MHA 630 week 2 Assignment Discussion

Let’s Take a Hike

This paper presents the meals that the group should take for breakfast, lunch, supper, and their snacks during the trail.MHA 630 week 2 Assignment Discussion

Breakfast

            For breakfast while in the cabin, the following are the foods that the hiking group should have to keep them energized for the trails. The group should pick from these combinations:

  • Oatmeal with milk and fruits.
  • Greek yoghurt and fruits.
  • Whole grain rice with fish and vegetables.
  • Hydrate with about 4 cups of water.

These breakfast options are important because they have a high starch content, which is important for the hikers to have because of the energy required. The hikers need to have complex carbohydrates such as brown rice or oatmeal because they are filling and not easily broken down into sugars that could slow down the body (Ace, 2020). Therefore, they should consider having these options that pack them with sufficient energy without the risk of lethargy brought about by eating simple carbohydrates. To add to this, the hikers should keep the breakfast light because overfeeding tends to be tasking on the body, lowering its energy levels. Hydration is also important to keep the body fresh and energized for the trails.

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Snacks

Snacking during the hike is crucial to balance the energy levels for the hikers. Additionally, the body has metabolized the breakfast by the time it is mid-morning. Therefore, a snack is important to re-energize the group. The following are the snack options to consider for this group:

  • Coconut water without added sugar
  • Peanut butter (however, take in small amounts because they dehydrate the body).
  • Fresh fruit such as an apple.

The options above are nutrient dense and would help the hikers continue with the trails without lowering their energy levels. Fresh fruit is a better option compared to dried fruit because the body rehydrates the fruit to digest it. Therefore, the body dehydrates to process the stomach contents (Gottschall, 2016). Apples have sufficient sugars and are easier to pack compared to fruits such as bananas which may smash in the bag. The hikers require sufficient hydration to ensure optimal energy levels. The snacks should also be light to avoid overfeeding, which may be lethargic to the body. Coconut water is another important option because it provides the body with electrolytes such as sodium, potassium, phosphorous, and magnesium, which are all crucial for activities that require energy (Kleiner & Greenwood-Robinson, 2018).MHA 630 week 2 Assignment Discussion

Lunch

            For lunch, the best food to have would be a tuna sandwich, where the sandwich has whole meal bread or bun. The lunch should be light but filling, and with complex starch and low-calorie protein such as tuna. The vegetables in the sandwich provide vitamins and keep the gut fresh. It is important that the hikers ensure to carry a small cooler with them to store the tuna, to avoid food borne infections that could ruin their trip. The lunch should also include about 3 cups of water to rehydrate and energize the body cells.

Recovery Dinner

After the hike, the hikers should make sure to have a recovery dinner preferably within 3 hours after the hike. This is to avoid low energy from spending most of the energy during the hike. The following are meal options for a recovery dinner:

  • Brown rice and breast chicken stew.
  • Apples
  • Water

The brown rice and chicken stew are healthy meal options which provide the body with complex starch to reenergize. The chicken breast stew is also healthy and low in calories, hence eliminating the lethargy to the body cells in processing the animal fat. Rehydration is critical during the dinner to stock back the water used up in the body during the hike.

References

Ace, T. (2020). Eating Well on the Trail: A Guide to Homemade Hiking Meals. Neon Sunrise Publishing.

Busch, S. (2018). What Are the Health Benefits of a Tuna Salad Sandwich?. Healthy Eating | SF Gate. Retrieved 21 November 2020, from https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/health-benefits-tuna-salad-sandwich-6584.html.

Gottschall, E. (2016). Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Intestinal Health Through Diet. Echo Point Books and Media.

Kleiner, S., & Greenwood-Robinson, M. (2018). The new power eating. Human Kinetics.

You and your family have booked a cabin just outside of Gatlinburg, TN. Everyone is excited about tomorrow’s plan to tackle the Ramsey Cascades trail, a beautiful eight mile round-trip hike that gains more than 2,000 feet in elevation over the course of four miles. The park brochure says this trail is considered to be a strenuous hike, but it will allow you to view the tallest waterfall in the park (at the highest point of the hike at the four-mile, half-way point) so everyone has decided the effort to get there will be worth it.MHA 630 week 2 Assignment Discussion

(Reference Sites: Hiking in the Smokies – Ramsey trail (Links to an external site.) and National Park Service – Plan Your Visit to Ramsey Cascades (Links to an external site.))

You know that your body needs ample nutrition to be able to sustain your efforts throughout the hike, and to recover safely from the increased work required to make it all of the way to the falls and back. To prepare for the hike which you estimate will take a total of 7 hours, you are planning to head to the grocery store so everyone can have an appropriate breakfast before leaving, snacks and drinks along the trail (there is nowhere to stop along the trail to make purchases so everything must be carried by the group), lunch at the falls, and a recovery dinner when you get back to the cabin at the end of the day.

Post what you plan to feed the group for the following meals.

  • Breakfast at the cabin before heading out to hike.
  • Snacks and drinks to carry with you for consumption along the way.
  • Lunch at the falls.
  • Dinner upon returning to the cabin.

Include an explanation of why you selected each item. You may find this site by the American Heart Association helpful as you think about your food selections: Food as Fuel (Links to an external site.)

MHA 630 week 2 Assignment Discussion