Nutrition on the trail

Going for a hike doesn't only mean that you take your hiking shoes, but it means you need to pack some kind of nutrition. But how do you know what to take with you? This is how I do it:

 

BREAKFAST

 

I usually have a good breakfast before very hike. Good for me means: I have a lot of carbs and proteins. You should try to find out, what kind of food your body needs. Ideally you should have some energy quickyl available for the first hour or so. Afterwards the long-term energy of your breakfast jumps in. Hopefully a good breakfast keeps you saturated until lunch time. If not,  (and you never know exactly before) make sure to bring some good snacks on the trail!

If you're interested I will post some of my favourite healthy recipes for breakfast.

 

If I am planning longer hikes or sunset hikes, I usually start walking without breakfast and have breakfast on the trail. In this case it's most times dark bread and cheese. Hiking without breakfast is something I only recommend for more advanced hikers. It's good to know how your body reacts and you should definitely not forget to stop after some time and eat. DOing long hikes without nutrition is never a good idea!!!

 

SNACKS

 

There are several kinds of snacks that you can easily carry in your backpack. One thing I always carry are any kinds of candies. Sometimes you just need some extra sugar and calories. Might be the function of these candies is only placebo, but I like it.

These are some of my favourite candies for the trail:

• "Gute Laune Drops"* (="Candies for a good mood"), these ones are sour and sweet and I love the taste of lemon!
• classic "Ricola"-Candies* with delicious herbs. I like the typical swiss taste of wild herbs. (Additionally they are wonderful when having a sore throat!)

 

Another kind of stuff you can take with you is protein or granola bars. There is an incredible amount of bars on the market. I would advise to take some that you like. EVen if maybe another bar might have more protein, less sugar or whatever. I bet: if you don'tlike the taste, you won't eat them and they are just useless weight in your backpack. My favourite bars are the following:

• The "Flapjacks" of Hafervoll* are the best bars I ever ate! I had the chance to meet the boys who made up these bars a few years ago and these guys are really passionate about what they are doing! My favourite bar: cocoa-hazelnut! Mmmh, yummy!!!
• basically, you could just go through your local supermarket and try different bars until you found your preferred ones.

FRUIT

 

I love to have fruit with me while hiking, although this can be a little challenging. Anyway these are the best things to take with you:

• Bananas get squishy and brown very fast (except if you use such a banana box, which I don't have). I like to take bananas anyway, because they have alot of caories and I love their taste! Just make sure you place some above everything else in your backpack and it's not to warm outside :)
• I really need to be in the right mood for apples, but they are easy to carry and you have only very few waste. The only thing I don't like about it: very often apples have a lot of wax on their shell and you should not forget to wash them really good and/or to scratch off the wax with a knife.
• Melons, grapes and cherries should be better carried in a box. I recommend to cut melons first, it makes it a lot easier to eat them during your hike!

LUNCH

 

Depending on the length of your hike you should not forget about lunch! Either you could bring your own lunch (sandwiches, fruits, additional snacks) or - my favourite version - get into a chalet/alpine hut/restaurant on the trail and enjoy something traditional of the country you are hiking in!

 

DINNER

 

I assume that most time you are not hike for 24 hours, so maybe you wanna have dinner afterwards. If you are not coming back home to cook something on your own or if you are not staying in a hut or close to a restaurant, you could have some ready camping meals with you:

• my favourite ready-meals are the one made by TREKNEAT. They offer nearly everything from pasta, rice* and even delicious desserts*. All you need is boiling water and a spoon or fork. That's it - enjoy your meal!!

Oh yes, I think I don't need to say that you should always carry WATER with you!!!

 

*these links are Affiliate-Links.