no imagination when it comes to food

steven,
it doesn't require too much imagination to help a lot on the trail. First day in if it's an area where fires are permitted, I'll take a few chicken sausages (Trader Joe's "Spicy Jalapeno" are cheap and awesome); if you start out with them frozen, they are usually thawed (or close to it) around dinner time. Bring along some whole wheat pitas or something similar, some slices of jack cheese, and maybe a few packets of hot sauce and it's unbelievable. I sometimes take groups camping and this is an easy home run that still has pretty good caloric density. Regardless, I'm willing to schlep a few extra ounces the first day on the trail to guarantee starting with a solid dinner.

For breakfast, I often make instant grits. Not amazing on their own, but if you've got a foil packet of shrimp or crab and some cheese and fresh peppers to throw in there, again, it's amazing, and fresh peppers will keep well for several days in a pack. Cheese keeps a long time as well, and doesn't need the refrigeration and babying we give it.

For short trips by myself, I sometimes skip a stove altogether, and one of my favorite trail foods is to make burritos. Easy enough to do — repack the number of tortillas you will need, and you can bring pre-cooked rice, foil-package of chicken/tuna/salmon/etc…, or I recently tried an "Old El Paso" shelf-stable blend of chicken, rice, beans, that was very decent — again, I brought hot sauce to spice it up, and it was very tasty, even without warming it up.

For me, one of the most useful parts of my pack is the "luxury" of a few spices/sauces in tiny bottles. Sure, it's 2-3 ounces that's not essential, but it adds enough extra spice and flavor to food that makes it worth its weight in down. I usually bring a small bottle of olive oil as well — amazing at ~250 cals/oz — and it adds flavor and enjoyment to almost anything you add it to.

Heck, the first day or two, you can even eat salads on the trail. Sure, lettuce is only 5 calories per ounce, but when you add an oil-based dressing to it (at ~200 cals/oz), along with cheese (parmesan is ~120+/oz) and whatever else you like, you end up with a great meal that is still over 100cal/oz.

If you're wanting more imagination for longer trips… use some of these ideas for the first few days, expand your freezer-bag/foil-bag cooking selection, and carry spices/sauces to make everything you have taste better.

Eat well out there!

Everyone raises good points – Nick I agree that BMI is imperfect, but as you say, it does have it's uses. But you did note its weaknesses, which is important for people to understand. I also agree on the necessity for exercise . I find exercise does suppress my appetite while also curbing me from eating because I have nothing better to do. How often do you get out a week?

Just losing the 33 pounds makes hiking/backpacking seem so much easier. I am anxious to try hiking at sub-160 again.

Sarah, I didn't mean to imply that children are all overweight/obese. In most places, kids are fairly fit and what I would consider as "normal:" in terms of weight.. I just hope that the definition of "normal" isn't changed by the eating habits of our country. But obviously, things have changed. I recall going to old Tiger Stadium in Detroit years ago and recalling how narrow the seats were in the stands. That was on of the reasons they built a new stadium – to make the seats wider because the American build is now bigger.

But I am confident given the active lifestyle of your family and good cooking that this won't be an issue. You are getting your kids started on good habits young – their lifestyle choices will be largely influenced by yours. And yours are good if we are to believe the many trip / food postings here!

Laurie – that is an inspiring story – wow, incredible. That really is a story that is worthy of greater treatment here at backpackinglight.com. We often laud those who go on some pretty amazing journeys, and rightfully so. But I do believe there are a lot of people out there who would be equally inspired by your transformation., a journey in itself Yeah, there are some really fit people here but I bet there are an equal number of people who could stand to lose some weight. The quality of life, the quality of trail time and the improved health are all reasons to do it. But the personal reasons you touched upon humanizes the problem. It is a far more effective agent of change than statistics and morbidity rates. Thanks for the link, a very interesting read!

I was thinking…..for the guys who can't think up ideas or who would buy the same foods every time – do you ever buy new foods to try them out, just for the sake of trying new things?

I say this because when my oldest was little he was not very adventuresome with eating (children in the Autistic spectrum rarely are) and I have spent years coaxing him and it paid off – Ford will eat nearly anything as long as I don't tell him it contains fruit or berries (I keep mum on that). Anyhow, when we shop I live for trying new foods. My Dad liked bland white food so growing up it stifled my Mom, who cooked for his tastes. The best job ever for me was when I worked for the Thai importer a few years back. My husband will eat nearly anything and the toddler, Walker will as well (he loves spicy Thai food I might add!)

So I take the kids shopping with me and let them pick food out. Too many guys (I am not being sexist but it is the majority….) have wives who shop and cook or if single just sit in a rut. Go shopping where all you do is putter slowly from one aisle to another. Go to Whole Foods. Go to ethnic stores (we have an Indian version of Cash n' Carry even…..). Pick things up! Go online for ideas.

Just because you were forced to have Meatloaf Friday, Taco Tuesday and Thursday Spaghetti when growing up doesn't mean you have to eat like that as an adult.

And then transfer that to trail eating. That is how I get my ideas for trail recipes!! I make things at home and then consider how to adapt it. For me it is easy but it can be learned pretty quickly. Why eat Pop Tarts on the trail if instead you like a gourmet oatmeal at home? Learn to adapt the recipes!

I can't go to the store. It is too cold inside.

Story….

Wife, "We need to go to this great new Mexican restaurant. It is called Margarita's and today a bunch of us went there for lunch. The food is great.

Me, "The best Mexican restaurant in California is Las Caseulas. I have been eating there for over 30 years."

Wife, "We are you so unwilling to try anything new?"

Me, "Because I have been doing it all my life, it works, and I am happy."

But Sarah, you do make some excellent suggestions. Although sometimes an old dog cannot learn new tricks… or at least he is unwilling. :)

On the other hand if I leave my husband and the oldest son at home I spend a lot less and my shopping cart is smaller ;-) lol…….

"my shopping cart is smaller"

My secret to keeping my grocery bill under control… I never use a cart. I only use a basket over my arm. That puts an automatic limit on things right there.

–B.G.—

I usually approach my trail food with the same scrutiny that I approach my gear: less is more. Being creative with trail food starts before you hit the trail, I don't usually have the time or want to cut into time prepping 'creative' meals before a trip when all I really want is something that's palatable and has good caloric content.

I'll eat well enough out there, but not much effort or creativity goes into my food for a few nights out under the stars, it's just not an area of life that I put much care into. Red vines in a hipbelt pocket, some oatmeal w/ dried cranberries and almonds for breakfast, water in my side pocket, and some refried beans and jerky can go a long way for me. Is it boring? I guess so. Do I care? Nope.

If I'm going to put effort into anything food related, it's going to be which beer to pack in, cause food has no beer value but good beer always has food value.

Food and sleep are fuel, at the end of the day the former turns to 5hit and the latter consumes half your life.

The shopping cart is the kid corral. And latte holder. Geez, you guys need to learn how to shop ;-)

Or maybe you all shop like MEN ;-)

I generally use a hand-basket at the market but I also employ what I call "the Rachael Ray approach" – meaning that I can cram a whole lot more into a hand-basket than the average Joe (and in my arms). My theory on grocery store shopping is to stick to the outer edges because that's generally where the unprocessed foods are.

As for prepping trail food… I don't do a lot of extra work. You see I often double a recipe and cook it for our family dinner. Then I dry the leftovers for the trail… package and date, then pop the bags in the freezer. I do this from October to April and then I have food for the spring, summer and often into the fall. Of course, there are times when that doesn't work out because someone gets into the leftovers like my husband and the burgundy stew last night – I went to put it on the dehydrator this morning only to find that the pot had been washed and stowed because my son and he ate the leftovers while I was teaching a class. At least it didn't get wasted and it was full of veggies so it made a great dinner for them.

I also find that drying leftovers is very cost-effective because sometimes those would just end up going bad and getting tossed. Really it's as simple as you make it and with a little foresight and organization you can have a balance between ease of work at home and mere rehydrating/reheating on the trail.

Dirk wrote… “Laurie – that is an inspiring story – wow, incredible. That really is a story that is worthy of greater treatment here at backpackinglight.com. We often laud those who go on some pretty amazing journeys, and rightfully so. But I do believe there are a lot of people out there who would be equally inspired by your transformation., a journey in itself Yeah, there are some really fit people here but I bet there are an equal number of people who could stand to lose some weight. The quality of life, the quality of trail time and the improved health are all reasons to do it. But the personal reasons you touched upon humanizes the problem. It is a far more effective agent of change than statistics and morbidity rates. Thanks for the link, a very interesting read!”

Thanks Dirk. I was never going to put that out there because frankly I was embarrassed that I ever got to that point. Then I changed the mindset and figured that if my story could inspire just one person… I should put it out there. I have to say… it’s the best way to lighten the trail load – lol.

The kids are of the utmost importance. I worked for the school board for awhile when I was pregnant with Kaia in Fall 2009. Part of my duties were to manage a snack program and supervise the grade 4 to 8 students during their nutrition/lunch breaks. It was enlightening to say the least. One parent used to bring his daughters McDonalds or a pizza slice every day. Some of the lunch fare had more sodium than most adults need in a day. When I was an obese kid (I had been battling this since I was in kindergarten) I was one of two children in our entire school of 140 kids who was overweight. Now, judging from Tobias’ school, it seems to be about 30 to 40% of the children. It is heart-wrenching to see 10 year old children who are already facing problems such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

It is said that people in this generation will not be living as long as those in the generation before because of excesses in diet and lack of physical activity. Two of the biggest culprits with childhood and even adult obesity (in my opinion) are pop (soda? not sure of the American term for carbonated sugary drinks) and fruit juice. Pop in our house is very, very rare as is fruit juice. That said, there is a load of fruit around here. If you compare the nutrition and fibre value of a whole orange to a big glass of OJ you’ll see where I am coming from. Often people pour such a big glass that it would be the equivalent of 4-5 oranges.

This is interesting Obesity to worsen, weigh heavily on healthcare costs. I live in a province here in Canada where Health Care is publicly funded – increasing obesity rates and the health issues that come with them could overwhelm our system.