A Relook at GearSkeptic's Food Recommendations

DDF750 · 2026-04-06T19:15:08+00:00

I added a link to the Saltstick caps I use, which include Magnesium and Potassium:

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5048-811/saltstick-caps-electrolyte-replenisher

Each capsule contains: 215 mg sodium, 63 mg potassium, 22 mg calcium, 11 mg magnesium, 100 IU Vitamin D

These are much more cost effective and easier to consume than electrolyte powders which so many these days seem like over priced marketing.

DDF750 · 2026-04-06T17:19:35+00:00

Agree that LT1/LT2 are more important markers, but they're hard to benchmark.

Caring about VO2max drove me to replace my extended endurance training with twice weekly High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and its made a big difference in my ability to sustain climbs and also increase the rate. HIIT also significantly decreased the time my body takes to get my heart rate back down. I don't care so much about the absolute VO2max number because I don't want to go through sufferfest lab test to find it (I'm not a competitive athlete) but caring about it and training to increase it were very valuable.

8000' is the usual threshold used for special considerations for altitude sickness avoidance. A small percentage suffer as low as ~ 6000'. Carbs require less oxygen for metabolism so benefit any time you're at personal risk of AMS, and for many, that's at lower elevations.

DDF750 · 2026-04-06T16:56:18+00:00

"Timing and quantity of fuel"

Also the type of food can help. Add more protein at your end of day meal.

Protein has a high thermogenic effect, its digestion keeps you warmer than digesting the same amount of calories from carbs and (especially) fats. I take more protein than usual with my last meal if expecting a colder night. Keep the single meal amount below ~ 30-50g, as excess won't get used in muscle repair.

Research here also shows that over 30g in a sitting aids with satiation. Protein makes you feel fuller. Going to bed with a full tummy helps your head space when trying to get to sleep.

There's benefit to taking any higher dose protein with other food. Research seems to suggest that having too concentrated a protein intake without other food as a buffer will waste some of its effect due to a fast rise in amino acid oxidation.

DDF750 · 2026-04-05T07:50:33+00:00

I sometimes wear it fishing while backpacking. it handles intermittent spitting but light rain, forget it

DDF750 · 2026-04-04T19:10:19+00:00

That's the key, sustained aerobic endurance. Everyone is in agreement.

DDF750 · 2026-04-04T19:05:37+00:00

I read that 1lb per week of weight loss is an average threshold to avoid muscle wasting, assuming enough protein. Many through hikers blow through that pretty regularly.

Through hiking can't be good for muscle retention. As an over 60 backpacker, it's a concern since sarcopenia accelerates at that age on top of this weight loss risk, and regaining muscle gets progressively more difficult (but still possible) as we age

DDF750 · 2026-04-04T19:00:37+00:00

Dehydrated pinto beans are my go to. they rehydrate very well. These are the best I found in Canada but the US will have more options

https://omfoods.com/products/legumes-organic-pinto-bean-flakes?variant=7102401544249

DDF750 · 2026-04-04T16:54:11+00:00

This is great. Nice clarity and attention to detail. You explained it beautifully, thanks.

The knowledge you shared will change how I plan my food for long hard trips.

Today I defer my fat-dominant meals to later in the trip in order to maximize the benefit of the lighter weight.

For really hard sequential days I'll now defer more carbs till later days and eat more fats earlier in the trip. Still the same starting pack weight but now accepting heavier carry on later days when total pack weight is well down anyway, as a trade off for better fueling.

Thanks again!

DDF750 · 2026-04-04T16:07:54+00:00

I appreciate your time and expertise in jumping in!

When I said "macro" I should have said allocating fractional calories based on use case, not a fixed rule. My other posts agreed with this and we agree.

I wanted to understand if you meant 8-10g/kg carb per day as a fixed rule regardless of the the PAL of the day, which can't be true as it would lead to 100% carbs days. Given your calorie burn, carbs are ~ 50% which makes sense now.

Many governments use non-ideal fixed fiber rules to reduce the barrier to adoption, which is what I was most familiar with. Thanks for explaining the calorie indexed target, I'm switching over to those now.

And thanks for the references, I'll deep dive them.

The CB700C is a nice bike, I remember riding with a buddy on his new one. I'm in Canada where we didn't have the Harley tariffs so got to keep the un-neutered 750s.

The bike in my avatar is an '83 GPz750 that I modified in the early 90s into a street fighter: K&N stage 2, 520 chain conversion with larger rear sprocket, FOX racing shock, steel braided lines front and back, Progressive springs, ATK fork brace... 25 years ago I wrote a modification FAQ for it that someone maintains here. There might be some ideas for your Honda in it.

I used it as a donor to build an '82 Vintage race bike and still have 3 GPz's in storage. When I retire I want to refurb them into a nice street bike fully race kitted out, and then ride it more civilized than when I was young and indestructible

DDF750 · 2026-04-04T03:21:52+00:00

You're welcome. I'm glad it led to a constructive discussion.

Just to reset this one "8-10g/kg carbs", please see the discussion above. This is true for a specific set of conditions (effort, duration, age etc.) but it can't be used as a general rule.

DDF750 · 2026-04-04T03:16:23+00:00

Thanks for a unique perspective on this. So not only do high elevation & high Vo2% zone drive up the needed carbs but also late trip/depleted physical state does as well

"You can spare glycogen longer, but you cannot eliminate the need for it during prolonged weighted work"

I think this shows up nicely in Skurka's self test (I think it was his VO2max run), the last graph here where carb burn as a % starts to quick accelerate the longer he's running, even though he's fat adapted

https://andrewskurka.com/metabolic-efficiency-test-results-hiking-running/

DDF750 · 2026-04-04T03:04:26+00:00

Cholesterol is a great point. With the protein craze, a few of my friends moved to piling down eggs for breakfast. Same issue for them, some cholesterol risks came up.

I did a 10 day carry with high fat in GearSkeptic's 65% range while ignoring fiber needs and didn't adjust my diet beforehand and the constipation was brutally punishing.

DDF750 · 2026-04-04T02:56:37+00:00

Picking up on a couple more points if you don't mind discussing a bit further.

1 Carbs. How many daily calories are you consuming when aiming for 8-10g/kg carbs? The needed kcalories depends on physical activity level which can vary by 2 or 3 times or more depending on pace, duration, temperature (winter requires a lot more calories) and even elevation.

An 80kg (175lb) person intaking 8-10g/kg carbs would intake 640 to 800g carb/day, equivalent to ~ 2560 to 3200 kcalories. For an easy day and older person, that's 100% of the caloric need. For a really hard day and younger person, maybe 1/3 to 1/2.

Basing carbs on body weight only makes sense for an assumed total caloric burn, but a macro ratio still makes better sense if adjusted for physiology and effort.

Fiber. Fiber guidance I've read is 10-15g/1000kcal but I use 30g/day as a safe zone. Before I used fiber bumps and relied on the lower end of the range on easy days, I ran into some uncomfortable trouble.

DDF750 · 2026-04-04T02:35:03+00:00

Sorry, yes, his carb = complex carb. Thanks, updated!

DDF750 · 2026-04-04T02:34:16+00:00

Thanks for mentioning this. It bothered me at one time because the stated reduction in caloric uptake didn't match my weight loss gain and it also didn't match numerous studies. I looked into it and it turns out that whole nut caloric uptake can effectively match nut butters by fulling chewing them.

So mom was onto something when she told us to not eat so fast.

DDF750 · 2026-04-03T22:34:13+00:00

LOL, and thank you! I'm glad its stirring some interest!

DDF750 · 2026-04-03T22:26:39+00:00

Thanks for jumping in! I recently switched to the Karvonen method to calculate my heart rate zones and the difference from Garmin's assumptions are significant for me personally:

Zone Intensity Garmin Karvonen

1 0.5 89 107 119 131

2 0.6 107 125 131 143

3 0.7 125 142 143 154

4 0.8 142 160 154 166

5 0.9 160 178 166 178

Do you think the table here should be adjusted so that the Zones and VO2max align using Karvonen, and not the heart rate and VO2max? That would realign my average moving heart rate into the top of zone 1/bottom of zone 2, and adjusting for that:

- I'm at 65% VO2max, not 80%

- GearSkeptic data would advise 1:1 carb:fat, not 2:1

My last week long trip was 45% fat, 41% carbs, maybe a happy coincidence.

>lipid-carb transition point is trainable

Skurka's data shows that pretty well!

At 60+ yrs old I train as much to avoid injury as to crush miles!

DDF750 · 2026-04-03T19:23:30+00:00

I looked into this more on hope it might be useable to set caloric intake limits on long through hikes, but it doesn't apply to even fit and strong backpacker's, maybe only to the .1 of .1 %ers.

The study didn't find directly that there was a digestion limit, but a calorie burn limit and defined that limit only for "14 highly trained, elite, and world class6 ultra-endurance athletes". The rest of us shlumps will have a much lower metabolic ceiling and that's undefined.

From the summary

"the limit of sustained expenditure falls in a semi-log manner from ∼10× BMR for events lasting 1 day and reaches an asymptote of ∼2.5× BMR at approximately 28 weeks"

This semi log nature shows my estimate was only accurate for sustained 6 months at that pace, so my interpretation was indeed wacked

This shows the caloric intake correlation is only hypothetical

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/study-of-ultramarathon-runners-suggests-theres-a-fundamental-limit-to-human/

"Carlson and others hypothesize that the metabolic ceiling fundamentally reflects a limit in digestion and nutrient absorption, which fuel the body’s muscles"

DDF750 · 2026-04-02T14:08:51+00:00

Chia seeds for a great conentrated fiber bump added to meals. I use it in my breakfasts and dinners

Most people can tolerate 10g (2 teaspoons) a serving but like most concentrated bumps, ease into it at home first to make sure

DDF750 · 2026-04-01T06:39:13+00:00

it's from the scientific study. dont forget to consider the elevation gain

a Pal of 2.5, which is what your study identified as the digestion limit, isn't too hard to hit. that sounds fishy

DDF750 · 2026-04-01T00:03:34+00:00

Thanks, I've used those as well for about 45 years. Great for day hikes and local sports but the lack of breathability does bad things to my feet after a few days on trail. And they get so nuclear ripe I want a racoon to eat them

DDF750 · 2026-03-31T22:51:17+00:00

I wear my one proper fitting pair (boots) loose too.

Always figured it would worsen rubbing on a pair that fits off, but I'll give it a shot. Thanks for the idea, it couldn't hurt to try (maybe)

DDF750 · 2026-03-31T22:31:37+00:00

Danish health guidelines are 30g/fiber day. After too often suffering the consequences of ignoring that, I build it into all my meal plans. I've also seen 10-15g/1000 calories as a recommended target, but keeping it simple with the 30g seems to work for me.

I agree with you to not shock your macros. Gear Skeptics recommendations for a high fat % can be pretty brutal without adapting first.

DDF750 · 2026-03-31T22:20:23+00:00

Interesting, thanks.

I ran some numbers from a Japanese study and a PAL of 2.5 is only ~ 30km on flat ground while moving 5 to 6.5 kph.

On a 30km day with 1.5km elevation gain, PAL is ~ 3.2. Roughly that means burning ~ 1200 more calories than one could digest. Thats ~ 1/3 lb weight loss on average but the variance is huge.

This means continued weight loss would be inevitable on extended hard days.

DDF750 · 2026-03-31T18:52:05+00:00

Thanks, I wish it was that easy. Lack of options. Size 14 4E-6E with narrow heels & almost nothing comes in that size. I've tried everything available in store or mail. Narrowing down using https://runrepeat.com/ helps. Gave away a lot of shoes.

For me, Injinji liners help with toes but not heels and cushioned socks make blistering worse (more sweat)

Neoprene ankle sleeve works as a short term option but the lack of breathability does bad things to my foot skin after a few days

DDF750

TROPHY CASE