[at-l] Food food food

[spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Walt Daniels wrote:
>The problem with Jim's answer is that it doesn't really answer the question
>completely. Drinking no-sugar drinks serves one purpose, hydration. A 
>second
>purpose is getting enough calories during the day to keep going. So what 
>you
>really have is a trade off of carrying more efficient calories in the form
>of oil or less efficient in the form of sugars. There is also a difference
>in how fast the calories are available - sugars fast, oils slow. I suspect
>for some people the sugared drinks are a better solution.


Walt -
You're right - I wasn't trying to give a "complete" explanation there.  But 
I'll add some more information so you'll know some of what I was thinking 
---

For example - I like Koolaid because it has Vitamin C (as well as tasting 
good).  And that's a good thing on the trail.  It also means that when I 
have to use iodine for water treatment, the Vitamin C in the Koolaid 
neutralizes the iodine - and the iodine taste.  There have been times when 
we've strained and filtered the water - and then used the iodine as well.  
You may not have been to those water sources yet, but they are out there.

But - your point about the sugar -- and this is 'my' thought process - not 
meant to be an argument -
-  a foil pack of Koolaid (with sugar) weighs 4 oz and provides a total of 2 
qts of Koolaid containing 480 calories and some Vitamin C.
- a foil pack of sugarfree Koolaid weighs 0.4 oz, provides 2 qts of Koolaid, 
zero calories and some Vitamin C.

Which then leaves me a 3.6 oz weight difference that I prefer to fill with a 
couple chocolate bars (1.5 oz each) which provide 460 calories.  I give up 
20 calories on the exchange - but I gain 0.6 oz, minor amounts of fiber, 
protein and carbs - and a more even energy distribution because some of the 
calories are in sugars (fast energy) and some are in fats (long term 
energy).  And I don't get the dread "sugar crash" that mainlining sugar 
gives.

Now - since I generally use 2 qts of Koolaid per day (one at lunch and one 
with dinner), I'm not saving a lot of weight (0.6 oz/day) on this process, 
but it does give me essentially the same energy for a little less weight - 
or a little more energy (210 calories) for a little more weight (0.9 oz) if 
I add a third chocolate bar.  In fact, over a 3 day period stretch on the 
trail, I'd save 1.8 oz, which would allow me to carry one extra chocolate 
bar for a net gain of 150 calories and a net weight loss of 0.3 oz.  Longer 
"time on trail" (longer times between resupply stops) produce even more 
gains.

And it gives me the calories in solid form, which is much more satisfying 
than a liquid diet.

Alternatively, I "could" carry both the Koolaid with sugar AND the candy 
bars - and essentially double both the calorie count and the weight.  I 
generally choose not to do that but YMMV.

It's always a choice.  It's always an individual choice.  But I do try to at 
least know why I'm making the choices - even if no one else understands my 
choices.  But then, they don't have to carry my pack, do they?  <G>

Some people will think this whole discussion is insane (obsessing about 
tenths of an ounce) - and they'd be right.  But then, both Weary and Shane 
were wrong yesterday in their discussion of sanity.  A thruhike is, in and 
of itself, insanity.  And thruhikers are therefore, by definition, insane.  
And this is just another manifestation (or was that "infestation") of that 
insanity.  <VBG>

I've sometimes found it interesting that some of the ultraliters will argue 
this exact kind of miniscule weight gain/loss stuff on every piece of 
equipment they carry - and then advocate carrying massive amounts (a gallon 
or more) of water (at 2# per qt) in order to "not waste time filtering water 
during the day" while hiking.  <G>

Yeah - we're all insane.  But some (most?)  of us are happy in that 
insanity.

Walk softly,
Jim

_________________________________________________________________
Find things fast with the new MSN Toolbar ? includes FREE pop-up blocking! 
http://clk.atdmt.com/AVE/go/onm00200414ave/direct/01/