What to take to eat on a 20 mile hilly walk...

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halimaiqbal00
halimaiqbal00 Posts: 288 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
As the title suggests, i am planning on walking 20 miles with a couple of friends in a couple of weeks. Am hoping to cover 3.5-4 miles an hour. What kind of food should I take with me to keep energy up? Nothing stodgy obviously..I don't want it to weigh me down or make me feel lazy or sleepy. I have no specific dietary requirements nor do I have any intolerances, aversions or allergies to any foods. What would you recommend?

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • halimaiqbal00
    halimaiqbal00 Posts: 288 Member
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    Also, I will be wearing a heart rate monitor and expect to lose between 3000-4000 calories for the walk so how much should I eat back? Not necessarily looking to lose, gain or maintain tbh, the walk is for fun
  • upoffthemat
    upoffthemat Posts: 679 Member
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    water, banana, trail mix, apple, sandwich/wrap, kind bars all are good choices.
  • SweetP27
    SweetP27 Posts: 216 Member
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    I would think things like jerky, nuts/seeds, dried fruit, protein bars.
  • MichaelSeibel
    MichaelSeibel Posts: 1 Member
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    I have done quite a bit of hiking including a 7 day backpacking stretch on the colorado trail.

    Bars or peanut, butter balls are my favorite. This is a good recipe but I would swap the choco chips with a dried fruit http://allrecipes.com/recipe/239969/no-bake-energy-bites/

    Also for a good price at a Aldi (if you have one near by) I really like the millville pure and simple bars like this one http://offers.kd2.org/en/us/aldi/pbBtz/

    another thing to keep in mind is SALT and water those are the key items a Gatorade or 2 will do it but make sure you get your sodium, if you want to go cheep grab a few bullion cubes, the more water you drink the more salt you need its very easy to get overhydrated if you don't have some salt

    Another great option is Gardetos, Combos, very dense calories and good source of salt

    Good luck, it sounds like fun ;)

  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,943 Member
    edited October 2016
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    halimaiqbal00 wrote: »
    Also, I will be wearing a heart rate monitor and expect to lose between 3000-4000 calories for the walk so how much should I eat back? Not necessarily looking to lose, gain or maintain tbh, the walk is for fun

    A heart rate monitor will not give you accurate results because, even though you will be walking a great distance and some hills, it Wil not be steady state cardio. You also will not burn that many calories. Just eat well after that fu activity!

    As for snacks, when I do long hikes I take water, energy bars and a lunch.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    As for what to eat back I rarely attempt to eat back fully on a 6.4k TDEE day but Dairy Queen Blizzards will get you a good bit of the way into that ;-)
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    MichaelSeibel wrote: »
    I have done quite a bit of hiking including a 7 day backpacking stretch on the colorado trail.

    Bars or peanut, butter balls are my favorite. This is a good recipe but I would swap the choco chips with a dried fruit http://allrecipes.com/recipe/239969/no-bake-energy-bites/

    Also for a good price at a Aldi (if you have one near by) I really like the millville pure and simple bars like this one http://offers.kd2.org/en/us/aldi/pbBtz/

    another thing to keep in mind is SALT and water those are the key items a Gatorade or 2 will do it but make sure you get your sodium, if you want to go cheep grab a few bullion cubes, the more water you drink the more salt you need its very easy to get overhydrated if you don't have some salt

    Another great option is Gardetos, Combos, very dense calories and good source of salt

    Good luck, it sounds like fun ;)

    Agree with the salt, that is why I include the beef jerky. If you don't like jerky or wish to avoid that then sub in something else salty.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    edited October 2016
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    SLLRunner wrote: »
    halimaiqbal00 wrote: »
    Also, I will be wearing a heart rate monitor and expect to lose between 3000-4000 calories for the walk so how much should I eat back? Not necessarily looking to lose, gain or maintain tbh, the walk is for fun

    A heart rate monitor will not give you accurate results because, even though you will be walking a great distance and some hills, it Wil not be steady state cardio. You also will not burn that many calories. Just eat well after that fu activity!

    As for snacks, when I do long hikes I take water, energy bars and a lunch.

    You can burn that many calories on a 20 mile hike to be honest. Long walks with hills will have your heartrate up at like 120 sustained for hours and hours and hours.

    On that 14 day 200 mile trip I took (not even 20 miles per day) I lost about 10 pounds eating about 3000 calories a day which suggests my TDEE was in the range of 5500-6000 most days. I did have a backpack on though and it was rough terrain.
  • halimaiqbal00
    halimaiqbal00 Posts: 288 Member
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    Aaron_K123 wrote: »
    halimaiqbal00 wrote: »
    As the title suggests, i am planning on walking 20 miles with a couple of friends in a couple of weeks. Am hoping to cover 3.5-4 miles an hour. What kind of food should I take with me to keep energy up? Nothing stodgy obviously..I don't want it to weigh me down or make me feel lazy or sleepy. I have no specific dietary requirements nor do I have any intolerances, aversions or allergies to any foods. What would you recommend?

    Thanks in advance!

    I do this all the time, right up my alley.

    Bring a small backpack with plenty of water, a water bladder is the most convinient but if you don't have that just several bottles. For food bring the following:

    Make a snack pack in a ziplock bag you carry on you that is easily accessed: almonds, dried fruit, small hard candies (like lifesavers) and beef jerky. Eat as you walk. My snack pack is a cup of almonds, 3 oz of beef jerky, 8 life savers and about 8 pieces of dried fruit mixing between mangos and apricots.

    Have with you sandwich fixings, I like hard salami and flat bread with string cheese. Take a lunch break in there somewhere, maybe at the top of a hill or a half-way point.

    Can also bring with you an energy bar such as a cliff bar or luna bar as a snack.

    Remember, can always make up extra calories after your walk with a large dinner or before your walk with a large breakfast so really you don't need to bring much with you other than snacks. A big bowl of granola with whole milk to start your day will do wonders. I've covered a 200 mile stretch in 14 days eating nothing but a bowl of granola and what I listed above plus a small freezedried dinner (400 calories) every day and kept my energy up.

    Just to show I do distance like that here is a 33 mile that was relatively flat (fitbit less accurate than gps so says 29)
    6n8wj0e2ryxz.png

    Here is a 20 mile with elevation gain (again fitbit wrong on distance)

    y0x4dubldl4v.png




    Wow! This was incredibly helpful, thank you!

  • halimaiqbal00
    halimaiqbal00 Posts: 288 Member
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    MichaelSeibel wrote: »
    I have done quite a bit of hiking including a 7 day backpacking stretch on the colorado trail.

    Bars or peanut, butter balls are my favorite. This is a good recipe but I would swap the choco chips with a dried fruit http://allrecipes.com/recipe/239969/no-bake-energy-bites/

    Also for a good price at a Aldi (if you have one near by) I really like the millville pure and simple bars like this one http://offers.kd2.org/en/us/aldi/pbBtz/

    another thing to keep in mind is SALT and water those are the key items a Gatorade or 2 will do it but make sure you get your sodium, if you want to go cheep grab a few bullion cubes, the more water you drink the more salt you need its very easy to get overhydrated if you don't have some salt

    Another great option is Gardetos, Combos, very dense calories and good source of salt

    Good luck, it sounds like fun ;)

    I do have an Aldi close to me so I will be looking out for those!
  • halimaiqbal00
    halimaiqbal00 Posts: 288 Member
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    I have a friend who is preparing a huge roast chicken feast for us upon touching down at 20 miles so will go crazy there!

    Thank you for the replies. Lots of fantastic suggestions!
  • Merrysix
    Merrysix Posts: 336 Member
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    I like the ideas on the Hammer nutrition website (a lot of endurance athletes use their products). They helped me (I called their hotline) plan my nutrition for an 8 hour non technical climb/rock scramble up Mount St. Helens. I had plenty of water in a camel pack with electrolyte tabs (it was hot and sweaty); optimum protein/fat powder to mix with water; fruit and salami, etc. It was really good to have a nutrition/water/electrolyte plan for the whole 8 hours.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,950 Member
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    halimaiqbal00 wrote: »
    chamberlainsamantha36 wrote: »
    I lost a lot of weight 162.2iam seeing fast amazing results and getting my sexy toned body back and healthy eating habits and toned legs calves shoulders and toned

    I am bursting with joy for you but struggling to comprehend how this, in any way, answers my question

    As it in no way does, I suspect she posted in the wrong thread.

  • dn0pes
    dn0pes Posts: 99 Member
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    I only take fluids nothing to eat. Eat like a mad to replace the calorie burn afterwards. Ran 16.6 miles this morning only had a banana before hand. I do that so I don't have digestive issues when Im in the middle of nowhere.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Honestly if its just a one day thing all you really need is water. You can bookend your hike/walk by eating a massive breakfast and a massive dinner and end up feeling fine the whole day. Some people have more difficulty not eating regular meals but in that case could just have a snack bag to eat a little here and there to keep your blood sugar up.

    You only really have to eat during the hike/walk if you are doing it multiple days in a row as in a backpacking trip.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
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    Aaron_K123 wrote: »

    Just to show I do distance like that here is a 33 mile that was relatively flat (fitbit less accurate than gps so says 29)
    6n8wj0e2ryxz.png

    Here is a 20 mile with elevation gain (again fitbit wrong on distance)

    y0x4dubldl4v.png




    OT, but the fitbit distance is 'wrong' because it back calculates from stride length and number of steps... You can measure and update your stride length in the dashboard to make it more accurate...
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    mitch16 wrote: »
    Aaron_K123 wrote: »

    Just to show I do distance like that here is a 33 mile that was relatively flat (fitbit less accurate than gps so says 29)
    6n8wj0e2ryxz.png

    Here is a 20 mile with elevation gain (again fitbit wrong on distance)

    y0x4dubldl4v.png




    OT, but the fitbit distance is 'wrong' because it back calculates from stride length and number of steps... You can measure and update your stride length in the dashboard to make it more accurate...

    I understand that but stride length varies based on terrain. My stride length on flat ground is considerably different from my stride length over a 30 degree pitch boulder field. No amount of stride length tweaking is going to yield an accurate measure when the terrain changes which chances are it will over 20 miles.

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