Starting Over page

[jmcintosh]

I'm starting over on the PB program again, after a few months of setback. I was doing real well most of the summer, feeling good, although my weight loss seemed to plateau at about 175. Now to be perfectly honest, with our on the go lifestyle is is NOT and easy program to strictly follow. Camping and fishing trips often leave little time for food prep, and we are admitted suckers for a big pan of fresh fried walleye anda a few cold beers! Not making excuses, just eing honest.

Anyway, through the summer I was also training for an exttended backpacking elk hunt, so I was pretty active. While in the mountains, keeping with a PB diet was basically impossible, although I spent a lot of time limiting what I could as far as grains/carbs, but we still ate a pretty good amount of them. 22 days in the backcountry tends to limit you as far as food goes. I did make a bunch of pemmican, which tastes like a meat candle, but freeze dried backpacker meals are loaded with carbs.

Aside from all that, I still lost 14 lbs, and came home at 162. Looked good, felt great. I guess 3-8 miles a day with a ackpack on will do that for you. But when we got home, my eating habits went riight out the window. We spend a lot of time at our deer camp, or running back and forth from there to home, so fast meals on the fly added up as well. Which is exactly why I've put on some weight. Im back around 180. Feel like crap.

I've given this a lot of thought, and I think in part what has happened since we got back from Colorado is this. I planned that trip for a long time. A hard and fast goal and desire to be in the best shape I could. Once it was over, that drive, that goal at the end was no longer there. So I let my guard down. When I got home, I was down to the last hole on my belt. I need to get back there again.

So here we go...........

Im at 180. My goal is to get back to where I was when I got back from CO, at 162, then go from there.

[sbhikes]

Nothing wrong with a big pan of walleye. Maybe just don't coat the fish with cornmeal or whatever and cook it in butter or bacon grease. As for backpacking, you can do pretty well if you are creative. Beef jerky, coconut oil, dark chocolate for a treat, rice noodles and make a creamed coconut curry to go with, butter if it's cold enough, hard cheeses, dry salami or pepperoni, nuts and nut butters, rice cakes or crackers to hold the nut butter, tuna and chicken come in foil pouches now. Even regular white rice can be made backpacking. Just use a pot-cozy (I wrap my pot with extra hats and even my sleeping bag) to finish the cooking process so you don't waste your fuel. You could also invest in a dehydrator and make your own concoctions, but I have found my own skills in that department are lacking. If you are just car-camping, you can bring a cooler and keep all kinds of meats, veggies, eggs, bacon and other things.

[jmcintosh]

Those food options work ok for short backpacking trips of a couple days. We were out 22 days in a wilderness area, we would resupply food at base camp about once or sometimes twice a week. No way to keep anything cold, other than sinking it in a creek.( we did that with a few beers) Weight is paramount, considering we werent just carrying camping gear, but also hunting gear as well. I spent a lot of time researching food options, weighing the weight ofthe food, potential for spoilage etc. Our packs were running around 50-55 lbs.

Our program was pretty much this- breakfast was 3/4 C of granola with a scoop of protein powder and dry milk. Add water, done. Through the day we had pemmican, trail mix, and a cliff bar and a larabar. That worked well. Dinner was a Mountain house.It averaged around 3500 calories a day, and I still lost 14# on the trip. For base camp meals, I dehydrated a bunch of venison burger to add to stuff like Zatarains box meals, etc. Toook a little longer to cook, but was a nice break from freeze dried meals. We did manage a little fresh protein with a few sage grouse we shot and cooked up. That was better than a thanksgiving turkey after a couple weeks of freeze dried meat. The problem was, I got that taste for carbs back, and due to lack of discipline on my part, kept eating them when we returned.

Off to a good start so far, cutting carbs out, did a 5 mile walk today which felt good. Amazing how far you can slip in just a couple months. Im back in the right mindset now. Im actually prtty excited about getting myself back on track. I think Im a lot better equipped this time around, I've bought the cookbooks and am working on drawing up my game plan by week and month to keep me focused. Of course for me, this time of year I find it easier to follow a stricter regimen. Once the snow is gone and the lakes thaw out inthe spring, I start thinking fishing trips and camping trips, but now I have a better idea how to develop a game plan for when I'm not at home.

[wesrman]

Good luck!

[Cassanina]

Welcome back! You sound like you're on the right path and ready to make this a permanent WOE life style change. GOOD LUCK!

[SoccerGrok]

Mountain House Chicken Salad Wraps at REI.com

They also have a Buffalo Chicken that was high protein/low carb, and pretty tasty.