[yorkshireman]

im going to font the end of march for a minimum of a month,hopefully upto 3 months depending on money and wondering what i should do food wise.i will be camping and the plan is to take as much food out with me as possible.i plan to buy plenty of pasta and tuna,tinned soup/beans and sausage/all day breakfast and then regularly buy eggs/bacon/sausages/bread/milk/cheese/thin sliced meats etc but wondering if this is a sensible diet and if i would deteriate over a few months with a main diet of pasta and tuna.

[Paul B]

I seemed to live on a diet of:
Pasta
Tuna
Red Sauce
Wine
Chocolate
Beer
Cornichons
Saucisson
Merguez
Eggs
Ice Tea Sirop

for six months. If you're exercising all of the time you end up fairly lean. I was a lot less powerful at the end of my trip but its hard to tell if thats diet related or more due to the fact that the length of routes seemed only to increase and that in turn led to no real hard moves.

You could always prop up your protein intake with dirty shakes if you felt you needed it.

[yorkshireman]

im not worried about any weight gain as i can eat what i want junk wise and never put weight on just worried that my shit may be a bit funky on a mainly past based diet for 3 months
almost forgot,lots of pain au chocolate too

[tomtom]

Why are you taking food with you? Food in France is nearly always miles better than the rubbish we get here!

Like Paul said, bread, tuna, pasta, plenty of fresh veggies, ham, pate, CHEESE  lardons are a good addition to omlette...

[yorkshireman]

food also tends to be more expensive in france hence why im taking as much with me as possible and just buying fresh stuff(milk/bread etc) while im there.not a veg fan beyond sweetcorn.will buy plenty of fruit on a weekly basis.

important addition-im a crap cook hence why it will be a basic tinned food and pasta diet

[lagerstarfish]

-im a crap cook

being in France, with decent ingredients, is a good chance to sort this out - you will benefit in the long term

Use 'tinterweb to find out as much as you can about cooking - or buy some simple cook books - Jamie's 30 mins book or Hamlyn 200 Budget Meals - both ace and easy. Cooking on one gas burner with decent ingredients is a great education

Apart from my idealistic holistic rant ; go with your original post ideas, but with more fresh fruit and veg like you say - whatever is cheapest. Carrots and apples are cheap - add some kind of citrus fruit; oranges and that

[yorkshireman]

cheers muchly all

[underground]

It's a shame, but if you don't cook you don't cook - however, there's a hypermarket the size of Bakewell not far outside Font. and I reckon you could buy everything for a fraction of the price in there. And get 24 beers for 2 quid. If you're a drinking man, you'll save a fortune.

[SA Chris]

Are you driving out? If I was you I would stock up on some basics here that you can't get cheaply out there - marmite, crunchy nut corn flakes etc, and then buy everything you need at Carrefour.

Agree with what others have said; in the comfort of your own home have a go at following a few basic recipes in the comfort of your own home so you get a rough idea of what you need to do when you have to do it on a gas stove. A few things come to mind;

Ratatouille
Risotto
Basic Tomato / Veg sauce for pasta to which you can add about anything; bit of minced beef; tuna; chopped sausage
Omlette
Curry

As long as you keep the diet varied; carbs, protein and enough fruit and veg and eat sufficient volume, you can't really go wrong.

[grumpycrumpy]

Fish also seems to be cheaper in France , and you get  a much better choice , so I'd take a cook book with plenty of fish based recipes and a portable bbq ......

[slackline]

I've never really thought the food is more expensive in France, and even if it is, its much better quality which I don't have a problem paying slightly more for.

[psychomansam]

You could always prop up your protein intake with dirty shakes if you felt you needed it.

Or if you're like me and can't cope with how dirty they are, just go for the natural protein shake option of two egg whites in a glass of milk. People always say "uhh" to this, but it actually tastes really nice, you just have to whisk/shake it up a little or the egg white'll be slimey. You can stick it in a bottle n take it to crag or whatever you want. One of these immediately before and/or after a session (or somewhere in the middle if you want) really helps top up recovery nicely in addition to a healthy diet/pain au chocolat

Also, find some mary jane n drink less...

[yorkshireman]

yeah driving out.think a few protein shakes may be a good substitute on a bi weekly basis.it's not like I eat healthy in this country so dunno why I'm worried so much

[Ged]

You say you don't like vegetable apart from sweetcorn.  For the sake of your lng term health, as well as performing well on a climbing trip, I'd say man up and start liking them.  There's so much you can do to them to make them taste nice, you should really try.  On a long trip, climbing all the time, and living in the dirt, you're just simply not going to be any good unless you eat properly.  You should be getting the vast majority of your carbs from vegetables, with a bit of bread/pasta to top it up.  That's the best way to stay free from illness, and stay lean too.  Get lots of quality protein down you; eggs for brekkie, some lean meat for dinner. 

As a big penny saver, take loads of porridge with you. That's the only thing I take when going abroad as a) porridge for breakfast makes you a champion, b) it's cheap, and cereal in france seems to be very expensive, and c) you can't get good porridge out there.  Mix it up with some raisins, muscavado sugar and cinnamon, and you'll be unstoppable

[jfw]

whether you buy it here or in france

rice is a bit if a pain on a camp stove (imo)

couscous, noodles etc cook quicker

wholegrain pasta takes a bit longer but is dead good

if  you can't cook - dolmio type sauces are good with your tuna - as is pesto

buy onions, peppers and courgettes - fry and add to either dolmio type sauce or tinned tomatoes/pesto for some vegginess

conrned beef hash (CBH) is an alternative to TPS (tuna pasta slop)

when i was a student we went on a budget skiing trip, with 9 of us in a van - we took all our food with us and had TPS or CBH every night for dinner and porridge everyday  for breakfast (lunch was no lunch being out skiing) - was going well til we ran out of sugar for the porridge - total budget for week food wise was about £3 each.

[JonI]

Teabags (if you drink tea).  The stuff you buy on the continent never tastes quite the same for some reason.

[Stubbs]

  You should be getting the vast majority of your carbs from vegetables, with a bit of bread/pasta to top it up.  That's the best way to stay free from illness, and stay lean too. 

Would you care to quantify this a bit? By vegetables in this instance are you including roots and pulses, otherwise you're talking about a eating a whole lot of vegatables to get 2,500 calories a day!

[psychomansam]

Me bouldering in font needs prob around 4000+ cals btw Stubbs. 2500 is about enough for me to sleep all day.

If you want something a bit better than pastries as a quick snack/staple (how dare you), I take a crate of lidl's fruit and nut muesli. keep in car. add milk.

[slackline]

Kendal Mint cake is packed full of calories and I've never seen anywhere selling it in France, so pack a few bars for when/if you get hypoglycaemic.

[dave]

in france they call it "sucre'.

[Adam Lincoln]

so pack a few bars for when you feel like you are missing the dentist

[yorkshireman]

what i do with pasta is cook half as much as i want and then add a tin of ravioli into it for the sauce and extra past.
ive not eaten any veg for the last 30 years so i dont see why i will struggle with my health now.i will buy plenty of fresh fruit

i hate kendal mintcake,makes me go lightheaded.

plan on taking cereals with me.can i substitute ready brek for porridge?

[slackline]

ive not eaten any veg for the last 30 years so i dont see why i will struggle with my health now.

There are one or two advantages.

[psychomansam]

plan on taking cereals with me.can i substitute ready brek for porridge?

fook me. Put oats in pan, add milk till covered, stir and heat, preferably nice n slowly. Add milk as required. Add fruit etc as flavouring

If you really want it pre-packaged complete with chemical flavourings and shit loads of processed sugar, then go and destroy the earth and your health, go on now, there's no hope, go on....

[SA Chris]

can i substitute ready brek for porridge?

Only if you are 6.