Grew up in the mountains but this coming trip will be my first long trip hauling a pack. I have some ideas on what I will need and how many calories to consume but we will see if I come back or not. If I am doing a lot of outdoor/hauling stuff my wife makes me some bars with Whey, Iron cut oats, honey, and PB. I think it is a good meal replacement if burning a lot of calories. I am going to go higher on the simple high glycemic carbs during hikes in the mountains. Right now it is tough because I am now living in Raleigh which is about as flat as it gets. Makes it tough to train but as I get stronger I plan to use the Stairs,etc with a weighted pack and take weekend trips to Uwharrie.
My typical training diet for bulking is 5500 calories over 8-9 meals with carb cycling on heavy/light days. 3500 calories to cut spread over the same number of meals. A lot of people get hung up on the types of foods they eat but forget about the timing. If your heavily dependent on Protein to get your nutrition right then Isolate is great post workout due to the rapid rate of absorption but poor before bed because you will go negative when your body is growing the most. Caseinate is a better choice for before bed. I like to go as close to unprocessed as I can now. I used to live on Splenda and instant oats, W100 % whole wheat breads, etc. Now it is Quinoa, Millet, Whole grain Brown Rice, Iron Cut oats, etc. for my carbs. We live off of venison pretty much year round and even my sausage is extra lean with just a little pork shoulder mixed in. I am trying to eat as close to the source as possible meaning as little refinement as I can. It is tough with three kids and a wife that loves pasta/white rice but I do pretty good.
When bulking eating every three hours is key. Olan ahead cook meals and carry a cooler if need be. If you know for whatever reason you are going to eat poorly eat a cup of raw almonds and drink some water before hand. This will help slow down the digestion process. I used to really on cheat meals to speed up my metabolism towards the end when the carb cycling didn't cut it. I no longer think that is a good option and will just go back to increasing a few clean meals to get the spike I want. I went 7 years without cheat meals, alcohol, junk food, etc. Once you get to that point you no longer want junk food and just the smell of greasy food makes you sick to your stomach. I strongly suggest keeping an exact diary of all foods and doing body fat analysis weekly if your trying to figure out your bodies responses. Once you get it figured out if you are just maintaining it gets easier.
