Any Food Gurus?

[LckyTylr]

Just curious as to how many calories I'd be looking at for the following items I'm considering for my daily backcountry hunting intake.

Breakfast:
PB, Bacon and Honey Sandwich
Instant Coffee

Mid-morning Snack:
Snickers Bar

Lunch:
PB, Bacon and Honey Sandwich

Mid-afternoon Snack:
Bag of M&M's
1.5 cups of roasted peanuts

Dinner (Late after I get back to camp)
Mountain House meal



Any guesses? Thanks.

[Freebird134]

I'm guessing 1800-2000 cal.

I'm not sure on your sadwiches. Depends on how much honey, PB and bacon. But if they are 350 each, 2 is 700. Coffee is probably 50. 100 each for snickers and M&Ms. Peanuts might be another couple hundred. Mountain house is probably around 500 (depends on variety).

There are lots of websites that will let you calculate this very precisely.

[HurricaneHuge]

I know the PB/Honey/Bacon sandwiches last a while in the pack. Any word on shelf life of those bad boys?

[foxvalley]

Not sure on the calories, but it sure sounds like a well rounded day food wise. I seem to eat a little less than normal, and my brother-in-law seems to eat a little more. We like to sneak a red bull in our day pack for lunch, a little carbonation and umph is wonderful in the mtns.

[Freebird134]

I'd definitely pack more. I'm aiming for about 2400-2500cal/day on our 9 days of hunting. Food weight comes out to about 1.1lbs/day. I don't want to be hungry or low on energy. My maintenance caloric intake is somewhere around 2200 cal/day, and I'm sure I'll be losing weight even at 2500 cal/day.

[LckyTylr]

Thanks everyone.

I'm planning on hiking about the same amount per day as I have the last 3 years. The exception this year is that I'll be hunting from a spike camp a few miles from the truck. I'm only really concerned with "calorie counting" this year because I don't want to waste a trip back to the truck a day or two early because I'm out of food. Previously, I have used MRE's and a few supplement snacks and have never arrived back at camp hungry, I usually force myself to eat something before I go to bed, knowing that it will really help with morning hiking.

I guess it would help to have some background info.

I'm 6'1" at 190 lbs in gym attire. I just got done with a 36 hour 12-person relay race that covered 195 miles between 3,000 and 6,000 feet. My legs were 9 miles, 3.8 miles and 3.75 miles (16 miles total). I have also been hiking with 50 lbs in my pack and can gain and lose ~3,000 ft of elevation within just a few hours. I'm in pretty good shape, but I do have about 15 lbs that I could safely cut without getting too low of a BMI.

I'm thinking that since I won't be exerting myself any more on a daily basis than I have in the last few years, and considering that I'm in MUCH better shape than I ever have been, I won't be consuming any more food than I have before. Although I said that I never arrive back at camp hungry, I do end up about 10 lbs lighter by the end of archery season. IMO, that's nothing to be worried about. If I were hungry and losing weight, I'd be worried, but I'm seldom hungry in the heat of archery season, only thirsty. I drink between 5 and 7 32-oz bottles of water per day, sometimes more, which unintentionally keeps my stomach pretty full.

I think that's all of the relevant info.

Oh yeah, I REALLLLLLLY heap on the PB, Bacon and Honey. 3 slices of bacon per sandwhich and it's sopping with honey and PB.

[RockChucker30]

Myfitnesspal.com let's you search for foods and adds up the calories for your meals. I saved my backpacking meals so it's really easy to hit my calorie goals.

[Freebird134]

Sounds like you are built just like me. You'll almost certainly lose weight during your trip, which maybe is a bonus? If it were me, and had a spike camp, I would DEFINITELY be packing more food. I mean, if all I have to do is get it to spike camp and then drop it, I'm eating pretty good. We don't use a spike camp, so on our 9 days of bivy hunting I have to carry everything all the time. So I'm being exceptionally picky about my food this year.

[Vanish]

Everything Bagel: 350 calories
Bacon x3: 150 calories
Peanut Butter (tbsp): 100 calories
Honey (tbsp): 60 calories

I bet you have more than a tbsp of pb, so I would say about 800 calories per sandwich.

I took them out on a 6 day trip last year and ate them every day, so the shelf life is pretty good.

I would eat something else for breakfast, for the variety.

[bullrub]

Wow!!!! You guys have this all figured out , great info. thanks-- I just ate what ever I had in my grub box that was easy to pack. Never thought about all that other stuff. Maybe that is why I'm old,fat,ugly.

[Freebird134]

Everything Bagel: 350 calories

You really pack bagels? What kind of hunting? That just seems really bulky. I assumed LckyTyler was taking tortillas, which are just over 100 cal usually

[LckyTylr]

Thanks for the info everyone.

Bullrub, you are funny.

No tortillas, I toast some bread for my sandwiches.

If I get sick of my sandwiches for breakfast, I'll switch to the extra snickers and M&M's that I pack. Mmmmmm. I doubt that I'll get sick of them though, what's not to love about bacon, PB and honey all in one mouthfull?

[Vanish]

Everything Bagel: 350 calories

You really pack bagels? What kind of hunting? That just seems really bulky. I assumed LckyTyler was taking tortillas, which are just over 100 cal usually

I vac-pack them and yes they are still more bulky than tortillas, but as mentioned they have more calories. Unless you take two tortilla sandwiches ... in which case you're approaching the same bulk. To me the bagels hold up better.

[mattstanton]

as a rule, 100cal/oz for backcountry hunting. this is where your biggest chunk of weight in your pack is accumulated so meeting this weight to calorie goal can save a lot of weight. Here is a list of items I choose from each day. I shoot for about 2500 each day.

Pemmican bar----3.75oz-----440 calories

Justin Almond Butter----1.15oz----200 calories

Honey Stinger------1.3oz----120 calories

Larabar------1.7oz-----210calories

Cliff bar-----2.4oz------250 calories

Cliff Shot Blocks-----2oz------200calories

Oh Yea bar------3oz----380 calories

Power Bar energy bites----3oz-------300calories

Mtn House Pro Pack------4.5oz-----560calories

I don't take all of this for each day, but pick from
these items for each day.

My Lunch-----I take the Justins almond butter and
spread it over the Pemmican bar and squirt
the Honey on top of all that, it makes for a good
meal and is 760 calories.

I snack on the other stuff when needed during the day
and always finish off all the food even if I don't feel
like eating

[Broken arrow]

I think I'm screwed weight wise.
My calorie intake under normal conditions is around 2600 I'm thinking 3000 min a day for me.
On my scouting trip I had the following.
MH eggs n bacon + 2 packet instant oatmeal and 3 instant coffees
Lunch was a snack baggie of trail mix marathon bar and half a snack baggie of jerky half baggie of almonds 5hour energy
Dinner double portion MH a tortilla or 2 and 2 coffees
Snacked on tropical fruit trail mix and jerky
I could easily eat more but it was good enough for 3 days. And I drank around 4 liters of water a day.
I always seem to be thirsty I drink around a gallon gallon and a half a day everyday.
I saw some survival bars online somewhere that are like 1000 cal a bar! Anyone tried them?

[foxvalley]

Plus or minus calories won't hurt, but what will hurt, ie. get you down right sick, is not drinking enough water. If you are new to the mtns. and are from a moist climate like the midwest, the dry mtn. air will suck you dry. Dehydration can get you very sick. Drink, drink, drink.

[LckyTylr]

Broken Arrow . . . . . . . . . are you half Bear!?!?!?! WOW!!!

[Broken arrow]

Broken Arrow . . . . . . . . . are you half Bear!?!?!?! WOW!!!

Lol my body just processes food at an unbelievable rate! Exercise no exercise doesn't matter

[HurricaneHuge]

Broken, with a metabolism like that I can't imagine you on the amount of caffeine you suck down! Goodness! I thought I hammered the caffeine....

[mlauber]

If your looking for a base line for all foods for the purpose of packing them in to the back country, or to maintain your weight check out an application called "Lose It".

This is a program that can be downloaded to your I-Phone, or Droid.

I use it to maintain a log of my daily intake & work out regime in order to keep me aware of what I am taking in daily.

It helps keep me from eating items that are not healthy.

It really is a neat program. It's free too!

It is a tool, but it really is a powerful little program.

Check it out!