Eating Well on the Road

25May10

So much of my state of mind depends on what I eat. Everything seems bearable when I have a full belly of healthy food. The reverse is also true, if I’m hungry all it takes is the smallest obstacle and it feels like the world is crumbling down around me. Of course, if on a rock-climbing or surfing trip eating well is also critical to performance.

When traveling the basic human needs such as food and shelter require greater effort. The more specific the needs the greater the effort. When I first started traveling and climbing throughout the continental USA over 10 years ago I was a fast food fanatic. I had all the fast food specials wired: on monday I knew it was $1 chicken burgers at McDonalds, on tuesday the whopper was on special, wednesday was the double bacon cheese burger at Wendy’s etc. This lasted for a year and a half until I arrived in Bishop California and started hanging out with climber Todd Bradlee. Todd was climbing much harder than me so I watched closely his methods. The most obvious difference was Todd’s stringent attention to diet. I imitated his methods and the more healthy food I ate the more I enjoyed it. I even started to like salad!

Depending on the type of trip and the country you are in, eating strategies vary widely. Inevitably you make compromises due to the limitations of your travel set up. Most commonly I find myself without refrigeration forcing me to cover eating needs as simply as possible. If I am on the road without a fridge I like to visit a grocery store daily (if it is in proximity) so I can eat perishables that would otherwise not store. I enjoy cereal most mornings so powdered milk has been a god send when without a fridge. A daily dose of greens is good for sore muscles and good for anyone with an acidic stomach. If without a fridge and away from a grocery store or traveling in a country where it is difficult to get salad I bring along “greens plus” powdered drink. If I stumble upon a really good whole food restaurant, such as the Space of Love Cafe here in New Brighton, I will eat there daily.

Finding a balance between food that gives eating enjoyment and food that feels good inside your body can be a challenge. One of the easiest ways to give eating enjoyment is variety. A meal of 4 or 5 small items is generally more enjoyable than a meal of a large serving of a single item.

I have gone through phases of using vitamin supplements and never seen or felt improvements in well being or performance. I am not a nutritional expert but I have heard that vitamins in multivitamins pass through your system without being absorbed. The body seems to be better at absorbing vitamins from real foods.

Additionally, I am a bonker. I know some athletes that can go all day on a power bar but for me if I don’t get enough calories during an endurance day I crash hard. I have seen noticeable improvement with endurance performance from drinking electrolyte drinks like the emergen-c pouches added to water.

I see a lot of athletes who focus hard on the work-out but don’t put energy into a recovery routine. The first step to a good recovery is getting a good hit of protein sooner then 20 minutes after a workout. The other important recovery agents are rest and stretching.

Some of my all time favorite food items from a restaurant:
- whole grain crust pizza
- burrito with all the fixings
- healthy burger

Some of my all time favorite items from a grocery story:
- veggie dogs
- cheddar cheese
- dark chocolate
- hummus
- single serving salad
- go lean cereal
- protein powder
- cliff bars
- greens plus
- emergen-c
- assorted fruits
- good coffee
- whole grain bread
- dried whole bananas
- powdered milk
- tuna
- canned vegetables
- canned fruits

Image: I’m still in New Zealand but this is an image I made in Java, Indonesia, of a stall selling tasty deep fried food.
www.aaronblack.com

click on photos to enlarge (all photographs on this blog are copyright protected and may not be used in any way without permission from Aaron Black)

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