‘Tis the season to be jolly, but there’s no question that the Christmas holiday comes with pressures for your body. You eat too much. You sleep too little. You skip your exercise routine to go to a party or to wrap presents. It’s like Santa’s Big Red Bag of Indulgences concentrated into a three-week stretch.

If you’re also traveling, then you face the scariest pressure of all: airplane food. The good news is that you can eat nutritiously on the road – it’s just that you have to take charge. Remember school days when you packed your own lunch? Take a tip from your past: Start packing.

Traveling from Bangor in particular can be challenging because connections at other airports, such as Boston’s Logan International Airport, often leave passengers in annex terminals that do not have cafes or restaurants. If the flights are under three or four hours, on-board options may be as slim as a small bag of pretzels. And if the flights are longer, passengers may be offered snack boxes or packaged sandwiches for $3-8. After 9-11, some airlines adopted a pay-for-onboard-food policy as a budget-saving device. This doesn’t apply to all airlines and all flights, especially international ones. When you call ahead to confirm flight information, always ask about food availability, too.

For me, packing food from home is just as important as remembering to take medicine or going to the bathroom before leaving the house. On a recent trip to California, I found myself confronted with boxed food that I simply could not eat. Even the flight attendant, who was offering the snacks from a cart, crinkled his brow and said, “I don’t like them.”

The first snack box I bought included a honey-cured turkey stick, cheese spread, cream crackers, cheese crackers, dried cranberries and four Oreo cookies. The second box I ordered included a 1-ounce bag of tortilla chips, an ounce of salsa dip, and 11/2 ounces of cheese dip, a honey-cured turkey stick and four shortbread cookies. The prospect of so much salt, sugar and additives that I either could not pronounce or could not fit into a food group left me discouraged – and hungry.

I didn’t like airplane food when it was free, and I don’t like it now that I have to pay for it.

Although I’m no nutritionist, I do know that orange-colored crackers, salty chips, fake cheese and sugary cookies are not good for my body, nor for fitting into the new dress I bought for the holidays. Combined with sitting for hours, time-zone changes and spotty, uncomfortable sleep, travel – already stressful – can become a nightmare for your insides.

On the other hand, the travel-food conundrum is the easiest of all the stresses to eliminate. Consider adding a few extra minutes to your luggage-packing schedule to prepare a bagged meal with extra snacks. After all, you wouldn’t think of leaving the house without packing your clothes, so why not pack your food for the day, too? You’ll save money, worries and, possibly, your waistline and mood.

When local registered dietician Katherine Musgrave and her husband, Stan, travel, she packs peanut-butter sandwiches on whole-wheat bread. Skip the jelly or jam, she said. Instead, pack grapes and apples, chopped carrots and celery, and a bag of nuts. Leftover sliced turkey breast on whole-wheat bread with margarine is another tasty option that will provide rather than deplete energy.

Vegetables, protein, fiber and complex carbohydrates are the stuff of good in-flight body care. “Nutrient dense” food is the term Musgrave used.

“When I’m walking in airports, it’s astounding to me how hard it is to find anything that will provide complex carbohydrates without a lot of sugar or fat,” said Musgrave, who always packs a sack of food for travel days. “But when you’re traveling, you have to do everything you can to keep your immune system as strong as possible.”

Here is a list of my personal approach to traveling without falling victim to bad food. Airplane travel is the most challenging. But why not pack a meal for the bus, train or car travel? ‘Tis the season to be jolly – and food savvy, too.

. Allow an extra 15 minutes before leaving the house to pack food.

. Take plenty of water and drink it. A well-hydrated body is a happy body.

. Pack food in disposable bags so you don’t have to carry containers throughout your trip.

. Not all food is suitable for travel, but think outside the “box.” Leftover chili, chicken or pasta will travel well and can be eaten at room temperature. Don’t forget to pack a plastic fork or spoon, too. (Ecologically-minded travelers may want to invest in reusable utensils.)

. Choose food you know makes you feel good. If apples give you gas, eat oranges instead.

. Snacks that are low in salt and sugar won’t make you thirsty or drain your energy. A mix of peanuts and raisins, crunchy cereal such as Wheat Chex, or fresh cheese and crackers are tasty choices.

. Sandwiches are perfect travel food. Peanut butter, almond butter, tofu and lean meats are best. Pack two, no matter how short your flight is. You never know when you might be delayed in an airport or stuck on the runway.

. Leaving and returning are equally important for making healthy food choices. If you are staying with friends, ask to use their kitchen to make your meals. Or buy your own food at a market and store it at your hotel overnight.

. As a last resort, many airports, including Bangor International Airport, have adequate food options in restaurants and cafes. Tuna salad or hummus on whole wheat can both be messy and smelly, but I’d rather run those risks than be hungry and testy.

. Include at least one special treat such as hard candy, sesame-honey bars or an oatmeal cookie. You can be good, but you don’t have to be an angel.

Alicia Anstead can be reached at 990-8266 and aanstead@bangordailynews.net.