At this very moment I’m sitting in terminal B at the Baltimore Washington Airport waiting for a flight to San Antonio.

No, really.  I am.

This is the second of four trips I have scheduled between now and December.

Yesterday I got back from a short girls’ weekend in Ocean City (more about that in a future post) and now I’m headed to host a HumanaVitality Healthy Food Recipe Refresh Challenge in San Antonio.

My whole world seems to revolve around food!

That’s not a good thing when you travel a lot. It’s just so easy to eat and eat AND EAT. There are food places everywhere. Snack shops in every terminal. Even fun snack boxes available on the plane.

With the waiting and boredom of air travel or even driving, I could literally eat non-stop, and frankly, sometimes it’s hard not to.

Here are a few ways I keep my snack attacks at bay.

1. Water! 

I know, I know. Cheesy first tip but hear me out. When you are more hydrated and have water available all the time you really start to feel the difference between hunger and thirst. Plus the water does give you that full belly feeling. And thankfully airports have bathrooms in every corner. Bonus tip: Bring your own empty water bottle through security and then fill it at a water fountain or restaurant.

Bringing your own bottle will save you tons of money (have you seen how expensive bottled water is??) and keep you out of the snack shops where it’s just so darn easy to buy a bag of chips with that bottle of water.

2. Scope Out The Whole Terminal

I have a routine when I fly. I get to the airport, check in, go through security, find my gate and then proceed to explore the entire terminal. This stops me from buying a snack in the first shop I see and just sitting, eating, waiting to board. Instead I walk, window shop and decide on something I really want to eat instead of whatever is available.

3. Pamper Yourself

Sometimes on my little exploration I’ll find small spas or nail places. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather spend my time and money on being pampered then eating some random junk food I pick up at a newsstand.

4. Popcorn

If I just really want SOMETHING, I have a few go-tos. One of them is popcorn. It’s usually less processed than other snack shop choices and overall you get more bang for your buck. It’s just not as calorically dense as other options. Just watch the flavored ones, especially caramel corn.

5. Jerky

One of my other favorite go-tos is beef or turkey jerky. It usually comes in smaller packages so eating the whole bag isn’t a problem and it takes an awfully long time to chew and eat, preventing you from shoving other high-calorie junk in your mouth. As a self diagnosed mindless snacker, I just know these things.

6. Hard Candy

Sometimes I just want something sweet without mindlessly consuming more calories than I need in a day. That’s when I turn to hard candy or Life Savers. And if I’m being really honest with you, I normally have to challenge myself to suck on them for as long as possible so I don’t consume them too fast.

7. Gum

Gum is also a life saver. I’ve recently discovered the fun flavored ones (like strawberry shortcake and chocolate mint) and they are another great way to ward off bored, sweet cravings. For this trip I went with “Passionberry Twist.”

8. Pack Something. 

Sometimes just knowing I have something in my bag helps keep me out of the snack shops. It’s like my unconscious brain knows it’s there so I don’t feel as desperate to pick something up in a rush. If I do decide to pack something, I either make my own trail mix with nuts, seeds and dried fruit or I do the granola bar thing.

9. Fruit is Yummy!

I’m only half joking when I say this because we’ve all seen them, the fruit basket at the gas station, the bananas near checkout, the fruit cups at the coffee shop but for some reason it’s not our go-to choice. At least for me it isn’t. I tend to go for salty and processed when traveling. I think I just need to remind myself that fruit really is yummy!

10. Stay Aware

Whatever you decide to do (pack or pick up), the most important thing is to stay aware. Keep a travel food journal, read labels, notice serving sizes. It’s really easy to mindlessly consume a meal’s worth of calories on a snack, and again, I don’t know about you, but I’d rather save those babies for a nice sit-down dinner at a local restaurant wherever I’m traveling.

Have your own way of managing airport snack attacks? Please share in the comments!