Whether you are heading out for a simple two-day trek or a long hiking trip, meal planning is essential. After a long day on the trail, your body needs to recover from accumulated fatigue. Several foods should be prioritised to replenish your energy reserves. However, you need to choose them carefully, as they must not be too heavy or too bulky, and they must keep long enough. Check out our tips and meal ideas for choosing the right food for your bivvy.
Key takeaways:
- Bivvy food is made up of items rich in proteins, carbohydrates and pulses.
- Freeze-dried meals and dehydrated soups are a good alternative to foods that need to be cooked.
- Daily caloric needs are almost doubled during a hiking trip.
- On a bivvy, you need to plan for breakfast, cold meals, warm meals and snacks.
- Choosing your bivvy food comes down above all to nutritional content, lightweight properties and ease of preparation.
Choosing the right food for your bivvy
Freeze-dried meals and dehydrated soups
What food should you take hiking? If you are heading out on a trek with a bivvy, your diet will consist mainly of foods rich in proteins, carbohydrates and pulses. Freeze-dried meals are ideal for this. These are pre-cooked, dehydrated meals packaged in pouches. To eat them, simply add warm or cold water, depending on the meal, and enjoy your portion.
Like dehydrated soups, freeze-dried meals offer many advantages. They take up little space in your bivvy kit, are lightweight, come in a wide variety of flavours, are nutritionally complete and packed with nutrients. You can enjoy carbonara pasta, chicken tikka, aligot with tomme cheese, Savoyard tartiflette or lamb with rice and lentils — all without needing to get out your cooking equipment. The only downside of freeze-dried meals, however, is their price, which tends to be on the higher side for quality options.
Starches and pulses
Another bivvy staple: starches and pulses. They are the most widely eaten foods on hiking trips. The reason is simple — they cook quickly, taste great, are inexpensive and, above all, provide plenty of energy thanks to their high carbohydrate content.
Just like freeze-dried meals and dehydrated soups, starches and pulses are fairly lightweight and easy to carry. Pasta, rice, cereals, couscous or lentils can be cooked in many different ways and with a variety of accompaniments. This allows you to vary your meals while keeping ingredients to a minimum.
Nuts and treat foods
Finally, nuts and treats are the third category of foods to take on a bivvy. Dried fruits are extremely rich in lipids and can be eaten throughout a day of hiking. You can also carry nuts, almonds and other seeds in your pockets or your hiking pack, which have the advantage of taking up very little space.
Treat foods such as chocolate, cheese or biscuits are not as advantageous in terms of space or weight. Even so, they are essential for keeping spirits up. Indeed, nothing beats a piece of chocolate to make you feel better after a tough day battered by bad weather. To add more flavour to your meals, you can also bring your favourite spices in your pack.
Understanding nutritional needs for hiking
Daily caloric needs
Hiking is an activity that demands intense effort. The body therefore needs more energy than usual. It is very important to eat well at your bivvy to recover, both physically and mentally. To do this, you need to take your daily caloric needs into account.
Under normal circumstances, an adult man is estimated to need 2,400 to 2,600 calories per day, while a woman requires 1,800 to 2,200 calories. On a hiking trip, these needs are almost doubled. They are estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 kcal / day. These figures vary, however, depending on your profile, the duration of the walk, the elevation gain, the effort exerted, and the weight of the hiking pack. All these factors will therefore influence your daily caloric needs.
Protein, carbohydrate and fat requirements
To reach higher-than-normal caloric targets, you need to include foods rich in carbohydrates, fats, proteins and fibre. Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for athletes. On the other hand, proteins support the repair and growth of muscle tissue.
Fats provide the energy needed, help with the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and play a role in hormonal regulation. Vitamins and minerals are essential on hiking trips. They are particularly important for energy metabolism, bone and muscle health, and immune function. Finally, you should avoid foods that are too fatty, too sweet or too salty, as these are much slower to digest. Bulky, heavy, perishable, low-calorie foods and alcoholic drinks should also be avoided.
To gear up before you head out, explore our:
Choosing the perfect meals for your bivvy
Breakfast
After a good night's rest, bivvy food starts with breakfast. For the first meal of the day, you should prioritise foods rich in complex carbohydrates, proteins and fibre. For this, your breakfast could for example consist of:
- Oat flakes, powdered milk, dried fruit and chocolate.
- Eggs and bacon with dried fruit.
- Wholemeal bread, peanut butter or cheese.
In any case, you can round off your meal with fresh fruit. For hydration, tea, coffee or powdered milk are a great way to start the day while warming yourself up.
Cold meals
If you are going hiking for several days, some of your meals will be cold, particularly at lunchtime. So what bivvy food works without a stove? The simplest option is to go for a composed salad, a sandwich or a wrap. To get all the nutrients you need for the effort ahead, you can choose from these five options:
- A sandwich made with wholemeal bread, cured ham, mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes.
- Slices of bread with country-style pâté and rocket.
- Bread with fish such as sardines, mackerel or canned tuna.
- A grilled chicken wrap with raw vegetables and yogurt sauce.
- A composed salad with green leaves, tomatoes, canned tuna and olives.
To round off your cold meal, you can have some comté cheese, peanuts or cured sausage. For dessert, you can choose a piece of fruit such as a banana or an apple compote.
Warm meals
Warm meals make up a large part of your bivvy eating. They are perfect for warming you up, lifting your spirits and helping you regain your strength after a long day. What are some stove-based bivvy meal ideas? To start, you can kick off your meal with a dehydrated soup. From there, you can opt for a freeze-dried meal or cook yourself a proper hot dish. Here are five stove-based meal options:
- Pasta with a mixed tomato sauce and canned tuna.
- Rice with lentils and spices.
- Couscous with dehydrated vegetables and chickpeas.
- Instant mashed potato with canned chicken.
- Chinese stir-fried noodles with vegetables.
Finally, your meal can be rounded off with cheese, a piece of fruit, fruit compote or chocolate.
Snacks
In addition to breakfast, cold meals and warm meals, your days on the trail should be punctuated by plenty of snacks. Remember to take regular breaks to rehydrate and eat a snack. Dried fruits and nuts are the go-to snacks for hikers. Alongside raisins, apricots, dates, walnuts, peanuts or hazelnuts, you can also eat fruit pastes, energy bars, drinkable fruit compotes or biscuits. A great way to restore your energy while boosting your caloric intake.
As you can see, planning your bivvy food carefully is essential to making the most of your hiking trip. Keep in mind that you should opt for lightweight, nutritious and easy-to-prepare foods such as freeze-dried meals, dehydrated soups, starches and pulses. Do not forget to pack nuts and a few treats to keep morale up. By understanding your caloric and nutritional needs, you ensure you stay in good shape and get the most out of your time in the great outdoors.
