Am I really suppose to eat all that!?

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AlwaysBigSteve
AlwaysBigSteve Posts: 82 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi MFP community. This is my very first new topic post.

I am totally down with eating back most of my exercise calories but I have just now ran into a bit of a dilemma. This past weekend I went hiking and burnt over 3500 calories in just a few hours.

I have my eye set on this big hike that is located not too far from here and if my math is correct (based on my weight, age, HRM) I may burn around 10,000 calories in this all day hike. I weigh a bit over 370 and am a 33yo male. Obviously there is a chance I might not make it for the full 20 miles. All I know is that the more I hike the more I want to hike. Both days this past weekend I only came out of the woods because the sun was going down.

Anyhow the point is I can't reasonably eat over 12,000 (10,000 plus my normal daily) calories, can I? I couldn't imagine eating the equivalent of 5 pizzas on top of my normal intake for a day.

So I know that I will probably get many different opinions but I still want to hear all of them.
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Replies

  • DanaDark
    DanaDark Posts: 2,187 Member
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    No.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
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    I am also a hiker and can't eat all of what I "should" so I don't. here is why: I don't hike every day. I go on a big hike maybe once a month. I always pack high calorie food to eat along the way, like PB&J sandwich, trail mix as a snack, etc. and eat a good meal afterwards. Other than that, I don't worry about it. If you were hiking like that frequently, then you'd have to be concerned. For most of us with regular 9-5 jobs Monday through Friday, it isn't a big deal to leave the deficit on the table.

    I look at it as one day every once in a while with a big deficit hurts me no more than the one day every once in a while where I eat dinner without worrying about calories.
  • deb3129
    deb3129 Posts: 1,294 Member
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    No, there is no way you can eat that many calories. Just eat more than normal that day, and accept that there will be a deficit! I am also REALLY into hiking now!! I start out intending to just hike a couple of miles sometimes and get totally carried away! I live in an area surrounded by national forests, so it works out great!
  • weloveourboys
    weloveourboys Posts: 133 Member
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    Just use your common sense. You know you can't eat 5 pizzas on top of your "normal" amounts of foods. So obviously, no, you are not "suppose to eat all that."
  • Melo1966
    Melo1966 Posts: 881 Member
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    Pack lots of snack foods trail mix, cheese sticks, PBJ sandwich, water bottles, your camera and have fun.:happy:
  • wibutterflymagic
    wibutterflymagic Posts: 788 Member
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    I'd have to say no too. This isn't something you're going to be doing all the time. You need to eat back some of those calories while you're hiking so you have the energy to continue your hike. From what I've learned from people that do long athletic events is you need protein during to keep going. And as I'm writing this I see melsinct's post and I agree. You aren't doing this all the time so not eating it all back isn't a big deal. Have your snacks during and a nice big meal after and you'll be good.
  • Shelleyrose71
    Shelleyrose71 Posts: 3
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    The point is you are burning 10,000 cals. You need to burn approx 3,500 cals to lose 1lb, so you should lose a little under 3lb on that hike. BUT if you eat normally and have your standard intake you will lose weight.

    The point of it is to use the calories already stored in your body (aka the fat store), NOT to eat what you burn. If you eat what you burn and your daily intake, (the full 12000 cals), you will maintain your weight... The more exercise your do, the more cals you burn, the more weight you lose.

    I would also say eat your normal amount, but take an extra healthy snack with you. When I go for a long hike i take a a banana or a cereal bar or something like that. Also, as you are doing more that 15 miles, I also recommend taking something sugary too. Such as a some Kendal mint cake, or a small chocolate bar. You will be amazed that when eaten when it is actually needed, a sugary snack will give you the energy that you actually need to continue your hike, BUT as your metabolism will be doing over time because of the exercise, you WILL just burn it straight off!

    Does that make sense?
  • Melo1966
    Melo1966 Posts: 881 Member
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    Also up your calories the day before and the day after to stay energized and not crash the next day.
  • Chief_Rocka
    Chief_Rocka Posts: 4,710 Member
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    This past weekend I went hiking and burnt over 3500 calories in just a few hours.

    No you didn't
  • besaro
    besaro Posts: 1,858 Member
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    This past weekend I went hiking and burnt over 3500 calories in just a few hours.

    No you didn't

    this
  • DontStopB_Leakin
    DontStopB_Leakin Posts: 3,863 Member
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    Wait, wait, wait....









    ............It's hard to eat 12,000 calories?
  • drmerc
    drmerc Posts: 2,603 Member
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    if you need to eat 12,000 calories I recommend going to a all you can eat buffet to save your wallet
  • _Elemenopee_
    _Elemenopee_ Posts: 2,665 Member
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    This past weekend I went hiking and burnt over 3500 calories in just a few hours.

    No you didn't

    Oh snap!
  • MikeyD1280
    MikeyD1280 Posts: 5,257
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    This past weekend I went hiking and burnt over 3500 calories in just a few hours.

    No you didn't

    I have to agree.. you need a new HRM...
  • robin52077
    robin52077 Posts: 4,383 Member
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    This past weekend I went hiking and burnt over 3500 calories in just a few hours.

    No you didn't

    this

    these
  • cyndispot
    cyndispot Posts: 135
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    ............It's hard to eat 12,000 calories?



    This is exactly what I was thinking! give me the icecream and toppings!
  • bpotts44
    bpotts44 Posts: 1,066 Member
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    I wouldn't eat that much. At 370 lbs you have virtually no risk of affecting your metabolism especially if you only periodically create this large a deficient. Also, I don't think the burn is going to be that high as many of the estimators give too big a caloric burn.
  • jofjltncb6
    jofjltncb6 Posts: 34,415 Member
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    This past weekend I went hiking and burnt over 3500 calories in just a few hours.

    No you didn't

    Time out.

    I think it depends on how many "a few" is. 2? 3? 4?

    And he's 370 pounds, so if he hiked vigorously for 3-4 hours...on hellacious terrain...with a full pack.

    Okay, yeah, you're probably right...he probably didn't top 3500 calories...but 2500 doesn't seem unreasonable.


    I'm going with most of the advice up there^^^. Eat *some* more to fuel the work if you're hungry, but don't force yourself to eat to some magic number.
  • MoreBean13
    MoreBean13 Posts: 8,701 Member
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    Since you have quite a bit to lose, I don't think it will hurt to have a big deficit when you do the big hike, assuming it's an occasional thing and not a regular occurrence. IN my running experience with distance races, I rarely am able to eat all the calories back that day from a race or a long training run. I would eat a bit extra the night before, eat until satiated that day, and over the next few days if you are extra-hungry eat until satiated- sometimes it can take 2 or 3 days for the hunger to catch up with you. You'll probably still have a pretty big deficit for the week, but I wouldn't stress about it too much. Larger people can handle bigger deficits.
  • leejayem
    leejayem Posts: 120 Member
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    Are you are you burnt 3500 calories in a few hours? If I run for an hour I burn about 600 calories & only about 300 if I walk for the same amount of time. Based on that I would have to walk for over ten hours to burn over 3000 calories - you're super blessed if you can burn that much in just a few hours, but more power to you I guess.:drinker:

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