Hunger is a funny thing. A person can entirely not feel it when there’s enough food to be found. But then, it can suddenly strike like a freight train only a short time later. When there isn’t going to be a meal for hours, the pangs of hunger can put a damper on even the most otherwise fantastic trip. It’s hard to enjoy the sun and sand, let alone do something adventurous, when you feel like your stomach is launching a revolution.
Keep in mind that this is bad enough for adults, who have the experience to know when they are likely to get hungry and who are no longer in a good mood. Adults know how to ration their energy to a point, and can usually tough it out to still have fun. Unfortunately, this doesn’t often apply to kids, who also tend to come along on trips. When the kids get hungry, the entire trip can go off the rails in a hurry.
Ensuring Portions Match Exertion
The first thing you need to do is to be sure that everyone is eating enough at meals. Snacks are good, but it’s hard to compensate for the lack of a proper meal, even when you have lots of snacks. That would also be an excellent way to diminish what you’re carrying. When you know there’s going to be a lot of moving around, encouraging everyone to eat heartily is a wise move.
Packing What You Need
A lot of ink is regularly spilled about what adults need, mainly when an adult is looking to get fitter and lose fat. The macronutrients that include protein, fats, and carbohydrates are vital, and so is getting enough calories for what you’re going to do. What a lot of people forget to focus on is that children also need these things, and sometimes in even greater supply.
Adults tend to invest their energy a bit more conservatively, particularly when they know there won’t be much food for a few hours, and they will be moving around. Children tend to burn themselves out quickly, and then act surprised when their energy reserves begin to falter amid sprinting around. Often, a child will burn through more calories in an active day than an adult two to three times their size.
Keeping Nutrient Density on Top of Mind
Everyone knows you need a lot of calories when you’re going to be active, and getting enough calories tends to be many people’s focus. What they often forget is that not all calories are created equally. A calorie of sugar is going to burn off or be turned into fat far more quickly than a calorie of protein or fat.
This is why keeping a supply of wholesale walnuts is smarter than just carrying a bunch of sugar packets. The nutrient density of nuts, seeds, and dried meats will help everyone stay feeling full so that stomachs won’t grumble, and the trip can be enjoyable.
