It is a commonly known phrase that an army marches on its stomach. The same rings true for those completing the Army’s Ten Tors event; it is equally as important that Ten Tors challengers get the right nutrition to make the walking as enjoyable as possible and improve their recovery time.

General advice

  • Food = Fuel, you will need more than a normal day.
  • A person weighting 50Kg, carrying a 10kg rucksack, walking up & down hills of 1-5% for 8 hours, covering 28km will burn approx. 3613 calories, potentially more if it’s cold/hot, head winds, heavier rucksack etc
  • This website lets you work out how many calories you will use hiking and need to replace during the day.
  • Think about how many calories you will get from the food you have packed and will eat during the day.
  • Remember that the food eaten whilst walking needs to be balanced – carbohydrates, fruit and vegetables, protein and then some sugar.
  • Meals shouldn’t all be high energy foods as these can lead to sugar highs followed by lows which are exacerbated by the long distance walked and heavy rucksacks. 
  • The best thing is to take food you like and similar to what you normally eaten, just eat more of it to account for the energy being used up.
  • Lunch is generally eaten on the move too, so think about things you can stuff in your pockets and easily eat whilst still walking.
  • Food has to survive two/three days out of the fridge in your rucksack, it may get hot or cold and it may get squashed, come Sunday you still need to have appetising food to eat!
  • Pack & label your meals with meal & day, so you can track you are eating enough and it is easier for the kit check. 
  • You must take your rubbish home with you. We will not tolerate you dropping your litter or leaving in the minibuses. So think about leaving whatever excess packaging/containers you can at home. Make sure rubbish gets put in your bag securely so it doesn’t blow out of a pocket.
  • Not all food is as appealing when tired – think about what is enjoyable and easy to eat. Experiment over the hikes to see what works and what doesn’t work. There is no point carrying food, you don’t want to eat.
  • Talk to one of the training team for more advice & ideas.

Examples of meals

Breakfast – It needs to be hot and filling to give you a great start to the day

  • Porridge with dried fruit (Quaker Instant Porridge 164kCal, 45g + Raisins, 150kCal, 50 g = 314kCal, 214g) 
  • Baked Beans & Sausagues  1 wayfarer style meal (£5, 432kCal, 300g)
  • Hot drink – Instant Hot Chocolate sachet (50p, 112kCal, 28g)

Lunch

  • Teams will not stop for lunch as this wastes valuable walking time, so lunch needs to easily accessible and easy to eat on the go.
  • Sandwiches or wraps (wholegrain is best) with lots of appetising filling (Peanut butter, Jam, Chocolate spread, don’t forget Sunday’s filling needs to keep out of the fridge until Sunday, avoid fresh meat & fish.
  • Fruit (You will need to carry the apple core/banana skin/orange peel, it can’t be thrown away)
  • Crisps (helps top up salt levels) – 100kCal a bag (Think one small bag a day, not all your calories from crisps)
  • Chocolate bar (helps top up the sugar levels) Mar Bar 225kCal, 51g
  • Granola bars/Flapjack

Walking snacks (these should not replace proper meals!)

  • Bring a mix of savoury & sweet food, as well as textures so you keep eating. Eating the same thing all the time gets boring, and you will eat less.
  • Break down large packets into smaller bags for different days, meals
  • Trail mix (Make your own, nuts – cashews, hazelnuts, almonds, dried fruit, seeds, chocolate M&M, pretzels, cheerios,  and Haribo – all mixed together)
  • Bombay mix
  • Peanuts (Check for allergies in your group)
  • Sweets and chocolate – Boiled, chews, mints
  • Dried fruit (Dried Mango, Banana chips, Raisins)
  • Flapjack (Homemade)
  • Catering packs of biscuits (2 to 3 biscuits per pack)
  • Some treats to share with the rest of the team (a great motivational boost!) Chocolate Digestives x2 160kCal (Not so good in hot weather)

Dinner – must be consumed hot (it needs to be a proper high-calorie meal, pot noodles are not ok!)

  • Chicken curry, Pasta & Meat balls, Chilli Con Carni Wayfarer style meal – (£5) approx. 450kCal, 300g
  • Real Turmat, Reindeer Stew (£13 – Freeze dried/dehydrated, expense, other flavours available, not to everyone’s taste) 578kCal, 111g (plus water)
    • You will be in a tent of 3, you can all have a different meal, but all use the same boiling water to cook.
  • Macaroni & Pesto (Cooks in 8mins/20p for 100g) – 328kCal, 100g (dry/pre-cooking)
    • Can result in washing up!

Why not get creative – 

  • Wayfarer Chilli Con Carn with rice (£5) – Nonmeat version also available, 444kCal, 300g
  • Add – a few crushed Tortilla Chips (Limited Cals), dried onions, extra chilli powder for more kick, salt or pepper sachets, ketchup or mayo sachets
    • Share some wraps between your group adding calories – Old El Paso Wraps 122kCal, 41g per wrap 

Snack / pudding

  • Wayfarer Puddings (£5) –  Sticky Toffee Pudding 582kCal, 200g
  • Instant custard with broken biscuits & dried apple slices (Homemade – Camping Apple Crumble)
    • Think about making it & eating it out of a tough “boil in the bag”, bag to avoid washing up 
  • Summit to Eat Custard Apple Crunch (Dehydrated £7)  424kCal, 87g
  • Hot drink (Can be more than one)
    • Instant Hot Chocolate (112kCal, 28g)
    • Decaf tea and UHT milk sachet, add sugar for energy (TSP sugar 16kCal)
    • Instant Caramel Latte sachet (50p) 88kCal, 21g  (Avoid too much Caffeine before bed)
    • Instant soup (Good on a cold evening, less so on a hot May evening)

  • How many calories have you planned for your day?
  • How heavy is your days food?