View Full Version : Low carb trail snacks
Hikingchef
01-31-2018, 21:25
Hello everyone! My wife and I are trying to get into shape and lose (more) weight by hiking since we moved close to the AT. We have been doing a lower carb diet, less than 50 a day average, and it’s been working well. Reading on here for trail snacks, it seems like a lot of people take high carb snacks, protein bars, candy, granola, with them. Are there any good snacks that are lower carb but still pack easy?
Heliotrope
01-31-2018, 21:41
Sone of my favorites: Nuts, jerky, cheese, 85% dark chocolate,
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TX Aggie
01-31-2018, 23:03
Summer sausage and pepperoni Wil keep for a couple of days on the Trail, protein powders can help fill you up, freeze dried legumes like wasabi peas, nut butters.
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Eastern Adventures
01-31-2018, 23:03
Not necessarily a snack (depends on your definition of a snack I suppose), but tuna packets are a lightweight quick meal that is full of protein and very low on carbs.
This link has some good options as well: https://kit.com/davidgalloway/low-carb-backpacking-food-keto-paleo
Nuts, coconut chips, jerkey, boiled eggs for day hikes, cheese sticks, low carb tortillas with a tuna and mayo packets as a wrap. Those low carb Atkins bars (some with less chemically taste now).
Whatever is is good at home will usually work for day hike or first couple days in cooler weather.
AllDownhillFromHere
02-01-2018, 00:42
Not necessarily a snack (depends on your definition of a snack I suppose), but tuna packets are a lightweight quick meal that is full of protein and very low on carbs.
And is incredibly wasteful. At least you can recycle a can.
devoidapop
02-01-2018, 08:23
(some with less chemically taste now).
That's a hell of an endorsement. Lol
Nuts and seeds of whatever variety you find tasty.
Eastern Adventures
02-01-2018, 08:58
And is incredibly wasteful. At least you can recycle a can.
Can't argue with that. Though, some companies, such as the one below, are trying to go more towards recyclable pouches for fish. A quick Google search is showing quite a lot of topic on it.
Eastern Adventures
02-01-2018, 08:59
Can't argue with that. Though, some companies, such as the one below, are trying to go more towards recyclable pouches for fish. A quick Google search is showing quite a lot of topic on it.
My bad, forgot the link and cannot edit:
https://fishpeopleseafood.com/pages/our-packaging
Have you tried fasting?
I think that if you are not accustomed to eating during certain activities, you wont be hungry. I never eat while I am out walking, hiking, etc. - so I wouldn't bother to bring anything except water.
Fasting done in conjunction with a high fat/low carb diet has given me fantastic weight management results.
BobTheBuilder
02-01-2018, 09:46
And is incredibly wasteful. At least you can recycle a can.
That seems like an unnecessary criticism. I've never seen a hiker recycle anything. They pack out their trash and throw it in the first garbage can they come upon. To quote Buckaroo Bonzai, "Don't be mean. You don't have to be mean."
trailmercury
02-01-2018, 15:52
That seems like an unnecessary criticism. I've never seen a hiker recycle anything. They pack out their trash and throw it in the first garbage can they come upon. To quote Buckaroo Bonzai, "Don't be mean. You don't have to be mean."
+1...
I like homemade turkey jerky, string cheese and nuts
Hikingchef
02-01-2018, 17:22
@franky- we’ve tried intermittent fasting, and do it accidentally quite often, but the last few times we’ve gone out for day hikes we always end up tired and hungry 8-10 Miles in.
Thanks for ideas everyone! I didn’t think there would be this big a response for such a strange request!
Chef - The intermittent fasting was all I had to offer. I like most of the other stuff mentioned by other people. Nuts, jerky, cheese, summer sausage. Jerky can be pricey.
Sometimes cheese goes right through me. And I don’t really like tuna or hard-boiled eggs. I don’t like the way they smell.
I know that fresh fruit can be a little carby, But at least you were having your carbs with the fiber. I read that people going for low-carb should stay away from dried fruit.
Jaegerwurst
Almond butter
Epic bars
RX bars
Hikingchef
02-01-2018, 21:42
That’s quite alright franky! I don’t care for tuna either, and boiled eggs are only good in salads. How do you do your fasting? Time frames and last/first meals?
TX Aggie
02-01-2018, 22:36
Just a counter argument to the fasting: my wife and I are the exact opposite: several meals throughout the day, typically 6. We try to get them so they are about the same caloric wise. This helps accomplish the goal of fasting which is to even out your glucose/insulin levels, you’re just eating less carbs and the ones you eat are more complex and mixed with a healthy dose of fiber. We both dropped significant weight and have kept it off for almost 3 years now.
Not sure if this helps or not, just a little counter argument from one guy’s perspective.
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Siestita
02-01-2018, 22:41
Hikingchef--Hopefully your "low carb" diet includes lots of food containing ample fiber, lots of water, and some protein, but with only limited quantities of fat.
If you simply substitute fatty foods for carbs your total calorie intake will rise rather than fall and eventually the well being of your heart and blood vessels could be impaired. It's possible to sustain a middle way between fasting, which is difficult to sustain, and pigging out on treats that are high in fat and/or carbs. It's not possible to lose weight without consuming fewer calories, from whatever source, and/or increasing one's activity level. Learning to do those things permanently rather than just on a temporary "diet" is challenging.
This forum focuses on dietary needs of overnight backpackers, including long distance hikers. Our challenge is typically to raise rather than limit our daily calorie intake, doing so while simultaneously limiting the weight of the food that we carry. So, after concluding multi-day or multi-week hikes some people, including me, find it challenging to resume healthy off trail eating habits. I am overweight/border line obese. So neither the volume of food that I eat while backpacking, nor its content (lots of both carbs and fat) works well for me while I am less active at home.
My suggestion: If you are doing multi-day backpacking ventures (but not multi-month ones) don't worry about adhering to your regular diet on those days. Simply select foods for those trips based on their weight, your tastes, and convenience. But, as soon as you leave the trail, return to your normal 'healthy' eating pattern. Save any extra nuts, jerky (like the nuts usually very high fat) and trail mix for future trips rather than snacking on them as you drive home!
Of course, if your walking is limited to day hikes, planning snacks or meals is simpler. The weight of the food that you carry in your day pack is trivial. So, why not simply take with you the kind of snacks or sandwiches that your diet has you consuming at home? To sustain exercise you'll need to consume calories, preferably including some from carbohydrates. So, consider possibly eating (in moderate quantities!) some combination of fresh fruit, cheese, canned fish or meat, nuts, bread, tortillas, or crackers.
TX Aggie
02-01-2018, 22:51
The low fat diet myth has been debunked multiple times, both in the medical community as well as hikers. Fats and oils are extremely compatible with long distance hiking and provide greater energy to weight and energy to volume ratios than carbs.
Most importantly: the link between a high fat diet and cardiovascular disease is a complete fabrication and myth. The long term data clearly shows an increase in heart disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes, high blood pressure, and others that parallels the move to low-fat diets.
Bottom line: the low fat diet hype and scare is the greatest health epidemic of the last 50 years.
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Siestita
02-01-2018, 23:35
"...The long term data clearly shows an increase in heart disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes, high blood pressure, and others that parallels the move to low-fat diets.
Bottom line: the low fat diet hype and scare is the greatest health epidemic of the last 50 years."
During the past seventy years or so four things have simultaneously happened here in the USA::
1. Increases in the aforesaid diseases.
2. Greatly increased rates of obesity in both adults and children.
3. Reduced physical activity by many people.
4. Increased consumption of food generally, including both lots more sugar than was previously consumed ("Don't you want to supersize that shake?") and also much more fat ("Fries come with that combo meal.").
Evidence is strong that increased obesity has brought with it lots of diabetes and other serious health problems. Inactivity, over consumption of carbohydrates, and over consumption of fats have apparently each separately contributed to our population's obesity epidemic.
Long distance hikers usually lose weight rather than gain it so, yes, there is much wisdom in the statement that "Fats and oils are extremely compatible with long distance hiking and provide greater energy to weight and energy to volume ratios than carbs." But, those of us who need to limit our weight while at home need to be wary of consuming too many calories from any source, including fats. At home its healthy for us to sometimes eat nuts, meat, and eggs, but not to excess.
I am wary of simplistic diet schemes that exalt or demonize "carbs" or "fats" or any other foods.
Fasting while hiking would end my hiking real fast. I refuel frequently on the trail. My hiking cadence drops considerably once I have burned through my most recent snack. To maintain a reasonable hiking pace, I need frequent sustenance including readily available calories. With that perspective in mind, is continuing a low carbohydrate diet on a hiking adventure really the best idea?
Chef - I try to keep my feeding window to 2 hours per day. I drink black coffee, black tea, herbal tea, water, seltzer all day and eat one meal per day at home with my family. Sometimes on Sundays I will have eggs/bacon at 1 PM and then dinner later on, giving that day an 8-hour window.
If I was by myself, I would probably eat that one meal mid-day.
Occasionally I will do multiple day fasts, with my longest being 4 days in duration.
I try to stay away from pasta, potatoes, rice, and bread. A typical meal is grilled chicken (with skin) and some broccoli with butter. I'll also have some mixed nuts, pork rinds (delicious and carb-free) and maybe an apple. Beer is my major weakness, but once I go without for a couple of days I can generally stay on track.
Jason Fung is a physician from Canada who advocates for intermittent fasting. He has written o couple of related books, and has put out a lot of free resources on the internet. He has changed my life.
OCD - if you train your body to burn fat for energy instead of sugar, you won't be constantly needing to snack.
Hikingchef
02-02-2018, 12:07
Franky, 8 hours is pretty normal for us, my wife’s a Nurse and might each a “real lunch” once a week, and I’m (surprise) a chef, and eat a full lunch less than that, our biggest issue starts on our days off when we aren’t hiking and can snack and eat regularly. We cut pasta and bread out totally, with the exception of Home made, lower carb replacements. Once we get closer to our goal weights we plan on adding more fruits which will help on trail with quick sugars.
OCDave, the first month of low carb would have been impossible for us to hike anything more than a couple miles, having adjusted to it we have had more energy than before, even if we do fast. While it may not be ideal for a thru-hike, sticking to our diet, I think, won’t have any ill effects on a weekend trip, or even a week long trip as long as we regulate our calorie intake to match what we burn, regardless of when those calories are consumed.
Riocielo
02-02-2018, 20:46
Hikingchef,
I’m so glad you asked this question. I have been on a ketogenic diet since May (and have lost 62lbs) in order to deal with my impaired glucose tolerance and insulin resistance.
I have been thinking of food to take on our next hike and wanted to avoid the high carb selections that turn my blood sugar into a roller coaster. There have been so many good suggestions!
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Low carb living and hiking is ancestral and works well. You will be the only hikers on the trail without the horrible "hiker hunger" caused by chronic carb addiction (sorry, Little Debbie). We've been doing it for three years, mostly in ketosis. The last month we went total carnivore, and had more energy, less joint pain, and lost about 10 lbs. See Facebook World Carnivore Tribe.
We hike with meat, avocado, eggs, jerky (homemade without sugar), nuts, cheese, 90% chocolate and certain types of meat bars (Epic bison bacon are our favorite). We eat only two meals/day because frankly we're not hungry. Lots of power for hiking because we are fat adapted.
There's no reason that you have to eat the number of calories that you theoretically are burning, you were designed to burn fat during endurance exercise. Think about it, we were hunter/gathers for hundreds of thousands of years prior to the melting of the glaciers, which made agriculture possible only 8,000 years ago. You don't need carbs, at all, in fact 97% of plants are poisonous and the remaining 3% have defensive chemicals that can make us quite ill. We do best in our Ice Age ancestral paradigm. Humans got shorter, sicker, and had smaller brains when they became grain eaters. Just look around at all the fat, sick sugar/grain eaters. Sickening. That's not natural. Humans are naturally very lean on their ancestral diet.
Hikingchef
02-02-2018, 21:14
Rio and rock, I’m glad to hear that we aren’t the only people in the world taking on the crazy venture of hiking while doing Keto! Rio, congrats!! Hopefully it’s helping everything else! We haven’t lost that much, we’ve been doing it since September, with the exception of December, and are down about 25# a piece.
Riocielo
02-02-2018, 21:20
Rio and rock, I’m glad to hear that we aren’t the only people in the world taking on the crazy venture of hiking while doing Keto! Rio, congrats!! Hopefully it’s helping everything else! We haven’t lost that much, we’ve been doing it since September, with the exception of December, and are down about 25# a piece.
I have my labs repeated Friday and hope to be taken off my meds then. I feel so much better on keto and plan for this to be my lifestyle from now on. Plus, no cravings and hunger...what’s not to love? :)
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I've been rocking a modified Atkins diet for a while now. See no reason to go back to the "Western Diet".
On bigger days (running or hiking) I definitely benefit from higher carb snacks. Banana chips are about 50/50 fat/carbs and have a high caloric density. So do those sesame stick snacks.
.... Think about it, we were hunter/gathers for hundreds of thousands of years prior to the melting of the glaciers...
... Humans are naturally very lean on their ancestral diet.
I'd just point out that they lived on average about 25 years. (Not defending carbs but, I take the whole cave man diet thing with a bit of skepticism)
TX Aggie
02-03-2018, 12:42
I'd just point out that they lived on average about 25 years. (Not defending carbs but, I take the whole cave man diet thing with a bit of skepticism)
That was due more to predators that diet.
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That was due more to predators that diet.
Sorry to OP as we stray temporarily from original topic: The point is that death at 25 precludes the diseases of aging. Arteriosclerotic vascular diseases, many malignacies, degenerative diseases and such are clearly impacted by nutrition. Again, I am not a nutritionalist nor am I defending carbs. I am simply pointing out it is reasonable to be sceptical.
Powdered butter with powdered coffee, powdered butter with cocoa powder and stevia, dried crackers made of cheese, single serve meats and cheese food packs from word market, walnuts, pecans, fresh cheeses for several days
Hikingchef
02-05-2018, 22:08
@gnomad powdered butter? That’s a new one to me.
https://www.amazon.com/Hoosier-Hill-Farm-Butter-rBST-free/dp/B00DC5ZKQE
Nuts and seeds and their butters as Mapman posted. Low carb doesn't have to entail gorging on even greater amounts of animal products than the typical U.S. public consumes.
Be careful that you don't look at your dietary and exercising changes as temporary. Think of your approach as long lasting lifestyle changes. I too am weary of diets that generally demonize fats, carbs, or proteins or promote one at the exclusion of the others as this has created so much nutritional confusion that always is changing and leads to a dedicated section at Barnes & Noble involving the latest greatest dietary fads.
BTW, any low carb diet that doesn't absolutely make it clear up front that there are more desirable complex carbs such as in vegetables verse simple carbs such as simple highly processed sugar and refined grains should be avoided as it's likely an unsustainable dietary proposition.
@gnomad powdered butter? That’s a new one to me.
Not a fan due to taste. It's low in fat, which might be a factor if you are a LASH. However it might be good for adding protein. You can throw in oatmeal, etc. It mixed better than peanut butter.
That was due more to predators that diet.
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Average age was so low due to high infant mortality. People were still living till their 80’s and 90’s, its just that there were fewer people living to be 2 or 3. Childhood diabetes was a death sentence. Now, that young dead person lives to 60 or 70 years of age.
When you are starving, there is no such thing as a bad calorie. Most long distance hikers are in starvation mode after several weeks. Its the reason so many nobos struggle with Maine and NH. Their bodies are breaking down. Very few people need to be extremely carb deficient while doing extreme exercises. As omnivores, we can eat a large range of foods, and seem to thrive if we do so. We need a varied diet for peak efficiency. Keep your diet as close to natural and fresh as possible. I’m a big fan of dried fruit. Never have experienced the crashes that rockdoc experiences after eating high carb foods. I tend to think he may be more intolerant to insulin spikes.
Hikingchef
02-06-2018, 15:32
Egilbe, we get crashes after carb heavy meals, but I didn’t use to when carbs were a larger portion of my calorie intake. It’s very possible it is an insulin, and blood sugar, spike. Doing a lower carb diet we don’t eat as much sugar, so, I’ve noticed, I’m more sensitive to it, both in flavor and energy levels. Dried fruit is wonderful, I still eat it, my wife is waiting until she’s closer to her goal weight because of the high sugar content.
tryterry
02-06-2018, 15:42
Macadamia nuts or pistachios are a favorite. I've also been mixing in some MCT oil powder (https://www.bestnutrient.com/best-mct-oil/) into a bottle to bring along for a keto boost. I've used Lara bars in the past but seem to get too much of a sugar spike for my tastes.
TexasBob
02-06-2018, 19:34
Macadamia nuts or pistachios are a favorite. I've also been mixing in some MCT oil powder (https://www.bestnutrient.com/best-mct-oil/) into a bottle to bring along for a keto boost. I've used Lara bars in the past but seem to get too much of a sugar spike for my tastes.
I wonder how they make a powder out of oil.
Hikingchef
02-06-2018, 19:35
TexasBob, probably the same magic they use to make powdered milk. I’ve never questioned it and, like spam, never wanted to know how it’s made.
Looks like they mix the oil with some sort of binder.
Macadamia nuts or pistachios are a favorite. I've also been mixing in some MCT oil powder (https://www.bestnutrient.com/best-mct-oil/) into a bottle to bring along for a keto boost. I've used Lara bars in the past but seem to get too much of a sugar spike for my tastes.
Ohh, that explains it. You're in Cali. :) Learned another new thing today...MCT oil powder. Never knew about that site. THX.
Hey, say it was full flavored powdered butter or bacon and the naysayers would be drooling. :D
Quest MCT powder is a wonderful product, easy on the stomach (actual MCT oil can give you disaster pants; ask me how I know).
Use Quest MCT powder in your coffee or anywhere you need a creamy liquid. Excellent.
It will increase ketones and keep you from getting so hungry.