Jeanine,

I wish you well on your trek! Certainly, come back and share your experience, as it seems we all have a difference of opinion on how to accomplish a task like that!

Since I am not "athletically inclined", I am sure I would not be able to do a trek on the same scale as you are planning, but I would like to do a backpacking trip at some point in the near future. So, any suggestions from your experience would be very much welcome.

The foiled tuna idea is great! I normally pack those on my camping trips. When I go camping, it isn't a cush-cush trip. And, since space is very limited, I don't like hauling my kitchen pantry along. Plus, I don't like having to run to a grocery store to stock up on veggies. So, my carb staples are generally a bit more on the "higher-glycemic" side, things that are not going to require refrig and are easy to pack. Although, I imagine that taking apples along is probably going to increase the weight in your pack.

I have not had any significant problems staying in the Zone when I am camping. I don't have spells of hypoglycemia, I don't have early hunger, etc.

Zone cereal with powdered milk is an obvious choice. This stuff is great! It is the first cereal I have been able to eat in my life without getting the shakes an hour later.

Zone bars work great for snacks, although if they are chocolate coated they may melt. Balance Bare bars work better for this reason. Trail mix is a little low in protein, but you can fix that by eating jerky along with it.

For lunch, cheese keeps fine for a few days without refrigeration. Hard cheeses keep longer.

You can doctor up freeze dried meals to make them more zone friendly. For instance, a serving of Backpackers Pantry Stroganoff has 30 grams of carbs, 11 grams of protein and 10 grams of fat. Adding dried ground beef equivalent to 1-1/2 oz of regular ground beef adds 11 grams of protein and almost no fat, resulting in a meal that is close to 40-30-30. To dry ground beef, brown 95% lean ground sirloin, then soak up any grease with a paper towel. Crumble it up and spread it on a cooking sheet Put it in the oven at the lowest setting for several hours with the door open an inch to let the moisture out. It ends up looking like dog food, but tastes fine once you rehydrate it.

You can also buy freeze-dried chicken to increase the protein content of prepared backpacking meals.

I might try Zone pasta with dried spaghetti sauce on my next trip. To dry spaghetti sauce, pour a jar of sauce on a cookie sheet and cook it like I described above. It ends up looking like fruit rollups. When you put it in hot water it turns into sauce again.

A company called Just Tomatoes sells various dried vegetables. They are available at Whole Foods.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

Rich

I think you just shared a wealth of information, thanks!

dont know if you have gone yet but heres my opinion

i spent 6 months backpacking round new zealand,this included mountain biking,snowboarding and many more adrenalin activities,i also stopped in my tent,youth hostels and back country huts.

when i was out hiking sometimes for 6 days at a time i found it easy with the fat and protein,the carbs i would throw a load of fruit and veg in the top of my pack,i didnt worry to much about the weight as it drops gradually and you dont really have much waste.i have carried peppers,tomatoes,cucumber,lots of smaller salad stuff as well a variety of beans and some veg and quite a bit of fruit.

needless to say when i was in the hostels for a few days you can really go wild with your shopping.

hope this kinda helps

p.s where are you going?

regards

rob