Wednesday 12 August 2015

Hungry Hiker

My apologies as I thought I had already posted this before!

A hungry hiker makes for a horrendous hike.
I've had a look at the weather forecast for Saturday, and as it's supposed to be sunny, why not take advantage of a glorious day and go for a walk or hike.
For my experiences of hiking, I've always found it more of a struggle when I haven't had complimentary snacks to keep me going. I thought I'd share with you what I took with me to Snowdon a few weeks ago.

* I started the day off with scrambled eggs on wholemeal toast. I normally wouldn't recommend anything other than porridge but WOW those eggs were good. And in fact, they were relatively filling and kept me going until my first snack around 13:00 (which is pretty good going considering I had breakfast at 08:15).
* When we got to the halfway point, I tucked in to a couple of plain oatcakes and a banana. Oats are a great source of energy and they keep you fuller for longer. Why do you think the Scottish soldiers could march for longer? Bananas, like oats, release their energy slowly. Plus their rich in potassium which helps keep the cramping pangs at bay.
* Once I was 3/4 of the way up Snowdon, I found that a couple of squares of dark chocolate were a welcomed boost of energy, especially as the path started to get steeper.
* Reaching the top meant it was time for some dried apricots. A solid favourite from my previous time of climbing Snowdon. Dried fruits are packed with carbohydrates which help for an energy boost.
*Most importantly, I drank water the entire way. I drank a 500ml bottle before breakfast, a 500ml bottle before the hike and a 1.5l during. I then made sure I drank water afterwards. I'm certainly not feeling as sore as I have been after previous hikes, and I think the water helped.

* Other foods I would highly recommend...
  1. Mixed nuts - so many health benefits to nuts, but like everything else they give you a boost and fill that tummy!
  2. Soreen banana malt loaf - these are great! Plus you can get them in a handy lunchbox size too. I had specifically written banana because it's my favourite but the original malt loaf is scrumptious too. I'm yet to try the orange one but I'm sure they've hit the nail with that one too.
  3. Eat natural bars - my favourite has to be the almond and apricot yoghurt coated bar. Delicious...
*Foods to avoid...
  1. English Breakfast - as tempting as this may be with an impending hike ahead of you, it really doesn't fill you up in the right way. Imagine it like this... are you ever really hungry, and then you have fast food and it satisfies you there and then, but an hour or so later you feel hungry again? That's because the fast food
  2. Fizzy Drinks - just don't drink these. They make you bloated with unnecessary gas and it will make the climb so much harder than it needs to be.
  3. Foods high in fat or protein - these will take much longer to digest and could upset your stomach in the heat.
Hope this information helps you out on your next hike and remember to keep hydrated and eat a little bit often.

Happy hiking everyone!

Alice x

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