My diet goes out the window when camping!

Rain · 12-22-2011, 06:39 AM

I try to rationalize it by saying that I'm burning so many calories with all the hiking and tent-setting-upping but I don't think that any amount of physical activity can compensate for the sausage, biscuits, pancakes and s'mores I eat in a typical camping trip. I don't know, I just associate camping with lots and lots of delicious food cooked by me over the fire or in a dutch oven in the coals.

Does anyone actually try to do "low-cal" when camping?

dinosaur · 12-22-2011, 07:47 AM

You'd be surprised how many calories you burn. Ty weighing yourself before and after a trip.

Pathfinder1 · 12-22-2011, 09:02 AM

Hi...

My diet goes out the door every day.

ppine · 12-22-2011, 10:58 AM

Rain,

You are not alone. Food is a big part of memorable camping trips. I was at Crater Lake once on Labor Day. My girl packed the food, and we woke up to a snow storm and had planned yogurt and bagels for breakfast. The only other campers in the campground were cooking large quantities of bacon and eggs. They were nice enough to share, and I never made that mistake again.

Theosus · 12-22-2011, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dinosaur

You'd be surprised how many calories you burn. Ty weighing yourself before and after a trip.

I stopped weighing myself. I prefer the pants method. If my pants start getting tight it's time to lay off coke and snacks. When they are falling off of me, let's go to olive garden!
Plus muscle weighs more than fat because it's more dense. So if you start running and working out your stomach may shrink but the scale shows you weigh the same, so you start thinking "this isnt working"

dinosaur · 12-22-2011, 08:15 PM

That's true but you'd be wrong.

oldsarge · 12-23-2011, 06:29 PM

When I'm out hiking or camping I always seem to drop the weight a little no matter how bad my diet is.

Gondor · 12-27-2011, 06:29 AM

The thing is, you can't always prepare healthy foods for the road. And I also lose the weight while camping no matter what and how much I eat. They say that physical activity suppresses appetite to some level so maybe that's it.

ppine · 12-27-2011, 10:46 AM

If you spend time in the outdoors, especially in cool weather, and hiking the body will start needing more calories within a few days. Appetitie may be supressed for a 2-3 weekend trip, but I guarantee that if you stay out there awhile, it will increase. Most people gain a lot of appetite when working outdoors, or on a longer trip like hunting for 7-10 days. Your clothes will quickly fit better, and then they will be too large.

I was working at my Dad's ranch in Arizona on a fall round-up, and I complimented the older hand working there on his cooking after about a week. He said, "I dont' cook that well, you just got your appetite back." He was right.

georgia_outdoors · 12-27-2011, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain

Does anyone actually try to do "low-cal" when camping?

We don't really try to go "low-cal" when we're camping, but we try to exercise the same principles of moderation that we use when we're at home. We don't really eat anything while camping that we don't eat at home, except for s'mores. ;~)