Energy dense food for hiking

For high intensity hikes Start Here.

For trail hiking 20 to 25 miles a day I rely on bars and junk food. PowerBar’s “Harvest” line has a good amount of protein and work well for me as they are oat based versus soy based (CliffBar).

Once on the trail I eat a bar at 9, 11, and 1. Then a 2 ounce portion of Chex Party Mix Bold, another bar, then 2 ounces of potato chips (stackable from a can that pack well) to get me into camp. The Chex and Chips are salty, provide a change of pace from bars, and are high in calories. All together I get in about 1600 – 2000 calories. (I lose between 1/2 to 3/4 pounds per day of body weight to fat utilization. I rarely hike more than 14 consecutive days.)

If I start to tire on the trail I start eating every 1.5 hours. On cold and rainy days I might add in 2 ounces of a sugar (Not high fructose corn syrup) based candy like Sours or Jelly Belly’s for instant heat and to brighten the day.

It is definitely a HYOH experiment to figure out what works for you, and that only happens by trial and error AND good record keeping.

In my experience, those who can cover 15, 20 or even 25 miles over the span of 10-12 hours at a comfortable cruising speed have very little trouble eating a regular diet during the day, or even a slightly higher fat diet, with generous amounts of things like whole milk, cheese and nuts. I'm comfortable up to ~ 45% of calories from fat, but that's probably more than most people would want to eat.

Trail-running is a very different story. Even many of those who can withstand a pretty normal diet up to moderately high exercise intensity on a bicycle can't do it with the churning of a run.

Things certainly vary from person to person, but among the ten or so people with whom I've packed extensively, all of them can eat regular food while doing 15 mile trail days at moderate altitudes. (Yes, there may be a little self-selection at work.) Change the conditions and you change the story, at different rates for different people.

Change enough of them, and you'll come back to a more invariant outcome. The combination of high intensity exercise, churning/bouncing, altitude, and food different from what one's used to is a potent recipe for indigestion. :)

Cheers,

Bill

If you do any research on Aerobic (Low to Moderate intensity) vs Anaerobic (high intensity) and how your body works in each case you learn that your body is vastly more efficient in an Aerobic state and better at using Fat stores for energy. So just remember that having a pace that keeps you in an Aerobic state is best if you want to efficiently use higher Fat content foods and stored Fat in your body.

This is why for long duration activities it's best to keep a pace that keeps your heart rate in it's aerobic state (generally if you can carry on a conversation then you are working aerobically) and you will perform better with the food you do eat.

Reading your original post it sounds like you may have felt bad because you were performing in an Anaerobic state and therefore your body was not able to process and utilize those candy bars to be used for fuel. Fat rich isn't a problem if you had slowed your pace a little. Otherwise if you insist on maintaining that pace then you better only consume something like energy gels.

"What do you guys eat during hiking?"

Logan Bread.

–B.G.–