hungry Girl at her column on http://food.yahoo.com/blog/hungrygirl.