Nutrition
Pack a plan, not just snacks. A simple way to keep eating on long days, with useful numbers and room for real life.
Nathan Gee, Peaksted Coach
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3 min
The view is getting better. Your mood is getting worse. The next climb looks suspiciously bigger than it did on the map. Before you decide that you are simply not fit enough, ask a less dramatic question: when did you last eat?
Make food easy to reach and easy to repeat. A brilliant lunch at the bottom of your pack is not much use if you keep putting off the stop.
Use the numbers as a starting point
Burke and colleagues describe 30–60 grams of carbohydrate per hour as a useful range for longer-duration sport; harder, very prolonged efforts may benefit from more. Jeukendrup’s review stresses matching intake to duration and intensity. Hiking is not a race: treat the range as something to trial, not a compulsory dose. Appetite, effort, tolerance and medical needs differ.
Calculated planning examples: hours × grams per hour. These lines do not measure calories burned or predict performance.
At 30–60 g/hour, six hours means 180–360 g of carbohydrate across your walking food; eight hours means 240–480 g. That is carbohydrate weight—not the weight of the food—and it is not a complete daily meal plan.
Turn it into food you want to eat
Before: eat a familiar breakfast. If the start is early, keep it manageable and bring something accessible for later.
During: try a small portion every 30–45 minutes. Mix sweet and savoury foods you already tolerate: sandwiches, fruit, rice snacks or bars. Read labels rather than guessing the carbohydrate in a serving.
Practise: trial the plan on an ordinary walk. Note what you ate, stomach comfort and whether energy stayed steady. Change one thing next time.
After: eat a normal meal with carbohydrate and protein. Tomorrow’s walk starts with today’s recovery.
Water needs a plan, too
Know the refill points and treatment requirements. Drink according to thirst and conditions rather than forcing a fixed volume. Salt-containing food or electrolytes may be useful on long, sweaty days; they do not make overdrinking safe. Get individual advice if you have a condition affecting fluid or food intake.
Do this before the next walk
Lay out the food on the kitchen bench, portion it by time on trail, and put the first two snacks where you can reach them. Carry a sensible contingency for delays. The goal is not perfect arithmetic—it is a reliable rhythm that lets you stay present for the day.
General sports-nutrition education. A sports dietitian can personalise fuelling for diabetes, gastrointestinal issues, dietary restrictions or demanding expeditions.
Keep exploring
Research behind the advice
Ready to put this into practice?
