View Full Version : will I be eating right, enough?
Hey ya’ll. This is my first post here. Great site! I have been doing a lot of reading the past couple of days and decided to jump right in and start asking questions.
I am returning to backpacking after a long hiatus. I am looking start doing 7-10 day section kikes on the AT this spring preparing to ultimately walk from PA to ME in 2007. I will begin getting my body and mind in shape over the winter focusing on dropping some lbs and building up my endurance as well as upgrading/replacing some of my old gear.
When I was much younger, I kept my diet pretty simple and didn’t concern myself too much with proper nutrition, balanced meals, etc. I have a few more ice cream seasons under my belt now and those areas obviously are of greater concern now than they were then. A typical day for me usually included: 2 packages of oatmeal with raisins and coffee for breakfast, peanut butter and whole grain pita bread for lunch, dehydrated vegetable soup and either whole grain rice or instant potatoes for dinner. I would snack throughout the day on dried fruits, granola bars, beef jerky and trail mix (I prefer peanuts, raisins, sunflower seed kernels and chocolate chips or m&m’s myself) and lots and lots of water. I guess my question is this, what am I missing from a nutritional standpoint with the above. And while I am not interested in gourmet meals on the trail it might be nice to accommodate my more grown up tastes to a certain degree.
Any thoughts/advice would be welcomed. And oh, its nice to be back among the living.
There's not much protein in the foods you listed, other than the beef jerky. I usually try to take in some protein with every meal, totaling at least 60 g. a day. FD eggs for breakfast and FD meat or fish with supper. During the cold weather, I take Baby Belle cheeses or string cheese. Slim Jims. I've tried to get enthusiastic about TVP but haven't yet.
Just Jeff
10-21-2005, 14:55
First, count the calories for a few days of your meals. Eating less than ~4000 calories per full day of hiking will likely cause you to lose weight. (Some say 3500, some say 6500...you choose based on your body and exertion level.) This may not be a problem over 7-10 days as long as you don't get tired...it's like a weight-loss plan. For a longer section, you'll start feeling the difference.
So count up a few days worth of meals, then use that amount of food as a template for your other meals and you won't have to be so anal about counting every day's meals.
Add olive oil to things like rice, instant dinners and potatoes, etc. It gives a good calorie kick, and monounsaturated fats are the healthy ones.
I'd definitely agree with Marta. Protein is less important on shorter hikes, but 7-10 days might be enough for you to start feeling it. Your muscles use proteins to rebuild themselves after long days of hiking...chronic protein deficiencies can really reduce your enjoyment on a hike. I like to add something like a tuna pack to my dinners every 3-4 days, or stove top stuffing with a chicken pack. I like tortillas with cheese and hard sausage for lunch. Slim Jims and jerky are great snacks if you like the taste. Peanut Butter has some decent protein, too.
Even though it's heavy, I like fresh fruit from time to time. Oranges keep pretty well in a pack, and a fresh one can really pick me up at lunch. Apples are ok if they don't get really hot (the core will get mushy).
I'm not a nutritionist (or even a thru-hiker yet), but it sounds like you're off to a good start.
I'd say your diet would be much better than the average thruhiker's. Just make sure to get enough calories in your system. The main way to do this is the snack quite a bit during the day. Also, adding olive oil to dinner is a good way to add calories and fat, both of which are highly important for long-duration activities.
Thanks for the feedback. With the nuts, jerky and peanut butter, I didn't think protein would be that lacking.
String cheese is easy, but what other cheeses pack well? Tuna packs are a great suggestion. I never liked taking the cans along and the zip lock type packs weren't around before or at least I didn't have them.
Olive oil is pretty easy too and as the saying goes, "fat is flavor."
I'll look into total grams and find out where I stand. I'll also have to do a calorie count. 4k-6k is a lot of calories. I am one of those that eats when I'm hungry and doesn't when I'm not (which is hardly ever).
I also usually carry a baked good or two (zuchinni bread, bannana bread, etc) to last for the first couple of days.
Thanks again.
tlbj6142
10-21-2005, 15:43
Tuna packs are a great suggestion. I never liked taking the cans along and the zip lock type packs weren't around before or at least I didn't have them.They have chicken and salmon in those foil packets as well. You can even get "flavored" tuna (haven't tried it yet).
orangebug
10-21-2005, 15:45
I like to bring hard white cheeses, but if you are eating it at a good pace, just about anything will last on a hike, replaced every week or so. I wouldn't bring one of those French stinking cheeses that goop all over the place when you cut into it. But anything else works pretty well.
I also like to bring dried fruit for flavor and texture. Store bought is good, but I like to dry my own peaches and such.
the goat
10-21-2005, 15:48
white cheddar, smoked gouda, pepperoni, throw some balance bars in there for good measure and you're set.
p.s. flavored tuna rocks! i like the lemmon pepper.
Just Jeff
10-21-2005, 15:57
Lemon pepper tuna is awesome. The shrimp packs are decent, but much for calories. Oyster packs taste like canned oysters if you like those.
I bring a block of cheddar for lunch. If it gets hot it can separate, but it still tastes the...just a little greasy handling it. Pretty much any hard cheese will hike well.
Now if I could find a way to bring fresh tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, a few sprigs of basil and some olive oil...
the goat
10-21-2005, 16:07
[QUOTE=Just Jeff]I bring a block of cheddar for lunch. If it gets hot it can separate, but it still tastes the...just a little greasy handling it.QUOTE]
if you use white, you won't get that problem.
Clark Fork
10-21-2005, 16:38
Hey ya’ll. This is my first post here. Great site! I have been doing a lot of reading the past couple of days and decided to jump right in and start asking questions.
I am returning to backpacking after a long hiatus. I am looking start doing 7-10 day section kikes on the AT this spring preparing to ultimately walk from PA to ME in 2007. I will begin getting my body and mind in shape over the winter focusing on dropping some lbs and building up my endurance as well as upgrading/replacing some of my old gear.
When I was much younger, I kept my diet pretty simple and didn’t concern myself too much with proper nutrition, balanced meals, etc. I have a few more ice cream seasons under my belt now and those areas obviously are of greater concern now than they were then. A typical day for me usually included: 2 packages of oatmeal with raisins and coffee for breakfast, peanut butter and whole grain pita bread for lunch, dehydrated vegetable soup and either whole grain rice or instant potatoes for dinner. I would snack throughout the day on dried fruits, granola bars, beef jerky and trail mix (I prefer peanuts, raisins, sunflower seed kernels and chocolate chips or m&m’s myself) and lots and lots of water. I guess my question is this, what am I missing from a nutritional standpoint with the above. And while I am not interested in gourmet meals on the trail it might be nice to accommodate my more grown up tastes to a certain degree.
Any thoughts/advice would be welcomed. And oh, its nice to be back among the living. Sarbar, the Poohbah of freezer bag cooking promises a cook book for the upcoming season. Besides promoting the convenience of freezer bag cooking, her food suggestions are main stream with few of the weird creations of the retro hippie set or the impractical menus featured in publications such as Backpacking magazine.
No crepes suzeaweed at:
http://www.freewebs.com/freezerbagcooking/index.htm
Clark Fork in Western Montana "Where seldom is heard a discouraging word."
Great stuff! Like I said, its been awhile and all of these suggestions will definately get me to rethink how/what I eat out there. With some of these newer packaged meats, there are a lot of lightweight, fresh alternatives to just jerky (as much as I love my jerky though). Anyway, I really appreciate all of the feedback. Thanks for the warm welcome.
max patch
10-21-2005, 18:03
Your menu isn't too different from mine when I thru'd. I'll note the differences:
Breakfast: Add powered milk and honey to the oatmeal/cereal. Tang instead of coffee as I didn't like the hassle of cooking breakfast. And a multi-vitamin.
Lunch: Add a hunk of cheddar cheese to your lunch. I used bagels but if you can find whole grain pitas then that would be great.
Dinner: I used squeeze margarine in my dinner, but if hiking today would use olive oil.
Snacks: I found instant pudding to be an awesome snack once in a while.
You'll make changes as you go. Don't worry about it.
Alligator
10-21-2005, 19:09
Snacks: I found instant pudding to be an awesome snack once in a while.
Yes, quite good. Dried peaches sounds really good too. The foil meat packs have been mentioned.
I would suggest some dehydrated vegetables also, if you think you can do it. While I don't know the nutritional value, a mix or two might can't hurt. Carrots, green beans, & corn. Or bok choy, cabbage, and leeks. Zucchinin and yellow squash. Other squash. Throw them in a Lipton's or a ramen.
Just Jeff
10-21-2005, 20:24
Hrm...I guess I can't type today. I meant that the shrimp packs AREN'T much for calories, and that the cheese tastes the same after it separates (not that it tastes the ... after it separates).
I didn't realize that white cheese doesn't separate as easily, though...that's good info.
I switched to grits fo breakfast so I could double the calories with olive oil.
the essential snack/trail mix for me is nuts and dried fruit.
Lunch is usually foilpack meat and chees on flat bread with...olive oil.
Dinner is usually a dehydrated two person vegetarian meal with, yep, added olive oil.
Always on the trail, never at home, a daily multivitamin.
A hearty second to Sarbar's site on freezerbag cooking.
[QUOTE=Clark Fork]Sarbar, the Poohbah of freezer bag cooking promises a cook book for the upcoming season. Besides promoting the convenience of freezer bag cooking, her food suggestions are main stream with few of the weird creations of the retro hippie set or the impractical menus featured in publications such as Backpacking magazine.
No crepes suzeaweed at:
http://www.freewebs.com/freezerbagcooking/index.htm
Lol! Well, that's cause I like eating good :D I needed a good laugh today...I have to meet anyone who actually packed in 3 pans and did gourmet cooking . Of course if they did, I'd sure mooch :D
And don't get me started about BP magazine's cooking section....they need to be slapped...I still can't believe that a couple months ago they told readers to "open up the can of chicken, drain it and carry it to camp in a ziploc bag" hello food poisoning?