It is so tricky to find convenient, pack-hardy foods that fuel not only your body, but your well being. We are sold bars and goos and tons of packaged, sugary items and we buy them because that's what athletes eat and if that's what athletes eat then they must be healthy. The problem is, they aren't healthy!
So what do we pack for a long excursion?
We always have nuts with us (always!) and sometimes beef jerky, if we can find some good stuff without a bunch of added sugar or preservatives, or you can make your own. Or sometimes we'll just take a baggie full of bacon!
Another easy thing is whole avocados. We'll get a couple and try to pack them in so they don't get too beat up and then we'll open them (don't forget a knife!) and either eat them straight up with a spoon or smash them up a bit and dig in with some carrots. (I highly recommend packing a little salt to sprinkle on top.)
We tend to stay away from too much fruit, but another option is a greenish banana or green apple with some nut butter. There are convenient little travel sized nut butters you can buy that work well for this. We tend to take carrots and celery to dip in nut butters in lieu of fruits.
Those were quick, easy things. If you want to plan ahead a little more here are some muffins that travel well and have pretty good ingredients. I usually want salty while we're climbing though and those suckers are on the sweeter side so I like to make these egg muffins and try to eat them within a couple hours so it's not too scary for them to be without refrigeration. Another good option is cubed, roasted sweet potatoes. They are easy to eat and give a good glucose bump.
These are Lane's favorite climbing snack. I mean really, who doesn't like pancakes?
This site has some great snack ideas...50 to be exact! I especially like some of the bar and veggie chip ideas for portability.
And if you really on the run and just need to grab a quick something at the convenience store to put in you jersey, Lara Bars and Kind bars are an ok option. They are still pretty dang packed with sugars but are a tad bit better than some of the others. One idea I'd like to pose is buying some of those baby food pouches like these. I know it seems weird to eat baby food but you can get good ingredients like butternut squash, carrots and apples together in one convenient, fast pouch...sort of like a natural goo. Just an idea for you to warm up to ;-)
What do you pack on your long days?