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Post by peakbagger on Dec 24, 2018 15:57:13 GMT -8
I just try to nibble each time I stop for water. Sometimes I'll start to nibble and my appetite will grow and I'll be able to eat something significant (usually no where near a full meal though), other times my stomach shuts down and I pack up and move on.
The good news is I have never under-packed the amount of food I need.
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OwenM
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Post by OwenM on Dec 25, 2018 2:49:53 GMT -8
I have this "issue", but don't consider it an issue. I simply don't have much of an appetite for real food on the trail for the first 4 days or so, and after some experimenting(including 7 days no-cook with all snacks, most of which I couldn't stand even the thought of eating for a month afterwards!), have adapted my meal planning accordingly. Hardly my place to tell someone else what would work for them, but more snack food the first part of a weeklong trip, then adding in some actual meals for the second half is what suits me best.
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Post by cruz on Aug 24, 2022 22:03:42 GMT -8
Yes! Just completed a 70-mile 5-day trip on the PCT. Have done many hikes longer than this with no problems. This one, however, worried me. I had extreme loss of appetite and extreme revulsion toward my favorite trail foods. I had to choke down all my 1100 calories of food consumed for the entire trip. Miserable and dangerous considering the energy/fuel demands. Yes I hydrated often. I don’t understand. Help!
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Post by peakbagger on Aug 27, 2022 16:39:48 GMT -8
cruz Just to make sure 1,100 or 11,000 calories over the 5 days? If the 1,100, as typed, this is much more extreme than what I started this thread for. Was there anything different about this trip compared to your previous trips where you had no problems? More altitude, more heat/cold, more milage or weight carried? The only time I think I've had anything close to as extreme as you have described is when I was struggling with a stomach illness while on the trail, but it was very clear to me that I had an illness... and it was at the very tail end of a 4-day trip. Anyway, I'm sorry but I don't have a good answer. I've continued to have trouble getting food down, but nothing to this extreme. To make it easier for me to get calories down I have started carrying Gatorade packets. I carry a variety of foods, typically sugary foods are most appetizing for me, but that's not always true and I don't know until I'm on trail what my belly will want so the variety is necessary.
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Post by stevet on Sept 30, 2022 4:45:09 GMT -8
This one, however, worried me. I had extreme loss of appetite and extreme revulsion toward my favorite trail foods. I had to choke down all my 1100 calories of food consumed for the entire trip. Miserable and dangerous considering the energy/fuel demands. Yes I hydrated often. I don’t understand. Help! In 2019 on an outing in the Sierra I had a similar experience; quite unnerving, and the lack of caloric intake left me pasted by mid-afternoon. I ultimately cut the trip short. Though it was a hot week I was doing okay until my walk from Junction Meadow to Roads End (to resupply) was in hundred degree temps. After that I couldn't tolerate anything and a day and half later after falling from dizzyness while collecting water I decided to call the trip. Upon reflection, even though I was drinking some water every half hour or so, I concluded I got dehydrated. At least my symptoms were consistent with that. For the last 3 years I've been disciplined and been drinking 1/2 liter of water every half hour AND nibbling ~200 calories every hour. This was my "regimen" when I lived in AZ and regularly desert backpacked. Sure, about every 3rd water pause I need to pee, but I've had no recurrence. I'll see if this holds into the future, but for now dehydration is my best hypothesis.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Oct 17, 2022 10:32:54 GMT -8
^new conditions^ can introduce an unappreciated variable that’s for sure and experiencing an under appreciated dehydrating environment can have confusing consequences.
I’ve hiked with many over the years who’ve initially been caught out by the perfect storm conditions of a high sierra alpine hike: exertion carrying a backpack up and over passes> lots of heavy breathing, low oxygen content so even heavier breathing, very dry high air so water loss from sweating is not noticeable as it dries as it’s produced without being noticed, dry air has to be wet for oxygen transfer in the lungs so inhaled dry air pulls more water from your lungs that’s lost on exhaling, as we walk we tend to have to carry that two pounds per quart load…
All adding up to extreme water loss versus that two pounds per quart…
My go to is now that I don’t rely on my water intake as my monitor for avoiding dehydration, i do deliberately drink to prevent it but I monitor my bathroom breaks to gage my hydration level: no bathroom break for too long and no matter my intake I’m NOT drinking enough to counter all the outputs, including those insensible ones I mentioned above.
I’d not considered this until one day in Death Valley: it was a warm spring day and of course very dry, I knew I was going to be running around distracted by photography in a drying environment so I set a plan where I’d deliberately drink a liter Nalgene per hour. And I did for the entire day, dawn to dark. At the end of the day I was returning to camp and it hit me: that entire day drinking twelve plus liters of water? I’d peed maybe once! So my theoretical input plan hasn’t been enough in the real world of Death Valley on a late spring day in an unairconditioned black interior sports car and out and about in the cloudless sky sun. That’s when I decided to add consciously keeping track of my water output not just how much I drank.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Oct 17, 2022 14:14:50 GMT -8
I monitor my bathroom breaks to gage my hydration level Yeah, if you're not peeing, you're going negative. In addition to quantity and frequency, there's color. The government hands out useful color charts at various high-risk locations. I’d deliberately drink a liter Nalgene per hour. For some desert locations, we're really living on borrowed time, since the rate of water loss is greater than digestive system is capable of replacing (about a liter per hour as you note). In places such as Yuma and the like, I would drink three gallons during the daylight hours and have a net loss of a gallon and a half or more to catch up with after dark. (Aiming to move the color from root beer to ginger ale). Sometimes it's better to work with the crew in air conditioning, even if it's like being in jail.
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Oct 17, 2022 17:06:34 GMT -8
^and^ beyond shear volume of water there’s the additional complexity of electrolytes. Iirc rangers around the Grand Canyon advise people to not just look at water by itself.
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BigLoad
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Post by BigLoad on Oct 17, 2022 18:04:02 GMT -8
the additional complexity of electrolytes Mental acuity is a good measure of electrolytes. However, it's not always easy to tell how far you've slipped until you've downed enough electrolytes to break the spell. (That's what it feels like to me - when I really get depleted, electrolytes make me feel like I'm coming out of a trance.)
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Post by High Sierra Fan on Oct 18, 2022 9:58:19 GMT -8
the additional complexity of electrolytes Mental acuity is a good measure of electrolytes. However, it's not always easy to tell how far you've slipped until you've downed enough electrolytes to break the spell. (That's what it feels like to me - when I really get depleted, electrolytes make me feel like I'm coming out of a trance.) Agreed: that’s a significant argument for group hiking. The old Seattle Mountaineers training film the Mountains Don’t Care made a similar point for hypothermia.
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Post by dayhiker on Mar 10, 2023 22:17:01 GMT -8
I haven't read the whole thread, but one thing a wilderness first aid book said was that gatorade type mix, at 1/2 to 1/3 strength helps one absorb water faster, as does cold water.
I thought it also said that increasing water intake will increase your appetite, but can't find that now. Since I don't cook , and thus my food has less moisture, it is harder to eat. So adding gatorade is a win win, as it adds calories, increases the amount I can drink, which increases the amount I will eat, particularly if I wash it down with gatorade.
I used to bring allots food high in fat since it weighs less, but I realized more carbs helps too. I still eat less. I don't have that problem after a long day hike because all the types of food and liquids I can choose from, and tempt me.
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Post by peakbagger on Mar 17, 2023 16:42:19 GMT -8
I have/had been doing better on this topic since originally posting.
Now I've been diagnosed with Celiacs disease and am relearning my diet (it's still new enough that I mess up at times because I didn't check ingredients on something I assumed was gluten free, or, like the other day, I had one of my daughter's goldfish before I even thought about it).
I'm happy to say that my gut comfort, and other related symptoms, is much improved since starting a gluten free diet.
I've not been on an overnighter since learning this, so I have to relearn what I can get down along the trail.
This past summer climbed Rainier with two nights out. My main concern on the mountain was my gut (undiagnosed at the time), not the cold, altitude, or the mountain conditions. I packed, among other things, a slice of pizza and a sandwich. Little did I know I was hurting myself.
The above is off-topic from the original post. What I think had actually helped me prior to this was finding a couple of meals more like what I eat day-to-day, but could reasonably be carried with me... plus accepting that some reduction of appetite was part of the deal.
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