Hiker Non-hunger

[Malto]

Welcome to my world. I can never eat on the first few days of an intense hike. By far the best way that I have been able to get calories is by drinking them. Gatorade, Koolaid or my personal favorite Maltodextrin. You are describing exactly why I started drinking Malto, long, intense days often at high elevation. I couldn't eat a thing and it became downright dangerous as I was doing long shoeshoe trips into the heart of the Sierra. i keep thinking that I have overcome this but even as recently as a year ago I couldn't eat anything on the Colorado trail. Malto was my savior.

[DuneElliot]

I'm no expert on the subject, but I'm thinking that for the average american hiker, after 5 days, your body is easily feeding off it's stored body fat. I'm thinking real hiker hunger doesn't really start kicking in until the average hiker has been on the trail 1 to 2 weeks.

Very probably true...I'm not sure where mine is stored though!!! lol

[Starchild]

For me the first 3 weeks or so was hiker non-hunger, but after I got my trail legs (miles per day went from 15 to 25), my hiker hunger also started. I believe those 2 are related, it's a overdrive mode that the body kicks into after 3-4 weeks. Before that the body may cut down on food a bit to conserve energy for hiking.

[DownYonder]

Welcome to my world. I can never eat on the first few days of an intense hike. By far the best way that I have been able to get calories is by drinking them. Gatorade, Koolaid or my personal favorite Maltodextrin. You are describing exactly why I started drinking Malto, long, intense days often at high elevation. I couldn't eat a thing and it became downright dangerous as I was doing long shoeshoe trips into the heart of the Sierra. i keep thinking that I have overcome this but even as recently as a year ago I couldn't eat anything on the Colorado trail. Malto was my savior.

Excellent point!! There are dozens of energy drinks that triathletes use that are perfect for LD trips. REI carries several but bike shops and tri shops might have a better selection.

[DuneElliot]

Excellent point!! There are dozens of energy drinks that triathletes use that are perfect for LD trips. REI carries several but bike shops and tri shops might have a better selection.

Do these things come in powdered form? Not Gatorade as I don't care for it and is generally too sweet. Any specific recommendations?

[DownYonder]

Do these things come in powdered form? Not Gatorade as I don't care for it and is generally too sweet. Any specific recommendations?

Yes. Hammer Nutrition makes HEED. I used for 2 Half Ironman races with good results. Drink it a few times before hitting the trail to get used to the taste. I was able to continue to consume it 5 hrs into the races and with noticeable results.

https://www.hammernutrition.com/prod...-sports-drink/

ETA: single servings: https://www.rei.com/product/752834/h...single-serving

[DuneElliot]

Yes. Hammer Nutrition makes HEED. I used for 2 Half Ironman races with good results.

https://www.hammernutrition.com/prod...-sports-drink/

Oooh, ouch on the price but looks promising. I assume it tastes pretty good.

[cliffordbarnabus]

if you don't feel sick, if you don't feel significant energy loss, and if you aren't fainting...just walk. and when you're hungry and you can eat, eat. and when you can't eat, don't.

[Dogwood]

Drink your food. With respect to Malto and the gel crowd I wouldn't make it sugar/sweetener based either even if they say it's a complex carb or pt to glycemic indexes. Do a broad nutritional spectrum powder with enzymes, probiotics, etc. NOT NOT just a protein powder either!..especially not a protein powder marketed to the "body building" crowd. Be careful of some whey products as they can cause bloat furthering lack of appetite. An eighty miler at elev like the UHL in summer is NOT where I'd be avoiding liquids. Add the powder. Liquid food with your water might go down easier. Not eating any nutrition for several days no matter what your carrying on your body is eventually going to catch up with you. You're not talking about a dun in er day marathon. You're NOT going home after a day! I assume you're not eating anything else. You're talking a 5-6 day hike. I might supplement with gels and HEED but I wouldn't rely solely on them for 5-6 days without anything else OR I might supplement with a powder.

[DuneElliot]

Drink your food. With respect to Malto and the gel crowd I wouldn't make it sugar/sweetener based either even if they say it's a complex carb or pt to glycemic indexes. Do a broad nutritional spectrum powder with enzymes, probiotics, etc. NOT NOT just a protein powder either!..especially not a protein powder marketed to the "body building" crowd. Be careful of some whey products as they can cause bloat furthering lack of appetite. An eighty miler at elev like the UHL in summer is NOT where I'd be avoiding liquids. Add the powder. Liquid food with your water might go down easier. Not eating any nutrition for several days no matter what your carrying on your body is eventually going to catch up with you. You're not talking about a dun in er day marathon. You're NOT going home after a day! I assume you're not eating anything else. You're talking a 5-6 day hike. I might supplement with gels and HEED but I wouldn't rely solely on them for 5-6 days without anything else OR I might supplement with a powder.

I drink plenty, and I do eat some because I know I have to so I force it down especially before big climbs. Cheese was the easiest thing to eat but I can't just eat cheese all the time. This was actually the first trip where food was actually unappealing; other trips I've done I've not been particularly hungry but I certainly didn't have a problem with eating.

I suspect a major culprit here was pushing it so hard...I never expected or planned to do 80 miles in 5 1/2 days, I'd actually meant to do it in 7 but Mother Nature tends to make her own plans (as in needing to be at the base of passes for the night for a morning ascent to avoid the daily afternoon thunderstorms).

[LittleRock]

It's happened to me a few times. Usually because I tried to push too many miles the first couple days.

When it does happen, I've found that eating slowly and alternating with sips of water helps.

[Gambit McCrae]

I found it to mostly be a mental game. Sometimes I have pumped a big trip up so much that I am overly anxious and my stomach locks down once I start. So to detour that I try and shrug most trips off now until I actually start hiking.

Secondly, I used to be able to walk 20+ miles on an empty stomach with no problem. Get to camp at end of day and eh I may eat, I may not. Now that I have hit 30, I MUST eat or my body does not function for more then 3-4 miles. So I get up, drink about 1/2 liter of water, and then start walking. Once I get food in my stomach for the day, I continue to fuel up and eat thru out the day and then by dinner I am not starving but I am ready for a light dinner and some snacks before bed. It is when I loose that window of opportunity for the early eats that my tummy locks down for the day and now I have an issue on my hands.

I also carry 16oz of Jack Daniels with me, If the stomach locks up, nothing better to loosen it up then some luke warm Jack Daniels, I can take a good swaller of that and in a few minutes I can feel my stomach is relaxed enough to eat something.

[Dogwood]

Cut down on or avoid eating cheese...and other dairy. It can cause digestive and bloating issues. It can affect appetite. High protein intakes can take added energy to digest causing digestive issues and appetite issues.

[Dogwood]

It's more than a mental game. It's what we consume and how it's consumed.

[DuneElliot]

Cut down on or avoid eating cheese...and other dairy. It can cause digestive and bloating issues. It can affect appetite. High protein intakes can take added energy to digest causing digestive issues and appetite issues.

Ha ha, never going to happen...cheese is one of my favorite things in life and causes no digestive issues for me, thank God. I take the pre-packeged sharp cheddar sticks and have 3 for lunch so I'm not eating much of it. Cheese has a lot of fat so I find it helps with the my energy levels since it provides more sustained energy than cheap carbs.

[lonehiker]

I would attribute it to the exertion level at elevation. And, it is a pretty tough hike in general.

[DuneElliot]

I would attribute it to the exertion level at elevation. And, it is a pretty tough hike in general.

It was worth it though :-D How'd you like Dead Horse Pass?

[JC13]

Try Endurance Fuel by Tailwind Nutrition, 100 calories per scoop and a very, very light flavor.

https://www.tailwindnutrition.com/ta...endurance-fuel

[lonehiker]

It was worth it though :-D How'd you like Dead Horse Pass?

Mentally I was ready for it as you had prepared me for it. I did Red Knob and Dead Horse the same day. Had good weather which helped. Glad I was going up instead of down as it was a bit on the narrow side. I might have struggled a bit more on North Pole pass though. My toughest day was when we crossed paths. I had done Anderson Pass (with side trip up King's Peak) and Tungsten Pass and as you know was on my way up Porcupine Pass trying to beat the T-storms. All in all I rate this trail as fairly difficult.

[DuneElliot]

Mentally I was ready for it as you had prepared me for it. I did Red Knob and Dead Horse the same day. Had good weather which helped. Glad I was going up instead of down as it was a bit on the narrow side. I might have struggled a bit more on North Pole pass though. My toughest day was when we crossed paths. I had done Anderson Pass (with side trip up King's Peak) and Tungsten Pass and as you know was on my way up Porcupine Pass trying to beat the T-storms. All in all I rate this trail as fairly difficult.

Yeah, it sucked to go down...I was really slow and did both on the same day also. That basin view from Red Knob was probably my favorite view of the whole trip. My worst day was the last day...so many cairns, and not all of them the right ones...it got extremely confusing and I ended up delayed by at least half an hour...which then left me out in the open half a mile from the truck when an ugly thunderstorm came over Leidy Peak.

I agree with the rating. Tough trail.