Low Carb and Keto Coaching

Keto Walk

I have just done a long weekend walk in the Cairngorms, the first multi-day camping walk I have done since I went keto. I was quite apprehensive about what I should eat and how much I would need. After a really great walk, through one of the most remote and spectacular areas of Scotland, it turns out I needn’t have worried. I took far too much food and actually ate less than I do at home and never felt particularly hungry.

We started late on the first day so I had my normal eat-out lunch of chicken, avocado, olives and gherkins with two boiled eggs, as I hadn’t eaten breakfast. The first leg was 12km from Blair Atholl, up Glen Tilt, to just beyond Forest Lodge. Great campsite and supper of summer berry mix, thick cream and a coconut based granola with nuts, seeds and coconut oil. The granola is modified from this thinlicious.com recipe. I tone the fennel and spices way down and add chopped macadamias, walnuts and pecans (careful with the pecans, add them half way through or they burn). I also leave out the artificial sweetener and use a couple of chopped prunes to add a touch of sweetness.

Breakfast was a couple of boiled eggs and some pre-cooked and frozen sausages with mustard. That got me ready for the second day of 18 km or so, to a nice spot, well sheltered from a pretty strong wind, just beyond the ruined Bynack Lodge. Lunch to get there was a couple of sausages left over from breakfast and some biltong, and with a few snacks of Swiss hiking salami and droewors (dried, fatty beef sausage, another South African speciality) had along the way. Dinner was some spicy pre-cooked pork belly I had frozen and wrapped in bubble-wrap to keep cold. The freezing worked well for the pork and the sausages. (Note to self: cut into bite-size chunks next time!)

As the midges found us with gusto, breakfast was hastily cancelled and we headed out for day three, a proposed 16 km to the Pools of Dee. Good smooth walking with snacks of droewors and salami along the way, then relief from the rain with a lunch of granola, dark chocolate and tea at the Corrour Bothy. Joined by a spry 77 year old gentleman who had ridden up from Deeside on his e-bike as far as he could, and then walked the rest of the way. His only concession to age was not to take his boots off when fording rivers so he was steadier on his feet.

The gentleman’s scepticism over the availability of campsites at Pools of Dee proved well-founded, so we decided to push on through and down Lairig Ghru to Glen More where we had left a car and spend the night there. A good move, as although it made the last day long at 29 km, we did get there in time for last drinks in the pub.

We had some salami and nuts for “dinner” with a brief stop at about 6 pm. All-in-all I took far too much food with a good few sausages and some eggs, half the granola and most of the nuts untouched. I ate very little of my biltong but did have the droewors and some salami from my fellow hikers.

So as it turns out, I was over-thinking it, and keto catering for camping is simpler than I thought. My energy held out well with no real hunger or dips in energy apparent. It was interesting that I ate about half the volume of food compared with my non-keto companions. Nutrient density counts!