I need some input about my backpacking diet, which is:

Breakfast: granola (from Aldi's), wheat germ, ground flax seed, sunflower seeds, soybean nuts & powdered nonfat milk (Great Value brand from Walmart)
Lunch: one Bear Valley bar (carob cocoa or coconut almond)
Dinner: flavored powdered potatoes (from Aldi's), wheat germ, ground flax seed, sunflower seeds, soybean nuts and beef jerky (I'm not vegetarian).

Do you think I might be overlapping nutrients to where I'm carrying too much? It would be great to be great to cut back on food weight or to replace something that I don't need with something I do need. What do you think?
Take care.
Darwin
daroos@indiana.edu

You don't get bored?

;-) Heh!

In all seriousness though - do you miss having snacks? You could also use powdered soy milk which has fat in it versus non fat dairy milk. How about vegetables? Fruit?

Seems like your diet is a bit short on calories.

Depending on your daily mileage and body weight, your caloric needs on a backpacking trip are going to be much higher than when you're at home.

Personally, I'm a big fan of ProBars (350-400 calories in a 3 oz bar) and Gu energy gel packets (100 calories in a 1 oz packet) when I'm on the trail.

Plus I like to break up the monotony w/ *varied* savory foods for lunch and dinner. I look for freeze dried foods which are calorically(sp) dense, and tasty. I like to have some spicy/salty seasoning to add to my food in case it turns out that my meal is under-seasoned. Never forget, you need to nourish your soul as well as your body!

Jesse

I think there is a bit of an overlap in nutrients and as others have indicated there is a gap. We try to have a good range of carbohydrates, proteins and healthy fats in our backpacking diet.

We use energy bars as snacks and usually have some sort of hummus or other dip based on legumes or pulses for lunch.

Snacking throughout the hike is important because it gives your body constant fuel instead of the 3 meal a day thing. This helps your keep up your energy levels and you are less likely to have a hunger crash.

What is your calorie count and food weight for the day? Without that nobody can help you other than comment that your food does look a little scarce.

Also search the forum for what other people eat and consider incorporating those ideas.

Edited by jshann on 11/17/2008 08:51:47 MST.

As others have said for anyone to make an accurate comment on your trail diet we need the following:

Your age
Your weight
Your pack weight
Miles hiked per day
Any medical conditions


Typically I shoot for an average of 125 calories per ounce for food weight. Now since you’re not giving the amount of food you’re eating for breakfast and dinner it is impossible to know the notional value of your current trail diet. Assuming 1.5 cups of granola and 2 cups of potatoes I would estimate you’re getting around 1,500 calories a day (195 g carbohydrate, 85 g protein, 50 g fat)

You should read the GROOVY-BIOTIC rations article.

It's a good set of insights. And it seems to match your food tastes.

LINK:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/quick_healthy_meals_with_an_ultralight_cook_kit

I forgot to add that if the OP's trail diet is keeping him satiated, energized then he should stick with it. If it's working for you there is no need to radically change your diet unless you aren't getting proper nutrition and it is affecting you’re hiking.

Please keep in mind I do not know how long your trips are and as such your diet very well may need to be changed to accommodate longer trips.

Good luck finding a diet that works well for you and your backpacking style.

If you really want to cut back on the weight of food you carry, you would do well to increase your fat in place of some of those carbs. But as the others have said, we can't tell from what you've posted as we don't know how much you eat of each food, or how much of each ingredient is in the foods you eat. Like Mike says, maybe try the groovy-biotic menu. Not only will it increase the variety of your foods, but you will be getting more balanced nutrition.