499 Aaron Owens Mayhew – The Best Lightweight Backpacking and Adventure Food For You
Table of Contents
Today’s Topic
I’m excited to introduce this week’s guest, Aaron Owens Mayhew. She’s a backpacker, thru-hiker, and nutritionist. With years of outdoor adventures under her belt, she finally combined her two loves—backpacking and nutrition—into her current business.
Aaron has plenty of tips to help you figure out the best lightweight backpacking and adventure food for you. I really enjoyed talking with her, and I hope you find her tips to be useful. She has so many tips on finding the best food for your preferences.
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More about this episode
If you’ve ever experienced hitting the wall during an endurance activity, you know just how miserable it can be. That sudden crash in energy due to depleted glycogen stores can leave you feeling weak, sluggish, and grouchy. But fear not! There are ways to avoid hitting the wall and maintain your energy levels during your next endurance adventure.
First and foremost, it’s crucial to eat regularly and ensure you’re fueling your body with the right nutrients. As we learn from Aaron, a nutrition and healthy lifestyle expert, this means avoiding processed junk foods and sticking to grocery-friendly ingredients for your meals. She even went as far as creating her own backpacking meal planner and cookbook with nutritious and tasty recipes.
While carb-heavy foods are great for high-intensity activities, it’s important to note that healthy fats can also be used as a source of energy. Lower-intensity exercises, like hiking, can rely on fat as an energy source. That being said, carbs are still the primary source for many people who practice high-intensity exercises.
Aaron also touches on the importance of proper food storage and waste reduction while hiking. Compostable bags and reusable containers can make a huge impact on the environment, while writing expiration dates on your food bags will ensure you’re not consuming spoiled ingredients. And lastly, Aaron reminds us that managing weight during hikes isn’t about eating less, but eating the right foods. Ultralight meal planning can lead to smaller, lighter foods with more nutrition, delivering all necessary macronutrients in every bite.
About Aaron Owens Mayhew
As a registered dietitian and ultralight long-distance backpacker, Aaron Owens Mayhew created Backcountry Foodie while preparing homemade, lightweight meals for her thru-hike attempt of the Pacific Crest Trail in 2017 and subsequent section and thru-hikes of the Appalachian Trail, Oregon Coast Trail, Colorado Trail, and the Condor Trail.
What You’ll Learn
- The main problems people face when packing foods for backpacking
- How to find more savory options and avoid sugary meals
- The best lightweight options for protein
- How to figure out how many calories to pack per day of travel
- How much weight should you aim for per day of food
- How to create ultralight recipes without a food dehydrator
- Best practices for cold soaking meals
- How to maximize the shelf life of homemade camping and backpacking meals
- Extra considerations for cold weather adventures
- How to reduce plastic waste when creating backpacking meals
- Why it’s so important to pack “happy foods” on your trip
Related Episodes
- 496 J.F. Penn – Adventures in Pilgrimage
- 407 Keith Foskett ~ Through Hiking Long-Distance Trails in the USA and Spain (now with downloadable transcript!)
- 376 Holly Worton ~ Long Distance Walks: Time and Space to Think and Reflect (now with downloadable transcript!)
- 359 Adam Wells ~ How To Prepare For Your First Long Distance Trail (now with downloadable transcript!)
- 354 Stephen Marriott ~ The Life-changing Magic of Walking a Long-Distance Trail (now with downloadable transcript!)
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