Up to the past year or so, my hiking and backpacking trips have been limited to no longer that a week. Being retired, I've done three longer trips in the past year, two on the AT, and one mainly on the Colorado Trail. Despite interruptions for resupply (and hotel rooms on two of the three), I struggled with sleep and/or nutrition; food on the AT trips, and both sleep and food at elevation in the West. I hiked well on two of the three trips, though was a bit slow on the second AT trip. I slept pretty well on the AT trips.
On the last day of the second AT trip early last week, my stomach was uncomfortable and I found the food in my pack so distasteful that I carried it through a 12 mile hike without eating after 10 AM. I had a similar issue in Colorado/Wyoming, where I was at an isolated car camp with two friends and couldn't tolerate the dinners they made with a lot of meat. Glad the vault toilet was close by. Maybe pork chops at 10,000 feet isn't my thing.
Two food things I've noticed is that my normal salty crackers instead of bread isn't going to cut it, and cheese sat in my stomach uncomfortably once I'd been out a few days. Thinking of trying some of the prepared meals from smaller companies like pack-it gourmet, that might be a bit less processed.
What do I need to learn about sleeping and eating on longer trips? Is there anything that works for you?