Staying Healthy While Camping

By: Megan Barefoot

My family gets out in the great outdoors camping almost every weekend from April till October. We are lucky to live close to the Rocky Mountains and love the freedom of the great outdoors! Let’s be perfectly honest though, eating healthy at the campsite is not always easy. You may have limited resources and a lack of good refrigeration. Let’s not forget that many of us look at our time away from the city as a mini vacation and this mindset can trigger “treat-time” thoughts while away on vacation.

There are ways you can make healthy food choices while camping. My top five tips are:

1. Plan ahead and stay the course! If you plan the meals out before you go grocery shopping and stick to the plan you can keep mostly to your health foods and allow for a few “treats” here in there. Meals can be planned as healthy as at home but you may allow for a sweet treat for coaxing the kiddos up the hiking trails, or an ice cream stop as incentive for a great day of paddling.

2. Balance Your Meals. Even while out in the wilderness you want to make sure you have a balance of healthy complex carbs, lean proteins and healthy fats. This will keep your energy up and the cravings away.

3. Keep it Cool. Try your best to not let your food spoil! It’s important to keep your fruits and veggies and perishable items like meat cold. Having a good cooler with plenty of ice or if you are more of a “glamper” (glamour camper) you might have a small fridge in your camper or RV. This many seem glamourous, but these tiny refrigerators have their limitations! You will need to pick your foods wisely as you only have so much space!

4. Choose Your Methods of Cooking. Don’t forget that everything might not be able to be cooked over an open fire (or you might run into a fire-ban) so having a portable grill and/or stove with you! This will allow for healthy options such as grilled veggies and grilled meats.

5. The final tip is to bring your own filtered water, a water filter or purification tablets. I can not even tell you how many times we have pulled into a campground where we were supposed to have access to clean drinking water but something has changed between the time we booked and we arrived. Be prepared as this can ruin a trip and you really don’t want to take your chances with unclean drinking water!

Once you have made your meal plan, create a shopping list based on your meal plan and like I said earlier, try to stick to the plan while shopping! When you get home from the store if you pack all your foods by meal and prep all the veggies ahead of time this makes cooking much less of an issue at the campsite. Remember, if you are camping in bear country you will need to make sure that all your food is packed in bear proof containers. If you are backpacking make sure you use double zip lock bags, pre-cook some of your meals and bring an extra waterproof, smell proof bag that you can hang in a tree (way up high!).

There are plenty of possibilities to stay healthy and on track while camping. If you would like to learn more I definitely think I have this down to a science! I would love to chat and help you out whether it will be your first trip out or you camp all the time but the food is a struggle. Let’s Chat!

Want to get even healthier? Are you dealing with the summer camping struggle? Could you use some support figuring out what foods to bring while you explore the great outdoors? Curious about how health coaching can help you make healthy changes? Let’s talk! Schedule an initial complimentary consultation with us today—or pass this offer on to someone you care about! Visit www.noshoesnutrition.com and sign up for a FREE consultation.  We work with people from all over the world individually or in groups so don’t let anything hold you back!