Food per Day

[Hiker8250]

How much food will I need as a male thru-hiker per day? This is what I'm thinking right now (for one day):

Breakfast: 2 packs of instant oatmeal

Lunch and Dinner( I know these terms are vague, I'll probably be eating randomly throughout the day): Ramen, pasta, gorp, peanut butter, snickers, clif bars and instant rice.

Am I sort of getting the idea?

And what are Lipton Sides? I've come across the name a lot regarding AT food.

[RED-DOG]

Yes you got a really good idea of what a hiker needs to eat but a long time ago i figured out that i needed a good break fast so i started eating Blueberry pancakes and instant eggs and some ready to eat bacon which makes a really good meal, and their called Pasta sides and with some summer sausage they make a good dinner you can find them at any grocery store. the Pancakes is not hard to cook it just takes a little practice.

[max patch]

Lipton Sides are rice or pasta side dishes in the real world for which many hikers eat for supper. "Lipton" is used out of habit as they are now part of Knorrs.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51R2ZQ%2ByzYL.jpg

[Hiker8250]

How much food will I need per day (average)? I read somewhere that 3lbs/day is sufficient.

[Farr Away]

How much food will I need per day (average)? I read somewhere that 3lbs/day is sufficient.

You're going to have to give us some more information before anybody could try to help you answer this.
How much do you eat on a non-hiking day on average?
Are you in shape or could you lose a few pounds?
When do you plan to start? January? April?
How many miles a day?
How often do you plan to spend time (i.e. eat) in town?
etc., etc.

-FA

Just an observation - you might find it difficult to choke down 3 lbs of food a day - even if you need that many calories.

[Hiker8250]

You're going to have to give us some more information before anybody could try to help you answer this.
How much do you eat on a non-hiking day on average?
Are you in shape or could you lose a few pounds?
When do you plan to start? January? April?
How many miles a day?
How often do you plan to spend time (i.e. eat) in town?

Not sure how much I eat on a non-hiking day. 2.5lbs, on a hungry day, maybe.
I am in good shape, and don't need to lose any weight. I am active all year long.
I am starting at the end of March.
10-15 miles/day to start out with, then 15-20+ mile days.
Eat in town often, but not every time. I hear it drains the wallet.

[Monkeywrench]

You will not carry enough food to satiate your hunger or avoid losing weight. After 6 or 8 weeks on the trail you will be amazed at the amount of food you can eat. The short answer is just to carry as much food as you are willing to haul, and eat like crazy whenever you are in town.

I think I left Damascus with a 16 - 17 pound food bag. I would have to force myself to stop eating by talking to myself about how hungry I would be tomorrow if I ate everything today.

A typical zero day in town would start with a walk to the local diner where I would order something like 3 eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausages, coffee, a large OJ, and if the had it a bagel with cream cheese.

After breakfast I would head to the grocery store and shop for the next leg of the hike. While there I'd pick up a pint of Ben & Jerry's and a bag of cookies and sit on the curb outside the store to eat them. After getting back to the motel or hostel and stowing my trail food away it would be time for lunch so I'd order up a large pepperoni pizza. In the afternoon it's time to head to the local watering hole for a couple of beers and maybe a burger and fries or some such to tide me over until dinner time.

Being older and having a larger bank account than the average thru-hiker, I'd seek out the best restaurant in town for dinner and have a couple of martinis along with my steak dinner, topped off with at least one dessert.

By bed-time I'd be hungry again.

I'm 6'3" tall and by the time I got to Vermont I was down to 159 pounds. I was skinny enough to scare my wife.

Oh, and I remember being a bit worried when I realized I was dreaming about food more often than I was dreaming about sex.

[hobby]

You will not carry enough food to satiate your hunger or avoid losing weight. After 6 or 8 weeks on the trail you will be amazed at the amount of food you can eat. The short answer is just to carry as much food as you are willing to haul, and eat like crazy whenever you are in town.

I think I left Damascus with a 16 - 17 pound food bag. I would have to force myself to stop eating by talking to myself about how hungry I would be tomorrow if I ate everything today.

A typical zero day in town would start with a walk to the local diner where I would order something like 3 eggs, hash browns, biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausages, coffee, a large OJ, and if the had it a bagel with cream cheese.

After breakfast I would head to the grocery store and shop for the next leg of the hike. While there I'd pick up a pint of Ben & Jerry's and a bag of cookies and sit on the curb outside the store to eat them. After getting back to the motel or hostel and stowing my trail food away it would be time for lunch so I'd order up a large pepperoni pizza. In the afternoon it's time to head to the local watering hole for a couple of beers and maybe a burger and fries or some such to tide me over until dinner

Being older and having a larger bank account than the average thru-hiker, I'd seek out the best restaurant in town for dinner and have a couple of martinis along with my steak dinner, topped off with at least one dessert.

By bed-time I'd be hungry again.

I'm 6'3" tall and by the time I got to Vermont I was down to 159 pounds. I was skinny enough to scare my wife.

Oh, and I remember being a bit worried when I realized I was dreaming about food more often than I was dreaming about sex.

THIS is how I hope to hike!

[Blue Mountain Edward]

Bring extra food in case you are behind schedule or if you meet some hungry hikers. Every time I said you want a peanut butter and jelly sanwhich the reply was yes. It would be hard to know exactly what a days worth of food would weigh. Some days you have fresh fruit, some days you have more dehydrated food. Just dont eat ramen or Knorr noodles everyday. Cereal is the most nutritios meal you can eat, better than oatmeal. 3 pounds a day sounds fine.

[Coffee]

This thread is starting to scare me ... I have a weight budget of 1.75 pounds/day for my JMT thru hike ... Granted, it lasts 18 days rather than 5-6 months so weight loss can be dealt with.

[max patch]

Cereal is the most nutritios meal you can eat, better than oatmeal.

Oatmeal is one of the best things you can eat for breakfast. I ate it 6 days a week, with honey and dry milk added.

[fiddlehead]

This thread is starting to scare me ... I have a weight budget of 1.75 pounds/day for my JMT thru hike ... Granted, it lasts 18 days rather than 5-6 months so weight loss can be dealt with.
Depends what you are carrrying for that 1.75 lbs but you should be OK.
For one thing, that is only 11 or 12 miles a day vs 15-20 on a thru.
Noodles and dried meat are lightweight.
Bagels, creamcheese, doughnuts are not.

To the OP. You'll be eating a lot different at the end than you will in the beginning.
Your huge appetite might take a week or two to kick in.
You'll see some things that others are carrying that may make you change.
Don't sweat it too much.
Just go hike and learn.
Start out light and add is better than the masses who will be starting out heavy and jettison-ing stuff.

[Hiker8250]

Okay, so I am trying to figure out my budget here....What am I looking like per week?

I will have a budget coming in from home of about $75/week(for food). Will that be sufficient?

[Wise Old Owl]

This thread is starting to scare me ... I have a weight budget of 1.75 pounds/day for my JMT thru hike ... Granted, it lasts 18 days rather than 5-6 months so weight loss can be dealt with.


very clear - people bag extra of what they fear... figure out what you need to get to the next trail town...

[swjohnsey]

Okay, so I am trying to figure out my budget here....What am I looking like per week?

I will have a budget coming in from home of about $75/week(for food). Will that be sufficient?

Maybe. Take a look at the calorie density thread. Some of the best grocery store hiker food is dirt cheap.