Food for thought on the trail

Son

For the next month or so I will be writing about the process I will
be using to create the menu for our 30 day hike. I will first cover the
nutritional reasons for the food that we will be packing and eating.
Our body is fueled by CARBOHYDRATES and FAT. Frequent snacking is needed to
maintain energy levels for the long trail. Eating about 20-30 grams of carbs
per hour will help your body keep your body from hitting the WALL. Eating 7
pieces of dehydrated apples will give you about 28 grams of carbs. A 1oz
granola bar will give about 19 grams of carbs. You see it is not hard to
plan your snacks to help your body.
With us carrying about 55 lbs we need about 3500 to 4500 calories per day. A
50-35-15 diet is what our target will be. That is 50% calories from carbs;
35% calories from fat; 15% calories from protein. 3500 calories will weigh
about 1.6 lbs on a 50-35-15 diet.
Proper training is a must as it trains your body to be more efficient fat
burners. Trained muscles burn a richer fuel mixture, high fat, conserving
carb stores.
For more on this subject go to www.thru-hiker.com/packlighteatright.
Do you think Michael would drive use to the trail head. He could even spend
the first night and climb Mt Whitney with us? Let me know and I will contact
him.
More about our food tomorrow with some interesting menu items and ways to
cook/bake them.
Have a nice day son,
Dad