My food plan for 7 day Stand Up Paddle / Bushcraft

Posted by: susannewilli

My food plan for 7 day Stand Up Paddle / Bushcraft - 07/24/14 04:52 AM

My food plan

I have about 2000-2300 calories per day between 3 meals and 2 liters of a special athletic drink / marching tea that I drink throughout the day.

Otherwise its hard to get the calories in and not have digestive distress.

Main constituents:
Palmin coconut fat. - Da BOMB 225kcal per 25gr block. Great mouthfeel
Nuts - Cashews - always
Chia seeds - Da BOMB
Sustained Energy - Atheletic fuel for endurance events - Da BOMB
Chaga tea - Da BOMB
Protein drink - for recovery mostly - Ho hum
Oats - Ho hum

Breakfast:
Oats with maple syrup, Palmin, chia seeds
Maybe some bacon with roast nuts depending if I can be bothered
Coffee/Chaga with Palmin

Marching tea:
Palmin
Maple Syrup
Lemon Juice
Cayenne
Chia seeds
Chaga / Coffee leftover from breakfast
Sustained Energy

This gives almost 1000 calories during the day...

Lunch
Cheese
Maybe a fruit bar

Dinner
For taste sensations I have some soup and flour for making bannock, lemon juice, cayenne, etc.
Maybe I will have caught a fish

Soup with more Palmin
Fruit bar for dessert
Schaps
Protein drink

What do you all think?
Posted by: Gershon

Re: My food plan for 7 day Stand Up Paddle / Bushcraft - 07/24/14 07:28 AM

I prefer the diet recommended by Dr. McDougall which is a vegan, starch-based diet.

One hole I see in your diet is a lack of insoluble carbohydrates. There are some in the oats, but those are the only insoluble carbohydrates I see. A person needs about 28 to 35 grams of insoluble carbohydrates a day to stay regular. I wouldn't add things like psyllium to your diet to get them as I've heard horror stories from people who have done that on the Appalachian Trail.

What I find works well for when I'm active is about 55% carbohydrates, 30% fats and 15% protein. For the long term, fats should be about 15%. I'm vegan, so the extra amount of fats comes from nuts.

The other hole I see in your diet is vegetables. "Just Vegetables" sells a mixture of vegetables that are easy to make. Let them soak in water for about a half hour, and then heat them. You can also eat them raw as a snack. Fruits and vegetables give needed nutrients even though they don't have many calories per gram.

I burn about 3,000 calories a day since I walk a lot. Sometimes I go for stretches of burning 4,000 calories a day. I've found that if I reduce my calories more than about 800 calories than I burn I become ravenously hungry.

For an overnight trip, people can get away with eating most anything, and I often toss whatever is in the house into my pack. If I'm going out for three nights or more, I plan things carefully so I have enough calories and the proper balance of calories. I put each day's ration into a gallon baggie, and each meal is measured. I plan to return with no extra food.

You can add to calories and nutrients by adding things like sunflower seeds, rice bran and wheat germ to almost anything. You won't taste them.

If you want to be somewhat scientific, try the diet you are planning for a week at home while exercising enough to burn an extra 1,500 calories or so. Track your calories carefully during this week so you can compare the number of calories consumed with how you feel. There are many programs online which will track calories and the balance of carbs, fats and proteins. Some will also track other needed nutrients.

You will know you are doing it right if you have good volume in your bowel movement each day, and preferably, there should be two or three bowel movements a day. There shouldn't be any loose stools. Loose stools which are close to liquid would indicate too much processed food, and too much meat or dairy in your diet. This is especially true if the loose stool occurs within an hour or so after eating. This means your last meal is being rejected by your body and it's pushing out what you ate about 12 hours ago to make room for the bad stuff to get out.

Maybe this is too much information, but it's what I've learned from studying the matter.




Posted by: susannewilli

Re: My food plan for 7 day Stand Up Paddle / Bushcraft - 07/24/14 09:12 AM

Thank you for the very helpful feedback. Awesome. You really know your stuff. I like the home protocol. Smart.

Chia seeds are my idea for the insoluble carbs. They seems to be effective for me. (Tried and tested by me on trails)

For vegetables - Indeed. I forgot to mention that where we are going there are just heaps and heaps of nettles and other good wild greens. I plan to have a lot of those.

At home I'm on about 1200kcal so maybe I am a bit low on the calories here. Thank you for that. I will maybe go a bit higher on the nuts...and also bring some sunflower seeds as you suggested. And increase the chia seed dose.

Mmm also I didn't mention that I am pretty well fat-adapted, eg that my body is good at burning fat for fuel. (Ultra-running and expeds..)

Thank you for your excellent help!

Best
Posted by: Gershon

Re: My food plan for 7 day Stand Up Paddle / Bushcraft - 07/24/14 10:56 AM

Suzanne,

Talking about diet may be one of those hot button issues like stoves and footwear. Stoves and footwear are the religion and politics of backpacking.

Rather than get in the middle of it and spending too much time, I'd suggest reading "Eat and Run" by Scott Jurek, and the "Starch Solution" by Dr. McDougall. I'd also recommend "The Itinerary of a Breakfast" by Dr. Kellogg. (Disclaimer: This last book is in the public domain. I published it on Amazon and I make 35 cents if you buy it. You can get it free in a harder to read format at www.archive.org)

While reading them, look for studies they reference and find them online.

I'm personally convinced a vegan diet with no additives or processing is the healthiest choice. Adding meat on rare occasions probably doesn't hurt much. I think stream caught fish in the wilderness is fine once in awhile.

Gershon


Posted by: susannewilli

Re: My food plan for 7 day Stand Up Paddle / Bushcraft - 07/24/14 11:09 AM

Originally Posted By Gershon
Suzanne,

Talking about diet may be one of those hot button issues like stoves and footwear. Stoves and footwear are the religion and politics of backpacking.

Rather than get in the middle of it and spending too much time, I'd suggest reading "Eat and Run" by Scott Jurek, and the "Starch Solution" by Dr. McDougall. I'd also recommend "The Itinerary of a Breakfast" by Dr. Kellogg. (Disclaimer: This last book is in the public domain. I published it on Amazon and I make 35 cents if you buy it. You can get it free in a harder to read format at www.archive.org)

While reading them, look for studies they reference and find them online.

I'm personally convinced a vegan diet with no additives or processing is the healthiest choice. Adding meat on rare occasions probably doesn't hurt much. I think stream caught fish in the wilderness is fine once in awhile.

Gershon




Very cool references - thank you!

Posted by: BZH

Re: My food plan for 7 day Stand Up Paddle / Bushcraft - 07/24/14 12:21 PM

If you put in pretty strenuous days you are probably going to be running a calorie deficit. I have a hard time eating enough calories the first couple days of a hike. Not a problem for me since I carry plenty extra on my body. Seeing your video it doesn't look like you have too many spare. Running a calorie deficit for 7 days may be tough.
Posted by: susannewilli

Re: My food plan for 7 day Stand Up Paddle / Bushcraft - 07/24/14 01:54 PM

Originally Posted By BZH
If you put in pretty strenuous days you are probably going to be running a calorie deficit. I have a hard time eating enough calories the first couple days of a hike. Not a problem for me since I carry plenty extra on my body. Seeing your video it doesn't look like you have too many spare. Running a calorie deficit for 7 days may be tough.


Yeah... it's a bit of a poser...

3-4 days on a big deficit is fine and I am used to that...but for 7 days I may be eating into the reserves a bit.

Thanks for the lovely thought, but I do have *quite* a bit to spare.. haha..

Main thing I think, will be to load up with enough good varied protein (amino acids) to recover properly... and to drink enough water...

And if it does all get too hard, there is a possibility to get more food, it's just an annoying detour...

Yes I am QUITE STOKED about this trip now... quite stoked..
Posted by: Matt Keenan

Re: My food plan for 7 day Stand Up Paddle / Bushcraft - 12/15/14 11:55 PM

Way cool thread, thanks for starting Susanne. Nothing to add really other than make sure you are taking stuff you'll be able to eat for 7 days in a row which it sound like you should have no problem doing.

Mostly just wanted to hand out kedos for allot of good info and references. I had never heard of Dr. McDougall but it seems like some one worth a read.

Good luck on your trip! Sound like its gonna be a blast, definatly on of the most unique trips I have heard about. I would love to here about it after words.
Happy trails
Matt
Posted by: Honas

Re: My food plan for 7 day Stand Up Paddle / Bushcraft - 05/24/15 05:51 AM

Yeah, I'd love to hear about that trip too! Sounds awesome!