Caloric value per oz

[Einstein X]

I’ve been doing a bit of calculation about the amount of food i take.

Last time i took 1 lb 13,1 oz of food a day, giving a total of 3477,5 kcal/day at 145 kcal/oz.

-Is 145 kcal/oz a good number or can i get more kcal out of every oz if i take other food?

Idealy i want to carry 1 lb 10,5 oz (0,75kg) of food a day. So i should increase to 160 kcal/oz.

-Is this value possible?

Last hike was 14 days, I lost about 11 lbs so i did not eat enough. So in fact i should eat more than those 3477,5 kcal/day, but don’t want to carry more.

-Are higher values of kcal/oz obtainable?

-Is it a good idea to increase my body weight with 11 lbs befor going on a hike and thus reach my normal weight when i get home?

Thnx Eins

[paul johnson]

It’s possible. More oils and fats in the diet will do it. Whether it’s advisable or not is another story. Others have done it without ill effects. It is only a two week trek that you are considering. More oils and fats may cause some changes to your daily BM (it does in mine; others may not be affected as much – i don’t know about you or others – only the effect on me). I like to try the diet for 3-4 days before heading out, so that my system gets used to it when it is more convenient to do so. I supplement my trail diet with a Vitamin & Mineral supplement.

As far as putting on 11lb of fat on your body before the hike. I don’t know. It would be a bit much for me. You might want to split the difference somewhat and put on fewer pounds of fat – maybe somewhere between 3-6lb. You say that you don’t want to carry more food. Carrying it on your body instead of in your pack only saves pack volume, you still exert the exta effort carrying the weight whether it’s in your pack or around your mid-section. Actually, others who hike two-plus weeks at a time could give you better advice. My long hikes are only 5-7days, so i’m NOT the best one to give advice here.

Enjoy your trek.

[Robert Miller]

I lost a similar amount of weight doing the JMT a few years back. I didn’t view it as a negative because I felt great. I didn’t feel fatigued and had plenty of strength. If you felt tired or weak I would pile on more calories but IMO the slight weight loss is your body adjusting to a different regimen than normal.

145 kcal/oz is an excellent number. Typically I try for 130 but more importantly I try to choose foods that I really enjoy because I lose my appetite. You could raise your kcal by adding more nuts but will you eat them?

Robert

[Richard Nisley]

Einstein X,

Paul and Robert are correct in their recommendations. I will just expand on what they told you.

Your prior hike’s Cal per oz = 3477.5/29.2= 119.5 cal/oz not 145 cal/oz. This diet is almost exclusively CHO and protein.

You can accomplish most of your goals by consuming a 183.1 cal/oz diet on this year’s hike. Your daily average should be approximately 1.9 oz of protein (not fuel but prevents muscle consumption), 13.7 oz of CHO, and 18.3 oz of fat per day. You need to keep your heart rate less than 50% of max for this mix to work. After about 3 hours of endurance exercise, you will be burning approximately 75% fat.

With this fuel mix your body weight should stay unchanged as a result of the hike. Each pound of fat you carry on your body provides 3,500 C and each pound you carry in your pack provides 4,000C. Your total body weight loss plus pack food weight total will be 4.4 lbs less than it was for last year’s 14 day hike.

The answers to your questions are as follows:

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. No

[paul johnson]

EDIT:

Richard, no need to reply. i figured this out for myself. it was rather obvious and i should have thought of the reason before asking.

---

Richard,

As always another very informative post. Would you mind taking a moment and educate me. I don’t think i ever knew this, but if i did i’m having a senior moment. My question is the 3500 vs 4000 figures you gave = Why?

Many thanks, pj

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