How to adjust my plan for backpacking?

CoachRoberto2024

Hello friends. I’m currently on a maintaining weight plan at 2500 calories a day. I’m pretty active. I’m going on a backpacking overnight trip to the Appalachian Trail. It’ll be a difficult hike. In wondering how to adjust my plan for those 2 days. How many calories should I intake

AnnPT77

Mostly, the answer is "lots".

If it were me (it isn't), and it were only 2 days (it is), I wouldn't worry a bunch about precision.

You're not going to gain a big bunch of fat weight in two days under these circumstances, realistically. You're unlikely to lose a bunch of fat or muscle weight in two days if you pay attention to appetite and energy level as guides. Think about it: 3500 calories to gain/lose a pound of fat, 7700 calories for a kilogram.

If you want to try to be more precise, one option would be to consider the walking distance you're going to be adding above and beyond your usual routine, then estimate the net calories required, and plan to eat that much more. This calculator (with the "energy" box set to "net") would be one option for doing that.

https://exrx.net/Calculators/WalkRunMETs

(I'd add the estimated weight of backpack to bodyweight if I were doing it that way.)

Another option would be to consider how many hours of hiking you'll do, and use a METS value from here:

https://pacompendium.com/walking/

. . . and put it into a METS calculator like this one:

https://ergo.human.cornell.edu/MetsCaloriesCalculator/MetsCaloriesCalculator.htm

Another option would be to use a more nuanced TDEE calculator, put in your current weight and such, and twiddle the activity level settings until the TDEE is about your current maintenance calories. Then add your backpack weight to your body weight, and ramp up the activity level based on your hiking plans to see the probable range of calorie impact. I like this TDEE calculator, personally:

https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/

Any of the above methods would give you a rough estimate of the added calories. Rough is almost certainly good enough, probably better than necessary.

NOTE: You may find that when you get home, you have some extra weight on the scale from water retention from the extra activity. Also, if you fly or have a long drive there/home, that will also add water weight. Don't worry at all until you've been home for a week or two. Things will settle out, once you get back to your normal routine, but it will take time.

Personal anecdote: A common vacation for me has been rowing camps. (Those skinny boats like in the Olympics, only mine is slow .) At camp, where I'd stay for up to a week, I'd be rowing around 5 hours daily, often doing a lot more walking than usual for me, plus some ancillary activities like yoga. That's a lot more than my normal activity load. At camp, I also eat like a freakin' 22-y/o 250-pound muscular male lumberjack: pre-breakfast, breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, plenty of high-calorie food in the mix . . . even though I'm now actually a 5'5", 133-ish pound 68 y/o woman. Other than the water weight, I don't see anything unusual on the scale afterward. It works out. Plus it's only like a week a year. What I do most of the time matters way more than that one week, y'know?

That's why I'm suggesting a "don't worry" route. If you feel like you need extra fuel, eat more. High odds it'll be fine, especially in the big picture.

Best wishes for a fun trip!

Retroguy2000

Hours of hiking hilly and uneven terrain with a pack? You might burn a few thousand calories. Hard to say.

You'll get hungry. Eat healthy to refuel if you can, and don't worry about it. It's extremely unlikely you'll gain fat weight unless it's a short hike and you fill up on multiple big chocolate bars, heaps of peanut butter, etc.

I'd maybe pack overnight oats with added protein powder, chocolate protein bars, granola bars, bananas, etc. for snacks between main meals.

Enjoy it. Hopefully you get great weather. Share some pics after.

csplatt

I recently hiked out west, about 10-15 miles a day, and I used my apple watch to track then just decided to eat well for the sake of not getting hurt or sleeping poorly. I firmed my counting back up when I got home. I hadn’t gained or lost.