Ok, so I wore my heart rate monitor for my whole hike on Saturday. My HR monitor also tracks calories burned, as a function of heart rate, weight, height etc. So according to this nifty device, I burned 6,800 calories on a 3 peak hike. One of the problems that I am having lately is replacing some of those burned calories but I find that I can't possibly eat enough to rejuvenate the carbo stores. Hence my problem - petering out at the end of the day. What do you marathon or long distance hikers do to replace the calories? I thought of supplementing my fluids with a weightlifting high calorie mix but have yet to try that. Anyone have experience with this? Thanks
Long distance nutrition
- Thread starter Jasonst
- Start date
Help Support vftt.org:
jfb
Active member
You might find this approach useful: http://www.teamoregon.com/publications/energy.html
Jim lombard
New member
Gu-gel
That chocolate frosting in a bag called Gu-gel from Power bar works good if you keep in in an inner pocket. I usually take a bag of stella dora breadsticks and bite sized butterfingers or some other chocolate I can keep in pockets for a quick snack. Isn't winter hiking great? Where else can you eat all you want all day?
That chocolate frosting in a bag called Gu-gel from Power bar works good if you keep in in an inner pocket. I usually take a bag of stella dora breadsticks and bite sized butterfingers or some other chocolate I can keep in pockets for a quick snack. Isn't winter hiking great? Where else can you eat all you want all day?
Artex
New member
Pasta. Lot's and lot's of pasta.
My father, who is nearing 60, is an ultrathon runner and I've heard him sing this mantra over and over again while growing up. I like to think I'm also very active, and have to say his advice is tried and true, at least for me. Pasta is loaded with complex carbs, which are essentially longer burning sugars. It's great food for backpacking, and easy to prepare on the trail. A food dehydrator works wonders for sauces. Just my 2 cents.
Also, I've heard that if you can eat a big plate of pasta or another source of complex carbs within an hour after exercise, your body will uptake the carbs three times more efficiently.
Best of luck.
My father, who is nearing 60, is an ultrathon runner and I've heard him sing this mantra over and over again while growing up. I like to think I'm also very active, and have to say his advice is tried and true, at least for me. Pasta is loaded with complex carbs, which are essentially longer burning sugars. It's great food for backpacking, and easy to prepare on the trail. A food dehydrator works wonders for sauces. Just my 2 cents.
Also, I've heard that if you can eat a big plate of pasta or another source of complex carbs within an hour after exercise, your body will uptake the carbs three times more efficiently.
Best of luck.
The following cam from a nutritionist friend of mine's research.
http://www.thru-hiker.com/articles.asp?subcat=12&cid=39
http://www.thru-hiker.com/articles.asp?subcat=12&cid=39
professor
New member
I saw a presentation a few months ago by Ray Greenlaw, who recently set the record for the fastest through-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (80 -something days). His nutritional approach was that if a food had fewer than 100 calories per ounce, he couldn't carry it. Thus, he did the hike with extra-large Milky Way bars as his major food source. He claimed to have lost fewer than 10 lbs along the way, but the dentist commented that his teeth looked nastier than usual at his post-hike checkup. The lesson - for one day at least - bring high caloric content food. Or, do like me and never bring enough food, bonk on the trail, but feel no guilt about that milkshake (summer) or pie (winter) at the Noonmark diner, and that icy cold beer when you get home!
Oldsmores
New member
Guilt about icy cold beer?professor said:
NEVER!
Pete_Hickey
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2003
- Messages
- 1,976
- Reaction score
- 222
professor said:
If you want to go lightweight, I have one simple recomendation:
Olive oil.
You'll get about 250 calories per ounce. That's lightweight food! Carry it in a Nalgene bottle and alternate drinking from there and your water bottle.
Now, those interested in good taste, can soak some basil leaves and/or hot peppers in the oil for a while, but remember to remove them. Their added weight offers almost no calorise.
And why go this lightweight with your food? So that you can have that beer while hiking. Lets see.. where is that picture of me on Goose Eye with the half gallon bottle of beer..... Here is is:
http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/tmp/Goose-eye.jpg
Note the Nalgene of Olive oil on the ground.
Last edited:
bruno
New member
yeah-yah to the pasta!! man i could eat pasta 24-7 (and do). i wash it down with zinfandel (mostly, but sometimes cabernet (wine, in my opinion, has just one job--and that is to be red. but that's just me)). eat a load of pasta the night before and then some bagels with peanut butter or whatever you want on 'em and some gatorade and then hit the trail. i bring more bagels for the trail itself and (THE most important) boston cookies oatmeal and chocolate chocolate chip ones and just eat these items and drink a lot of water (i carry a 90 oz hydration bag and suck it down). that's all i took on the vaunted "one day presidential traverse". powered me right through. of course right when i got down i ate a whole large pizza by my self and drank a 1.75 litre bottle of cheap (falling leaves) zinfandel plus 2 guinesses for dessert. and then i slept for awhile.
carbs. all carbs. that's the ticket. trust me.
carbs. all carbs. that's the ticket. trust me.
Trail food
I usually carry a few MRE's(US Army meals ready to eat) or pour some Beefaroni (or other pasta dish) into a ziploc bag and a bunch of candy bars. I carry one Nalgene for water and one to mix Gatorade in (you can get packets of Gatorade mix that make 32oz - to give you the minerals you sweat out). Also, a 16oz bottle of Coke (in case of emergency or for the last few miles). However the beer sounds better that Gatorade or Coke!
I've tried power-bars, Gu and all of that high-tech stuff. Gu works pretty good, but can leave a bad taste in your mouth. Gu's real easy to carry and goes down like a jello-shot.
I find the real foods give just as much energy and taste a lot better that the high-tech items.
I usually carry a few MRE's(US Army meals ready to eat) or pour some Beefaroni (or other pasta dish) into a ziploc bag and a bunch of candy bars. I carry one Nalgene for water and one to mix Gatorade in (you can get packets of Gatorade mix that make 32oz - to give you the minerals you sweat out). Also, a 16oz bottle of Coke (in case of emergency or for the last few miles). However the beer sounds better that Gatorade or Coke!
I've tried power-bars, Gu and all of that high-tech stuff. Gu works pretty good, but can leave a bad taste in your mouth. Gu's real easy to carry and goes down like a jello-shot.
I find the real foods give just as much energy and taste a lot better that the high-tech items.
TCD
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2004
- Messages
- 2,087
- Reaction score
- 161
In the old days before the prepackaged energy foods, I carried potatoes, bananas and raisins, and I had one water bottle with 50% Gatorade, and the other with just water. That combo worked pretty well.
Lately I've been carrying balanced bars (either Balance, Zone, or one of the others) for when I want a "meal", and then Gu or other sugar foods for zip.
You really need to listen to your body, and to be able to know when it's calling for solid food, or sugar, or electrolytes, or hydration.
I'm still partial to gorp. My recipe: Mixed nuts (much richer and more fun than just peanuts), Raisins, and peanut M&Ms.
Mmm! I'm making myself hungry!
TCD
Lately I've been carrying balanced bars (either Balance, Zone, or one of the others) for when I want a "meal", and then Gu or other sugar foods for zip.
You really need to listen to your body, and to be able to know when it's calling for solid food, or sugar, or electrolytes, or hydration.
I'm still partial to gorp. My recipe: Mixed nuts (much richer and more fun than just peanuts), Raisins, and peanut M&Ms.
Mmm! I'm making myself hungry!
TCD
trailbiscuit
New member
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2004
- Messages
- 519
- Reaction score
- 33
In "Walking on the Happy Side of Misery", J.R. "Model-T" Tate recounts during his thru-hike in the early 90's sucking squeeze Parkay straight out of the bottle followed by a dollop of peanut butter. He praised the lubricating properties of the Parkay.
Now that's a snack packed with calories!
BTW, this is a great book. Highly recommend it.
Now that's a snack packed with calories!
BTW, this is a great book. Highly recommend it.
Mr. X
New member
I suggest brownies, lots of brownies, but don't listen to me too seriously (see signature below).
Last edited:
peakbagger
In Rembrance , July 2024
Quite a few of the mountain rescue folks carry bottles of hot jello as their exclusive means of nourishment during a rescue (they also feed it to people being rescued if they can handle fluids). I have also heard ice climbers using the same thing.
Jay H
New member
Ice Cream!!! At least it worked for me on the Devil's Path. Of course that was in the summertime...
Seriously, I'm no nutritionist, but for me, as long as I remember to eat, doesn't matter to me what it is, although there are obviously better things than others, I'm OK. I'm in the pool that believe that you eat on the trail for the next day, GU, powerbars, Cytomax, notwithstanding, most of the normal food, say lunch, dinner, etc. is building up carbs for the nextday, while the fast absorbing proteins and carbs are for instant gratification.
Jay
Seriously, I'm no nutritionist, but for me, as long as I remember to eat, doesn't matter to me what it is, although there are obviously better things than others, I'm OK. I'm in the pool that believe that you eat on the trail for the next day, GU, powerbars, Cytomax, notwithstanding, most of the normal food, say lunch, dinner, etc. is building up carbs for the nextday, while the fast absorbing proteins and carbs are for instant gratification.
Jay
Gris
New member
I'm not a nutritionalist (but i did stay at a HI last night...). seriously i WAS a 10-S player in college many years ago & think there may be more parallels between comp. tennis and long distance hikng in mountains (as opposed to marathon running). i think, like competitive 10-S, mt. hiking is not really an aerobic activity so much as sustained rest/recovery semi-anaerobic activty & would also be willing to bet yer bonking not so much from lack of calories (which aren't that hard to replace if timed properly) but more from fluid and in particular electrolyte/mineral loss. of course nothing prepares you like training the same way you will hike, but we always found when we had to do two long matches in a day - that's miles of sprinting and even more miles of walking (think uphill, level, downhill) the only way we could pull it off was to carefully monitor our fluid and electrolyte intake. i.e., have constant intake of a very watered down version of sports drink coupled w/ pieces of banana, raisins, fruit every couple of hours. also helps to keep body temp down in summer if that is factor. but in my experience there's not much you can after you start to feel bad, by then it's too late (candy provides a short sugar energy burst, then you crash). so i would try mixing a SLIGHT amount of gatorade whatever n your water, sip constantly, and snack on fresh fruits along the way. try it!
Pete_Hickey
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2003
- Messages
- 1,976
- Reaction score
- 222
Gris said:
Then again, it depends on how one hikes. Some people hike keeping their heartrate going at a steady 70-80% of their max. In that case, it is most definately an aerobic activity. I know that I often hike that way. If one hikes slower, with frequent rests, it is different, and, I suspect, the nutritional requirements differ.
The duration of a hike also comes into play. A 6-7 hour hike, vs a 12-14 hour hike will have the body working differently.
Gris
New member
4-sure Pete it contains elements of both, but i'm not talking about necessarily stopping to rest but resting comparatively while walking (or stopping when winded), as opposing to the more strenuous intervals of climbing, scrambling, rock hopping, etc. what i'm saying is serious hiking in the mts. is MORE strenuous than std aerobic activity (jogging, treadmill, etc.)
sierra
Well-known member
I live on power gel and Met-trex protein bars, oh and beef jerky.
Gris said:I'm not a nutritionalist (but i did stay at a HI last night...). seriously i WAS a 10-S player in college many years ago & think there may be more parallels between comp. tennis and long distance hikng in mountains (as opposed to marathon running). i think, like competitive 10-S, mt. hiking is not really an aerobic activity so much as sustained rest/recovery semi-anaerobic activty & would also be willing to bet yer bonking not so much from lack of calories (which aren't that hard to replace if timed properly) but more from fluid and in particular electrolyte/mineral loss. of course nothing prepares you like training the same way you will hike, but we always found when we had to do two long matches in a day - that's miles of sprinting and even more miles of walking (think uphill, level, downhill) the only way we could pull it off was to carefully monitor our fluid and electrolyte intake. i.e., have constant intake of a very watered down version of sports drink coupled w/ pieces of banana, raisins, fruit every couple of hours. also helps to keep body temp down in summer if that is factor. but in my experience there's not much you can after you start to feel bad, by then it's too late (candy provides a short sugar energy burst, then you crash). so i would try mixing a SLIGHT amount of gatorade whatever n your water, sip constantly, and snack on fresh fruits along the way. try it!
I think you may be on to something. I am really bad at staying hydrated in the winter, and I wonder if this may be part of the problem. It's hard to believe that one could call himself "lazy" after a long strenuous hike covering several mountains, but often I am too lazy to stop & drop the pack and drink. Thanks for the advice.
