I seem to lose at least 5 pounds during each backpacking trip I take. I can't seem to ever bring enough food to keep up with this massive calorie-burning activity. Have you ever gone backpacking and had a similar experience? Maybe you didn't plan for enough days or an animal ate your food? Share a story with us!
I typically have the same experience. I generally lose 5 lbs. for every 3 days that I'm on the trail. Lately the animal causing me the most grief while backpacking has been the "trail beast" that I'm traveling with. It seems that even if I meticulously plan every meal, inevitably the "trail beast" ends up eating some portion of my daily rations. What's a girl to do? I'm getting ready to go on yet another backpacking trip in a week, and fear the same beast will rear it's ugly head! Please help!
I hear you guys - you don't really know hunger until you are sitting around your stove trying not to cook all of the food that you packed for the week! With the amount of calories that you burn during a day of backpacking combined with your raging metabolism it's almost impossible not to lose weight. One thing that you can do is have your RMR tested. This will show how many calories your body needs just to function. You can then approximate your daily caloric expenditure based on miles, pace, etc. The combination of those numbers will help you get an accurate amount of calories that you need to maintain your weight. Of course carrying all of that food is another story!
For those of you that are in the SD area, I am participating in an Ultralight Kitchen talk at the San Diego REI. It's on 9/19 at 7pm. Should be pretty interesting. Plus we'll be cooking up some good food to try!
"Courage doesn't always roar, sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying "I will try again tomorrow."
Oh, and to answer your questions about stories - my backpacking partner had the better half of his food eaten by a bear on the first night of a 7 day trip. I was lucky enough to have had my food secured in a bear canister but I did lose my sunblock for the week...which was equally detrimental to a fair skinned girl like myself!
"Courage doesn't always roar, sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying "I will try again tomorrow."
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