High Calorie, Low Size/Weight

[theloneboot]

I've been blessed/cursed (depending on your perspective) with an unusually high metabolism, and keeping myself properly fed has been difficult in the past. I just can never seem to carry enough food. I'm planning to attempt a thru-hike in 2015 so I'd like to spend the 2014 season experimenting with different food setups. Does anyone have any suggestions for food/nourishment that is high calorie and relatively small/light? So far what I've done is dehydrated meals for lunch and dinner with a jet boil, supplemented by gorp and dried fruits as snacks, granola + nuts + powdered milk in mornings, and 1-3 high protein power bars per day.

[googlywoogly]

I think Almonds are some of the most calorie to weight ratio food. Coconut oil is great too, but unsure how easy it would be to carry enough to make it worth your while.

[MuddyWaters]

Why is it that you didnt mention how many calories per day you consume? That is what important, not what you eat.

There is no light food. If you want calories, you will be carrying weight.

The highest cal/oz will be oil. 240 cal/oz for olive oil, or canola oil. Peanut butter is about 180-190.
Target 150 avg. With the exception of protein like jerky and tuna, anything under 100 is verbotten. When you eat a low calorie dehydrated dinner, squirt in a ounce of olive oil.

[4eyedbuzzard]

You need to eat as balanced a diet as possible - just more than you would while not on trail. Try things like tuna (I like white/albacore) packed in oil, not water - don't drain it, eat it oil and all. Sardines o other in oil if you like them too. Empty tuna cans surprisingly don't weigh much more than the empty foil pouches and have more food and calories in them than the more expensive pouches, so weight wise it is almost a wash. Bring a GI (P-38 or P-51) can opener if needed. Peanut butter has a great balance of fat, protein, carbs. English muffins or tortillas are good, as are bagels to host the PB. I like a little honey or jam with it. (Those little jelly and condiment packs at the diners and restaurants you'll be at in town come in handy). Add a little oil to all those noodles and dehydrated meals too.

In the end you simply MUST PIG OUT in towns. Eat lots of veggies, fruits, and meat and everything you can think of while in towns to make up for the food/calorie deficit.

[leaftye]

Stop trying to consume high protein food. If you eat enough calories, you'll already be taking in a very high quantity of protein. You'll see this if you put your macros into a spreadsheet.

That powdered milk should be whole milk.

I'll second olive oil. You can add it to most hot meals. You can add sunflower seeds to plenty of hot meals too.

It's easy to focus on high calorie density foods, but with the quantity you need to eat, it's more important to find foods that are palatable in very high quantities day after day. Even if you like your food, it can be tough to find enough time to eat it without absolutely stuffing your face in a few meals. Snacking while you walk will help with that. Using this year to practice different trail diets is a great plan.

If you want to find some sample spreadsheets, use Google to search this site and backpackinglight.com for "calorie density".

[Dogwood]

Eating a trail diet high in more slow burning complex carbs from brown rice, quinoa, oats, legumes, nuts, seeds, kasha, etc, as compared to the simple carbs found in refined white sugar and MANY junk foods hikers allow themselves to eat on trail, help me stay satiated. Junk foods also contain little fiber, often have nasty hydrogenated oils, and are usually high in added sugar content contributing to binge eating and not feeling as satiated. Fiber helps in several ways but can certainly contribute to a more satiated feeling to me. I want a diet higher in fat when long distance hiking but I seek so called "good fats" from nuts, seeds, wild Alaskan salmon, mackerel, sardines, some EVOO, avocado, some coconut(in all its forms), etc AND CERTAINLY NOT fat cals from trans fats or hydrogenated anything. I focus more on those good fat cals than protein cals when hiking and at all times. There's entirely too much focus on consuming protein in the U.S.. Plenty of studies on the U.S. diet bares this out. Most Americans consume too much protein. IMHO, this American dietary habit carries over into typical trail diets. Eating too much protein can have adverse consequences as well. Thru-hikers are NOT seeking to buff up for a body building competition! I drink much water on trail as well which helps me feel less hungry. I've noticed , and I've recently heard doctors say, that we often reach for food to gain a feeling of being full when it may be what we really need is water because we are often dehydrated to some degree. I also do not narrowly view my trail diet in terms of cals/oz, total daily caloric intake, or % of total daily caloric intake from carbs/fat/protein. I'm looking at total nutrition that encompasses things like enzymes, micronutrients, phytonutrients, etc. You don't say the longest hike you've done but I'm a firm believer that our bodies, including our metabolisms adapt, the longer we're hiking. I believe our metabolism becomes more efficient. Some studies I've read bare this out. Even so, I believe there is no substitute for constantly observing, learning from, and adjusting our trail diets as our whole being tells us to.

[Sarcasm the elf]

Trail mix made of almonds, peanuts, m&m's and raisins/craisins or dried fruit is both high calorie and very easy to eat throughout the day while you are hiking, which is a very important component to keeping up your caloric intake.

Sardines packed in olive oil are high in calories and protein and I've found them surprisingly palatable on the trail with a handful of crackers.

As others have mentioned, no food is high in calories unless you can actually get yourself to eat it so it is excellent that you are trying them beforehand. There are lots of food that look good on paper or that taste just fine when you are eating the in your own home or on a day hike, but you have to figure out what you will actually be willing to eat day in and day out when you are exhausted and sitting in the woods. Be very wary of freeze dried backpacker meals (backpackers pantry, mountain house etc.) and of protein bars, power bars, cliff bars and any other highly processed food from the "nutrition" industry. While they're fine once and a while, most people grow sick of them relatively fast when eating them every day, and it does get to the point where there are certain foods that you will grow so sick of that you will never want to see them again.

[Malto]

Stop trying to consume high protein food. If you eat enough calories, you'll already be taking in a very high quantity of protein. You'll see this if you put your macros into a spreadsheet.

That powdered milk should be whole milk.

I'll second olive oil. You can add it to most hot meals. You can add sunflower seeds to plenty of hot meals too.

It's easy to focus on high calorie density foods, but with the quantity you need to eat, it's more important to find foods that are palatable in very high quantities day after day. Even if you like your food, it can be tough to find enough time to eat it without absolutely stuffing your face in a few meals. Snacking while you walk will help with that. Using this year to practice different trail diets is a great plan.

If you want to find some sample spreadsheets, use Google to search this site and backpackinglight.com for "calorie density".

Agree with all points above. Plus, protein and carbs will be about 110 calories per oz. fat about double that. As you look at foods, the only way to increase the calories per oz. beyond 110 will be higher fat foods. Others have listed some but in addition to olive oil for dinners you will find many/ most hikers eating copious amounts of peanut butter. I asked one PCT thru years ago what she ate. She said Peanut Butter. I said on what. Her response as she was eating out of the jar with a spoon "anything and on nothing at all."

[jeffmeh]

1 gram of fat gets you 9 calories, while a gram of either protein or carb gets you only 4. So animal fats (summer sausage is great trail food), vegetable oils, nuts, nut butters, cheese and other dairy (the more fat, the better), and dark chocolate all give you a big boost before you even add in the carbs. Alcohol also gets you 7 calories per gram, but that has more entertainment than nutritional value. :)

[Dogwood]

One of the reasons why we quickly become "sick" of or bored with the types of foods STE listed ON THE TRAIL is that we are accustomed and ADDICTED to sugary, salty, and fatty foods OFF THE TRAIL. We expect and demand our trail foods to equally feed those addictions. When that doesn't happen on the trail we blame the trail food rather than our dietary addictions! It's an obvious example of what the food industry intentionally scientifically does to create and promote addictions.

[MuddyWaters]

One of the reasons why we quickly become "sick" of or bored with the types of foods STE listed ON THE TRAIL is that we are accustomed and ADDICTED to sugary, salty, and fatty foods OFF THE TRAIL. We expect and demand our trail foods to equally feed those addictions. When that doesn't happen on the trail we blame the trail food rather than our dietary addictions! It's an obvious example of what the food industry intentionally scientifically does to create and promote addictions.


Opposite here
On trail, I eat pure crap. Easy energy carbs keep you going. It has to taste appealing as well to eat it.
Normally I eat pretty well at home. Meats, vegetables, eggs, natural fats, and minimal carbs.
Except I have a weakness for ice cream.

[Dogwood]

I liked your post too Leaftye but making food palatable is quite easy when you think about the characteristics of the food you normally eat off the trail. If your accustomed to salty sugary fatty foods or meals off trail that's what you're going to crave on trail UNLESS YOU CHANGE YOUR IDEA OF WHAT'S PLATABLE(tastes good). To me nothing tastes as good as healthy feels. I've now bridged that gap by opting for healthy foods that TASTES GREAT. For example, when I start talking about eating oatmeal on trail folks tend to get bored having a ho hum attitude(that's the non creative folks). But when I start talking about adding some dried berries, coconut milk, cranberries, nuts(walnuts, almonds), seeds, nut butters, dried ginger, cinnamon, low salt NO MSG bacon bits, jerky, Butter Buds, etc to it, AHHH, seems more palatable. You can do the same thing with spices.

[Dogwood]

Ever since I witnessed the sick hikers and vile vomit at Pine Grove and further up the AT alongside the trail w/ all the flies and awful smell I lost mu desire for ice cream.

[MuddyWaters]

Nothing wrong with any food on the trail IMO.

But the idea that carby things like Oatmeal is actually good for you, while fats arent, is somewhat of a misconception I think. People were not designed to eat large amounts of carbs, and there is nothing wrong with natural fats. Propaganda by the food industry brainwashed people away from real foods, only to find that heart disease and diabetes became rampant by eating their "healthier" offerings.

Easy to digest carbs will make you fat, easier than eating bacon.

[Odd Man Out]

I think about it this way. When it comes to evaluating the calorie density of your food bag, most everything in there is either fat, carbs, protein, water, fiber, or packaging. There will be small amounts of other things (vitamins, minerals, salt), but those are negligible. The first three provides calories. The last three don't. Add more fat/oil/butter to anything to increase calorie density (9 cal/g for fat, 4 cal/g for carbs and protein). Also consider packaging. A larger bottle of oil will have a higher calorie density than a small bottle. That's because a bottle that holds twice the volume probably won't weigh twice as much.

[Dogwood]

In 2006 Mr Parkay received his trail name because he carried a squeeze bottle of Parkay Margarine in his backpack's side pocket. It was pretty disgusting watching him squeeze that chunky curdled up cottage cheesy looking margarine into his mouth when the sun was beating down in 90* temps while he was sweating like a hog on a spit at a luau.

[MuddyWaters]

In 2006 Mr Parkay received his trail name because he carried a squeeze bottle of Parkay Margarine in his backpack's side pocket. It was pretty disgusting watching him squeeze that chunky curdled up cottage cheesy looking margarine into his mouth when the sun was beating down in 90* temps while he was sweating like a hog on a spit at a luau.

In his book, Model T tells of the same. He lived on peanut butter and squeeze Parkay in the NE. Eat a tablespoon of PB, wash it down with a swig of parkay. Mmmmmm. I have drank olive oil, its not that bad. I wouldnt touch manmade crap like parkay in that quantity.

[QiWiz]

In his book, Model T tells of the same. He lived on peanut butter and squeeze Parkay in the NE. Eat a tablespoon of PB, wash it down with a swig of parkay. Mmmmmm. I have drank olive oil, its not that bad. I wouldnt touch manmade crap like parkay in that quantity.

+1
Add peanut butter to anything; add olive oil or canola oil to all dinners; eat lots of nuts during the day; eat hard cheeses when you can - these are all pretty healthy high-fat foods that will boost your calories for the least added weight.

[TEXMAN]

Bring a small bottle of hot sauce >>>>> it makes everything palatable

[gollwoods]

pumpkin seeds have zinc, vitamin e, in many forms which is good and other minerals plus 180 calories/oz.

[CoffeeBager]

Macadamia nuts: 200 cal/oz

[Mags]

Check out this link. (http://web.archive.org/web/20050305231402/http://www.oc.edu/staff/phil.heffington/FoodCalories.htm) for the calories to ounce ratio of common backpacking food.

[Just Bill]

As an alternative, or complimentary method to the cal/oz plan- I have been comparing several items lately by the serving size to get a relative volume. An ounce is an ounce, but a 1/4 cup is a 1/4 cup if you know what I mean. Liquids like oil or pure fat don't matter much- but many other items do. Many grains have very close cal/oz, but not always similar volumes. Not a main concern but lately I have been using this as a bit of a tie-breaker.

Ramen noodles are basically just wheat, but due to the shape take up much more room than say cous-cous (wheat). Same with sunflower seed vs. Almonds. Noodles with almonds may fill a cup of space per 400 calories, while the same 400 calories of couscous and sunflower seeds is half that size.

Most important is that you like it- but I have been playing with volume as well as calories- if nothing else at a few ounces and a half cup of space it's more efficient to carry that along than say two extra cliff bars or snickers.

[Malto]

I tried the maximum calories per ounce strategy twice, the JMT and the SHR. Both were a disaster from a food perspective. First you have to enjoy eating the food. Take Macadamian nuts, that was one of my brilliant foods. Say you can eat them no problem in the civilian world. Now, add physical exertion and throw in a bit of altitude and guess what, you likely won't be able to choke them down. I ended up with a 125 calorie per ounce average for my food drops, which was 90% of my food on the PCT. why so low? It contained high carb foods which is what your body is looking for when hiking. But I was able to eat everything I packed. So don't fall in the trap of over optimizing on calories per ounce. I suspect if you do you will learn the hard why just just I and others have done.

[Just Bill]

I seem to end up at the very realistic 125/cal ounce mark too. (Been eating backpacking food at my desk and experimenting)
Try to cram any more calories into the meal or meal plan and it falls apart somehow- taste, texture, gag factor, and repeatability.

Howdy Malto- Damn shame I missed you at Harriman, catch you somewhere down the trail for sure.

[fredmugs]

Anish ate a lot of Oreos with coconut oil on her PCT thru. Yuck!

I eat a lot of MetRx meal replacement because I like them. I also take cocoa almonds that I can get at Sams Club. I usually try and have something dehydrated for dinner.

[Dogwood]

With some of those high cal/oz options I employ I'm taking trail water availability into account(nuts, seeds, dried coconut, nut butters, etc). I think I'd have to do that in SoCal on the PCT if I was on the Anish Oreos/coconut oil hiking diet.

[swjohnsey]

Put a little fat in the form of lard, margarine, olive oil, Parkay, etc in everything you cook.

[LuckyMan]

I learned in a backpacking cooking class at the AT Biennial last year to bring butter - salted, not unsalted. I was surprised, had figured butter would go bad quickly but instructor said salted butter does not go bad except in extreme heat, and so far it has worked for me. Add to hot dinners, hot cereals, sandwiches, wraps, bagels etc.

[Eazy_E]

I learned in a backpacking cooking class at the AT Biennial last year to bring butter - salted, not unsalted. I was surprised, had figured butter would go bad quickly but instructor said salted butter does not go bad except in extreme heat, and so far it has worked for me. Add to hot dinners, hot cereals, sandwiches, wraps, bagels etc.

Clarified butter won't go bad period. Plus, I think it tastes better.