I've been absent for a couple of weeks. (went on a long ATV riding trip to WV, then took the Grandson and went camping and hiking) I weighed in this morning and I am UP 3 pounds. I know what I did. I ate things I don't normally eat (can you say MRE's and trail mix??) NOT good. PLUS I haven't been on here OR tracking myself on fitday. I thought I was pretty much in control, but obviously not.

I NEED you guys here, and I NEED to track myself. I also need to figure out what I can eat while camping/hiking - we are planning a month long trip to Alaska in August of next year. I want to be at goal AND be able to do the trip without gaining a mess of weight while being gone.

Sooo.....any campers/hikers out there with some good ideas???

Although I don't have any suggestions for snacks, etc., I did want to offer my support and say you are going to make it through this!! You have what it takes to win this game, and I just know you will come out on the other side shining with a bright smile of victory! Hang in there.

Edited to add: I put "low-fat camping snacks" and "low-calorie camping snacks" in Google and got quite a few returns. You might want to try that and see if anything there suits you.

Hi,
You have done so well, I am sure you will continue to do well.
I only go day hiking and take fruit or TLC bars...... Can you cook your own meals? instead of bringing those that are all ready made? Healthy snacks instead of trail mix... dried fruits..... Kashi TLc bars....How about for breakfast. Instant oatmeal? Like I said I don't go away for the nights, so I am not sure how much you want to take.
cheryl

I NEVER thought about googling that. DUH. Thank you so much for that idea.....and especially for the support.

I am in control and doing fine when I am home - and even when we are gone riding, but the camping and hiking threw some new stuff at me. (we haven't done either in many many years) The things I did back then will NOT work for me now. I need to readjust my skills for that area of my life now.

Thank you again for the google idea. I will spend a lot of time researching that.

Here is one of the MANY (177) pics I took where we were hiking.

hellokitty - those are some great ideas. I did do the instant oatmeal - (I am used to steel cut oats everyday) it didn't seem to keep me full as long. Tha Kashi bars are something I have looked at and need to try. They seem to have the most protein and least amount of sugars as all I have looked at - I just don't have a lot of control when I have them at home (NEVER keep them here for that reason) but I may need to look at them for JUST camping.....I cannot keep my hands out of the trailmix.

Ok, so you need to figure out some different snacks and healthy things to eat, but you went off for a couple of weeks of vacation and only gained 3 pounds! With the MRE's and trailmix, half of that could easily be water from all the sodium. I'd go back on plan and give it a week before I really assessed the damage.

The thing to remember is that even naturally thin people eat too much on vacation. They just go back to their normal healthy habits and take it off again. You can do the same.

What kind of cooking equipment will you have and storage limitations (cooler etc....) Will you have access to fresh food?

My first thought was exactly what Robin said... It could just be water... I wouldn't be surprised if you weighed next week and found it gone.

We just got back from a 15 night cruise and I really worked hard at being good... The first day we got back I was up 6 pounds I got back OP and 2 days later I was back to my pre-cruise weight, so it was obviously water. Shaking up my eating a little while on vacation turned out to be a good thing, during the following week I lost an additional 5 pounds.

DH and I lived in Alaska for 10 years... we just moved from there last year. We had an RV, and traveled through Alaska quite a bit while we were there. If you'd like first hand information on the area, let me know.

1oftheluvs, I would LOVE to have some first hand info!! Thank you sooo much for offering your help with our planning.

As far as cooking equipment, I will have a 2 burner stove with us, and a few pans (2 qt, 4.5 qt and a skillet - all with lids) we will have a 5-day cooler that we can keep fresh foods in. I have NO idea what fresh foods will be available to us once we get into Canada and on the Alaska Highway. (we're going from OH thru IN, IL, WS, MN, ND and MT. then up thru Canada from there.

I never thought about the sodium issue. I sure hope that is the case and Next Friday looks a lot better! We hiked 7 miles each day, so I know I got plenty of exercise in. I also didn't drink the amount of water that I usually do in a day too.

Thank you ladies!!!!

Yep...tons of exercise and little water...to me that spells water retention! I think your next weigh in is going to look a LOT different! You can't have eaten enough calories to go 10,000 over for the 3 pounds to be real...especially with all that hiking!

You're doing great!

Hi there. It's really good to hear from you. You were missed. The first time I ate off plan after I hit my goal,

I must have gained 5 lbs and freaked out just a bit. The truth was, I knew I ate off plan and I had expected a gain. I've always known that I can't have it both ways - eat off plan and not expect to gain. Anyway, that 5 lbs was gone in about 5 days. 5 days of right back to on plan eating. This has happened several times to me since. I have learned that this is "my normal" and therefore don't freak out (too much ) anymore.

I have no doubt that those 3 lbs will be gone shortly - very shortly. You really are doing phenomenally well and I know you will continue to do so. I know you're busy, but try, just try to check in a little more often. For you of course, but I'm also being a bit selfish - I like having you around. You're a HUGE inspiration around here and a very dear, supportive, person, always with something wise to say.

I know you didn't mean it in the way I took it, but at first this struck you as REALLY funny. You can get every kind of fresh food and produce you can possibly imagine here in Canada...

So happy to see you back!

Linda

Just to reply to the title of your original post:

And, WE NEED YOU too!!!

First off all I have to say is Yay WV! I'm partial....Anywho my dbf and brother said the mre's generally have tons and tons of calories per pack due to the high amount of exercise soliders go through and they suggested breaking it down into half or so. They said that should still fill you up and it will be less calorie dense. My parents also love the trail mix bars, they get the fruit and nut....those keep you full pretty well (at least as a snack). I'm not too sure though about meals because the only time we went anywhere camping or fishing or hiking here it was sandwiches, hot dogs, and fish. Those were the main staples.

So I just read your post to my DH, who is retired AF... He said those MRE's have between 3000-3500 calories in them. He said they are made for a soldier to be able to sustain himself on one a day if he has to.... You might want to forego those in the future.

We drove down from Alaska to Utah using the Montana route last August when we moved. There are stores along the way and as Linda said, they do have fresh food... However, the stores can be pretty few and far between along the road you'll be traveling. (You'll find a Safeway about every 300 miles or so.) We found fresh food was more expensive once you leave the Lower 48... I'd try to be fully stocked before you enter CAN. Customs will not allow you to bring meat from CAN into the US, so just buy what meat you'll need while in CAN.

If you haven't purchase a "Mile Post", I would really recommend it. It has a list mile by mile of where everything is along the road. It's really helpful for planning camping stops, getting gas and replenishing supplies both in Alaska and on the way there. Another great reference guide is "Traveler's Guide to Alaskan Camping".

If you'd like to chat more about your trip, feel free to send me an email at theloves_on_the_road AT hotmail dot com.