Suggestions to lighten my food weight

Hello all,

I leave this weekend for a 5-day, approx 44 mile trip by myself. Will be staying at 3 different sites, assuming I'm able to stick with my plan.

Normally I would bring coffee and bagles with PB for breakfast, possibly even lunch. Some jerky for snacks along with 1 to 2 Powerbars for each day and 1 bag of Mountain House Dehyrated Delicacy for each night. And Powergel for energy but hardly filling.

I should mention that I've lost 42 lbs since the beginning of the year and need to lose more so I'm all for eating light right now.

I'm open to any suggestions of other options to consider. What about Top Ramen???

I've also read about dehyrdrated water. ;-)

thx, jeff

You are on the right track with ramen noodles. Take them out of the individual bags and put a bunch of them in one zip lock bag. I think they are great for breakfast. Carbs for short term energy and fat for longer term energy. Plus tons of salt to replace what you sweat out. The big bonus is they are much lighter than bagels and peanut butter. Plus they are like $0.11 a pack. You just can't beat it.

- darren

As a novice backpacker on my Pemi loop, I decided to go for maximum calories per weight. I brought along a couple lbs ziplock bag of cashews, peanut M&Ms, granola mix as well as the obligatory king size snicker's bars.

By the end of my second day I had lost almost all appetite. By the end of the trip I had lugged around pounds of food I would not eat. To this day I still can't contemplate eating a Snickers bar without feeling queasy. I really could have used the extra energy, but couldn't force myself to eat it.

I guess my advice is - whatever advice you get here - try eating a bit of it every day at work for a week. If you still look forward to eating it at the end of the week - it's a keeper.

And as a college student I can say that they're damn easy to make and taste delicious when you're hungry. And as Darren said, 11 cents...cant beat it

instant oatmeal, boil-in-bag rice, ramen, dehydrated food like mountain house.
I like taking apart MRE's. They aren't lighter, but they pack well and need no water.

Eat it all on the ride up and you'll have no lightweight worries mate!!!!

Seriously, Here is my take....
It will probably vary from others.
Even though you are trying to lose weight (congrats on the 42, by the way.), you might want to bring some easily packable higher carb snacks (gorp, granola, nutrigrain bars, dried fruits and the like) if just for safety's sake - It is always good to have a little extra food, even though you want to go light. You are probably better trying to cut weight in your big 3 (tent, pack, Sleeping bag) or cut back on any excess gear you might be carrying.
Since you already have the FDMH for dinner , I personally would skip the Ramen, unles you want to bring a package for an emergency meal, you might want to bring something to supplement your meals like cup a soup, crackers, hot chocolate or plain old gatorade or tang.

From what I have been reading I understand that some schools say you have to have energy in your system in order to burn energy to lose weight - Perhaps keeping a few powergels around for that extra kick, but then having some of the above listed carbs as your mainstay would be more beneficial...

BTW, after buying getting 12 dozen boxes from a pharmaceutical promotion we ran years ago, I can't even look at the butt end of a power bar without thinking of purging. After a couple of years, people would see me coming and go the other way becuase I would to pawn the damn things off on everyone!!

I was discussing losing pack weight with a fellow who dosn't take a stove on overnights. He simply eats cold. His method gets rid of any item related to cooking. His overnight pack weight before food and water is a respectable 12.5 lbs.
Pete Hickey posted on another thread that the best weight/energy ratio is obtained from olive oil. He (not me) suggests carrying a bottle and sipping from it. Not exactly a balanced diet, is it?

TDawg said:

And as a college student I can say that they're damn easy to make and taste delicious when you're hungry. And as Darren said, 11 cents...cant beat it

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You got that right! I lived on ramen noodles in college. I'd eat them all the time now too because they are darn tasty, but the fat and salt is too high for everyday eating. On the trail you dont have to worry about that though. You will burn through those calories in no time.

Heck at dinner time, you can eat another packet while you are waiting for your dehydrated meal to soften up. yum.

- darren

Whoops! Not sure why my above post scored me a red square and the comment, "What?" Anybody got any ideas?

I usually go with the good old Mountain House, light, easy and packs well. That and instant oatmeal, yummy. I always found that lunch was the killer, often out of frustration I'd end up with ritz crackers and chedder cheese stick. Good luck it is always a trade off.

Neil said:

Pete Hickey posted on another thread that the best weight/energy ratio is obtained from olive oil. He (not me) suggests carrying a bottle and sipping from it. Not exactly a balanced diet, is it?

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Maybe not, but it's liquid gold. As dense with calories per gram as you can find, and it's tasty -- particularly when lightly salted and heavily peppered. For longer trips in the woods, it's my fat of choice.

Edit for clarity: I personally recommend drinking olive oil straight from the bottle. Mix in Saltine crumbs if you want something to chew. Oil also goes great with jerky.

Neil said:

Whoops! Not sure why my above post scored me a red square and the comment, "What?" Anybody got any ideas?

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Maybe the didn't see the (not me) part and thought you said to drink olive oil out of the bottle. Yikes!

That is just bad juju.

- darren

I will echo the sentiments of the webmaster-funkinator, darrren and the others who speak in favor of cheapness. Ramen noodles are THE way to go. I've posted my crappy recipe here a couple of times, but I'll do it one more time: 2 packets of ramen noodles crushed up a bit, one Knorr dried sauce packet in your choice of flavor (I like the pesto or sundried tomato) and about 1/4 cup of el-cheapo grated parmesan cheese in a 1 qt ziploc. Just add hot water to the bag and let it sit for a few minutes and you've got crappy spagetti with no cleanup. Experiment at home with different flavors or just bring the sodium rich flavor packets that come with them. MMMMMM....sooooodiuuuuummmm...

Neil: Maybe someone here is waaaay too much of a Pete Hickey fan and took your "not exactly a balanced diet" comment to heart. Wow. (I've quit on the squares thing. Don't care enough.)

Hi Jeff -

Steer clear of the ramen if you are MSG sensitive (there are some health food version$ without msg, though one brand I tried tasted like dirt - sorry, can't remember which).

If you are heating up that rehydrated water in the am, McCain's instant Irish oatmeal is tasty, not too sugary...

For extra propulsion, Fantastic Foods (health food store) makes good dried black beans.

Sue

LIPTON makes some dehyrdated noodle-type meals that can be found in your local supermarket. They're more expensive than Ramen but tastier IMO, yet a lot less expensive than "backpacking" food like Mountainhouse but just as tasty. Try the Oriental noodle dinner.

I like the noodles, but I toss the MSG pack and go out on my own from there...tomatoe sauce, peanut butter, veggies, chicken chunks, olive oil, etc...the possibilities are endless. If it has been a tough day I may use half of the flavor pack. Also, I love the new foil pouch tuna steaks...very good and already cooked.

Wow! I didn't expect so much interest in my question.

So now all I need to do is get a zip loc bag and pour in some oatmeal, rice, peanuts, ramen noodles, olive oil and some tuna.

Actually all the ideas sound doable, I will need to make a trip to the grocery store and see what I come up with. Too bad I can't bring frozen pizza's - not that would make the end to a perfect day!!!!

Thanks to all!

thehikingdude said:

So now all I need to do is get a zip loc bag and pour in some oatmeal, rice, peanuts, ramen noodles, olive oil and some tuna.

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Now you're getting close! Don't forget the instant mashed potatoes mixed with instant stuffing mix... add a package of dried "chipped" beef (desalt it first) along with a good splash of olive oil (seriously) and you've got a filling satisfying meal.

If you ever get serious about this though, you can't beat home dehydrated food with a good dehydrator. Think home cooked casseroles and the like.

thehikingdude said:

....Too bad I can't bring frozen pizza's - not that would make the end to a perfect day!!!!
Thanks to all!

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You could bring one of those smaller pizza breads and some dehydrated pizza sauce with some pepperoni and shredded mozzarella and dried tomatoes and peppers.
....MMMM.... Add a little olive oil to your pan (ultralight pan/potlid of course) and place the pizza shell in it - Keep the heat low. Rehydrate the sauce & spoon it on with some pepperoni and cheese on top, cover with foil for a few minutes. Add a few drops of water to the pan when it is ready (to help get the pizza out without sticking) and watch the other campers become REAL friendly and offer to share their gorp!!!!

Here's some of the lighter stuff I've brought for food:

Powdered hummus (justifies bringing the olive oil)

Chinese egg noodles, angle hair thin, comes in balls so it's easy to pack. Add one to three of the miso soup mixes (the ones with a foil tube of miso paste) Greatsubstitue for ramen.

Not so light: Tacos. Tortillas, powdered refried beans, pre shredded cheese, and what ever else you want to spice it up. There was a report that sour cream coud be dehydrated. Salsa dries and reconstitutes very well

If you make soups at home, dry them in a dehydrator or your oven. Reydrates well.