Nutrition--Revisited

My blog from last week on nutrition had a couple of good effects: (1) it generated quite a bit of discussion on the Facebook page and (2) some of the comments posted on it got me thinking about my hiking food and how well the mix of what I eat is working for me. 

I learned about day-hiking nutrition back when I started hiking in 2000. At that time, the suggested food composition for day hiking was 60/20/20 (60% carbs, 20% protein, 20% fat). Since adopting those guidelines and discovering foods that worked for me and were tasty, I must admit that I really haven't put much thought into what I eat when I hike--or even how well I was conforming to my adopted guidelines. I feel generally energetic when I hike, so why mess with that?  

Well after last week's discussion I really started thinking about how much of my day hiking diet is fueled by junk food (quite a bit). One person also pointed out that I wasn't even conforming to my own guidelines when it came to the amount of protein I was consuming (less than 20%). I'm also really not sure if given the current state of research, if the 60/20/20 mix is still the recommended mix of nutrients or if there is some better thinking out there. There's been a lot written in the past few years on the increasing importance of both proteins and fats in the diet, as well as a larger focus on the "quality" of carbohydrates in that there's a difference between the type of carbohydrates and how quickly they're converted by the body into useable energy. 

So I've set a new assignment for myself--delve into recent nutrition advice written specifically for hikers and see if the 60/20/20 advice has changed given recent findings. I'm starting my education by reading The Outdoor Athlete written by Courtenay Schurman--a Mountaineers member and owner of the wilderness sports coaching company, Body Results (http://www.bodyresults.com). I'll report back to you what I learn, but feel free to obtain your own copy of the book (or another one that you find helpful) and learn along with me. 

I'm also going to work on bolstering the amount of protein in my hiking fare so I'm at least consistent with the 60/20/20 guideline and also work on replacing some of junk food I bring along with more nutritious items. You may still catch me with a bag of Cheetos in my lunch, but it'll hopefully be a smaller portion of the total calories of my lunch. After a few months with my updated hiking fare, I'll report back and let you know how I'm feeling while I'm hiking. 

Stay tuned!