Keto in the backcountry

[FFBowhunter]

I’m doing well on the Keto diet and have overall felt way better than before. Has anyone been on this diet and followed it while hunting the backcountry? If so how did you come about with your food plan? Any good recipes you would recommend?

 

[GLB]

Great question as i have recently started the Keto diet and liking the results so far. It has help my back issues some due no sugar/low carbs in my system which causes inflammation. I have been thinking about how I'm going to stay on this in a upcoming hunt. Very interested to hear some ideas as well.

 

[Smash]

It can be done especially if you take your own meals in. Hunt Harvest Health podcast did one on the topic with the owner of Humble foods.


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[jorgensen.travis]

Here is a screen of another post on this you can look up. I listed my 6 day meal plan broken down into macros.

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[bridgermgmt]

So I see tons of posts on "Keto" and its relationship to working out, loosing weight, etc. "Keto" has become a poorly understood way to say "low carb". If your "Keto" your taking in 20G of NET carbs for a full day. The amount of people who are ACTUALLY in ketosis at any given time but say they eat "keto" is almost none. Now, with that out of the way, yes you can be "real" keto while hunting, but its going to come at a cost.

1. When your in ketosis, to much protein, or to much carbs will nock you out of ketosis.
2. Fat doesn't like warmer temps, so food can spoil faster.
3. Getting all the nutrients you need without a varied diet is a challenge.
4. Blindly supplementing is a waste of money and time. Get blood work. Go from there.
5. Carb refeading or cyclical ketosis is nothing more than metabolic flexibility with fancy words.

So what do you do ?

 

[bridgermgmt]

First step is to find out what (type & quantity) carbs & protein negatively affect you. To do this, take 1/2 cup of the carb or protein in question and consume it on an empty stomach first thing in the morning and after you have tested your waking blood measurment. Then 1 hour later, test your blood. Then 2 hours later test your blood. Keep testing until you see it go back to where you were before you at. Do this every day for each of the things you want to bring. Once you have done this you will know how it affects your body and how much you can tolerate. The benefit in this is you will know what to bring, how much to bring, and when to eat it. Every person is different so dont be surprised if what you think is a bad carb, actually does nothing to you.

Next up, if your IN ketosis (2.5mmol or higher) that could change as you become keto adapted. So testing your blood will only be accurate for a window of time. The more efficient you are, the lower the number will go over a period of time.

 

[bridgermgmt]

Example for me: 2 day hunt. 3,000 feet elevation gained and loss per day. 8K feet and higher. 2100 calories of food per day.

Day before hunt: 3500 calories with 50g net carbs (my threshold for ketosis)
Day of hunt: 3 tbsp Butter in my coffee for first "meal" roughly 11am and 1 apple. 1 avocado & 2tbsp almond butter with 2 strips of bacon 4pm. Dinner 1 hour before bed, home made keto chicken thigh chilli (broccoli, chicken thigh, ground sausage, carrots, chicken stock).

Now you must be careful about how much LESS you eat than you burn. In ketosis, you will be burning body fat as fuel for your BRAIN but not your muscles. You want to remember to always provide your body what it needs to repair and continue. Your brain takes up something like 40% of your caloric intake. I walk around eating around 2500 calories per day, Im very active and work out daily. When I hunt, Im more sedentary during glassing periods. Hiking with a pack does burn calories, and longer periods of movement will increase what you burn, but if you already have more than 10% body fat, you'll be able to account for what your brain needs. So if you take 40% of 2500 =thats 1,000 calories. So you would need to eat 1500 to get to 2500 total. If you do that, you'll loose 1lb of fat every 3 ish days. Now add in your hours of hiking and lets say thats 8 hours, and lets estimate (example only) you do 100 calories per hour. You would need to eat 1500 for maintenance and add in 800 more for energy spent. that would put you around 2300 calories. You'll be safely in a deficit.

Couple more things to remember. When your adapting to ketosis, your body has a tough time regulating heat. So dont do this and expect to be warm in the cold, if your not already adapted. Also everyone is different. If you dont have a way to measure your ketone or blood, then sorry but your most likely eating low carb and long term you can cause hormone issues. Best way to do it, measure your self, find out what your max carb load and protein load can be, for me thats 50 net carbs on normal days and 125 net carbs on extreme days, and roughly .8 protein to lbs without any loss in ketosis or energy.

 

[TJ]

I ran across these dehydrated meals the other day. They might be an option.


Ketogenic Backpacking & Low Carb Camping — Next Mile Meals

 

[bsnedeker]

I ran across these dehydrated meals the other day. They might be an option.


Ketogenic Backpacking & Low Carb Camping — Next Mile Meals

Oh great, another backcountry meal startup that isn't shipping any product until RIGHT before hunting season!

 

[Stid2677]

This is a decent read about Keto and backpacking. Several links to food ideas. My sheep partner shared it with me.


Keto backpacking food basics for ultralight backpacking and thru-hiking.

 

[TJ]

Oh great, another backcountry meal startup that isn't shipping any product until RIGHT before hunting season!

I here you there.
I contacted them and it seems they are ready to go but need their final approval from the licensing end of it.

 

[byz250f]

I started Keto on 2/2/18...went hard on it until 5/19/18 for our backpack spring bear hunt. Lost almost 30lbs, and hit the gym hard for 2 months before the trip. I was concerned about eating keto on the trip. I did as much fats, and protiens as I could but still added plenty of carbs. Over the 5 day trip we covered 30 miles, almost 8k in elevation climbed, and all while doing it with 25-55lbs on our back. I came out of the woods 5lbs less then when I went in. We were eating around 3700 calories per day. Day 1 was rough hiking in and I honestly contribute it to my body not being used to the level of energy needed and being on Keto (no carb supply)..Day2-5 while on a non keto diet I crushed it and had no bonking issues.

My point...Im back in the gym 7 days a week, doing keto. With that being said I will switch out of Keto 3-4 weeks before my fall Elk trip and not do keto on the next backpack trip. I like Keto for normal life but I will never be convinced it a diet that is good for high performance. I have first hand witnessed it. No regrets doing it...but when it comes to a hardcore backpack Keto will not be my diet of choice.

 

[jorgensen.travis]

I’ve been on 3 multi day backpacking trips in the last 2-1/2 years that I’ve been on a low carb diet. I covered 18 miles in one day with a 55 lb pack. I recently ran 10 miles a day for 30 days straight. I’m not going to say I’ve never had issues with being tired and worn out. Doing stuff like that is always going to be hard no matter what diet. 10 days into the 30 days of running, I felt so bad I started eating carbs thinking it would help. It didn’t. By day 15 I went back on keto, and finished it out that way. The carbs just made all the inflammation worse. I never worry about whether or not I’m actually in ketosis. I’ll leave that to the scientists. Smarter people than me talk about ketosis as if it’s a switch that flips all at once. I find that hard to believe. Most things in this world exist in the gray, rather than black or white. I think people get too hung up on the definition of the word ketosis. Which may not be as relevant as they like to believe. Think about it. If you ate just enough carbs to not flip into ketosis, but not nearly enough to operate in the glucose energy world, you’d have serious energy problems. But that’s not the case with most people.


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[FURMAN]

Keto is not just low carb as bridgermgmt eluded to. It requires the correct macros which is not just cutting carbs. You actually need more fat calories than protein or your body will just turn protein into glucose and you've gained nothing except a lack of energy. Keto can be done in the backcountry but again as already stated fatty foods usually do not keep as well. Depending on how hard you are pushing daily you will most likely find that you just do not have the necessary energy long term. I love Keto for cutting. I honestly have never been so energetic on a day to day basis before but when it came to the gym and high mileage backcountry hunting carbs are just better for me. Keto bars and choc zero both have products that would be great for the backcountry. Make sure if you try it you have a way to get electrolytes.

 

[TJ]

Oh great, another backcountry meal startup that isn't shipping any product until RIGHT before hunting season!

I received an e-mail from them yesterday. They are now open for business and have begun shipping.

 

[bsnedeker]

I received an e-mail from them yesterday. They are now open for business and have begun shipping.

Good for them! I'm going to order a few and try them out. I'm not on a keto diet yet but am leaning in that direction. Regardless these things are PACKED with protien and fat which is what I like in my main daily meals. They are also low-carb, but looks like everything else is about the same as a mountain house in regards to sodium and whatnot.

 

[TJ]

Good for them! I'm going to order a few and try them out. I'm not on a keto diet yet but am leaning in that direction. Regardless these things are PACKED with protien and fat which is what I like in my main daily meals. They are also low-carb, but looks like everything else is about the same as a mountain house in regards to sodium and whatnot.

If in Ketosis your sodium requirements may be different than other diets. Dr. Stephen Phinney has some excellent information on sodium consumption and it's importance. It may not necessarily be the boogeyman we have been led to believe.
It's worth watching these videos, interesting stuff.

https://blog.virtahealth.com/dr-stephen-phinney-ketosis-ketogenic-diets/

 

[Hunt Oregon]

I bought a few of the next mile meals to test at home. So far so good I’m stoked to have some freeze dried keto food for this season. Will definitely make packing in for a few nights much easier. We ate keto last season but had to live out of a cooler. These meals are game changers

 

[TJ]

I bought a few of the next mile meals to test at home. So far so good I’m stoked to have some freeze dried keto food for this season. Will definitely make packing in for a few nights much easier. We ate keto last season but had to live out of a cooler. These meals are game changers

I've tried a couple of these scouting last weekend. So far I am impressed.
My hunts are backpacking in only so the weight penalty is pretty important.

 

[wesfromky]

Maybe check out Cleared Hot Episode 52 with Robb Wolf. They talk a bit about hunting and Keto, along with general diet and training. Seems that some people will take a bit of dextrose right before or after intense activity.