Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Pre Hunt Diet

Make sure and get the 2X caffeine gels. Thank me later.

Carbs aren't needed like many think ? Nonsense. The body's primary fuel is glucose. You either eat enough carbohydrates to meet your needs or the body uses up the proteins you eat instead. That means you have no way to maintain or rebuild the muscle tissue you are using, along with some other things you might like to maintain. Run out of comsumed proteins, and the body starts breaking down those precious muscles for fuel. I really don't think you'll want to do that.
Fats cannot make up for any lack of carbohydrates or protein used as glucose. This is why the Federal food Guideline call for 50% of one's calores come from predominately complex, or whole grain, carbohydrates. E

63% of Americans are obese. Maybe those recommendations aren't so great?

Carbs = insulin spike = blood sugar crash = hunger = eating more carbs, repeat.

Your body will run predominately on fat if you let it. You need enough carbs for your brain to function and more if you're doing a lot of cardio work, but most people would do better with fewer.

all carbs are NOT created equal whole grain, whole wheat, bran, oats, etc etc can be eaten without too much worry as they are digested slowly and will not cause an insulin spike but rather a maintained energy output.

However right before/ during/ and right after physical activity simple sugars are fine i.e. gatorade, white rice white pasta etc etc are all the same thing and will help you recover

I don't worry about change of diet for performance, I do sometimes mess with it for motivation. I'll sometimes do the last 3-7 days before hunting season eating salad and fish sticks ... talk about incentive to hunt hard, that'll do it ...

I feel no need to deviate from my normal routine if it works. For me, I don't need many carbs, and I feel in excess they are a detriment. Sure for extreme intensity, lasting more than a couple hours they have some use, but few of us approach that intensity, especially hunting. I'm not attempting to do 30 -50 milers for winning times. I know my limitations, and I'm somewhere around avg most of the time. However, I routinely do 10 -20 miles and 3 -6 k of vertical. When I have done 30 mile plus , then yes, I'll start taking a gel every now and then, after 10 - 15 miles. I still use a lot of almond butters and the like as probably 60 % of my calories. I've tried just going the gel route, and it failed me and left me with stomach issues where I could not stomach something sweet for almost 20 miles (and this sucks when all you have is sweet stuff and your water bottles are tainted with it as well). What I wanted more than anything at mile 40 , what I craved ..was a big ole burger with or without the bun I didn't care.

Its funny, whenever Im on a hunt, working hard, really burning calories for a few days and I get back to civilization, all I can think about is a big juicy burger or a big thick pizza.

The thought of a big fat clif bar never crosses my mind.

LOL on the cliff bar. For me, after extreme exertion for extended durations, I crave something with a lot of fat. To me, that is telling.

That's true, 63% of north american are obese. That's because they get 43% of their calories from fat, over 40% from proteins, and the rest from carbohydrates, more often sugars rather than whole grains.
Since we only need 1 gram of a complete protein per 7 lbs. of body weight, with pro athelets needing only a little more, all of the excess is converted to fat and stored as such. E

REALLY! A 210# man only needs 30gm of protein/day? The lard-ass home ec prof that taught a nutrition class in college I was compelled to attend didn't even say anything that ridiculous. That is barely enough protein to maintain a high enough level of serum albumin to prevent an osmotic shift of fluid to the adbomen, IE, a classic symptom of kwashiorkor.

I'd really like to see some sources on your other stats. The avg american obtains 40% of their calories from protein? Even the Zone only prescribes 30%, and you have to work at it to get there.

To paraphrase Todd Snider 98% of all statistics are made up on the spot, 37% are true whether you believe it or not.

Lol, I haven't had a cliff bar since last years backpack trip!! Burnt out.....
It's Supreme Protein bars this year.... And our regular Wendy's Triple when we are done, oh, and a Frosty.

Not nearly as hard as you claim. Proteins occur in a very wide variety of foods, not just meat and fish.
Again, no acredited study has found that we need more than one gram per pound of body weight. Top athletes need only slightly more.
Again, the University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter. Try reading that instead of your diet guru who wants to make money. E

I find acclimation time makes a huge difference for me. It takes me 3 days to get somewhat used to the altitude and after that things get easier. I live at 1200ft elevation so I try to stay at a hotel on my trip to the mountains at 5500ft, the highest city in between the two. After 14hrs in the truck I like to get out and walk a mile or so around town before turning in to burn out the inactivity. Other than that a gatorade with breakfast and supper and plenty of water throughout the trip and hunt helps me also. I also take Airborne and vitamin C drops for about 10 days before I leave for the trip. I don't want to start a physical hunt with a cold or flu. I take multivitamins all year.

Take_a_knee is absolutely correct.

I'm really surprised E that you always take this stance on eating piles of grains and gluten. It's very obvious now to almost everyone in the health/fitness communities that a diet consisting of lower total grain and gluten laden carbohydrates, and higher amounts of healthy fats and protein is better for overall health and body composition. This is as opposed to the "carb pyramid" garbage from the 70's 80's and 90's that some old timers still clutch on to.

To the OP: please continue to stick with the paleo/primal way you've been eating. Adding back in harmful glutens to your system will just take you back where you were before. You'll leave for your trip groggy and bloated.