What is the current thinking on calorie count? I recall reading a thru-hike required a range of 4,000 to 6,000 calories/day to avoid burning muscle?Originally Posted by Uncle Silly
4000 freaking snickers bars ??!!..ugh. I got sick of them too and went to luna and cliff bars with an occasional candy bars and MMs.. i do LUV them..I know folks who sucked down butter from the jar. i would hear them at night . SICK..lol
Here's an alternative http://www.hersheys.com/reeses/produ...name=fastbreak made near the Trail in Stuarts Draft, VA
I ate at least two Snickers or Snickers Marathon bars a day on the trail...
how much can you carry?
Well, there's at least three different questions to the numbers:
1) how many calories do you burn per day on a thru-hike?
2) how many calories can you eat per day on a thru-hike?
3) how many calories can you carry for each day on a thru-hike?
6000 calories is a lot of food. I can just about guarantee the only time you'll eat that much is in town. You'll be eating all day.
It's probably a reasonable guesstimate for how much you'll burn in a day of walking, though.
Counting the calories you eat is a lot easier than estimating what you're burning. More likely, you'll be carrying and eating around 3000 calories a day. In my experience, a calorie deficit is guaranteed: I can't carry enough food to replace what I'm burning, and even if I could carry it I probably couldn't eat all that day after day, and even if I could eat it all I wouldn't get anywhere because I'd spend all day eating.
"when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." --HST
Uncle Silly VA->VT '05, VT->ME '07, VA->GA ??
I've done the 4000/day on a hike, and unless you continually snack and walk its hard to maintain. I always find it hard to sit down and eat a good meal at the end of the day since the only thing on my mind is sleep. Although, a big meal of GORP and granola in the morning to get me started is a must, just gotta love that evolving to deal with burning calories.
If you didn't spend all your time pink-blazing (double, even!!) you might get somewhere!
Candy!
Ever try and eat a frozen Snickers? It ain't fun.....I am a Butterfinger man!!
I've never hiked while eating a snickers bar.
See? I gots better things to do than sit around at a shelter tryin' to eat 6000 calories!!If you didn't spend all your time pink-blazing (double, even!!
"when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." --HST
Uncle Silly VA->VT '05, VT->ME '07, VA->GA ??
To put another perspective on it; 4,000 snickers bars would be the equivalent of eating one every 1/2 mile.
That 30 mile day -- 60 snickers bars!!! -- would be painful.
how many snickers bars did I eat
hmm tought one!
let's see. I found that hiking the AT requires two regular snickers bars per day (in addition of course to breakfast and dinner foods and crackers and cheese and/or gorp for lunch). I generally bought about 5 days food at a time. Didn't tend to eat snickers in town.
so 194 days for my trip - 20 or so rest days = 174x 2 = 348. At times I carried king size snickers bars which are worth nearly two regular size. So lets round up to about 400 bars. Of cours the fun size (tiny) are too small to be of use. I did have some of those though anyway.
At 2 snickers bars per day * 280 calories per bar.. I got 560 calories (lets round it up to 600 calories) from snickers each day.
How the heck can one get 4000 calories a day just from snickers!
And this from one who named himself snickers!!!
After the first mile or two you'd be on enough of a sugar rush that you'd get to the next half-mile before you finished the last half-mile's snickers. You'd have take lunch breaks just to catch up.
Sounds like an easy way to get a 4+ mph pace in!
Of course, that's nearly 8 lbs of Snickers... and if I remember right that one regular Snickers bar gives you 270 calories, you'll get 16,200 calories in during that 30 mile day. I betcha can't get to sleep for a while after that!
"when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." --HST
Uncle Silly VA->VT '05, VT->ME '07, VA->GA ??
there is such a variety of bars out there that you shouldn't have to eat only snickers. wether its other candy bars or energy bars.
i personally like to mix it up. i was partial to take 5's, they held up pretty well. and skittles were good for a pick me up, towards the end of the day.
He who dies with the most toys, still dies.
I dont eat them anymore.
Hate um in fact.
The year was 2005 I think, when I was in a shelter in the Smokies (Mollies Ridge) with Rooster and his wife, as a cold front set in and froze everything solid.
I took a bit out of a snikcer bar and it broke one on my back teeth in half.
Sucked.
I was chewing and felt it and knew it was a tooth.
A cold Snickers could be used as a weapon in the right circumstances.
Snickers, Milky Way
I used Snickers and Milky Way candy bars for a greater part of my mid day snacks/lunch. Just to make it more interesting I would take either and cover it with a load of peanut butter and roll it up in a flour tortilla, ahhhh the calories, would always get me over the next mountain. In the 3 plus yrs since my thru-hike I haven't eaten a single Snickers bar. Still love my Milky Ways tho.
Respect experience and wisdom
and you will gain experience, wisdom
and respect.
That's exactly what I was thinking. No way somebody did that.
YES.. when you get tired of snickers... there are milky way bars. YUM.
I think there should be a forum devoted exlusively to chocolate..the varities, wonders, and benefits thereof. To me..chocolate is its own food group...and the most important!!! And of course there is hot cocoa.
I could never hike a trail without chocolate!!
I ate enough Snickers in 04 to the point that I have'nt eaten one since....
I averaged 2 a day or better, so 350+ is a good estimate.
If people spent less time being offended and more time actually living, we'd all be a whole lot happier!
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