food and water

food.

Nutrition / Food Consumption is incredibly important for every trip outside. It is the main opportunities for energy gain and is critical for keeping us going thought an entire day of hard work outdoors. Over a day in the field  simply to maintain energy, any given participant will need to consume double what the normal diet would suggest aiming for 4000 calories. The first step in accomplishing this is with a good hearty breakfast. Oatmeal's or cereals are great carbohydrate based options to begin the day.

Throughout the day, snacking is very important. As you body can only properly consume around 200 calories an hour, we want to match that as much as possible without it hindering our daily progress. Try to avoid having high protein and high fat snacks. Instead go for high carb snacks. Carbs will give you faster and more efficient energy. Granola bars are highly recommended (although read the nutrition information).  Especially avoid the mainstream idea of GORP as a trail snack. Generally GORP contains high amounts of fats, not carbs that you need to refuel yourself.  Fatigue, irritability and focus lapses can all begin from a poor nutrition plan.

water.

Hydration is probably the most important concept and focus for any outdoor activity. It can make or break any outdoor trip. A lack of hydration can also accelerate other issues whilst on the trail including potential injuries, emotional stability, and mental ability. being the foremost affected. With that, cognitive function can be severely impacted in times of severe dehydration. Dehydration can cause lapses in focus, drowsiness and even hallucinations in severe cases as your brain starts to shut down. Thus, staying hydrated is important to both your overall performance as well as maintaining your focus levels over the day.

As a rule, you should be trying to drink a liter of water every hour whilst working hard in the outdoors. Sweat and physical exertion can very quickly use up water reserves in the body and it is important to continue to replenish those levels. This will keep you performing in the outdoors especially as fatigue sets in. Of course, it is possible to get away with drinking less water during day trips and activities but during extended stays in the outdoor setting, hydration becomes more and more important.

Replenishing blood salt levels loss through sweat. Hydration options to replenish that comes in the form of electrolytes. Electrolytes are found in sorts of natural superfoods like avocado, bananas or even in coconut water. In the outdoors space, the most common source of electrolytes apart from out food is within sports drink mixes like Gatorade or Powerade. Electrolytes are critical in helping our body outright function especially in the production of energy.

For information on where to collect and how to purify water click here.