Recommended Food & Drink

This information is for aimed at less experienced walkers / arduous events. If you’re an experienced walker or are coming on a short walk, navigation course etc, it’s less important but worth reading.

Lack of energy and/or dehydration are major contributors to accidents in the mountains. It’s my job to take care of logistics, navigation & safety but it’s your responsibility to ensure that you consume and carry enough food & drink for your chosen event.

Please read this page carefully. Before attending an event, you’ll need confirm that you’ve read and understood the nutritional requirements. If you arrive without enough food & water on the day, I may turn you away with no refund. This is for your own safety.

If you have any questions about nutritional requirements, please contact me.

Hillwalking Energy Requirements

Most people underestimate how much energy is required to go hillwalking for 5+ hours. It can be more than 3000 calories (kcals) over and above your usual daily calorie requirement. Depending on your size, that can be over 5500 calories in total. Hillwalking burns around 50:50 carbohydrates and fat. This is an average over the day as carbohydrate usage is biased towards the start of the day on the ascent. This is when your heart rate is at it’s highest and your body is working the hardest, hence the phrase: carbs to climb, fat for flat.

You can only eat a limited amount of food on the hill, plus food digests into useable energy a lot slower than most people realise. You’ll be down off the mountain before converting the majority of the energy from a midday lunch. To stay energised throughout the day, it’s best to pre-load your body on the lead up and snack throughout the day.

Essentially, treat big days in the mountains the same as you would a marathon.

Before The Event

Eat more than usual a few days before the walk, especially the day before. Lots of good fats (avocado, oily fish, nuts & seeds, cheese, dark chocolate etc) and lots of starchy carbohydrates (pasta, rice, potatoes, oats, vegetables etc). Your body will temporarily store the excess carbs & fats but don’t worry, you’ll use them up and more on a big day in the hills.

There’s no benefit to increasing protein intake on the lead-up, however, certain proteins (steak, pork, herring, salmon, venison & tuna) are high in creatine which will aid stamina and energy delivery when your body is working hard.

Drink plenty of fluids, around 3 litres per day. Avoid alcohol the night before the walk.

It’s a good idea to have an easy / relaxed day before the walk.

In The Morning

Eat as large a breakfast as you can. A full Scottish breakfast is great but unless you have black pudding, beans, potato scone & toast, it’s low in carbohydrates as it’s mainly protein. Other options are, a bowl of porridge with honey and banana, lots of wholemeal or seeded toast with eggs or peanut butter, granola and yoghurt with berries & honey.

Again, drink plenty of fluids.

In The Mountains

I’ll encourage you to snack and drink throughout the day. We’ll stop to eat a few times as opposed to one big lunch stop. Please carry some easily accessible oat bars / trail mix etc to snack on. I always carry 2 or 3 in the top zip of my rucksack.

In the afternoon, it’s a good idea to eat snacks high in protein to aid recovery. I tend to eat a pack of Biltong.

Food suggestions

Whatever food you take, make sure that you’ve tried it before and enjoy it. You need to eat on the day so it’s not the time for experimenting with new food.

Carry more food than you think you’ll need. It’s always better to carry some back down than run out. A plastic shopping bag is ideal to hold your food and carry any rubbish / wrappers, peel etc off the hill.

Here are some food suggestions. You don’t need everything on this list but look to carry at least 2000-3000 calories depending on body size & length of day:

Drink suggestions

If you follow my advice above about pre-loading your body prior to the walk and carry the right food, you won’t need any energy drinks.

  • Water (at least 1 litre, more on hot / long days).

  • Flask of tea or coffee - especially on a cold day.

  • On hot days, electrolytes will replace the minerals lost through sweating. Ideally one tablet / sachet in the morning and one when you finish. You can get Dioralyte from most supermarkets & pharmacies or SIS Hydro from Amazon or some outdoor stores.

After The Mountains

This is the time to eat lots of protein (meat, fish, chickpeas etc) to aid recovery of your muscles and other aches. Your bodies carbohydrate stores will be depleted so they’ll need topped up too (pasta, rice, potatoes, oats, vegetables etc).

Lots of fluids, maybe some more electrolytes (see above) if it was a hot / demanding day.

If you have a protein shaker then take it and have some straight after the hill to speed recovery. I recommend SIS REGO - it’s a combination of protein, carbohydrate & electrolytes.