backpacking diet input needed

[Darwin]

I need some input about my backpacking diet, which is:
Breakfast: granola (from Aldi's), wheat germ, ground flax seed, sunflower seeds, soybean nuts & powdered nonfat milk (Great Value brand from Walmart)
Lunch: one Bear Valley bar (carob cocoa or coconut almond)
Dinner: flavored powdered potatoes (from Aldi's), wheat germ, ground flax seed, sunflower seeds, soybean nuts and beef jerky (I'm not vegetarian).

Do you think I might be overlapping nutrients to where I'm carrying too much? It would be great to be great to cut back on food weight or to replace something that I don't need with something I do need. What do you think?
Take care.
Darwin
[email protected]

[Mags]

HEre's what fueled one hiker for a few miles on the Colorado Trail. Basically, I think you'll be fine... You need fats, carbs, protein, quick energy (sugar) and CALORIES.

I wouldn't over analyze it...just go with it. Try to carry roughly 100 calories/ per oz. Other than that, you'll be good to go.

[Feral Bill]

Lunch looks a bit skimpy.
Variety? Sounds tasty enough for a few days, but...
Try it out and see how it works for you.

[Serial 07]

fresh fruit? how about some more unnecessary fats...and i'm not sure how long you'll be out for, but lunch is a bit skimpy...

[Nest]

Agree on the lunch, and variety. You don't want to dread a meal because you are sick of it. On a cold, rainy, crappy day a good meal at night is the best morale boost. For example with the lunch though, I would usually eat 3-4k calories a day just for lunch.

[Dogwood]

I need some input about my backpacking diet, which is:
Breakfast: granola (from Aldi's), wheat germ, ground flax seed, sunflower seeds, soybean nuts & powdered nonfat milk (Great Value brand from Walmart)
Lunch: one Bear Valley bar (carob cocoa or coconut almond)
Dinner: flavored powdered potatoes (from Aldi's), wheat germ, ground flax seed, sunflower seeds, soybean nuts and beef jerky (I'm not vegetarian).

Do you think I might be overlapping nutrients to where I'm carrying too much? It would be great to be great to cut back on food weight or to replace something that I don't need with something I do need. What do you think?
Take care.
Darwin
[email protected]

Great start for breakfast and dinner, but I'll bet U R going to need more snacks throughout the day. Have U figured out the wt. and cals of the food U will eat? Do U have a targeted cals./day or wt.(oz.)/day for your hiking diet?

[Marta]

The plan seems very light on calories. Even if you eat a massive amount of granola at breakfast (1000 calories) and a massive amount of your dinner meal (another 1000 calories), you'll still need another couple thousand calories during the day. Typical energy bars are around 200-250 calories each, which means you'd need 10 of them to fill in the gap.

Are you planning to pre-buy the food and ship it to yourself?

[shelterbuilder]

I agree that this diet looks a bit light on calories and variety. If you're only out for a week, this may not be a problem, but if you going for an extended trip (2 weeks or longer), you need FUEL to get through the day, and the "same old, same old" for days on end can get old and boring really quick. TREAT YOURSELF - if you have a special cheese that you really like, then take some along. Fresh fruit is occasionally great, even though it's heavier than dried. PB & J always worked well to keep me fueled during the day, but not everyone likes it.

[Marta]

PB & J always worked well to keep me fueled during the day, but not everyone likes it.

I'm about to pack up for a weekend hike. My daytime lunch is going to be PB (freshly-ground) on ww cinnamon bread. Yum! Apples for snacks.

[shelterbuilder]

I'm about to pack up for a weekend hike. My daytime lunch is going to be PB (freshly-ground) on ww cinnamon bread. Yum! Apples for snacks.

Sounds like a plan to me!!! For the last 18 months (since my laryngectomy), the only thing that I've had to worry about was bringing along enough cans of liquid nutrition to match my expected caloric needs. But this takes half of the fun out of the trip, since I've always enjoyed cooking in camp. Now, if this last round of surgery is 100% successful, I'll be able to eat REAL FOOD again, so I'm looking forward to getting back to "the good old days" kind of eating!

BRING ON THE PB&J!

[Marta]

Sounds like a plan to me!!! For the last 18 months (since my laryngectomy), the only thing that I've had to worry about was bringing along enough cans of liquid nutrition to match my expected caloric needs. But this takes half of the fun out of the trip, since I've always enjoyed cooking in camp. Now, if this last round of surgery is 100% successful, I'll be able to eat REAL FOOD again, so I'm looking forward to getting back to "the good old days" kind of eating!

BRING ON THE PB&J!

I was thinking you were especially heartfelt in recommending VARIETY as beig important. Good luck with a speedy healing!

[shelterbuilder]

I was thinking you were especially heartfelt in recommending VARIETY as beig important. Good luck with a speedy healing!

Thanks - so far, things look good. With the liquid stuff, it's JUST fuel, nothing more. I can't wait to get back to VARIETY.

[garlic08]

I think diet is more than calories and nutrients. Just try to eat good food and plenty of it. Carry as much fresh stuff as you can. Eat fresh greens in town. I think you're well on the way, your list looks good. But you'll never know what you need and crave until you get out there.

How much does your typical day's food weigh? For my hike, I needed a little less than 2 pounds per day for my 20-mile days, and I maintained my weight fairly well.

I had some unsolicited advice before my AT hike. A well-known Whiteblazer told me, when I said I planned on carrying fresh veggies like celery, that "celery is worse than useless". And look where nutrition science has gotten us as a society in the last 50 years! Take standard nutrition advice with a hefty dose of salt.

[Darwin]

Dear all,

Thank you for all of your input so far. I can't believe how quickly this input came. I certainly do appreciate it.
Shelterbuilder, I hope that your recovery is quick and full-on.
Take care.

Darwin

[Spirit Walker]

When thruhiking, we eat every few hours. Breakfast, second breakfast, midmorning snack, lunch, midafternoon snack, dinner, dessert . . . You might consider saving the Bear Valley bars for midmorning or midafternoon snacks. But be aware that they do get boring pretty fast and they take a lot of water to get down. (e.g. Don't eat them if water is scarce. It's like eating sawdust.) We tried using them on the CDT when we were eating cold. Within a week, Jim wouldn't touch them. We went back to cooking as soon as possible.

If you can eat nuts - gorp is good, or peanut butter. We usually just eat cheese sandwiches for lunch - with luncheon meat if it's not too hot. Then dried fruit and cookies to add calories and variety.

[dan8794]

I'll just tell you what I eat and you can deduce your thoughts from that. Keep in mind, I am a 23 year old male:

Breakfast: Two packs of instant oatmeal with a large (I repeat, LARGE) hand full of dried fruits. A cup of coffee. Maybe even a granola bar or something.

Lunch: I don't really stop for lunch unless I'm planning a pretty short trip. But, I will snack on things like pack crackers, granola bars, oatmeal bars, beef/deer jerky, etc. I snack on these throughout the day. One saying I truly live by while hiking is: "Eat to avoid hunger, not to battle it." That being said, I am taking small snacks through the day so I never get that feeling of hunger that I must fight off.

Dinner: Two packs Ramen, one foil pack (6oz) of chicken breast cubes, a chunk of cheddar cheese. Cup of coffee. Of course, this is only for a few days, a week at most. I will mix it up a bit for dinner if I were out for any longer.

Also, I pack powdered gatorade/crystal light. You wouldn't believe how refreshing it is to have a sweet drink out there. Water gets annoying!!

[minnesotasmith]

I need some input about my backpacking diet, which is:
Breakfast: granola (from Aldi's), wheat germ, ground flax seed, sunflower seeds, soybean nuts & powdered nonfat milk (Great Value brand from Walmart)
Lunch: one Bear Valley bar (carob cocoa or coconut almond)
Dinner: flavored powdered potatoes (from Aldi's), wheat germ, ground flax seed, sunflower seeds, soybean nuts and beef jerky (I'm not vegetarian).

Do you think I might be overlapping nutrients to where I'm carrying too much? It would be great to be great to cut back on food weight or to replace something that I don't need with something I do need. What do you think?
Take care.
Darwin
[email protected]

I suggest dropping the soy and the potato products. Wheat germ once a day is enough. Likewise, add substantial amounts of good-quality (not apples or with added salt/fat) dried fruit such as apricots/figs/raisins/prunes/dates, FD dark green vegetables such as spinach/broccoli/asparagus, a source of higher-quality (longer-chain) Omega-3 oils than the flaxseed offers (dried oily fish or fish oil capsules), and some olive oil or walnut oil.

You could probably use more calcium if your hike is long enough for nutrition to matter the most (over 2 weeks), so consider either Calcium supplements or more powdered milk, eaten at a second meal.

Watch that your granola doesn't have excessive sugars (especially as HFCS) or added fats (especially soy oil), and that the power bar you're having for lunch is low-soy/sat fat (coconut products are notoriously bad for unacceptable sat fat levels).

Good that you avoid Ramen (perhaps the worst noncandy common trail food there is nutritionally) and instant (also known as vitamin-reduced with added sugar filler) oatmeal, although there is nothing wrong (and much right with) with whole-grain noodles and noninstant oatmeal.

Lastly, I think your variety for a hike over 5 days is too low; IMO you'll come to hate mealtimes in short order with that degree of sameness.

Good luck.

[volleypc]

I learned a long time ago that triathlons are actually 5 events, not 3. Its swim, eat/drink, bike eat/drink, and run while eating and drinking. My point is this.. have a nice breakfast, something to snack on mid morning to keep, a descent lunch, another mid afternoon snack, and then a nice dinner. The snacks can be energy bar or half of one, nuts, fruit, etc. Just something to keep nutrients in your system and your sugar level regulated. Pay attention to how you feel. If you start to feel weak have a snack. Avoid meals/drinks that are difficult to digest during your snacks if your active. The best I have ever felt is when I used to be on the 6 meals a day plan. Unfortunately, I just can't do it with my schedule.