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Working on a superyacht, yacht crew are spoilt with delicious snacks. During a busy summer season, when one’s nutrition is most important, our time for eating is often limited. Superyacht crew all guilty of grabbing that pastry leftover from breakfast or scoffing down the easiest-to-eat item in the snack cupboard. Heck, sometimes we even revert to eating the turndown chocolate the guests didn’t want the night before.
The lack of sleep, long hours, and endless running around often leave us reaching for the cookie jar multiple times a day. Sadly, this results in short energy spikes followed by an energy low. This, coupled with high caffeine intake to keep us alert and awake, results in some eating habits that leave us yachties feeling zapped of energy and lacking motivation when we need it most.
The Best Snacks for Superyacht crew to have Onboard:
Here we have given you some alternative snack ideas. These are all quick to grab, quick to eat, and provide a slow release of energy. These will keep us going through the long summer days of the season.
- Greek yogurt with honey – This is an excellent option for breakfast or as a snack. It is high in protein, so it leaves you feeling fuller for longer. It also has a lot less sugar and additives than most flavoured yogurts.
- Fruit – Fruit is easy to eat on the go when time is limited. Fruit is a good quality source of fibre. It also helps curb the sweet tooth.
- Good quality natural cereal bars – These are usually oat-based with nuts or fruit. Good quality cereal bars are a great alternative to a chocolate bar or cookie.
- Cottage cheese – may not look appetising, but it is an excellent source of good quality protein. And it is pretty nice on a piece of toast or crackers.
- Eggs – It is always good to have a few of this pre-boiled and ready to go. You can eat them alone, with crackers or layered on toast. Eggs are high in protein and some fat, meaning they will keep us fuller for longer.
- Crudites – If the chef allows, having pre-cut carrots, peppers, and cucumber to store in the fridge is a great snack option. If you have time, enjoy them with hummus or guacamole.
- Low GI Cereals such as oats or sugar-free muesli – these are low GI foods meaning the energy we get from them is slow releasing instead of a high spike/significant drop you get from sugar-based cereals.
- Rice crackers or Wholewheat seeded bread – These are an excellent base for breakfast or a snack you can top them with high-protein foods such as cottage cheese, eggs, tuna, peanut butter. Which will help keep you going through a busy day.
- Nuts – Nuts are a great source of good quality fat and fibre, which is very important to overall health. Nuts are perfect as an on the go snack. Top Tip: We place our nuts at the front of our snack cupboard so we see them before the cookies.
- Drinks – High amounts of sugar hide in fruit juices and caffeine in sodas which can therefore cause an energy spike when consuming them. Great alternative options such as sparkling water, 100% natural fruit juices, sugar-free sodas, herbal teas, decaf coffee are good to have onboard to keep the crew hydrated.
Although these may sound like challenging swaps for some yachties, I encourage you to start with just one or two. See how your energy shifts, your sleep improves, and you feel more energetic through the day. You may also surprise yourself how these swaps can quickly become your habits.
The season is both mentally and physically draining for all superyacht crew, with many elements not in our control. It is essential to take extra care and effort to the aspects that we can control, such as a good quality diet.
To read Gaby’s last article click here or for tips and tricks for staying healthy onboard follow @healthandfitnessretreat.
