If you check out various race websites they advise eating a big, healthy breakfast before starting out on a long walk like the End to End, but they don’t really define ‘big, healthy breakfast’.Nutritionist Courtney Minors recently told The Royal Gazette this definitely does not mean load up on pancakes and greasy breakfast meats.“I would skip the bacon and breakfast sausage,” she said. “They will only weigh you down.”In this case, the old television commercial slogan ‘don’t forget your Wheaties’ isn’t a bad way to think.“You want to make sure you get complex carbs in you,” she said. “Something like quinoa or Shredded Wheat are a complex carbohydrate and break down slowly into sugar. That will be your energy and will carry you through. That is one part of breakfast. You are also going to need some protein such as boiled egg white, scrambled eggs, soy milk or some milk in your cereal to carry you through. Also have some fruit. Maybe cut up half a banana and put it in your cereal. Grapes, apple or oranges give you more fibre too.”Some people might feel nervous in the morning and not feel like eating. Ms Minors advised that walk participants still try to eat something even if it’s not a lot of food.During the walk, remember to take snacks to eat along the way such as nuts, dried fruit or healthy granola bars. Ms Minors said when it came to granola bars it was important to read labels.“By healthy granola bars I mean ones that do not have more than six grams of sugar in them. Also I don’t mean the ones that have over 140 milligrams of sodium in them. A lot of those processed bars tend to be quite high in salt. You also want something with at least three grams of fibre to fill you up and carry you through.”Throughout the walk participants should be carrying a bottle of water and drinking from it consistently. Even if you are a spectator or helping at a roadside stand, you also need to be drinking lots of water. Dehydration is one of the most common problems during community athletic events.“You want to start drinking plenty of water at least a day before,” Ms Minors said. “You don’t want to start out sluggish on the day. Make sure you are getting those eight to ten glasses of water a day beforehand. Dehydration is a common problem, not just with walking. In general, people do not drink enough water. Since you are going to be outside that means you are going to have to drink that much more.”When you reach the finish line (or your ending point) she advised eating an orange or banana to give you some potassium.“This year I will be doing the Middle to End Walk,” said Ms Minors. “I used to do it before I left the Island. Since I have been back from school this will be my first time. I have been doing some walking and running, but I am always pretty active so I think I should be okay.”