Not eating works for me. Read this:
Hunger helps fend off jet lag
I don't have to fast for 16 hours. On my most recent international flight MEL-LAX QF93 in Y+ then QF 107 LAX-JFK in Y my routine was as follows.
Depart MEL 0935 hours (we were about half an hour late so departure was about 1000 hours). As soon as I boarded the plane I set my watch to time in NYC e.g. Mel 0935 is NYC 1935hours. (Check for daylight savings in the country you travel to).
After we take off (I can't remember how long we were flying for, however) lunch was served. This I considered to be my dinner in NYC. After I ate given that on any average day I don't eat again after dinner this meant that I was not going to eat again till breakfast prior to arriving in LAX. My fast was effectively the time spent sleeping (as it was night in New York during the flight). When we were woken up a few hours prior to arriving in LAX I ate breakfast as it would have been breakfast time in NYC.
Time do the run through the terminal, passport control, luggage, customs, give my luggage back to Qantas, make my way to the gate to wait for departure.
QF107 0840 (1140 hrs NYC) arrive 1705 hrs. Take off we are served a tray this I considered my lunch in NYC. Sometime after the meal the FA's came around with snacks (I think was fruit and other little nibbles) which I declined as I don't normally eat at the time they brought the snack. On arrival in NYC, collect luggage and take bus to hotel. It was about 2000hours that I was sitting in my room eating a light dinner c/o room service.
I went to bed about midnight and it took my about half an hour to fall asleep, I woke up naturally at about 8am feeling refreshed and ready to go.
I was in the States for about three weeks travelling from NY to WI to CA and up to WA and each night I could fall asleep within a few minutes and providing I didn't have a late night I had no problems waking up in the am.
The only thing I did find was that I was tired at 1600hours. It didn't matter where I was in the country (regardless of timezone) but everyday at 1600hrs I was in desperate need of a coffee. Methinks it was more b/c I was up and out of my hotel room early, "running" around on the go all day and by 1600hrs I was just tired from having such a full day.
So basically what I do before departure is:
Figure out departure and arrival times in my new time zone. Work out when I normally eat around these times and eat ***only*** then, no matter how delicious the turkey panini smell (and turkey is one of my favourite types of meat). So as in my example above, as it is night in NYC no way am I going to be "midnight snacking" b/c I don't normally eat at these times.
Caution: those who have problems with their blood sugar should not attempt the fast. Those who may not have problems with their blood sugar per se (e.g. hypoglycaemia or someother medical condition) but if you do get very irritable and short tempered when you are hungry you probably should not attempt the fast as the last thing you need is to be screaming at the passport control guy at LAX b/c I am sure they will deny you entry for harrassing them :!: even if you don't get denied entry you don't need to be screaming as some poor soul (FA, Customs inspector, etc) just because you are hungry as it is not their fault.
hths,
ck
eta: make sure you drink a lot of water to stay hydrated (avoid caffeine and alcohol).
