Appalachian Trail - 7 Day Food List

I'm not sure what was harder, planning for the hike or actually doing it. Either way, figuring out a food menu was definitely tricky. Like the packing list I read a ton of different articles and blogs about it. These are the ones I found useful:

• 5-day Meal Plan - Probably the most helpful because it really break down (calories and ounces of the food)
• 14 day food list - More good ideas with a great break down of calories and nutritional facts
• Easy Meal Ideas
• Meal Recipes - specifically we used the Peanut Sauce & Noodles and the Pesto Noodles recipe. I LOVED them both and am planning on trying some of his other recipes when I get the chance.

I sent the 5-day Meal plan to my friend (the PA who's coming on the hike with me) and this was her response:

"Ok..... So I read through the food link you attached (understanding it was just a reference point) and was REPULSED AND HORRIFIED - from both a medical standpoint, and a palatable standpoint.

I understand and am aware of the concepts A.) pack light and B.) pack Calorie and NUTRIENT dense foods....  So, for the life of me, I could NOT figure out why these people include snickers, m&ms, and "lil debbie honey buns" .. omfg. I want to enjoy nature, not come back from a hike with diabetes. There are SO many healthier alternative that are more calorie and NUTRIENT dense. Although, snickers do taste good, and are still on my list.

I compared 9 other  "food packing lists"  for both section and thru hikers, and discovered several things:
A.) All the recommended calorie intakes of 3000+ are for MALES
B.) The majority of food lists of 3000+ cals a day are for people hiking  15+ miles daily; whereas we only have one 15-mile day planned.
With that being said, I freaked out (again) and consulted my friend who has a PhD in food science, and a registered dietician, and another female friend who actively and consistently hikes.

FYI (I'm sure you know): A female who is 5'7" and 160lbs" (aka us - ish)  and has a moderately active lifestyle, needs 1500-1800 cals daily to maintain weight. Those calories want to be high in protein and healthy fats, and low in sugar.  :-)
Since we are increasing to a highly active lifestyle for the week it is recommended to double the calorie intake to 2500-2800, with a focus still on high protein and fat intake. This will give us long, slow, and sustained energy; NOT quick, short bursts, then crashing (ie; "lil debbie cakes")."

I couldn't help but laugh as I read her response. After a little back and forth with suggestions from both of us this is the final food list we came up with:

7-Day Backpacking Meal Plan

Things I Loved:

• Loved the "Protein Oatmeal Breakfast"
• Loved the Cliff Protein Bars
• Loved the Protein Shakes (maybe bring a funnel or paper to help pour the mix into the bottle)
• Who doesn't love Trail Mix?
• Loved the Andrew Surka Meals and would like to try others
• Loved how everything was pre-measured, especially for snacking
• The Nuun's Tabs were clutch
• The Tuna, Ritz, Cheese, and small mayo condiment packet "salad" was delish. Here's a good article on how to bring cheese on a backpacking trip.

What I Would Have Done Differently:

Even after all this careful planning and measuring, if I were to do the hike again I would have changed a few things.

• The Mountain House Meals: most of them were kind of gross. They were also big and bulky. I trimmed the edges to help this, and rounded the corners to prevent punctures in our sack, but it didn't help much. The ones I liked were the Lasagna and Chili Mac with Cheese + tortillas. I'd probably just stick with those two meals. The good thing about going Freeze Dried is the weight; so, to combat the bulk, I'd repackage them in ziplock bags and either make them in the pot or bring the provided bags (empty) and throw the food in them again when I'm ready to cook.
• Chicken and Tuna packets: These babies are HEAVY and also a bit bulky. I'd try to cut them out completely and replace with more protein shakes. I actually really liked the protein shakes and wouldn't mind having more throughout the day.
• For the Andrew Surka recipes I replace the oil with chicken (to add more protein and keep the calories up). Instead of chicken I'd replace it with another protein shake.
• Roasted Chickpeas: We didn't like these at all and ended up throwing them all out when we found a trash can.
• The Packit Gourmet meals were good but I didn't read the fine print and realized too late you're supposed to bring your own tortillas to supplement with the meal. That was annoying to find out on the trial.
• In general I'd just try to replace everything (mostly the snacks) for a lighter version. The protein cliff bars were heavy but tasty, maybe find a lighter alternative? Replace M&M's and Snickers for the lighter Nutty Bars, etc. etc.
• Package the days differently - I think we did really well measuring (yes, by the ounce on a food scale!) and packaging each item individually. We used a sharpie and ziplock baggies to do this. It got old digging through the food bag to find the correct meal/snack though. I'd package the days together by loosely wrapping all the food for the day with plastic wrap.
• The BIGGEST change I'd make is to try to not carry as much food at a time. We carried all 7-days worth of food from the start. Later in the hike we found that it would have been pretty simple to re-supply at Neal's Gap (a rough halfway point for our hike). Carrying half the food would have been SOOO nice. I'm pretty sure it was the weight of the food that set our packs over the edge and made them much, MUCH heavier than nearly anyone else we met on the trail.

Yet again, I hope this was helpful!