Good morning! You’ve made the wise and some how simultaneously questionable decision to go out on an adventure. You’re hungry – what now? As an uncertified and definitely not professional nutrition expert, here’s my hot take on the matter.
A Standard Adventure Day’s Menu
Chef’s Recommendation
7AM – CARBS. ALL THE CARBS. I love oats, which I pour into water I just boiled up in my kettle (a cup of the boiling water goes towards tea/coffee). Turn off the flame and pour in oat+milk powder+sugar. The latter two are not a must. Add chocolate and/or honey if available. Add berries if the shrubs are currently in fruit.
10:30AM – MORE CARBS. Bread with peanut butter and honey is my fave. Or cheese. Or hummus. Fact of the matter is: ya gotta eat! Alternatively, chug down 250gr of peanuts in one sitting every day around this time as I did on my ultramarathon. I have ZERO regrets.
1PM – Start adding some fibers into your day. My stomach gets pretty upset if I don’t eat veggies for an extended period of time (which will be a problem if I ever do make good on my plan to cycle Mongolia, but I’ll burn that bridge when I get to it.) If you’re around a restaurant/cafè/Edeka with a bread station, go nuts.
4PM – If it’s harvest season: eat all the apples, pears, plums. If it’s not: hope you have some snacks on you! I like dates and nuts as my in between snack.
6/7/8PM – You’ve successfully made it to dinner time. Welcome to The Chef’s Special: Red Lentil Soup.
Download the full (extremely complicated and difficult) recipe here!
Two reasons why I will ALWAYS push this meal in your face on a biketrip:
1) Red lentils cook FAST. Pour ‘em into boiling water and then turn off the gas. They’ll be done in about 5min.
2) PROTEINS FOR REGENERATION. You’re not going to magically build up muscle overnight… UNLESS you give your body what it needs. If you load up on lentils right before bed, your muscles can use that protein straight during the peak body repair hours.
And the next day… you rinse (literally), and repeat.
Oh, right – keep in mind that I’m a 1.6m tall, 50KG heavy woman. I have different nutritional needs depending on what phase of my menstrual cycle I’m in. Sometimes I need more fats, sometimes more proteins and sometimes all I want is Fanta and Ayran… you get the drift. What works for me, may not work for you. You know your body better than I do, so adjust as you require.