weight of food?

[Anonymous]

"Body reserves will contribute a significant portion of your energy needs during the first few weeks of a thru-hike, but as bodies become leaner, dietary intake becomes more crucial."

I think this is the nut of it, John. I depend on this being true for all of my hikes these days. I now carry 19 oz of food yielding ~2660-80 calories, ~43% carbs, 46% fat, and 11% protein for trips on the strenuous side up to 10 days and lose ~4# of fat, most of which I add on in the 3-4 weeks before such a trip. I weigh myself before and after and, while it is not 100% acurate, it is close enough and repeatable enough to convince me I am in the ball park. That I am losing fat at a rate of ~.5# per day is pretty clear and that means I could not sustain this kind of diet for longer trips, such as thru hikes. It works quite well for normal backpacking trips, though, and I think I oculd probably stretch my trips out a few more days without eating into vital fat around the organs or lean body mass. Beyond that, I would have to add enough food to make up the ~1700 calories/day I now get from body fat. At ~135 calories/oz that would comeout to ~12-13 oz, which would put me at the 2#/day mark you mention. Thanks for posting; you got me to reevaluate my approach again, for about the 100th time, which is always a good exercise.

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