My Nutritionist --- My Pharmacist
It's funny how things happen.In the spring of 2014, I was shopping for vitamins at the pharmacy. A young woman pharmacist came out to help. I explained the challenges of my upcoming thru-hike on the Colorado Trail and she seemed to understand. This is a rare thing. We talked nutrition for my 2-months on the trail. She was willing to help me plan my nutrition for the trip.
I printed a copy of my hiking food complete with Fats, Carbs, and Proteins. Only 8-hours later she called with suggestions that were focused on my age, medications, and this trip. I went shopping and made the changes. She asked for a revised food list showing the amounts of different kinds of fats (sat/trans/poly/mono) and amount of fiber. I returned soon with the updated information. She liked the results. In talking with her, I learned she was a University of Wyoming cheerleader, is a top bodybuilder, and does nutrition consulting.
Not all nutritionists are created equal. She is also a practicing pharmacist with her doctorate. And she walks-the-talk in national physique competitions. She knows nutrition! I'm grateful we met!
Backpacking nutrition is very important to me because of mistakes I made when attempting my first Ultralight thru-hike in April, 2011 on the Ozark Highlands Trail. There is very little information out there on nutrition for older long-distance hikers. In contrast, it seems young hikers can get full nutrition from Fritos and Snickers. For men my age, the Basal Metabolic Rate is about 1600-calories per day; and that is just to lay around and stay alive. On that first thru-hike my back muscles ached, probably because my body was consuming them. I overshot the whole Ultralight Backpacking objective by not taking enough food (Daily approximations: Only 1760 calories from 100 gr fat, 160 gr carbohydrates, and 55 gr protein or a ratio of Fat/Carb/Protein 51/36/12). I improved my nutrition on each subsequent trip. During September, 2013, in the Wind River Range my food worked well (Daily approximations: 3350 calories: 150 gr fat, 325 gr carbohydrates, and 175 gr protein or a ratio of Fat/Car/Protein 40/39/21). My CT trip in 2014 looks to be the best yet (Daily approximations: 3470 calories: 150 gr fat, 330 gr carbohydrates, and 200 gr protein or a ratio of Fat/Carb/Protein 39/38/23).
I was continually impressed that she made recommendations for my situation and medical issues. I have never consulted with a nutritionist and I don't know anyone that has. As a pharmacist she understands. As a national competitor she understands. So I scheduled a nutrition appointment with her. My goals were:
- Get a comprehensive customized focus on my Day-to-Day nutrition for healthy living, instead of my hodgepodge of ideas which include the option of celebrating 3 times a day.
- Get baseline data to make before and after comparisons for my upcoming 2014 thru-hike on the Colorado Trail.
Here is her Facebook Page. Clearly she understands a lot about nutrition. As a Precison Nutrition coach she really changed my mind on protein. And she's a pharmacist. I can't aspire to her level, but I'm excited to do better. I expect my nutrition on the Colorado Trail this summer to be the best yet!
Motivation: At the end of my 2012 Colorado Trail thru-hike I'd lost 25 pounds, and my doctor said my health was the best in 15-years. Since then, I have replenished all the weight I lost.
I am hopeful that my 2014 thru-hike on the Colorado Trail will jumpstart my Day-to-Day nutrition!
Foods: Due to passionate requests for my Food List during our 2016 Ultra Light Backpacking Class, I am posting my food list. This is the Nutrition Estimate, and Food List for my 2014 Colorado Trail thru-hike. Everything worked as I hoped. I go stoveless because:
- I don't have the weight of a stove, fuel, and pot. (However the moisture in various granola bars weighs more than dehydrated food. Weight-wise the breakeven point between stoveless and stove techniques is about 7-days between resupplies, so longer than that a stove method is lighter.)
- I have nothing to clean up after eating.
- It is less hassle. (No: setup, waiting to heat, cleanup, putting things away.)
- It is much faster.
- Going stoveless is temporary. I can eat and drink whatever I want in town; 25% of my thru-hikes was in resupply towns.
Nutrition Estimate calculated in my daily foods spreadsheet. I ate the same foods each day.
| Nutrition Estimate Serving Size per day 27.6 ounces or about 1.75 lbs |
| Amount Per Daily Serving Calories 3411 Calories from Fat 1328 |
| Total Fat 147.6g Saturated Fat 45.5g Trans-unsaturated Fat 0g Polyunsaturated Fat 28.0g Monounsaturated Fat 28.3g |
| Sodium 2302mg |
| Total Carbohydrate 329g Dietary Fiber 45.5g |
| Protein 200g |
Macro-nutrient Calorie Ratio %:
| Fat | Carbohydrate | Protein |
| 39 | 38 | 23 |
My daily foods were:
- BalanceBar (Favorites: cookie; yogurtHoney) 1.8oz
- Sams Club Daily Chef Mtn Trail Mix 2.0oz
- Walmart Dried Bananas-salted Plantains 1oz
- Drink Mix 3x per day
- One serving contains:
- Maltodextrine 1 oz
- Emergen-C 0.3 oz
- GNC Amp Whey Extreme 60 Protein 0.9 oz
- Greens + superfood vegetable powder 0.3 oz
- Pure Organic Bar 1.6 oz
- Clif builder Bar 2.4 oz each, 2x per day
- Premier Protein Bar (yogurt peanut; Chocolate; of ChocolateChocolate 2.5 oz each, 2x per day
- Mixed Nuts
- Sams Club Planters Mixed Nuts, salted 1 oz
- Sams Club Daily Chef Almonds, no salt 1 oz
- Sams Club Daily Chef Walnuts, no salt 1 oz
- Natural Grocers Organic Gold Flaxseeds 0.5 oz
- Chia Seeds, white 0.5 oz
- Snickers 1.9 oz
- Whole Foods Veggie Chips 1 oz
- GNC Amp Whey Extreme 60 Protein 0.9 oz, at bedtime
- Dried Tomatoes 0.4 oz, had available for 13-days
- Walmart Veggie Crisps 1 oz, had available for 9-days
- Natural Grocers 'naked' Kale 0.5 oz, had available for 6-days
- Multi-Vitamins
Some interesting points from this are:
- Daily Calories are 3400
- Daily Protein is a hefty 200g for muscle repair
- Daily Dietary Fiber is 45.5g for regularity
- Daily Carbohydrates are 38% of my calories to restore glycogen, the energy source for muscles
- There was no need (or interest) in adding calorie dense olive oil
Here are some pictures of what these foods look like:
One day of Food
My pile of food for our 2-month thru-hike. This is 82.8 pounds of food!
My food and supplies are boxed ready to mail to my resupply towns
My 2014 Thru-hike was a success! Nutrition was great!
Epilog
Lauren created a customized nutrition plan for my day-to-day life.
It was more than successful! More than I imagined!
About 6-months later, my doctor took me off my Choloesterol medication, stopped my number one
Diabetes medication, and stopped my number one Hypertension medication!
These are the changes in my bloodwork.
| Measures | June 30, 2014 | January 15, 2015 |
| A1c | 7.1 | 5.4 |
| Glucose | 137 | 92 |
| Cholesterol | 132 | 95 |
| Triglycerides | 111 | 54 |
| HDL | 35 | 39 |
| LDL | 75 | 45 |