How the heck do you eat 5000 calories a day?

[Just Bill]

The answer for me- I don't. It's pretty hard to eat that much stuff, even less fun to carry it. So, inspired by Malto, but uninspired by crystal light flavoring, and making my own electrolyte mix, I finally broke down and got some malto to play with. My wife wanted some whey protein to play with too. So I got some from Amazon, in a slightly more manageable experiemental size of 8 lbs of Malto and 5lbs of Whey Protien Isolate- name brand Now Sports.
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As you can see, I came up with three versions- Morning, Midday and Night- switching from Malto, 50/50, and Whey Protein. I hate crystal light, needed the calories anyway, was packing the Gatorade anyway- so it seemed like the perfect combo. I found the citrus flavors go best with the Malto, and the fruity flavors go best with the Whey. Malto has no flavor- so it really goes with anything, but the Whey has a distinct dairy (egg/milk/cheese) flavor, since it's derived from the cheese making process. Combining it with fruity flavored Gatorade gives you a "smoothie" sort of taste. I didn't have Orange around, but that would probably taste like a creamsicle.

MORE THAN MALTO.png
Best of all, this sandwich sized package, including packaging weighs a hair over 11 ounces and provides a whopping 1240 of good drinkable calories- about a quarter of that 5000 calorie goal. While not quite 125 cal/oz, the tradeoff is low bulk, good taste, easy to mix (mostly). The whey gets a little clumpy. The Malto and Gatorade pour into a small mouth waterbottle from the fold and close sandwich bags no problem, but the mixes with the whey are a little trickier. The whey takes a little longer to dissolve, but no more than 20 minutes or so. I found myself mixing the nighttime mix while I set up camp and chugging it just before bed.

Each recipe is for a one liter bottle. If you find the calorie bomb, or the taste too strong, you can always split the mix into two bottles. If you aren't on a calorie sucking pace or long distance hike- you can also cut the recipe in half- yielding a six ounce or so 620 calories- a hair under 25% of a 3000 calorie diet.

Another option is to leave the midday mix at home; 840 calories. This would give you the energy of the Malto in the morning, and the recovery benefits of the protein at night.

http://www.amazon.com/NOW-Foods-Carb...ods+carbo+gain

[Namtrag]

Original Muscle Milk would be great in that mix as well. Would have the whey, plus a lot of carbs and healthy fat. I am amazed coming from a bodybuilding background, that so many posts about what to eat when hiking focus almost solely on starchy carbs and fat, but hardly any mention of protein.

[Malto]

Does your night mix still use Malto or is it straight protein? I have heard that a 500 calorie carb dose at days end is recommended for recovery of glycogen levels. Have you tried this on a long day yet?

[Dogwood]

Have you tried unsweetened coconut water? It has pretty good electrolytes and provides for quick electrolyte absoption by the body. It can be bought in dry packages under names like Coco Hydro. I like saying that Coco Hyyydro. It mixes well with other drink mixes. Pineapple is my favorite. I've been adding it here and there into resupply boxes on hot long distance hikes.

[Just Bill]

Straight Whey at the end of the day (protein). Although keep in mind they are all mixed with Gatorade, so there is still a decent carb intake no matter the mix. My thinking was that after those interviews with the nutritionist (can't find the post but I know many of you remember it)- that a large amount of protein was needed in general. I know most weight lifters and the like use the whey as an "after" supplement, so that's why it ended up later in the day. In addition- I typically am getting a (mostly) carb based dinner of around that size a few hours before bed.

Typical day- Oatmeal I posted earlier- snacks and morning mix. Full Lunch (either more oatmeal or a dinner), snacks and midday mix. Dinner (full dinner, mostly carb based)- hike a few more hours- slam the protein mix. Seemed to work pretty well so far, I think my heavily carb based diet takes care of the carb loading/glycogen replenishment.

Always up for suggestions-
The maltodextrin is great. Thanks Malto! I highly recommend that across the board. No complaints and I think it will be a staple for me from now on.

I could see myself getting tired of the Whey, or needing to dilute it to keep drinking it. From a pure energy and calories standpoint I think going with the morning mix all day would be fine- giving you almost 1500 calories of drinks. But the goal was to supplement my protein intake. Another option would be to spread the whey out evenly and make a single mix for the day. I think the parts and pieces are good so to speak- maybe the order or delivery needs to be played with.

I liked the delivery and packaging- compact, easy to transfer to my side pouch and keep the calories moving with little effort. I can find at least 6 or 7 flavors of powdered Gatorade at my local grocery stores. If you wanted to cut it even smaller- you can get the G2 powder, but why substitute calories you need for synthetic sweetners you don't.

Namtrag- While Muscle milk and others would be fine, they get pricy- the main component is the whey anyhow. I also liked the fruity flavors over the milk taste and on a hot day I found those mixes tough to drink.

[Dogwood]

About 20% of your total daily cals from protein is often the guideline given for long distance high mileage per day hikers.

[Dogwood]

You can mix various forms of whey protein isolate into b-fasts and dinners too. Some whey protein isolates are flavored.

[Just Bill]

Yar- on all of it my friend, although at this point my dinners are so bulky I wouldn't want to pack anything else in, that's why I'm trying to get to 25% liquid.
Malto would probably mix well with the Coco Hydroooo toooooo.

[hobbs]

I know I add whey protein to granola.But I never thought to add it to Gatorade..

[Hill Ape]

mmmkay, this may or may not offend, but the product is real. Up Your Mass

tastes like cake batter, and with a name like that!

[Just Bill]

110 calories an ounce. While I can't say I can pronounce half the items- looks like you could mix NIDO, Whey, and Malto together and have the same thing. Chew three or four multivitamins with it and you're covered.

Whatever works for ya though- although are you only allowed to drink it in Massachusetts or can you drink it on the way to there but not once you pass it? Do you take it rectally? Weight lifters do strange things. Would you fill your sawyer squeeze bag and deliver it that way? I'm confussed.

[Rasty]

110 calories an ounce. While I can't say I can pronounce half the items- looks like you could mix NIDO, Whey, and Malto together and have the same thing. Chew three or four multivitamins with it and you're covered.

Whatever works for ya though- although are you only allowed to drink it in Massachusetts or can you drink it on the way to there but not once you pass it? Do you take it rectally? Weight lifters do strange things. Would you fill your sawyer squeeze bag and deliver it that way? I'm confussed.

Remember my breakfast smoothie from the other thread?

[Just Bill]

Remember my breakfast smoothie from the other thread?

You take that wrecktally?

[Rasty]

You take that wrecktally?

In reverse

[Just Bill]

That makes a surprising amount of good sense.

[oldwetherman]

I put a package of Carnation instant breakfast into everything I cook and a high percentage of everything I drink. A really good thing about it is that you can find it in just about every trail town. Even the Dollar General Stores in the small towns stock it. The different flavors are a nice touch too. Check out the baby food department of the grocery stores too. They have a great selection of dehydrated fruits that are great in instant oatmeal. Quaker also now has instant oatmeal with nuts in it that comes in a variety of great flavors. It's packed in a small cardboard cup but I just repackaged it in a quart freezer bag to save space. The baby food section also has a great selection of dehydrated vegetables that are a nice touch in ramen, pasta sides, etc.

[Hill Ape]

anyone remember the SNL bit about colon blow cereal, dunno why, but this thread reminds me of that. yall mix up your protein and squirt it anywhere that floats your boat, I mix it with oatmeal and eat it, the normal way. orally, and I swallow, like a man.

[Malto]

110 calories an ounce. While I can't say I can pronounce half the items- looks like you could mix NIDO, Whey, and Malto together and have the same thing. Chew three or four multivitamins with it and you're covered.

Whatever works for ya though- although are you only allowed to drink it in Massachusetts or can you drink it on the way to there but not once you pass it? Do you take it rectally? Weight lifters do strange things. Would you fill your sawyer squeeze bag and deliver it that way? I'm confussed.

Just remember...... You have to drink this day after day after day after day. That is why I went from a protein/Malto mix to a straight Malto mix with yummy crystal light. I was having to hold my nose as I drink my recovery mix. Decided there was no way I could do that for 98 straight days. Bottom line, make sure it is yummy. How about Malto with ice tea mix. Good new fashioned Malto sweet tea. I will be trying that one.

[geomaniac]

Ok..ive been following this thread and have one question...What is this Malto stuff? I tried google and found nothing but malto-meal.

[geomaniac]

Ok..ive been following this thread and have one question...What is this Malto stuff? I tried google and found nothing but malto-meal.

Never mind..I just went to amazon and did a Malto search and found it..