View Full Version : Calorie Counting
double d
12-02-2007, 01:38
This is a very broad question I have but.....in an "average" day (say late Sept.mid 60's, low humidity) of about 15 miles hiked on the AT (lets say 6-8 hours of hiking),about how many calories do you burn in that amount of time? Yes, there are alot of variables, but its fun to think about. I'm gonna be section hiking on the AT (northern Ga.)in late Dec. and looking forward to it.
On two week hikes on a trail a little less rugged than the AT in northern Georgia (Superior Hiking Trail) in weather similar to what you state (typical highs in mid-60s), and averaging 12 miles per day (8 or 9 hours of hiking, with breaks) instead of your stated 15, I eat 4300 calories a day and end my hikes at the same weight I start, so I assume I'm burning about 4300 calories per day. I'm a male in my late 40s (I suppose calories burned might vary with gender and age). In more rugged Georgia terrain and doing slightly more miles I'm guessing I'd burn between 4500 and 5000 calories per day. YMMV:) .
Grumpy Ol' Pops
12-02-2007, 18:37
Normally, a man will need an average of 2400 calories per day to maintain his weight and a woman will need 2000 calories per day for maintenance. Of course, this number is dependent on activity level. Sit in front of the computer all day and your need will drop off at least 20% and probably even 35%. It depends on just how sedentary you are – be honest with yourself!
Flat walking at a “leisurely pace” burns calories at the rate of 100 to 180 calories per mile, so a 10-mile walk on a level trail will use up 1000 to 1800 calories per day. Uphill with a backpack will change things greatly, however. The calorie burn rate will increase from 450 to 900 calories per mile, depending on speed and intensity. Downhill is not less than the flat rate, since you are carrying that pack and working to stay upright on the downgrade.
Estimate that 10 miles is 3 miles relatively flat and 3.5 miles each of uphill and downhill. So that 10-mile day will turn into a calorie rate of perhaps (3 X 180) + (3.5 X 900) + (3.5 X 450) = 540 + 3150 +1575 = 5265 calories per day for an average person at 180 pounds plus backpack.
Use all that nutrition information on the packages of food you take with you and also pick up from drop boxes – you can do this easily at home when planning your thru hike menu and preparing all your gear and drop boxes. You’ll need to record ALL the gedunks and trail magic you consume along the trail that were added as you walked – ice cream, pizza, beer and other stuff. Calculate the nutritional value of all that food after you return home and you see how many calories you took into your “hiking machine.” It generally takes your body burning 3500 calories to lose one pound of weight. Be sure to weigh yourself before dressing to leave for the trail and again when you return home at the end. If you keep good track of the food you eat on the trail, you’ll be able to calculate how your body reacted. This would be a good “research project” for someone who really wants to know!
Yes, I did use this method to track caloric intake for several months and it will take off the weight if you use it carefully to your advantage.
:sun
I use 3000-3500 calories per day as my goal. (I'm female, though much taller than average, and can easily tell that age has significantly reduced my calorie needs. Dang it.) In cold weather, that goes up a lot, easily more than 1000 calories per day.
It's pretty astonishing how big a pile of food that turns into. When I was accumulating food for my JMT hike this year, since there were not going to be many resupply options, I laid out what looked like enough food, day by day. Going back with a calculator, my off-the-cuff "yeah, that's about right" piles of food ranged from 2500 to 1100/day.
Someone posted this site last week on a different thread.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/
You can go to tools and find daily needs for various activities. Age, and size are variables. It has everything to do with metabolism.
Just keep Little Debbies in your daily diet....and you should be fine :-)
I figure that a person burns about 15 calories per pound per day routinely, not counting unusual activity. For a 150 pound person, that's 2,250 calories.
Then I add one calorie per pound (counting carried weight, too) per mile. If our hypothetical person had 22 pounds carried, and hiked 18 miles, he'd burn 3,096 calories doing that.
Add them together and you get 5,346 calories. Call it something between 5,000 and 5,500.
Easy to figure while you walk along.
I ignore the elevation gain because I don't have good data for it. Looking at the potential energy of weight times elevation, that's 3.238e-4 cal per pound per foot gained. So if our hypothetical hiker gains 1,000 feet he's burned an additional 55.7 calories - sure, that's lower than actual because of efficiency losses, but how low? If the hiker is 15% efficient, then he's burned 371.3 calories, and that seems possibly a bit high.
If the efficiency is better, at 33%, then he's burned another 167 calories - that might be closer.
bigboots
12-02-2007, 20:27
well now that I have my math lesson for today, I can figure out how many calories I burn walking around and up and down the stairs at work tomorrow.:D
Bigboots
There is somthing wrong here i have not done a days work in 3 years eat good drink soda lots sit at this compture take a afternoon nap lucky if i work out side 1 hour a day and i am not over weight. 5 ft.- 11 190 lbs.Oh i forgot i did split some wood today by hand
pyroman53
12-02-2007, 21:28
I'm not sure how much you burn, but on my section hike in Georgia this September (hot weather, high humidity), I CARRIED 2700 calories per day and that was More than enough. I'm 54, 6'3" and 175 pounds. We averaged 10 miles per day from Springer north. Never was without enough food and had a bit left over. For the week, I didn't lose more than a pound.
One thing to consider - if you are overweight you will actually burn more calories than a in shape person. Hence, you may well be more hungry and lose weight where others don't.
For myself it isn't the calories rather how filling my food is. For me I drizzle oil on as much as I can, and eat a lot of pasta and beans that fill my stomach up. The oil is very important. Being that I carry too much weight on myself, losing 10 lbs is nothing for me in a week trip! I cannot keep up with what I am burning up.
Wish it was that way at home ;)
There is somthing wrong here i have not done a days work in 3 years eat good drink soda lots sit at this compture take a afternoon nap lucky if i work out side 1 hour a day and i am not over weight. 5 ft.- 11 190 lbs.Oh i forgot i did split some wood today by handLOL. Good one Oops.
I've been working on my own formula based on total weight on feet, total distance, and net elevation gain. Don't have enough data yet. Something as simple as:
C = W(X+YxD+ZxE)
C = daily Calories burned, in kcal.
D = Distance travelled, in miles.
E = net Elevation gain, in 1000 feet.
W = total Weight on feet, in pounds.
X = constant. X = 6 kcal/pound.
Y = constant. Y = 0.6 kcal/mile/pound.
Z = constant. Z = 0.6 kcal/1000feet/pound.
I gotta get some data and figure out X, Y, Z better.
Anyhow, as an example. let us say:
D = 15 miles.
E = 5000 feet.
W = 200 pounds.
C = 200x( 6 + 0.6x15 + 0.6x5) = 200x(6+9+3) = 3600kcal
River Runner
12-03-2007, 02:12
On section hikes, I find I don't usually have as much appetite as I do at home and end up eating less than I think I will, but colder weather would not be the time to take a chance on bringing less food since we need the calories to stay warm at night.
My first section hike I added up calories & tried to bring about 4000 a day, but since then I just lay out enough food for a decent breakfast, small lunch, 4 snacks, and a moderate sized dinner. If I don't eat the snacks during the day, I can have them at dinner for a few extra calories.
Critterman
12-05-2007, 17:37
I know people believe they use 5,000 to 6,000 cal/day while thu hiking but it doesn't seem right to me. You are unlikely to be able to carry enough food to eat that much for one thing. Figure 5,000 cals at 50% fat and 50% carbs would be about 3 lbs food per day ( 2,500 cal carbs at 1,200 cal/lb and 2,500 cal fat at average of 3200 cal/lb ). Descriptions of what a thru hiker eats in a day don't add up to that much either.
If you use 5,000cal per day but only eat 3,000cal you would lose 1 lb body weight every day and a half. To make that up in town you would have to eat the equivalent of 1 medium cheese pizza or 3 whoppers for each day out on the trail. After 4 days out on the trail you would need to eat 12 whoppers in 1 day just make up your losses. Thats more than you could eat or afford to eat.
If you only ate 1,000cal/day less than you need, over a thru of 150 days you would lose 42 lbs.
I know that by the time the PCT thru-hikers hit Washington State most of them are super lean and almost gaunt. They cannot eat enough it seems.
envirodiver
12-05-2007, 23:32
Jak, where did you get the constants in your formula?