BAD Food MILEAGE

[Alpineelk]

Hey guys my body gets terrible food mileage wen I hunt Wich equals packin alot of food = heavy Pak and when I'm sitting over a drainage mid afternoon or hiking up a steep MTN or packin out an animal I always want to eat but then I have a heavy pack I usually have half a dozen or so cliff bars which I don't like (but they give a lot of fuel only reason I Pak them) a few nature valley bars a freeze dried and some other snacky type food I want to hear how much food and what kind u pack for a day.

 

[matthewmt]

Everyone's different but typically on the move i go for high energy foods, bee stinger waffles or even gummy bears or something in the belt pouch to grab often. Eat a mountain house at the end of the day when you have time to rest.


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[Elk97]

Trail mix, jerky, a couple of Costco protein bars, sandwich.

 

[Blinddog]

protein shake for breakfast, trail mix & jerky during the day while hiking or sitting - mountain house or Raman soup with jerky for dinner. also, pack summer sausage and tortillas if I'm out for more than 3 days. I Pack heavy going out. lots of water, not a fan of purified puddle water. I typically pack in less than 3 miles.

 

[Marble]

Im the same way..

Backpackers pantry has a granola breakfast that's 670 calories. High calorie, filling, very tasty, healthy and lasts a good time. Just add water.

Bobo bars (3 oz bar and 300 calories) green belly's(a little pricey but I like them), packs of trail mix, the bee stinger waffle things, a VARIETY of cliff bars. Electrolyte mix with sugar. Sugar helps suppress appetite.

Then I eat a 2 serving meal at night. I dont do the mountain houses anymore.

I try to avoid refined sugar while hunting but not entirely. I eat a very carb based diet while hunting and still manage to loose about a pound daily.

 

[5MilesBack]

I'm the opposite.....I can go all day without eating as long as I have my coffee. I hunted with a guy one time that couldn't go 20 minutes without eating something, and was constantly digging through his pack for something else to eat.

 

[Lark Bunting]

I always have more than enough snack foods with me but can go long durations without if I'm actively hunting. I really like dried fruits for the sugar energy, seems to last longer than those energy chews. A big snack for me while resting would be a protein bar, dried fruit, jerky and some trail mix. I buy big bags of trail mix and add some Recess Pieces, my little treat.

 

[Read1t48]

I usually start with some caffeine and a protein bar. I really like the Keto protein bars from Costco. Good fiber, very low carbs (I'm not a strict Keto guy, but I do limit carbs and I think your body does adjust after a bit). I don't change my diet on the mountain. No snickers or things like that for me on the except maybe during a packout and the last hump for a quick burst of energy. Otherwise, I'm likely to feel the bonk once the sugar high is over. I eat lots of nuts, dried meats, and homemade dehydrated meals. I also like the prepackaged tuna and chicken foils which take up little space but provide good calories and protein. The food recommendations above are good. At night, I will have some noodles with chicken, etc.,. Hot meal before bed equals good sleep.

 

[mwebs]

I used to get so hungry in between lunch (pb and j with snacks) and getting back to camp at dark that it hurt. I started doing the foiled tuna or chicken mentioned above on bagels for lunch with nuts, cheese and bars throughout the day. They have a ton of flavored tuna packets now that are great. If it’s a real early morning and I know I might have down time after the initial action, I will take the stove and a freezer dried meal for mid morning or lunch meal. It’s always been hard for me to eat much early in the morning, so lunch is important.

 

[Savage99]

I'm the opposite.....I can go all day without eating as long as I have my coffee. I hunted with a guy one time that couldn't go 20 minutes without eating something, and was constantly digging through his pack for something else to eat.

I feel this. I come from a long line of snackers.


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[Poser]

I’ve found this can be weather dependent. I’m definitely more prone to eating more food when it’s cold. I just got back from a 6 day scouting trip where it was hot AF during the day and since I was glassing morning and evenings, I was traversing ~13,000 foot passes in the midday heat. I found it hard to stomach anything but sugar: honey stingers, snickers bars went down well, but nuts, salami, bars etc were either too salty (fighting the sun and trying to carry only as much water as I needed) or too chewy. I was eating my designated lunches around 3-4 pm. Hot weather = more sugar. Cold weather = more fat.

 

[SouthPaw]

I usually start with some caffeine and a protein bar. I really like the Keto protein bars from Costco. Good fiber, very low carbs (I'm not a strict Keto guy, but I do limit carbs and I think your body does adjust after a bit). I don't change my diet on the mountain. No snickers or things like that for me on the except maybe during a packout and the last hump for a quick burst of energy. Otherwise, I'm likely to feel the bonk once the sugar high is over. I eat lots of nuts, dried meats, and homemade dehydrated meals. I also like the prepackaged tuna and chicken foils which take up little space but provide good calories and protein. The food recommendations above are good. At night, I will have some noodles with chicken, etc.,. Hot meal before bed equals good sleep.

X2. Get your body tuned to burning more fat calories. Fat has more than double the calories as carbs for a given weight, so you can essentially pack less weight for the same caloric total if you pack food with high fat content. Fat is also more satiating so you don't get hungry constantly while moving around, and you'll burn more body fat for fuel so you don't constantly need to consume sugar energy to keep going. I know this doesn't work for everybody but I've personally had great results using this strategy. Agree with above post that you should still have some quick energy on hand for those times your heart rate is jacked into the anaerobic zone for a prolonged period.

 

[Read1t48]

To the OP... if you're looking to try new things or change your diet up to see if fats provide more sustained energy or hunger suppression, you can try the following:
Avocado or Coconut Oil Packets, the Keto Protein Bars from Costco, Bone Broth Packets (Lono Life from Costco), Justin's Peanut Butter Packets, etc. I would also recommend you make your own trail mix made up of quality mixed nuts with your favorite dried fruits All of the above pack nicely, provide good energy for most, and good calories on a per/oz basis. Hope this helps.

 

[Alpineelk]

Thanks for the replies guys

 

[TheGDog]

2 x Apple-sauce squeezables with the screw-off tops. 2 ( or 4) x Honey stinger waffles, 1x Blueberry Crisp Clif Bar and for the hike back out 1 MET-Rx Apple Crisp bar OR the Pretzel-something flavored one. The 100 gram bar w/ 30grams Protein in it. And of course, a breakfast at home before leaving like cereal with protein shake poured over it instead of milk. I get the blended protein powder that has some which metabolise faster and the others that are longer lasting. It does help.

If the hike is overly long or steep, might also include Salted Roasted Almonds or Whole Roasted (lightly) salted Cashews.

I'm a big fat-a** these days at 230Lbs. (I should probably be about 195-200, but aging and injuries and fatherhood thwart opportunity to workout like a beast anymore) So I gotta figure it should be able to tide you over as well.

EDIT: If it's substantially hotter I'll also include a 1L Vapur bag with an Amino Recovery powder mixed in with it. NOT the ones that amp you up either! You don't want that if you're sitting in ambush on an area because they'll make you need to pee more. Truthfully when I'm sitting on a spot in ambush, I don't really eat or drink at all until about 10:30a rolls around because I'm fully focused on detecting/scanning/listening and don't want to blow an opportunity by making noise and scents from eating.

 

[Brendan]

I'm with everyone who says you can get your body used to a more fat-based diet. But, you need to start at least a month, preferably more before the season. Don't just pack a bunch of foods you're not used to.

I personally try to do a lot of high fat food, but still eat a bunch of carbs too. Homemade dehydrated dinners and breakfasts are better (and cheaper) than most stuff you can buy. You can even get the mylar bags off amazon.

Also - olive oil packets are a good way to add calories to any meal.

 

[TheGDog]

Big thing that will dictate what you can and can't get away with packing-in food-wise is how darn hot it is at your destination. You might see food products the *look* like they'd be good... but then you get out there and they're all melted and messy and suck.

And don't think you can bring any kind of bread product out into the field with you in the heat. I've tried bagels or french bread, (just because we happened to have some at home before I left, and it's tasty) but the moisture inside the bread combined with that heat makes it start to go bad and faintly smell like it's turned bad very quickly.

 

[Drenalin]

I like some of the Epic meat bars. The Vension Sea Salt & Pepper was my favorite, but looks like they came out with two new beef bars I'd like to try. They're not exactly packed with calories, but they do a good job filling me up for maybe a couple of hours. I frickin hate Cliff bars, but Perfect PB Bars and Honey Stingers are always with me on any hunt. I add Nutella, peanut butter, or almond butter to the Honey Stingers. By themselves, those little waffles just don't stay with me for very long.

 

[TheGDog]

Hmmph "Epic meat bars" huh? Learn something new everyday! Thank you, gonna look into that!

My problem is I take BP Meds and NSAIDS everyday so my stomach easily can get Acid Reflux if the food is too sugary or too salty or contains Peppers or certain kinds of preservatives. Like I say can't eat anything "Spicier than wet tissue paper" without Acid Blockers.

And I take acid-blockers with me out into the field every time, but yeah, life SUCKS when you've got acid coming up out in the field, that could melt the rust off a chrome bumper. Not to mention now having that strong scent creating more problems with detection for you.

And the problem gets greatly exacerbated with the packbelt on tight too. Another part of the reason I don't usually snack much in the morning hours.

Definitely take the time during your scouting trip pre-season to experiment with which foods your body tolerates well. Sucks BIG TIME to be out there and the only stuff you have to eat, causes you pain.

The Clif bars and the Peanut Butter Pretzel MET-Rx bars definitely invoke Acid.

 

[Poser]

Big thing that will dictate what you can and can't get away with packing-in food-wise is how darn hot it is at your destination. You might see food products the *look* like they'd be good... but then you get out there and they're all melted and messy and suck.

And don't think you can bring any kind of bread product out into the field with you in the heat. I've tried bagels or french bread, (just because we happened to have some at home before I left, and it's tasty) but the moisture inside the bread combined with that heat makes it start to go bad and faintly smell like it's turned bad very quickly.

I had a hot trip recently. Flour tortillas hold up well. Gouda cheese does surprisingly well, it does get a little mushy but holds up. The mini packaged candy bars seem to work better than the full size since you can easily eat a bite sized glob of melted Snickers bars right out of the wrapper, but the full sized ones will be a total mess.