Did a solo and a group solo last year in the BWCA and found I really didn’t have too much of an appetite. Was wondering if any of you have ever feel the same out in the BWCA. Should it be the exact opposite where a guy is so hungry after paddling all day or do you think there’s so much going on?
Anyways just wondering if others felt the same. I know Noisy and I on both trips felt the same
Mike

I like whatever I eat when I'm in the woods, but I find myself eating less than normal when canoe tripping--and that's especially true if I'm on a solo. I just don't find meal time to be as enjoyable if I'm alone, so I spend a little time eating so I'm not hungry and then more time watching clouds, fishing, exploring, etc.

I am seldom as hungry when busy. I can work outside nearly all day and not really want a snack, but if inside I seem to graze. Because I need the energy I have taken to cheese sticks and energy bars that I take a bite and then put away for awhile. I have packed breakfast but ready to drop that for a quick coffee and prepackaged solid to be determined. If I base camp and will hang around camp in the morning I might go for breakfast. The evening meal is still something I look forward to and while not hungry, once I start eating it is like the munchies for me. I fix a single skillet meal with protein, starch and vegetable.

YES, i find myself eating less as well. i may eat smaller amounts more often.

I'll always eat breakfast ("It's the most optimistic meal of the day") and love a lunch break but on travel days I sometimes don't have the energy to cook a freeze dried meal or fish. On those days I'll just pilfer from my lunch stocks. Gorp, cheese sticks, salami, chocolate squares etc.

I'm never really hungry and alway lose a bunch of weight on my trips.

When I solo I find that my breakfasts are so simple (coffee and granola bar or oatmeal), lunch is what I snack on during a portage. By dinner I really am pretty hungry. I usually eat a little cheese with my wine, then devour a Mountain House dehydrated meal.

I also lose a few pounds each trip (gain them back in 24 hours.)

Dave

I think I eat less on solos, even though I work just as hard as a group trip. Perhaps I travel slower but longer and in the evening don't bother cooking a big meal. Instead just one or two dehydrated meals.
On the other hand I am always perplexed as to how I seem to gain weight on every trip. It must be the car rides up and back that rely on fast food. Or just maybe the alcohol consumption on trips nightly instead of my very limited use at home.

I was confused at how little I wanted to eat on my solos.
My hunger level was WAY down.
I was actually frightened by that.
So I am pleased to see that this is not just me.
Maybe it has something to do with the overwhelming social aspect of eating.
Eating alone is looked at as sad, lonely, etc.

Whatsit: I know Noisy and I on both trips felt the same
Mike"

Yes, it was strange to me. I usually eat a lot and I like to eat. That first trip I expected to eat even more after paddling all day, but we brought most of our food home.
I have to plan food for the August trip, and I'm not sure what Cody and Steve will want to eat. If you come, no problem, you are self contained.

In Sylvania it was a Weiner Fest. I don't want to do that again.

When I'm packing I always think I'll be extra hungry so make portions about 20% larger than normal plus add in extras. Once there I eat 20% less than normal. My dog finishes up a lot for me, and I end up packing out too much. I've really got to get better at this.

I think our human nature makes us want to bring more food then we need simply because we know once we get out there there’s really no turning back until exit day unless we want to screw up our whole trip. But yes I always try to have something for breakfast. Lunch is just a nibble here and there and then the freezer dried meal whether I’m hungry or not but I normal do enjoy it once I start eating. Now the thing I wont go without is my tea. I even take some powdered milk so I can have a proper cuppa!

I like that picture, Mike.

Remember when we had that huge breakfast at Brittons? I thought I would never be hungry again. Then we set off across the number lake chain to go to Lake Insula. I didn't feel hungry as we went through Hudson Lake, but I must have been. The map and compass were confusing, the bays didn't look right, it just didn't feel right. But after we had a snack, the compass needle pointed north again and we went right to the big portage to Insula. Spooky. I guess I need to eat regular or my blood sugar falls and I get stoopid.

I usually eat a decent breakfast and a ton of water to start the day. Then a few Cliff Bars but dinner is surprisingly infrequent. But I realize that my body needs tools to rebuild itself while I sleep so at the very least I drink a Vega One supplement powder drink. Plenty of protein and lots of other good stuff. Plus it seems to fill me up a bit even though I don't feel real hungry.

After about 2 weeks into a trip I notice my appetite start to rev up. Huge platefuls of fish and hasbrowns about 2 in the afternoon seem readily welcome. Not unusual for me to lose 15 to as much as 20 lbs over the course of 3 weeks.

Coffee and instant oatmeal for breakfast. Water and clif bars during the day, and a mountain house meal for supper. My first trip I brought out about 60% of the food I brought in. I now try really hard to pack less food. I usually have to make myself eat supper, I'm rarely hungry. When solo food for me is nothing more than fuel to keep going. I usually lose about 1.5 lbs every day I'm in the woods. Solo is the best diet plan I have found. If only I could convince my wife to let me go more often!

It's been discussed a couple of times before - not unusual at all. I think a lot of it on solos is just that there's no social aspect to meal time - it's just fuel as someone said. Another thing for me is just the physical effort seems to curb my appetite some. On the other hand, I'm often thirsty when I get to camp if not drinking enough during the day and tend to fill up on fluids.

I've become better at that since I got the water filter bottle. I've also become pretty good about knowing just how much I need to pack and not having a bunch of extra food left over at the end, although I was definitely carrying pounds too much for the first several years. I just started really paying attention to what I ate and what I didn't, and started leaving stuff behind.

I also burn a good bit of fat on trips, but have found that at about 10 days, give or take, my appetite will start to pick up some.

I eat a little GORP, maybe a bar for breakfast. Crackers, cheese and jerky for lunch. Dinner is a fish dish of some sort.

I thought it was just me. I don't eat a lot when I am solo, but I think it's because solo trips are so much work, I decide to snack rather than have a big meal. Doing dishes on top of every other job out there doesn't appeal to me at all.

For the first couple weeks I eat very little. Maybe 2 meals per day and smaller than anticipated proportions and I think I'll end up with way too much extra food. After 2 weeks I start to eat a lot and start to worry I'll run out by the end of the trip. My dog is the same way.

Working harder throughout the day I think our bodies switch over and start burning our stored energy reserves, meaning less desire for food. Once those have been depleted the urge to eat returns in force.

Alan

I not only eat less on a solo, but I eat simpler as well. Instant coffe. Instant oatmeal. GORP. No baking. If I have fish, it's in foil or soup.

Bannock: "I not only eat less on a solo, but I eat simpler as well. Instant coffe. Instant oatmeal. GORP. No baking. If I have fish, it's in foil or soup."

I have been doing this for the last 5 solos. This year I'm taking my small fry pan and going to add ova easy eggs and pre cooked bacon for maybe 4 breakfasts on days I'm not traveling. I'll also add in dehydrated peppers and onions.

I've also started frying with high grade coconut oil and really like it. Gonna bring that instead of olive oil. I like to do a solid breakfast and lunch and sometimes will skip dinner if not hungry which happens about half the time.

Increased exercise levels leads to higher water consumption. That tends to depress appetite for some.

Took an eight day trip through the Sterling Lake PMA several years back & worked our asses off. You'd think we'd feel the need to eat to replace all of the calories we were burning off, but just the opposite. I went from 170 lbs. pre-trip to 159 eight days later when I got home. We were so whipped at the end of each day, there was no energy left for cooking up dinner.

I knew afterwards why I was so tired all the time - too little food. I try to keep this in mind when tripping now.

PaddleAway: "Took an eight day trip through the Sterling Lake PMA several years back & worked our asses off. You'd think we'd feel the need to eat to replace all of the calories we were burning off, but just the opposite. I went from 170 lbs. pre-trip to 159 eight days later when I got home. We were so whipped at the end of each day, there was no energy left for cooking up dinner.

I knew afterwards why I was so tired all the time - too little food. I try to keep this in mind when tripping now. "

I know the feeling well. That's why my breakfast and lunch are substantial. Sometimes I'll just snack on a few ghiradelli chocolate squares with some tea in the evenings. Too tired to cook.

I tend to try to cover distance when solo, more than when with people, and completely lose my appetite. On my first 5 day solo, I lost 4 pounds. Not water weight, but two months later, was 4 pounds down. Figured I did 500 calories of work 10 hours a day more than normal, and only had about 2000 calories a day. That turns out to deficit of 15,000 calories or about 4.4 pounds. I knew could not do that for longer trip, would get weak, so on 13 day solo, had food plan that I ate per day, hungry or not. I think part of lack of hunger was hard work, part was lack of social aspect of eating (and drinking scotch) together.

I usually put in long days when soloing but my method of travel/eating is to start with a light breakfast w/coffee and then take many small breaks during the day. I find that I put the most miles on that way. For dinner I am lucky to choke down a half meal.

The longest I have gone solo is 2 weeks, and I was more hungry as that trip progressed. I travel each day 9unless wind bound), and for the first few days I am just not that hungry.

Apparently I'm a freak, I'm one of the few people that actually ADD pounds tripping. For me one of the highlights of canoe tripping is cooking over an open fire and having the time to do things right. My solo trips have a general rhythm that is pretty much status quo now.

5am wake up, coffee on gas stove
10am breakfast over open fire, either fresh caught fish or fried granola (granola is best served fried in coconut oil)
1pm quick lunch on gas stove, pita bread or tortilla salami and cheese hot sandwiches. Northwoods quesadillas, lol. Rain days get an addition of a Knorr soup.
7pm Dinner. Now it's time to get serious. Fresh fish with fried rice, pasta with rehydrated meat sauce, if I'm feeling really exhuberant there might even be a boullabaise or a pike gumbo.

Dehydrated sour cream is brilliant with a hundred uses.

But the first night, every first night, is reserved for the frozen steaks you've brought. Sour cream and mushrooms are just the proper sides.

Oh and I'm a coconut oil convert. I used to bring self made ghee or Crisco shortening, but in urban Canada and now even suburban Wisconsin it's not hard to find blocks of coconut oil as opposed to the glass jars.

I even use the powdered coconut milk as creamer for my coffee (add a small shot first, stir vigourously, then fill up your mug).