View Full Version : Ideas for healthy eating on the A.T.
I am planning my thru-hike for 2011 and was wondering if anyone has ideas for healthy eating on the trail. I hear alot of beef jerky and mac and cheese and raman but I would also like to eat well instead of just eating for calories.
get a food dehydrator and prepare YOUR favorite healty meals...simple!:)
In addition to high calorie foods you will need to keep going, buy fresh fruits and veggies for the first day or two out of town and dried fruits for longer stretches. Chicken, tuna, salmon that come in foil packs are great to mix in with lipton or rice-a-roni type meals. Nuts and a gorp bag are good additions.
get a food dehydrator and prepare YOUR favorite healty meals...simple!:)
great idea... if you want to do a lot of extra work for food you may grow tired of or if you should quit the trail for some unforeseen reason. plenty of great food re-supply options along the trail with none of the hassles of prep work and mail drops. :)
You really need to consult the hikers food pyramid to make sure you are eating from the proper food groups:
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=43614
:D
Sailor (The other one)
11-26-2009, 10:26
My wife Mudpie and I have similar concerns about eating healthy on our "someday" thru, and we have been experimenting for three years with food options.
I found the following thread interesting
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=56082 and was especially struck by this comment from Lone Wolf, veteran of multiple thrus:
i firmly believe a piss-poor diet while LD hiking led to my heart issues
Mudpie has done a great deal of dehydrating. If your primary concern is health, more than avoiding work, this may be worth it. While it is certainly true you might not finish a thru, and might have a lot of left over dehydrated food, it is, after all, dehydrated. We've taken our left overs and put them in the freezer and used them on later trips. No waste. And, again, avoiding poorer health is worth it.
Miudpie has dehydrated everything. She has successfully dehydrated left overs from whatever we cook for dinner at home, made her own dried fruit for trail mix (watermelon, raspberries, guava, strawberries - incredible), fruit leathers, and bulk dried vegetables and meats (which means we sometimes make up whatever we want on the trail by adding herbs and spices or store-bought stuff and mixing and matching). Boredom has not been an issue. Although we haven't been out for more than two weeks at a time, in the last three years we have not repeated many meals, on purpose. Since we have successfully dehydrated home cooked meals, the variety is nearly endless.
As suggested, coming out of towns, we've added fresh stuff, (on our first night at a camp once we had a steak, packed frozen then broiled over a wood fire. Heaven) and junk food, and once when a mail drop box didn't arrive did well in town between a grocery store and a health food store, being careful to read ingredients.
On our last section, using Mudpie's dehydrated stuff, we carried .8 pounds of food per person per day and still had leftovers, so the weight savings have been significant. That's with carrying olive oil to boost healthy fats.
Our present plan is to do a combination of mail drops, but sent only to places like hostels and outfitters who hold them for hikers since post office hours are too restricted, plus health food stores and grocery stores for fresh food and when its too far for our mail drop boxes. In this way we can re-supply no matter what, give ourselves lots of variety and eat crap when we want to.
garlic08
11-26-2009, 11:10
All the above, reiterating Tin Man's advice about fresh fruit and veg when you can.
A lot depends on your hiking and life style, too. If you're a planner and think you'll enjoy spending the months before the hike cooking, dehydrating, packing, and planning food mail drops, great. That would drive me nuts, personally. I really enjoy buying as I go, at least on the AT where there are so many markets along the way. I did what Tin Man suggests and made sure I packed at least one fresh thing a day, from a C-store banana to a carrot or piece of celery from a grocery. It's not much, but it's a step and it keeps you thinking about a better diet, at least.
Another consideration is how much you like to cook and how long you like to take for meal stops. Lots of hikers who plan cooked breakfasts every day find out they'd rather spend that time on the trail. Many end up with just one quick boiled meal per day, cooked in a bag. A few, like me, even go without a stove and eat only cold food. As noted above, it's good to have the flexibility as you go.
I think you'll know if you're successful or not by your cravings. If you start bingeing in town, you're probably doing something wrong. Best of luck.
The approach to food I took during my thru was to eat regular thru-hiker fair on the trail. Mostly Liption sides with tuna. When I went to town, every 4 to 6 days I would eat the stuff that's good for you. Fresh vegs. and fruit. That seemed to work for me.
Too many folks do a lot of food prep before they leave and find out they are eating it all back home because they left the trail.
You can eat bad for 6 months and it won't effect your health.
take-a-knee
11-26-2009, 14:47
The approach to food I took during my thru was to eat regular thru-hiker fair on the trail. Mostly Liption sides with tuna. When I went to town, every 4 to 6 days I would eat the stuff that's good for you. Fresh vegs. and fruit. That seemed to work for me.
Too many folks do a lot of food prep before they leave and find out they are eating it all back home because they left the trail.
You can eat bad for 6 months and it won't effect your health.
From the Jim Fixx school of hiking...some of you may not remember the LATE marathon runner, Mr Fixx. He said what you ate didn't matter either, right up until they found him dead in the middle of the street.
You can eat bad for 6 months and it won't effect your health.
That's not too far from thinking a through hiker's diet should be identical to a "normal" 2000 calorie diet plus whatever additional calories are required and where the rest of the calories come from doesn't matter. I'm not buying it.
You can plan the most nutritionally healthy diet plan...but if you can't eat it after 2 weeks...well, then you deal with it.
This happens quite often with LD hikers. You tire of foods or one day you wake up and cannot eat certain items anymore. Pretty normal.
Don't over think it. Being flexible is what is most important. You will figure out by end of month 1 what works.
sarbar....that is kinda what I was thinking. There is no way you can figure out what you will have the taste for 6 months from now on the trail. I know my food taste change based on time of year, physical activity level and things I have no clue about.
If my body craves fat, that is what it is gonna get.
Blaming a snicker diet for health problems??????? Now if your eating 5 a day....I don't know. That would give you 125% of your daily fat and about 1500 calories.
I would take a good multi vitamin and try to vary my diet. I am also going to take L-caritan to help burn some of this fat off. Does it???? who knows
brooklynkayak
11-27-2009, 00:58
In my opinion, variety is very important. Dried fruit and nuts are good, but you will get sick of that. Try to vary as much as possible.
Fad diets of course don't work on the trail.
Don't repeatedly eat your favorite foods for every meal.
Fat is good for active people.
Protein is OK but don't overdo it.
Junk food can be OK, but try to keep a balance.
I find that so called healthy foods cause stomach/digestive problems for me. Too much fiber can slow down digestion and become painful when I'm active, but are my choice when I'm back home being inactive.
Try to find a balance that matches your digestive system, but add lots of variety, it willl make your favorite foods taste better and will help you stay healthy on the trail.
Powell19
11-27-2009, 01:47
This may be off the wall, but has anyone ever tried sprouting seeds on the trail? It seems like it might be doable.
If someone wants to try it, I'd recommend sprouting lentils.
Cookerhiker
11-27-2009, 08:22
Some good suggestions above. I'd second trying to get fresh fruit & veggies, not just for town meals but also buying and bringing 1-2 days worth for the Trail after town stops. Of course if you're a ultralight fanatic, this doesn't work.
One problem with Lipton sides is the pasta is white and there's too much sodium. If you're resupplying in town, the larger grocery stores (not available in all town stops) have whole-grain pastas and brown Success Rice which is quick-cooking. Buy some Knorr or McCormick sauce packets to flavor them; you'll get some protein if you buy the cheese-flavored ones.
And one tip I received from a thruhiker in '05: buy a garlic bulb and cut a clove or 2 for every dinner. Garlic keeps well, it's small, and as for the smell, well after all, you're a thruhiker!
Interesting thoughts, esp the "snacks" area...
http://www.thru-hiker.com/articles/pack_light_eat_right.php
garlic08
11-27-2009, 12:24
This may be off the wall, but has anyone ever tried sprouting seeds on the trail? It seems like it might be doable.
I saw a thread on this a couple of months ago, I think. You might try a search. It sounds possible, especially if you're hiking in moist conditions. It might be tougher on some trails out West.
...And one tip I received from a thruhiker in '05: buy a garlic bulb and cut a clove or 2 for every dinner. Garlic keeps well, it's small, and as for the smell, well after all, you're a thruhiker!
That's how I got my name! Just be sure you're downwind when you're hitching or yogiing a ride, and open a window when you're in the car.
Fiddleback
11-27-2009, 13:40
Overall, my trail menu is probably healthier than that off the trail. Most often, the trail dinners are FBC versions of the same, 'healthy' one-pot meals I have at home and usually are just dehydrated reserved portions of those meals. Trail lunches are now mostly dried fruit and nuts, not much different from the trail snacks I carry. I use to carry pepperoni and goulda which was a bit heavier and arguably not as 'healthy' but even that was probably healthier than certain sandwiches, chips, etc., I find myself eating at home. My trail breakfasts these days feature Carnation Instant Breakfasts/Essentials prepared with NIDO and a spoonful or so of Medaglia d'Oro instant expresso. Obviously, that beverage is chockful of good things along with a healthy dose of fat from the NIDO. That drink, hot or cold, is paired with a couple homemade (is there another kind?) Logan bars which are crammed with nuts, seeds, and dried fruits. Lots of calories and good nutrition but relatively light in the gut as I head down the trail.
The only time I consider my trail menu as 'unhealthy' is the after-dinner hours when I have snacks such as chocolates, Little Debbie cakes, and such. But it's not much and probably less, yet better, than what I often seek out at home, much to my embarrassment. At least on the trail I'm not doing copius quantities of ice cream as I do during a weekend at home.:o
All in all, my trail menu is guided first by ease of preparation (at home and on the trail) and then by it's calorie density (calories per ounce). I don't think much about 'what' to eat or 'good tasting' meals because my main meals are usually the same as those at home. If I don't consume less 'bad' snacks on the trail I certainly consume 'healthier' snacks. Most of the time it's a wash...often the trail menu is healthier. Virtually never is it less healthy.
FB
Powell19
11-27-2009, 17:16
Another good whole grain option is Hogson's Mills whole wheat couscous. It's not the easiest stuff in to world to find in the grocery store. But it's a good whole grain option that is EASY to cook. All you do is add 1.25 cups boiling water and wait. I just recently discovered it, so I haven't taken it on the trail yet But I cook it at home all the time and it seems perfect for a trail meal. They have several different flavors too.
http://www.hodgsonmill.com/roi/673/Whole-Wheat-Couscous/
Another good whole grain option is Hodgson's Mills whole wheat couscous. It's not the easiest stuff in to world to find in the grocery store.
http://www.hodgsonmill.com/roi/673/Whole-Wheat-Couscous/
You can likely get all your heart desires at Redner's in Hamburg. Call ahead if you want to buy a trailer of it.
Little Debbie cakes,
FB
These little demons (Fudge Rounds) are a 300 calorie shot of fat and sugar. Breakfast of champions. One at home would gross me out.
I did have some real, soft butter yesterday. First time in 10+ years. I can see where one could really get interested in the way it treats the tongue.
Whole wheat couscous can be had here in the box, Fantastic Foods. Near the Annie's boxes. Or in the health food store.
First listen to those above who have hiked the AT. I am just preparing as well so this is a very uneducated comment as well as a question! I read somewhere that "Balance" bars were a good breakfast and trail lunch. Then dehydrated packaged meals at dinner. Always a good vitamin each day. Fresh fruit and veggies when available.To those who have hiked the AT is this really feasible? I understand that eating 500 or so Balance bars will get old!
SunnyWalker
11-27-2009, 19:41
Here is a great book for anyone to read if you are interested about trail food:
The One Pan Gourmet: Fresh Food on the Trail, by Don Jacobson, 1993, Ragged Mountain Press, Camden, Maine. For odering the book write to: Ragged Mountain Press, P.O. Box 220, Camden, ME 04843 .