So with the last post as a reference, I wanted to move into a similar analysis of recreational use foods and bars that we turn to when we hike, or camp, or whatever you do. Personally I turn to bars for outdoor adventures, exercise, and lunches everyday to fill in the gaps while I am at work, or have long days. But I cannot afford, or should I say don't want to pay for, the bars that are premium. Clif bars, Bonk Breakers, Stinger Waffles, and all other types of hard food can be analyzed in CAL/GRAM. Then we can reference those numbers with our choices from the local HEB grocery store.
However, before moving on to a large specific analysis of these types of foods, I want to make a disclosure. My friend Mitchell and I were talking about something that needed to be said or disclosed. Just in case you were new to this blog, maybe things would not make sense. These bars and foods that I am about to speak of are specifically for workout foods, camping/hiking foods, travel foods, and daily lunchtime supplements for easy calories that are tasty and fun. I am speaking from the perspective that I eat a well rounded diet of healthy whole foods consisting of a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, carbs, proteins, and various nutritional components that I personally consider a well rounded diet. People all over the world and the internet are going to have their own version of what is good, or better for you than other folks. So please, keep this in mind that these analysis are solely based on my personal preference, experience, and a scientific approach to the data that I have on the packages. So if it is not what you think... just tell me. Make a comment, ask a question, but certainly don't hold it inside. How can I know what is being percieved about what I am writing if no one tells me. So with that... Let's get started.
We are going to do a chart that involves the analysis of a few different types of supplements that I use when outdoors, exercising, or trying to recover from being physically active.
If you extrapolate from here, we can deduce any food and the cost of that food in reference to this chart. I honestly don't believe any SIMILAR product will vary that much from what is being stated here. I would almost gaurantee that similar products will be nearly exactly the same.
With that being said, what types of foods do you use when exercising? What thoughts do you have about my breakdown, and the chart I have created? I am eager to hear your thoughts.
However, before moving on to a large specific analysis of these types of foods, I want to make a disclosure. My friend Mitchell and I were talking about something that needed to be said or disclosed. Just in case you were new to this blog, maybe things would not make sense. These bars and foods that I am about to speak of are specifically for workout foods, camping/hiking foods, travel foods, and daily lunchtime supplements for easy calories that are tasty and fun. I am speaking from the perspective that I eat a well rounded diet of healthy whole foods consisting of a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, carbs, proteins, and various nutritional components that I personally consider a well rounded diet. People all over the world and the internet are going to have their own version of what is good, or better for you than other folks. So please, keep this in mind that these analysis are solely based on my personal preference, experience, and a scientific approach to the data that I have on the packages. So if it is not what you think... just tell me. Make a comment, ask a question, but certainly don't hold it inside. How can I know what is being percieved about what I am writing if no one tells me. So with that... Let's get started.
We are going to do a chart that involves the analysis of a few different types of supplements that I use when outdoors, exercising, or trying to recover from being physically active.
If you extrapolate from here, we can deduce any food and the cost of that food in reference to this chart. I honestly don't believe any SIMILAR product will vary that much from what is being stated here. I would almost gaurantee that similar products will be nearly exactly the same.
With that being said, what types of foods do you use when exercising? What thoughts do you have about my breakdown, and the chart I have created? I am eager to hear your thoughts.
If you are just looking at getting some calories into you, it looks like the HEB bars are the way to go. During a long distance hike, where you did not have daily access to fresh food, did nutritional value come into play or was it just a matter of getting the calories you needed in at an economical price? I am not being judgmental, just curious for for reference with my husband's section hikes. Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteLeah,
ReplyDeleteSorry to take so long to get back to you. Seems like it is hard enough to just find time to post what little I have to say these days.
In terms of the thru-hike, I feel that checking the density of calories is relevant to analyzing what you are eating. In order to know more about what we eat we need to analyze it. I do feel that nutritive value played a role, but for sure bringing enough calories did also. One time we ate nothing but snickers bars for a short while (day or 2 max) and your bathroom visits get weird and your stomach starts to get mad because it wants something other than large amounts of sugar. For sure we need to analyze not just the density of calories, but the quality, the palatability, and the cost.
I hope that helps... if it did not, just let me know. I will try and get to it asap.
Leah,
ReplyDeleteSpeedy G here. The reason we worked so hard on food preparation was because nutrition was one of my main concerns. I think we found that the veggies, whole grains and lean meats we added to our camping food were extremely beneficial to our diet. It is all a balancing act like Wallace said. When you are pushing your body to do long hours of hiking you have some leeway to eat higher calorie foods than you would otherwise. In these cases we've found a bargain brand bar fills the void just as well a premium bar. The fact that it's easier on the pocket book makes them tastier to me. I like knowing I can save my pennies for another hiking trip!
Happy hiking to you and your hubby!
Thanks guys for your reply. Your videos preparing your food for your thru hike really inspired me for when I was preparing food for my husband's 200 mile section hike. Like you, I was concerned about making sure that the boys got nutritious food, fiber and calories while keeping the food to less than 2lbs per day.
ReplyDeleteI had prepared a daily meal plan to get 3500 or more calories. What I found is that the boys only ate about 2000 calories a day. My husband lost about a pound a day in weight! They were really focused on mileage, and probably averaged 14 miles a day in the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire.
In the morning, they didn't want a lot of prep, just to eat and go! For lunch, they didn't want to have anything to cook. Some of the meals were a cold water re-hydrate where they would add water at the morning break and by lunch it would be ready. An example of that would be BBQ chicken with rice and peppers with whole grain tortilla. I focused on dinner meals that were easy to assemble (add hot water!)similar to your meals. I also put together some pudding packets with add ins made with Nido (just add cold water) for extra calories, nutrition and hydration. What I found is that the boys were just too tired to even eat at night. There were some lucky southbounders that benefited from my food prep efforts as they unloaded food weight!
So depending on how my husband's Achilles heel injury heals (result of the hike) I have to come up with a little different strategy in coming up with the meal plan. Thanks again for your input because we have similar ideals.
I apologize for the delay in response Leah. Very happy that our efforts so long ago were able to inspire. That is certainly one of the reasons I did this in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteWe have been doing our own hiking lately, and growing away from our normal cuisine that we have done for so long, we are thinking of buying a dehydrator. Our friend Mitchell has one, and we have seen quite a bit of success from him in his endeavors. So we are truly excited about the possibilities there.
Keep hiking, hope the heal injury heals fast... oh and don't forget to pick up a Monkey Pillow whenever you are ready. They are over on our Etsy store at this time.
Wallace
SupaChef