How do you all eat healthy and avoid diarrhea while camping? I tend to get the "runs" after two days of car camping. I feel I need to buy food that does not require refrigeration, so that means fresh and dried fruit, oatmeal, whole wheat bagels, packaged processed foods like Mac and Cheese, Instant Potatoes, energy bars, and some canned goods like Beefaroni. I would never eat the latter kind of processed/junk/canned food at home, but feel I have no choice when camping.
It also feels like I need a much more calorie dense diet than normal, since I am hiking and climbing a lot more, and camp food still leaves me feeling hungry, even when I am getting 3000+ calories/day and snacking non-stop during the day. Lately I have been bringing a big bag of potato chips, and the fat in the chips seems to alleviate the hunger issue.
My camp cooking changed dramatically once I started bringing a cooler in the car. As previous posters wrote, real food suddenly becomes possible, and we can even have a pre-dinner salad (which is far more similar to our at-home diet!), and snacks like hard boiled eggs. When we have the time, we cook fancy things like tacos for dinner (saute some veggies in olive oil, add spices and a can of black beans, serve in tortillas topped with cheese, avocado, and a squeeze of lime). If very hungry, we heat up boxed/canned soups for a first course, possibly adding some cheese or other toppings. Plus plenty of snacks like apples, carrots, and other familiar foods.
I also make my own meals at home, so I can have less-processed versions of quick-cook meals. Rice noodles + peanut butter + soy sauce + onions instead of packaged ramen, for instance. Or I take dehydrated veggies, spices, a bouillon cube, and some split red lentils (or dehydrated beans, whatever cooks the fastest), and I've got quick-cook lentil soup that is easier on my digestive system than most instant soups I can find in a store. Each one goes into a ziplock or other container, labelled, and I've got backpacking or car camping meals that work for me.
Even when backpacking, I've found that less-processed food works better for me. Olive oil is a great source of fat & extra calories, and has a better weight/calorie ratio than most foods -- just add some to whatever's for dinner. Dehydrated or freeze-dried veggies can get added to any cooked meal (again, this makes our on-trail eating more similar to our at-home eating, so it seems to help keep my stomach happier). I stay away from highly processed energy bars, which invariably upset my stomach. Snickers work okay for me, but it might also make sense to experiment with different nut bars -- I've found that the Kind-brand "nuts & spice" bars are pretty easy on my stomach, and have enough calories to make a pretty decent trail breakfast.
Figuring out nutrition for periodic "high energy output" times takes practice, I think. Generally speaking, I find it helps to eat small-but-frequent snacks
before I get hungry, rather than waiting for calorie deficit mode to wake my insatiable hiker hunger. There are times when some degree of calorie deficit is just unavoidable, but a short car-camping trip should allow you plenty of opportunities to eat!
Oh, and as for the original poster's questions, I am in the fond of camping group. I think camping is one of those things that works best in utterly simplified mode (though as noted above, over the years I have expanded my personal comforts to the point where I bring a cooler when car camping, and also a camp chair and a few other niceties), because once you figure out your basic routines, it's not logistically complicated at all. But everyone should do what makes them happy, of course. I sleep about as well in a tent as in my bed at home, so it's basically just a home where I can wake up to new views each morning.