Calories burned and nutrition for backpacking women

[CCCCAT]

I see a ton of info related to calories burned (and nutritional needs) for guys doing long distance hiking, but there is limited information about this for women. I know the requirements are not the same. Most women don't end up with the gaunt look that happens for guys.

Has anyone found a good source for this related to women?

I did find this:
1) Basal Metabolism for Adult Female - 65 + (4.3 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)
2) Thermic Effect Metabolism - about 10% of calories consumed (so 400 if consuming 4000 calories)
3) Activity Related Metabolism
Then add all three of those to get the calories you need.

It's the third item, Activity Related Metabolism, that I'm finding a hard time getting info on for women.

With respect to nutrition, I've heard 50% complex carbs (pasta, dried fruit), 20% healthy fat, 30% protein. Is that the same for women?

Would appreciate hearing what other women are consuming for number of calories and what meals/snacks they are eating for a healthy diet.

[tiptoe]

Well, I ran the numbers for me for Basal and Thermic Effect and came up with close to 4,000 calories/day. No wonder I lose weight on my section hikes. I don't consume anywhere near that, even with junk like Little Debby's pies.

[atraildreamer]

I wrote this a few years back:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...rol?highlight=

Download the Female Adult Diet Log and the Expanded Nutribase table.

It may be helpful.

[shelb]

Yikes - all that math confuses me!

[atraildreamer]

Yikes - all that math confuses me!

It confused me too! I got the idea for the article from an article, ("Backpacking and Weight Loss") by Jim Woods, (www.jwbasecamp.com). I got his permission to expand on his work and came up with the spreadsheets. It was an experience to set up the formulas and make sure they were doing the math correctly. Just plug in the pertinent numbers and the spreadsheet will do all the hard work for you.

The food list(s) are a bit dated. I am thinking about a new article that will update and expand upon the food lists.

Just remember that everyone's metabolism is different. What may work for you may be totally wrong for someone else. Find out what works in your case and ignore the negative comments from others.

[CCCCAT]

I wrote this a few years back:

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/show...rol?highlight=

Download the Female Adult Diet Log and the Expanded Nutribase table.

It may be helpful.

Thanks for the effort you put into this. My observation when using the Expanded Nutribase table for activities is that it's based solely on weight, and does not take into account what might be different for women.

[Crystal2886]

I gained so much weight as soon as I was done with my thru-hike in 2012. Never ever did I have to worry about being too skinny. As soon as I started hiking I gained so much water weight, my pants that I bought for the trail were too tight for my button to stay snapped shut by the time I made it to Hot Springs, NC and stayed too tight the rest of the way. :/ It's been three years now, and I still haven't got down to my pre-hike size. And no it's not muscle that I still have lingering....it's all the fat and cellulite that I acquired hiking. That was the only downside to my hike!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[atraildreamer]

Thanks for the effort you put into this. My observation when using the Expanded Nutribase table for activities is that it's based solely on weight, and does not take into account what might be different for women.

I ran into this problem continually when researching the article. I assume that these tables, both Nutribase and Average Weights, and formulas are generated from an average value over a wide sampling of subjects and body types of both sexes. Despite what my signature says...

"Always remember that you are absolutely unique... just like everyone else."
-Margaret Mead

...everyone is different.

Use the spreadsheets and tables to establish your own baseline and adjust your diet as necessary.

[CCCCAT]

I ran into this problem continually when researching the article. I assume that these tables, both Nutribase and Average Weights, and formulas are generated from an average value over a wide sampling of subjects and body types of both sexes. Despite what my signature says...

"Always remember that you are absolutely unique... just like everyone else."
-Margaret Mead

...everyone is different.

Use the spreadsheets and tables to establish your own baseline and adjust your diet as necessary.

I'd tend to think the data in the Nutribase reflects more of what is true for men, and not likely for women. It's why I posted this in the Women's Forum, hoping someone had come across data that was specific to women. The 1) Basal Metabolism for Adult Females, and 2) Thermic Effect Metabolism are fairly easy to calculate. It's 3) Activity Related Metabolism for Adult Females that is the component I had trouble finding and hoped someone knew about.

I do appreciate your efforts in trying to help, however.

[Connie]

Look around famous Olympic female athletes? Famous runners? Bicyclists? Tri-athletes?

I think there is a magazine for female athletes.

i have found useful information in bicycle magazine articles.

If nothing turns up, here, get back to us with what you find out.

There are many female hikers.

[CarlZ993]

I gained so much weight as soon as I was done with my thru-hike in 2012. Never ever did I have to worry about being too skinny. As soon as I started hiking I gained so much water weight, my pants that I bought for the trail were too tight for my button to stay snapped shut by the time I made it to Hot Springs, NC and stayed too tight the rest of the way. :/ It's been three years now, and I still haven't got down to my pre-hike size. And no it's not muscle that I still have lingering....it's all the fat and cellulite that I acquired hiking. That was the only downside to my hike!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Most guys lose weight like crazy on the AT. Women don't seem to lose as much. Both are burning a lot of calories on their hike.

FYI - Cellulite = subcutaneous fat. One in the same. Quote from WebMD: Its name makes it sound like a medical condition. But cellulite is nothing more than normal fat beneath the skin. The fat appears bumpy because it pushes against connective tissue, causing the skin above it to pucker.

[Sandy of PA]

I lose about 1 pound every 100 miles, I do lose a lot of inches though. I carry about 2400 calories per day and pig out in town. The big problem is getting my appetite back under control after a long hike! I eat a lot of nuts and dried fruit while hiking. I carry hard boiled eggs,baby carrots and cheese for up to 3 days out of town.(never could save them any longer)

[atraildreamer]

Thanks for the effort you put into this. My observation when using the Expanded Nutribase table for activities is that it's based solely on weight, and does not take into account what might be different for women.

I did a search and came up with the following artilce (also attached as a pdf file):

http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article...fferences.html

It explains why men and women often have different reactions to various forms of exercise and diet.

Click on the Home Page icon (http://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/index.html) and check out the Articles listing. Lots of good stuff there, also.

[shelb]

Focus on Protein!

[CCCCAT]

Look around famous Olympic female athletes? Famous runners? Bicyclists? Tri-athletes?

I think there is a magazine for female athletes.

i have found useful information in bicycle magazine articles.

If nothing turns up, here, get back to us with what you find out.

There are many female hikers.

Connie, that was a good suggestion. I did that, searching on calories for women athletes, and found a couple of sources that gave me results that were very much the same.

Source 1: said (essentially) female athletes need about 20 to 23 calories per pound of body weight.

Source 2: said (essentially) for "exceptional" activity level take your daily total calories (let's say Basal Metabolism for Adult Female + Thermic Effect Metabolism) times 1.2.

When I used the value 21 x my body weight I came out with nearly the same calories as the source 2 calculation.

Works for me! I found my answer.

Thanks for that suggestion! I emphasized the Source 1 approach because it's the easiest.


--------------------------
Details from Source 1 (University of Missouri via SF Gate):
"According to the University of Missouri, female athletes need about 20 to 23 calories per pound of body weight each day. This is equivalent to 2,600 to 2,990 calories a day for a 130-pound woman."

and, for nutrition
"According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, most athletes should eat 60 to 70 percent of their calories from carbohydrates, 12 to 15 percent from protein and 20 to 30 percent of their calories from fat...High-protein foods include lean meats, poultry, seafood, eggs, low-fat dairy foods, soy products, seitan, nuts, seeds and legumes; healthy carbs are found in whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy foods; and examples of healthy fats are vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, hummus, olives, avocados and purified fish oils."

Details from Source 2 (University of Minnesota via Livingstrong.com):
"Determining your activity level is necessary to calculate the extra calories you need for athletic performance. Moderate activity levels include bike riding, dancing or fast walking. Heavy activity levels include fast running or playing basketball. Exceptional activity levels include exercising for several hours each day such as professional athletes in training, according to the University of Minnesota."
"Recommended Calories for Female Athletes
If you have a moderate activity level, multiply your total daily calories by 0.6; for a heavy activity level, multiply it by 0.9; and for an exceptional activity level multiply by 1.20. Add this amount to your total daily calories to find out how many you need for normal bodily function and athletic performance."

[Wolf - 23000]

CCCCAT,

That good to know how to figure out how many calories a woman will be burning off while hiking. Just something add many hikers overlook is when figuring your weight, you need to include both your: weight in pounds = (body weight + full pack weight). How much someone is carrying can make a huge different when figuring out how much food they will need to carry.

You may also need to include how many hours a woman is hiking. If she is hiking 12 hours a day, for example, she would be burning more calories than someone hiking only 8 hours a day.

Wolf

[q-tip]

Superiot analysis... I did the same work for myself. Best lesson learned is that protein deficit is the number one nutritional reason people do not finish. I foundTVP to be the best protein source for wt/gm ratio. Excellent analysis!!!!!!!!

[JumpMaster Blaster]

This may or may not help with the issue, but on my blog I did a kind of detailed rundown of what my caloric expenditur was last year while section hiking. I would usually drop about 2 lbs per trip (mostly waater weight), but you can see how I wasn't taking in nearly enough calories to sustain me for an extended period of time.

Again, it's just my initial data gathering, but it may help out.

http://justalittlesolitude.com/2015/...eres-the-food/
http://justalittlesolitude.com/2015/...-numbers-game/

[CCCCAT]

This may or may not help with the issue, but on my blog I did a kind of detailed rundown of what my caloric expenditur was last year while section hiking. I would usually drop about 2 lbs per trip (mostly waater weight), but you can see how I wasn't taking in nearly enough calories to sustain me for an extended period of time.

Again, it's just my initial data gathering, but it may help out.


http://justalittlesolitude.com/2015/...eres-the-food/
http://justalittlesolitude.com/2015/...-numbers-game/

That's all pretty interesting. I was wondering how you knew that you consumed an average of 3258 cal per day, then saw
"I always wore a Polar F7 heart rate monitor (chest strap and watch combo) that has a calorimeter built-in. It takes your heart rate, age, gender, and weight and calculates how many calories you’ve burned in a particular session."
I didn't know such a thing existed! Very cool.

At first glance, when I saw your (full) Day 2 and Day 3 calories at around 1550+ I though that didn't look like nearly enough. My calculations for myself come out to around 3200 - 3700 per day.

I'm going to read you blog in more detail. Looks good. Thanks for posting that.

[Fredt4]

Interesting question. Several sites will provide an estimate unfortunately few have data specific for women. I found that various methods all are in the same ballpark for me. (Male, 54, 185 lbs.) I lost a pound a week and carried about 3200 calories per day. That's approximately 1 lb. per 100 miles as an earlier poster noted.) A few suggest that gender isn't a significant factor, I don't know if that's correct or not. If you can't find a method that has female specific data I would just look at various methods and if they all approach the same result I'd suspect the average is close to the actual result. Many women have thru hiker in the years past, perhaps they could post their results. I would note that one hiker that I met early on looked much thinner near Katadin than she did at the beginning.