When it comes to picking the best fuel for a workout, bananas always emerge as the winner. It is easily available, convenient to carry, cheap and fires you up instantly with energy.

Some people may choose nut milks and/or fruit smoothies with nuts because these can help make you feel full longer.

I prefer to get my energy from high sugar fruits like Bananas, Mangoes and Durian and any other high sugar fruits because these give me instant simple sugars which I can use immediately.

If you have time, eat the more “troublesome” fruits like the Durians and Mangoes before you leave home. Save the bananas for packing because these are easier to carry.

Some people may also get gas and stomach discomfort from fruit/nut combinations. I would suggest that you experiment with a few and find a combination or food group which works best for you.

Before a long hike, these are the items I would pack in my bag:

A bunch of finger-bananas*
A small bag of Chinese Almonds
A small bag of red dates
2 Apples
As much water as I can carry!

*I choose finger bananas because they are lighter, and since each piece is smaller I can eat at frequent intervals to keep up energy levels. A full bunch usually goes a long way)

Before leaving the house, I power up with a super green smoothie to fill in the nutrient gap, just in case I don’t get to eat any greens for the day.

Click here for Popye’s Mango green smoothie recipe

During the hike, I usually finish the bananas first and move on to the nuts and dried fruit later. This is because dried nuts and fruit tend to stick to the teeth and brushing is not possible during a hike. I chew on the apples as a way of “washing” the teeth if I eat too much of the dried stuff too!

Most often than not, the bananas are enough to last me through a 3-5 hour hike; whatever remaining serves as re-charge foods later.

In Asia, some of us have “heaty constitutions” - these people get sore throats or headaches when they consume fruits like Durians, Mangoes, Jackfruit, Rambutans and Longans.

One solution is to “counter” the “heat” with balancing fruits like Mangosteens, and the juice from a fresh, green coconut.

And speaking of green coconuts, do you know that coconut juice is fantastic for recharging after a tiring workout? Try it the next time for yourself and feel your body coming to life literally!

There have also been more than one incidence of people being able to eat such “heaty” fruits after eating raw, myself being one of them!

When I ate a conventional cooked Asian diet, I would fall sick almost immediately after consuming Durian and Jackfruit. As a result, I stayed away from my favorite fruit for close to a decade.

Now, I indulge in Durian whenever I feel like it!

Other easily portable fruits like peaches, plums and tangerines are good too, but these are lower in sugar, and hence caloric values.

You will have to eat more of these to get the same caloric content eg. 2 apples in exchange of 1 regular sized Delmonte Banana.

On an ending note, I observed something interesting:

Raw fooders are extremely fond of sharing our food, even when we end up hungry.

As long as we have raw food with us, and our friends enjoy what we give them, we always want to share with those around us, especially when they are not eating raw!

Perhaps subconsciously, we want to help increase their consumption of fresh living foods slowly, 1 fruit at a time!

So with this mind, if possible, bring more in your bag so that you have enough to go around.

Tags: low fat recipies, low fat recipes, raw food health, vegan weight loss