lost_but_found

I highly emphasize that you bring something sweet and something salty to snack on. I have a high metabolism and burn up carbohydrates and sweat salts out constantly. I am not much of a sweets eater, but the few trips I didn't take something sweet to eat, I really regretted it!! I start craving the salts and sugars more than anything when I am out for a few days.

I have been trying different eating habits while on the trail. From personal experience, you want to eat a very large breakfast with as much nutrition as you can get to get your long day of hiking started. Like everyone said, oatmeals, peanut butter, breads of some sort, dried fruits and some meat for protien to keep the muscles healthy. The rest of the day I pretty much snack back and forth between high salt content - like jerkies and chips - and high carbohydrate content - like the gels and power bars. I rarely eat a big lunch because I snack all day long. But I always sit down and make a beverage and munch on a few protien boosters - like a protien bar or tuna in a pouch. Then for dinner, I try to stuff myself as full as I can get - makes you sleep even better!!!

Always go scope out your local grocery store first - it is so much cheaper than buying the freeze dried cardboard dinners. And you can find some much more satisfying meals. Think of weight and space in your pack and whether or not you will eat it. And heres a tip to keep that emergency day's worth of food - buy something that you would absolutely not eat. Because when it comes down to it - it might just save your life. So you may consider checking into the famous Mexican Beef to keep at the bottom of your bag in case of emergency.