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  1. #1
    Registered User Hoofit's Avatar
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    Default Nutritional value compared to weight

    As the main pleasure , for me anyway, is to be on the trail rather that in town, has anyone got any good ideas on which foods are the lightest to carry yet still retain good nutritional value, such as plenty of protein and carbs e.t.c.?
    I'd pack for at least ten days at a time if it were possible...
    See you out there...

  2. #2
    First Sergeant SGT Rock's Avatar
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    Olive oil and add it to almost everything.
    SGT Rock
    http://hikinghq.net

    My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT

    BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
    -----------------------------------------

    NO SNIVELING

  3. #3
    Registered User moytoy's Avatar
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    Peanut Butter is my staple. 170 cal. per oz.
    Olive oil 240 cal. per oz
    angle hair pasta. for carbs.
    a dried cheese soup mix for mixing with pasta
    dried meat for mixing in pasta
    Nito for milk
    oatmeal 1 min. cook var.
    nesquick for a hot drink
    raisins
    sugar
    pepper

    I try to carry 2700 cal. for each day
    I try to average 150 cal. per oz with my food
    That comes out to about 12lb for 10 days
    Thats a lot of peanut butter
    Thats just me..I love peanut butter.

    I once lived for 5 days on two large jars of peanut butter and water.
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    Registered User moytoy's Avatar
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    I agree with Rock. You can add olive oil to anything. If I feel I need a cal boost I add olive oil to my morning mix of raisins and oatmeal. I use raw sugar in that mix also.
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  5. #5
    Registered User Fiddleback's Avatar
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    Mixed nuts. Especially when used as the base/majority of trail snacks and/or lunch. On a per-ounce basis, they are high in calories, high in fats, and high in protein. They make for good electrolyte replacement, too.

    Planters Deluxe Mixed Nuts -- new mix

    Nutrition Facts
    Serving Size: 1oz (28g/about 19 pieces)
    Amount per Serving
    Calories 170 Calories from Fat 140
    % Daily Value *
    Total Fat 15g 23%
    Saturated Fat 2.5g 12%
    Monounsaturated Fat 9g
    Polyunsaturated Fat 3.5g
    Trans Fat 0g
    Cholesterol 0mg 0%
    Sodium 100mg 4%
    Potassium 170mg 5%
    Total Carbohydrate 6g 2%
    Dietary Fiber 2g 8%
    Sugars 1g
    Protein 5g 10%
    Vitamin A 0%
    Vitamin C 0%
    Calcium 4%
    Iron 8%
    Vitamin E 10%
    Magnesium 20%
    Copper 25%
    Manganese 30%
    Est. Percent of Calories from:
    Fat 79.4% Carbs 14.1%
    Protein 11.8%
    "All persons are born free and have certain inalienable rights. They include the right to a clean and healthful environment..."

    Article II, Section 3
    The Constitution of the State of Montana

  6. #6
    Registered User Hoofit's Avatar
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    Olive Oil, mixed nuts and peanut butter - sounds pretty good to me
    Thanks for the breakdown folks !
    Squirrel food it is...

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    Also add powdered whole milk to your diet. Nestle Nido is one example, and you can get it at Walmart and ethnic supermarkets. Milk already has a decent mix of carbs and protein, and being whole milk helps to add dense fat calories and lots of flavor. That's something you can add to protein shakes, oatmeal, macaroni, etc. Just make sure you get your bowels used to handling all that milk....or bring lots of toilet paper.

  8. #8
    Registered User Cool AT Breeze's Avatar
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    The big frosted honey bun has 865 cals. 440 fat cals. Eat one of them in the morning with a cup of coffee and you get a caffeen sugar rush that will push you up the trail. About the time that burns off the fat kicks in and and burns till lunch.
    The trail is ever winding and the party moves every night.

  9. #9
    double d's Avatar
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    Mixed nuts are the best (as others have indicated). High in "good" calories, lightweight and good for you.
    "I told my Ma's and Pa's I was coming to them mountains and they acted as if they was gutshot. Ma, I sez's, them mountains is the marrow of the world and by God, I was right". Del Gue

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    What brand is The big frosted honey bun ?

  11. #11

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    I just got home from the supermarkey where I found the coolest thing, I bought 10 of em for this hiking season!

    Bumble bee tuna salad with crackers. Comes in a little box with a little can of tuna salad and six crackers. 300 calories, and only $1.06 per box. Very light and small way to get a quick 300 calories. I bought them at Winco, don't know if Winco is back east.

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    Quote Originally Posted by trailangelbronco View Post
    I just got home from the supermarkey where I found the coolest thing, I bought 10 of em for this hiking season!

    Bumble bee tuna salad with crackers. Comes in a little box with a little can of tuna salad and six crackers. 300 calories, and only $1.06 per box. Very light and small way to get a quick 300 calories. I bought them at Winco, don't know if Winco is back east.
    I'd have to eat 20 of those a day to meet my dietary needs. $21.20 a day. No thanks.

  13. #13

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    So, just how in the heck do you carry 6000 calories of food per day on you over 3-4days without resupply? What is your pack, 50 lbs?

    i must be missing out on some really great lightweight food!

  14. #14
    Dreamin of Katadin wudhipy's Avatar
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    Default sooner or later there comes a time.........

    I like to make up hamburger gravel to add to noodles and mac and cheese for a little red meat gradification...of course olive oil in everything (haven't gotten a taste for it in the coffee yet) and packs of tuna offer variety. Of course during the lean times there are the shelter mice...............

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    You do it by looking for foods with a high density of calories and nutrients, not by looking for foods that are lightweight.

    People have already suggested peanut butter. About 3 large jars of peanut butter has all the calories you need to get 6000 calories a day.

  16. #16
    Registered User moytoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by leaftye View Post
    People have already suggested peanut butter. About 3 large jars of peanut butter has all the calories you need to get 6000 calories a day.

    Wow.. You must be on a weight gaining plan. Unless you are Shaq size.
    My ontrail cal. intake is about 2800. I start on the trail at 195 and loose about 1 lb per day until I reach 175. I hiked 10 miles a day for 6 months on this diet and the least I weighed was 171. This was walking in FL. so no mountains of course.
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  17. #17
    Registered User Hoofit's Avatar
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    Tuna is real good for you but you need larger quantities and crackers really don't have much nutritional value.
    So we're back to Olive Oil, Peanut butter, Mixed Nuts and Nestle 'Nido'milk.
    Ialso like 100% Whey, made by Gold Standard, lots of good protein that can be carried in a snappy bag.

  18. #18
    Garlic
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    Who's to say a head of cabbage or a bunch of carrots isn't more "nutritious" than an equal weight of peanut butter or olive oil? Sure, one has more calories or carbs and provides immediate fuel and you really need that, but I think you need the other, as well. Depends on how you define nutrition.

    Concentrating on maximum weight/calorie ratio might make you sick. I know a couple of powerhouse hikers in their 40s who have suffered serious coronary artery problems, and both attribute their illness at least partially to their crappy trail diets.

    I met a very serious hiker who told me that my habit of carrying fresh vegetables was "worse than useless". Not all advice you hear is good advice (including mine).
    "Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning

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    Homemade granola is tasty.

  20. #20
    Registered User moytoy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by garlic08 View Post
    Who's to say a head of cabbage or a bunch of carrots isn't more "nutritious" than an equal weight of peanut butter or olive oil? Sure, one has more calories or carbs and provides immediate fuel and you really need that, but I think you need the other, as well. Depends on how you define nutrition.

    Concentrating on maximum weight/calorie ratio might make you sick. I know a couple of powerhouse hikers in their 40s who have suffered serious coronary artery problems, and both attribute their illness at least partially to their crappy trail diets.

    I met a very serious hiker who told me that my habit of carrying fresh vegetables was "worse than useless". Not all advice you hear is good advice (including mine).
    I think you are spot on correct. I would never just take peanut butter on a hiking trip. Most nutritional models say 20 persent of cal. from protein, 30 percent from fat and 50 percent from carbs. One of the things you can make at home to get the veggies and not carry so much weight is patato bark with carrots, peas and such mixed in.
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