My food plan for 7 day SUP /Bushcraft Expedition

[susannewilliams]

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?

 

[mrcharly]

I would find myself desperate for something savoury. Maybe some way of making soup?

Mung bean noodles are very light, stirred into a broth made from vege stock they can be a nice taste change and don't require cooking, just soaking in hot water.

Hmm - I wonder how palatable oats soaked in oil and fried with some cheese and herbs would be?

 

[Haggis]

Great list, and well thought out.

I'm always interested in, and envious of, what others carry into the bush to eat. As for me, if I'm out for only a day in warm weather, I only carry tea and some sort of dry soup. If it's winter, tea and something to roast on a spit. If I'm staying several days in the bush, I only carry oats, raisins, and Splenda for breakfast, flour and olive oil for fry bread in the evening, and tea for whenever I'm thirsty. Anything else is simply a matter of foraging opportunities the I stumble upon.

 

[Haggis]

Dittoed myself,,,

 

[widu13]

What's the distance and load? 2300 cals is not very much at all. It may be your plan but you will be losing weight over 7 days on that diet.

 

[Toddy]

Truthfully ? I'm vegetarian, but that sounds awful.

Sorry Susanne, but that has all the appeal of meal cubes.

I would have added dried fruits, something savoury (why no salt ?) soup or veggie drink ? and roasted nuts and oats. What do you mean by a fruit bar ? like our muesli bars ? or do you mean fruit leather ?

Looks like raw coconut fat (okay, I admit my bias, I detest coconut) for calories, you'd almost be better eating marzipan. Coconut fat is a laxative too, so....well, again that's a personal thing. If it suits your bodily needs, fine.

Ah, each to their own; if it works for you, great, but I'd find that so unappealing a diet that I'd just go hungry or find green munchies as I walked, or where I stopped.

Best of luck with the trip.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[sunndog]

Gotta be honest, I wouldn't want to paddle for a week on that stuff

Off the top of my head. I'd add/substitute some noodles, rice, and/or pasta
Chocolate
Dried fruit
Jerky
Salt, pepper, and some dried chilli's
Oats
Powdered milk
Bullion (Spelling?) cubes

And of course....Some custard powder

 

[susannewilliams]

Thank you guys for your very helpful thoughts here.

Looks like I have most of what you said covered but will certainly make some of your suggested changes... mung bean noodles, more dried fruit... excellent

(My thing is to make sure my actual athletic performance is supported. This is a pretty high intensity trip, more similar to ski touring or long distance fell running than to general walking about.)

Oats - I got.
Nuts - I got
Dried fruit - I got in the bars but quite right and thank you, I will bring some.
Chocolate - too much simple sugars...not very compatible with high athletic performance. (Even the maple is a stretch)
Cayenne and lemon juice for seasoning
Milk - nah
Soups / bouillon...savoury - yup
Pasta - I don't do wheat but I do have a kg of spelt flour which is super nice for making bannock, flatcakes, pancakes, or whatever else...
Jerky...hmmm yes normally I take it, but I seem to have gone off it at the moment...

You don't taste the coconut in the Palmin at all. In fact it doesn't really have any kind of taste. You just drop a block in whatever hot stuff you have.
For the fat-adapted body (which is to say, a body which has been weaned off simple sugars to be able to convert fat under exercise load) - it is Da Bomb.

Simple sugars... noooo.

I forgot to mention that we have plenty plenty of wild greens available along the way.

Yeah 2000-2300 is a little less than what I will be burning but I also do have some stored...(fat that is)... If I feel low I will up the intake. I do have the ability to get more food but it is a big detour...
20km / day on a moving river on an SUP.


Thank you so much fellows... awesome...

S

 

[cbr6fs]

If i ate your listed food for any length of time i'd really start to crave carbs, otherwise i start to feel very sluggish.

Pasta and/or rice are my main staples, i'll usually just add or remove stuff for flavour around them.

Pita breads or tortilla's are good as well as they don't get squashed like bread, last for ages unrefrigerated, are stodgy and great for using as a spoon to scoop up food.

On the most recent outing we didn't cook anything, so i took fresh fruit, boiled eggs, packets of tuna, peanut butter, powered milk, muesli, oats, honey, dried rice and pasta, then threw in dried vegetables and sauces so i could mix and match.
I ate the stuff that goes off quickly first and the dried food for later in the trip.

Can't say as i'd fancy eating cold food up a mountain in a Scottish winter, but in summer after a hard days hike a cold pasta salad was absolutely perfect.

 

[susannewilliams]

There is also the issue that your body can only intake a certain amount of food per hour...under load.

There is a tremendous difference between what is lost and what can effectively be replenished during exercise. For calories, on average only 17-28% of what is utilized (burned) can be efficiently replenished. In general, fluids are replenished at a rate of only 20-33% of what is spent, and sodium 20-35%. What's important to keep in mind is that the body is keenly sensitive to this, recognizing its inability to replenish what it loses at anywhere near the rate that it's losing it.

In most athletes the caloric replenishment per hour is about 240-280kcal.

120-150 an hour is fine for most athletes in fact...

http://www.hammernutrition.com/hnt/1273/

 

[mrcharly]

Hmmm - I've wondered for a while how ultra-distance athletes like Mike Hall manage to stuff in the calories. Mike recently won the inaugural Trans-America cycle race, covering about 4300miles in 17days. 252 miles a day, unsupported, consumes a *lot* of calories. Obviously he was only eating what he could find along the way.
I strongly suspect his metabolism is not 'normal'.

 

[Trencakey]

I eat less than 30g of carbs a day so that menu would work for me.I'd rather use olive oil than the coconut oil but thats personal taste.I only consume 1800 calories daily.

 

[cbr6fs]

There is also the issue that your body can only intake a certain amount of food per hour...under load.

There is a tremendous difference between what is lost and what can effectively be replenished during exercise. For calories, on average only 17-28% of what is utilized (burned) can be efficiently replenished. In general, fluids are replenished at a rate of only 20-33% of what is spent, and sodium 20-35%. What's important to keep in mind is that the body is keenly sensitive to this, recognizing its inability to replenish what it loses at anywhere near the rate that it's losing it.

In most athletes the caloric replenishment per hour is about 240-280kcal.

120-150 an hour is fine for most athletes in fact...

http://www.hammernutrition.com/hnt/1273/

Carbo loading does work though
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-l...ng/in-depth/carbohydrate-loading/art-20048518

 

[sunndog]

Must admit I'm not massively into the technical side of nutrition. The vast majority of my experience is based on trial and error
Carbs being what seems to suit me best

I don't think I could eat that much palmin though. I'v used it in the past and it certainly worked but, erm....I had to be carefull how much I had in a day, if you follow my drift lol

Don't think I could go on a trip without some chocolate either

We're all different though and as long as it works for you that's all that matters. I almost certainly carry more weight for variety. But to me it's worth it

This may well be an unfair stereotype. but I imagine you get some awesome preserved sausage out there

 

[Clouston98]

I'm carbs and high protein when it comes to most food. Pasta, rice and red meat (contained within packaged meals like look what we've found etc) are what I take. Other than that- porridge for breakfast and lots of snacks this such as oat bars, fruit bars, sometimes beef jerky and on occasion mars bars. I used to have a big appetite- but I've lost it now and I can go with quite little amount of food. That's what I take for a 3 day + trip and canoeing. If it's just an overnighters I'll take a steak, some bacon and a few bread buns- tasty! With regards to nutrition I find sugar, unless natural sugars in fruit, are bad- you feel great for an hour but then tired after the sugar rush wears off. Fibre and carbs give good slow release and protein more fatty- but overall a balance is good. Water is key- lots of it. I drink straight from wild streams in very remote areas and I'm always ok with that as I'm careful- above sheep level etc. Or just boil if lower down or Bilbank and boil. I don't need much to keep me going even when doing heavy physical- like lots of football, heavy chopping etc- whereas some needs lots. Depends on your personal needs and what you can personally get by comfortably on.

 

[susannewilliams]

Must admit I'm not massively into the technical side of nutrition. The vast majority of my experience is based on trial and error
Carbs being what seems to suit me best

I don't think I could eat that much palmin though. I'v used it in the past and it certainly worked but, erm....I had to be carefull how much I had in a day, if you follow my drift lol

Don't think I could go on a trip without some chocolate either

We're all different though and as long as it works for you that's all that matters. I almost certainly carry more weight for variety. But to me it's worth it

This may well be an unfair stereotype. but I imagine you get some awesome preserved sausage out there

Hahaaa YES we do get some amazing sausage... I will add that to my bag for sure....

I am used to the Palmin and so that "special effect" is not an issue, especially if I am working hard. In fact it can be kind of helpful in a moderate way... (Nuff on that topic for now I think...)

It is of course trial and error in the end, I've have some great helpful replies here. Awesome...

 

[susannewilliams]

I'm carbs and high protein when it comes to most food. Pasta, rice and red meat (contained within packaged meals like look what we've found etc) are what I take. Other than that- porridge for breakfast and lots of snacks this such as oat bars, fruit bars, sometimes beef jerky and on occasion mars bars. I used to have a big appetite- but I've lost it now and I can go with quite little amount of food. That's what I take for a 3 day + trip and canoeing. If it's just an overnighters I'll take a steak, some bacon and a few bread buns- tasty! With regards to nutrition I find sugar, unless natural sugars in fruit, are bad- you feel great for an hour but then tired after the sugar rush wears off. Fibre and carbs give good slow release and protein more fatty- but overall a balance is good. Water is key- lots of it. I drink straight from wild streams in very remote areas and I'm always ok with that as I'm careful- above sheep level etc. Or just boil if lower down or Bilbank and boil. I don't need much to keep me going even when doing heavy physical- like lots of football, heavy chopping etc- whereas some needs lots. Depends on your personal needs and what you can personally get by comfortably on.

YEAH - Sugar - BAD, very BAD at least for me.

I can go for many many hours of heavy physical work on actually very little food, even in winter, but this is quite athletic and I wanted to be more sure...

Prolly I won't eat half of it... Haha...

I do like my bacon....

And yes. Water. Water Water... pointless eating if you are not hydrated enough to digest it properly. (5% dehydration - 20% loss of performance... learned that the hard way running Ultra-marathons in the mountains... oh yes. Not. Good.)

Boiling and Sawyer filter. (At home we just drink from the streams....but this is not that...so I am being careful...)

I have a 2l kanteen for my athletic drink and another 2l water bag as well as a 5l bag for in camp so I can continuously boil and dump.

 

[susannewilliams]

Hmmm - I've wondered for a while how ultra-distance athletes like Mike Hall manage to stuff in the calories. Mike recently won the inaugural Trans-America cycle race, covering about 4300miles in 17days. 252 miles a day, unsupported, consumes a *lot* of calories. Obviously he was only eating what he could find along the way.
I strongly suspect his metabolism is not 'normal'.

I believe he is on a lot of grain-based carbs... though he is unsupported he is able to buy food every 100 miles or so.

Straight endurance athlete stuff.



If I am running a multi-day ultra then I am all about the athletic drinks and just getting it down...usually can get resupplied at night...

But this expedition is sort of inbetween.

Very interesting actually.

Done expeds.
Done ultras

This is kind of both...

 

[tiger stacker]

If you have not done so, make some home made tablet. If chocolate is out, tablet or toffee is a good treat for that wee moment between tired and sleepy.
Trust me am Scottish tablet is one of those wee gems alongside tunnocks tea cakes.
Apologies to those who abhor tablet.

 

[Toddy]

Apologies to those who abhor tablet.

Eh ? I didn't know such a person existed :yikes:

Even my dentist loves it

M