Backpacking consumes a high amount of calories. To avoid weight loss, you will generally need to consume a minimum of 2,000 calories hiking flat terrain and 4,500+ calories in mountainous terrain.
Besides terrain, other factors that impact calorie expenditure include body mass, age, movement efficiency, carrying-load, and environmental conditions. Most hikers are gradually ascending and descending and carrying a moderate pack weight.
For instance, a small person weighing 120 pounds (54 kg) burns approximately 420 calories per hour, carrying a typical backpacking load (20 lb / 9 kg) in hilly terrain. In contrast, a person weighing 180 pounds (82 kg) burns about 625 calories per hour backpacking in these same conditions.
As you can see, the more you weigh, the more calories you’ll burn. Likewise, as with any activity, you’ll burn more calories if you move faster or longer.
For simplicity, the average backpacker weighing 160 lbs (62 kg) hiking in hilly conditions for 8 hours per day while carrying a typical load will burn approximately 4,400 calories daily.
If you have a fitness tracking device, you can accurately calculate calories burned. If you don’t have one of these tools, this online calculator will give you a good idea:
Backpacking Calories Burned Calculator
This simple suggestion is often overlooked. Munching throughout the day on high-calorie, carbohydrate-rich healthy snacks such as trail mix (GORP), Granola, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and energy bars will maintain your caloric needs. Glucose, the molecule you get by digesting carbohydrates, is the body’s primary energy source. Mix it with some fat to slow the energy release, and you’ve arrived at the perfect snack for hiking. Some good choices for backpacking snacks:
Energy Bars
GORP & Granola – The possibilities are endless. Find a mixture you like! Here is a Granola Recipe, which we make with a few substitutions (to make it healthier and vegan). Our changes: use ground flaxseed instead of wheat germ, brown rice syrup for honey, and coconut oil for vegetable oil.
Backpacking Finger Food – We’re constantly making something new at Outdoor Herbivore. Check out our latest high-calorie snacks.
Consume more fat to make up for lost calories from hiking. Fat is the most energy-dense food, providing 9 calories per gram, which makes up more than the combined calories of protein (4 calories per gram) and carbohydrate (4 calories per gram).
Not all fats are good. The good fats come mainly from vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fish. The two categories of beneficial fats include monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Pack these healthy, high-fat foods to get the highest number of calories for the least amount of weight –
Unsaturated Fats – Unsaturated fats from vegetable and nut sources include olive oil, vegetable oils (safflower, corn, sunflower), nuts, seeds, powdered peanut butter, and nut butter. The packets of olive oil are handy for adding calories to all backpacking meals. See also our tips for packing bottles of oil.
Polyunsaturated Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Also, refer to our list of high-calorie vegetarian fats. A diet high in fat is not dangerous to a hiker’s health because it gets used by the body for energy while hiking.
Tuna Fish Foil Packets for Fat and Protein?
We are a vegetarian food company, so our opinions may be biased here. Regardless, some facts support our view: Over 70% of the world’s fish population is severely depleted due to overfishing. Many sources recommend eating fish 2-3x per week for the Omega 3 fat benefit. The popularity of this advice has helped contribute to overconsumption. Fish farming (like factory farming) fulfills the present demand but has many negative consequences – surrounding water is polluted with concentrated fish waste, antibiotics, and diseased fish. The result is a cheap-to-buy, tasteless fish with inferior nutrition. Instead of eating factory-farmed fish, purchase wild-caught cold water fatty fish (or catch it yourself). Coldwater fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring, sardines, and anchovies are high in healthy omega-3 fat. Print out the pocket guide to seafood to help you choose wisely. For backpacking, look for foil packets of salmon rather than tuna – if you must. Otherwise, stick to the plant-based omega-3 sources above.
Carbohydrates, including starch, sugar, and fiber, are the body’s primary energy source. We get 4 calories from each gram of starch (or sugar). Fiber does not provide calories because we can not break it down during digestion. Nonetheless, consuming high-fiber foods while thru-hiking is essential because it helps maintain healthy gastrointestinal function and makes you feel full longer.
Focus on consuming carbohydrates (starches) primarily from whole grain sources. These take longer to digest in the body, which means they’ll give you gradual energy throughout the day. Although protein provides 4 calories per gram, it is used for growth and tissue repair rather than for energy.
See also Vegetarian Backpacking Foods for additional suggestions.
If you purchase commercial backpacking meals, make sure the portions are adequate. Plan to eat twice the amount that you eat at home. Test the meals at home first to ensure you like the taste.
Consume drinks higher in calories, such as shakes, smoothies, and fruit juices, instead of always drinking plain water. There are many brands of powdered shake mixes that work well for backpacking.
Fatten Up Before Your Thru-Hike
The body depends on burning calories from fat stores once it burns through carbohydrates from foods. Many of us have an unlimited storage capacity for fat, making it our largest energy reserve. Start adding fat calories to your diet before you plan your thru-hike. Eat the foods listed above and have that extra beer.
We can’t help to notice how many thru-hikers we meet that look emaciated. Eat as much food as possible when you resupply in town or take a zero-day.
Read on if you have excess fat to lose.
It takes 3,500 calories to lose one pound. In other words, one pound of body fat equates to approximately 3500 calories. To lose 1 lb of fat each week, you will need to burn off 500 additional calories each day.
500 x 7 = 3500
As a result, a 1000 per day calorie deficit will allow you to lose 2 pounds per week. This number is considered the maximum amount of weight you should lose to stay healthy. Consume about 2000-2500 calories per day if you are backpacking at an average rate (3000 calories) to lose 1 – 2 lbs per week.
If you are trying to lose weight while hiking, consume enough complex carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are needed to restore glycogen (muscle fuel), the energy you’ll need to continue your hike.
Although calorie content is an excellent way to evaluate backpacking food, judging food by only the calorie content is overly simplistic. How your body absorbs and uses food energy depends on the macro and micronutrient makeup. Eating ‘clean’ foods such as whole grains retains the most nutrients and keeps fiber intact. Fiber slows glucose release, making it the ideal food for hiking and other endurance activity.
Good nutrition promotes good health, providing you with greater resistance to illness. Eating right will also improve your mental outlook and help you sleep better.
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Do the figures for calories burned include the baseline (2000 calories a day or whatever it is) for day to day life, or do they just represent the extra exertion of backpacking?
I have a question about the salt figure you list. Is that the salt requirement for an average person or a hiker sweating up to 2 gallons a day?
If I'm bothering to put electrolyte mix in my water, I question how concerned I should be about the salt in my dinner. But if that's already the hiker number, that would be good to know.
Your sodium needs are dependent on your sweat rate. 2300 mg of sodium is an average daily loss. The amount of sodium in sweat ranges from 220 to 1,100 mg which averages about 500 mg sodium/lb sweat. 1/2 teaspoon of table salt has 1,150 mg of sodium which is about how much a backpacker could expect to lose in 2 lbs of sweat. If you are sweating heavily, you will lose much more sodium and need to consume more.
I love it! nice informational post my friend, I learned a couple tips...thanks.