backpacking macro's

[fillthefreezer]

so, over the past few years its been a continual evolution of my backpacking menu. trying to dial in calories per oz. how many calories i need. and flat out not coming home with extra food. i get paranoid about getting hungry out there and typically over pack.
so, ive got it pretty close to dialed in for weight and calories and decided to look up what my macro's looked like for a typical day, obviously compared to my typical training/rest days at home.

has anyone done this? were you surprised?

i found my protein was very low, fat a little high, carbs pretty close for a training day.

 

[PJG]

I'm pretty much in line with you on the protein. My two biggest holes are breakfast and my snacks. If I try to get at least 1 gram of protein for 1 lb of body weight, I am then at 160 grams per day, split up between five meals I then have to get close to 35 grams per meal. But, my breakfast typically consists of oatmeal, or granola. I am already starting off way behind, then my snacks are typically low protein snacks, I am tired of beef jerky and it is also high in sodium. Now, what do I eat to increase the protein? I am eating more and more packet tuna fish, canned chicken, etc....but let's be honest most the stuff tastes like ass.... Add in the high sodium content and lower protein content in mountain house meals and I am low on protein, but high on sodium just about everyday.

The only other way I can think of of getting the protein higher is to take powder with me and try to supplement it that way. I would love to find a way to get the protein numbers up, but I also kind of look at backpacking and hunting as the time to kind of throw my nutrition to the wind a little bit.

 

[Poser]

I intend to add some whey to the breakfast mix and eat a protein bar for dessert. Last year on a bear hunt, we ate venison pemmican, which I intend to use some this fall. A cupcake size serving is ~500 calories.

 

[PJG]

Venison pemmican, come on bro don't throw that out their and not explain it....lol. I've never heard of it but just googled it, very interesting. I would like to know more on where to get it, if a person can or if it has to be homemade, also what's the taste and texture like?

 

[Poser]

PJG, it's homemade and very simple to make. You do need some suet which you can get from the butcher shop (beef) or make from bear fat if you bear hunt. It kind of has the texture of a cupcake. You dry out the meat like jerky and then grind it (food processor or mortar and pestle) , then mix in the spices (old world, usually), coat with suet and bake. That's it. It doesn't do so well in hot temperatures as the suet will melt and it will get messy.

You can make it from beef or bear meat as well. You can probably buy it commercially made from beef. I just prefer to use venison since I usually have so much and see no need to buy beef.

 

[PJG]

Thanks Poser, good stuff. I'm gonna look into that for sure.

 

[Shrek]

We had a big discussion last year about calorie dense food and pemican came up. I think member unm1136 (Pat) posted a recipe. I learned a lot about fats and calories for sure. Anything in the 200 cal. per oz is getting close to absolute max . Walnuts and macadamia nuts are there.

 

[Poser]

Pemmican is so calorie dense per oz that you really have to give yourself 20 minutes or so before you'll feel like you ate anything at all. After 20 minutes, you'll start to feel full.

 

[fillthefreezer]

im in the same boat with jerky, sodium, starting the day behind.

after starting this thread i talked the topic over with aron as well, obviously he had some good ideas i might try to implement throughout the summer.

ive kind of not worried too much about it in the past but how can you expect to perform at your highest level of the year, while getting the worst nutrition all year...

i read the pemmican thread, but man, seems like a fair bit of work.
im going to try a batch of home dehydrated meals and see how much effort that takes, gonna use slim9300's recipe which has about .5lb of elk burger per serving. if that proves too much work, i may just dehydrate some burger to add to MH.
also going to buy some protein bars and do a sampling, see if any are servicable for multiple days in a row.

 

[PJG]

Good point...

ive kind of not worried too much about it in the past but how can you expect to perform at your highest level of the year, while getting the worst nutrition all year...

 

[fillthefreezer]

so ive reworked my entire menu. next weekend will be first time out with it. its much closer to the macros i eat daily.

heres a basic day:
shot blocks, peanut butter crackers, quest bar, pb/b/h bagel, unsalted cashew/almond/raisin, MH w/8oz elk burger dehydrated then added.
for this day it is spaghetti with meat sauce and i will have a fit crunch bar. other choices for this are snickers, lara alt bar, fruit source. just to keep a small amount of variety throughout the week.
this gives me 2450cal, 279carb, 85fat, 158p, 37fiber. sodium and sugar is higher than id like, obviously but i can deal with it. 76sugar, 3205sodium.

 

[unm1136]

I am including pemmican in my rotation this year.

I have noticed over the last 20 or so years that my body seems to recover faster from strenuous workouts and minor injuries if I try to keep my ratio of macros right at about 40-30-30. When I am trying to cut weight or am in a strength cycle in my workouts I try to make sure I get 2g protein per pound of body weight. There was an Army study indicating that for soldiers it just flat out works, and in the workout section of this month's Recoil magazine Pat McNamera (retired .mil cool guy from ninja team six) makes the same recommendation at 2g/lb body weight plus a gallon or more of water per day. So far no kidney problems, no real issues other than trying to choke down almost 350g protein a day.

pat

 

[fillthefreezer]

I am including pemmican in my rotation this year.

I have noticed over the last 20 or so years that my body seems to recover faster from strenuous workouts and minor injuries if I try to keep my ratio of macros right at about 40-30-30. When I am trying to cut weight or am in a strength cycle in my workouts I try to make sure I get 2g protein per pound of body weight. There was an Army study indicating that for soldiers it just flat out works, and in the workout section of this month's Recoil magazine Pat McNamera (retired .mil cool guy from ninja team six) makes the same recommendation at 2g/lb body weight plus a gallon or more of water per day. So far no kidney problems, no real issues other than trying to choke down almost 350g protein a day.

pat

there is no way i could maintain a job and eat 350g of protein a day! let alone do it while backpacking. well, i take that back, if i killed an elk on day one of a 10 day hunt, i could. and the packout would be easy.

 

[unm1136]

Sorry!

I try to adhere to the 40-30-30 when in the field, not the 2g protein per pound of body weight.

On a side note, in the Complete Walker IV Colin Fletcher comments that for the truly ultra lightweight, 3g spirulina three times a day works for some. He was not sold on the claim that it was enough when he tried it, but came to the conclusion it is either enough, or one heck of a placebo effect. I've done the spirulina a couple of times, only once on the hike in to my turkey hunt this year, and have to admit, it must be the placebo effect, but I never felt weak. That little food cannot be enough to sustain you for more than a day or two. I have a three day scouting trip where I may take the spirulina in addition to my regular chow and see how long I can hold out before breaking into the Mountain House.

pat