Mr Z

AI Prompt for Airport and Travel Food: By a Coach

Francesco Zen, founder of ZTraining · Published 9 July 2026 · Updated 9 July 2026

The prompt

Copy-paste prompt, built from 18 years of coachingAct as my coach for eating well on a travel day. Before answering, ask me for: how long the travel day is, roughly what is available where I will be (airport type, flight length, whether I can bring food), and what my day looks like once I land, working or resting. Once you have that: 1. Help me plan for genuinely limited options, most airport food is expensive, processed, and low in protein, so tell me the realistic best choices from what airports typically offer, not an ideal I will not find there. 2. If I can bring food through security, give me practical options that travel well and do not need refrigeration or reheating. 3. Address long gaps between meals directly, since travel days often mean either nothing for hours or eating out of boredom. Give me a simple structure to avoid both. 4. Factor in time zones and flight length if relevant, since eating patterns that work for a 2-hour flight do not work for a 12-hour one. 5. Keep hydration in the plan, not as an afterthought, travel dehydration is real and affects how hungry and tired I feel. 6. Be realistic about what happens once I land. If I am heading straight into work, tell me what to prioritise versus what can wait until I am settled. Ask me the setup questions now, before giving me a plan.

Why this prompt works

Most nutrition advice assumes access to normal food environments, a kitchen, a proper restaurant, a grocery store, none of which exist inside a departure lounge. This prompt starts from the actual constraint, genuinely limited, often poor-quality options, and works forward from there, rather than offering advice that quietly assumes a Whole Foods is somewhere nearby.

Long, irregular gaps are treated as the real problem, not the food quality itself. Someone who has not eaten properly in eight hours makes worse decisions at the gate than someone with a simple structure to prevent that gap forming in the first place, regardless of how healthy the eventual meal is.

A real-world example

Take a 10-hour travel day: a short flight, a long layover, then a long-haul flight landing into a work morning. The right output front-loads protein where it is easiest to find, plans a portable snack for the layover to avoid the low point that usually leads to poor gate food decisions, and gives a simple landing-day priority, hydration and a real meal first, work second.

The plan should look boring and repeatable, not like a curated travel menu that assumes options most airports do not actually have.

Where a single prompt hits its ceiling

Airport food options vary enormously by terminal and airline, and a prompt is working from general knowledge of what airports tend to offer, not what is actually available at your specific gate that day.

Delays and disruption are also outside its view entirely. A plan built for a 10-hour travel day does not automatically adjust when it becomes a 16-hour one, and the food strategy needs re-thinking in the moment, which a one-off prompt cannot do for you.

Common questions

What should I eat at the airport when trying to stay on track?

Whatever gets closest to a real protein source with the fewest processed extras, a grab-and-go option with actual protein beats pastries or fast food defaults. Bringing your own food through security when possible is usually the strongest option.

How do I avoid overeating on travel days?

Prevent the long gap that causes it. A simple structure, something eaten every few hours rather than nothing for eight followed by whatever is available at the gate, avoids the extreme hunger that leads to poor decisions.

Does travel ruin a diet?

Not inherently. A travel day handled with a simple plan costs very little compared to a normal day, the damage usually comes from having no plan at all and improvising under time pressure and limited options.

Francesco Zen is the founder of ZTraining and ZLIFE, with 18 years of coaching experience working with executives across the UK, US, and UAE. He built Mr Z, an AI coach trained on his methodology to bring the same approach to a wider audience.