Intermittent fasting on the Camino

[Former member 108241]

I'm interested to hear from those who have practised intermittent fasting on the Camino. Did you find a system that worked for you? What was your "eating window" and what were your challenges? How did you make it work for you? I'm trying to work out how to do this without negatively impacting the social aspect too much so I'm keen to hear first hand experiences. I imagine I would either need to miss breakfast stops or the evening pilgrim meal.

If you have tried IF on the Camino I would love to hear your thoughts.

(If you have not tried IF while on the Camino, please resist the urge to reply with negativity and knock my question, or question my reasons for wanting to do this. This question is for those who have tried it. Thank you.)

 

[good_old_shoes]

Honestly, I didn't try it on the Camino but don't see why it shouldn't be possible.

Have a good breakfast very early in the morning (5am), then walk all day fasting (maybe some electrolytes at least), then have food again very late in the evening (many locals eat late, so if you stay in a private room and go to the restaurants, you can still socialize, at least with the locals). Should be quite easy.

Or you start without breakfast and have an early dinner, which should also be no problem. Pilgrims usually eat dinner early, so that won't be a problem and you'll have plenty of pilgrim company.

What I think is important is to still carry some snacks during the day just in case you need more fuel than thought. Better to break fasting than faint on the path.

Wish you all the best! Buen Camino!

 

[Former member 108241]

Honestly, I didn't try it on the Camino but don't see why it shouldn't be possible.

Have a good breakfast very early in the morning (5am), then walk all day fasting (maybe some electrolytes at least), then have food again very late in the evening (many locals eat late, so if you stay in a private room and go to the restaurants, you can still socialize, at least with the locals). Should be quite easy.

Or you start without breakfast and have an early dinner, which should also be no problem. Pilgrims usually eat dinner early, so that won't be a problem and you'll have plenty of pilgrim company.

What I think is important is to still carry some snacks during the day just in case you need more fuel than thought. Better to break fasting than faint on the path.

Wish you all the best! Buen Camino!

Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. Will definitely ensure I have emergency food "just in case".

Thanks again.

 

[Robo]

Having used IF off and on for a couple of years at home to lose weight, I now find it a natural way to eat.
(My regime is to have a late lunch and skip dinner)

I've just completed 60 days on Camino and found it a very easy way to eat on Camino.
It actually made things easier in many ways!

For example my 'routine' would normally be.

Breakfast. Either before I started walking or shortly after. This would depend largely on what was available at my accommodation or close by. I would try to get 'protein'. A coffee and a little cake doesn't work for me.

So the ideal breakfast was bacon and eggs, orange juice and coffee.
I couldn't get that many times, so it would normally be, coffee, juice and toast topped with ham and olive oil. (not jam. you need protein not sugar for slow release energy)

A few times I could not get breakfast, so I would make sure I bought something the day before, for a DIY breakfast.
I tried a few things. hard boiled eggs, getting a pack of ham etc etc.

The easiest and most appropriate, (based on required nutrition) thing I found, was a small tin of sardines in oil; and a wholegrain bread roll or two. That would keep me going for hours. Also quick and easy.

On the Trail. To maintain energy levels whilst walking I would snack on a range of things, depending what I could find and what I was carrying that day. It would range across bananas, chocolate, trail mix.

Lunch. I aimed to finish walking before the Menu del Dia stopped being served. Usually stops at 3:00 - 3:30 pm. On the more popular Caminos this is less of an issue, as the Pilgrim Menus seem to be offered during a broad range of hours.

So this would be my main meal. 3 courses, wine etc. I would usually stop for the day by about 1:00 or 2:00 pm. Shower, laundry, then do a long lunch. Post lunch would be a siesta.

Here's where I deviated a bit from IF at home. As at home I do not eat after 3 pm.

On Camino I might have a small snack in the evening. like a banana, yoghurt etc.
Sometimes a beer or two and tapas.

But the key is.........IF was easy to do and fits nicely with Spanish meal times.

 

[Former member 108241]

Wow thank you so much, that is an awesome summary, I really appreciate it. Skipping the evening pilgrim meal and instead making lunch my main meal is what I thought would work best too. So pleased to hear it was easy to do and that it fits nicely with Spanish meal times. I feel very encouraged by this! Thank you!

 

[Kitsambler]

Here's what worked for me in France, almost always demi-pension:
Breakfast: black coffee with a pat of butter. This always becomes a topic of conversation, but it lets you join in the sociability around the breakfast table.
Lunch: Nuts - usually walnuts, sometimes almonds. Baby Bel cheese or dry sausages, sometimes, if I've been lucky at the food shops.
Dinner: veg soup, main course meat and veg (avoid the potatoes/rice/pasta/bread), cheese course, skip dessert
As always, mind the electrolytes.

In Spain, I look forward to reversing the lunch/dinner plan above. No idea how the communal meal will work, because I would like to participate in that sociability.

 

[LTfit]

I started IF 4 years ago at the same time that I became vegan. Over the last 3 I can't really call it IF since I skip breakfast but do let myself have a coffee with oat milk at around 8 a.m. (I'm up most days at 5.15) and then eat lunch between 11.00 and 13.00 depending on my schedule. Dinner is early, at about 18.00.

Doing a Camino doesn't really change anything. I'm usually walking during my "normal" lunch time so I may have some nuts then have a late lunch when I arrive in the afternoon. Dinner is then something small.

My experience is that doing IF isn't the problem but eating vegan!

 

[lt56ny]

(My regime is to have a late lunch and skip dinner)

In Mexico this is a pretty common practice. Unless you are going out to dinner socially, a good breakfast in the morning. My wife and I have oatmeal with a banana, or make it into a licuado, tostada and humus, and finish it off with an egg and spinach. Of course I have my coffee and she her tea. Then the main meal of the day is about 3:00PM. For dinner I may have a small bowl of cereal, but almost every night fruit and more fruit mixed with plain yogurt, some nuts or popcorn. Always made fresh, never microwaved or in a bag. Good tasting popcorn is about the easiest thing to make, no butter needed. It took me years to adjust to this eating schedule. (We are going out for a huge dinner tonight with friends from another city so

 

[verber]

I have experimented with IF (several 6 month periods) and found no impact (positive or negative) in my health or fitness when controlling for other variables.

Finishing CF route from SJPP in a couple of days… and ended up eating in an IF window. Most days we would start moving around 7am. Around 9am would have a small breakfast: typically the egg whites from hard boiled eggs + a tortilla. We would get a pilgrims lunch around 3 and skip dinner. Some days we didn’t feel like food until 12-1 in which can we eoulhave a modest lunch and fo a pilgrims meal at 7-8.

Didn’t really feel the need to snack during the day, or have a sense we were running out of energy. I rarely get out of zone 2 during the walking so I can mostly fuel myself from body fat.

Just remember that before 7:30 and between 3:30-8pm you might have Trouble finding a place open

 

[MacMac]

A menu Peregrino at 7 pm and as much vino tinto as came with it.

Just a coffee in the mit big. A piece of tortilla patata around 10 am (so 15 hours after the meal). No lunch.

 

[Hey Jude]

Having used IF off and on for a couple of years at home to lose weight, I now find it a natural way to eat.
(My regime is to have a late lunch and skip dinner)

I've just completed 60 days on Camino and found it a very easy way to eat on Camino.
It actually made things easier in many ways!

For example my 'routine' would normally be.

Breakfast. Either before I started walking or shortly after. This would depend largely on what was available at my accommodation or close by. I would try to get 'protein'. A coffee and a little cake doesn't work for me.

So the ideal breakfast was bacon and eggs, orange juice and coffee.
I couldn't get that many times, so it would normally be, coffee, juice and toast topped with ham and olive oil. (not jam. you need protein not sugar for slow release energy)

A few times I could not get breakfast, so I would make sure I bought something the day before, for a DIY breakfast.
I tried a few things. hard boiled eggs, getting a pack of ham etc etc.

The easiest and most appropriate, (based on required nutrition) thing I found, was a small tin of sardines in oil; and a wholegrain bread roll or two. That would keep me going for hours. Also quick and easy.

On the Trail. To maintain energy levels whilst walking I would snack on a range of things, depending what I could find and what I was carrying that day. It would range across bananas, chocolate, trail mix.

Lunch. I aimed to finish walking before the Menu del Dia stopped being served. Usually stops at 3:00 - 3:30 pm. On the more popular Caminos this is less of an issue, as the Pilgrim Menus seem to be offered during a broad range of hours.

So this would be my main meal. 3 courses, wine etc. I would usually stop for the day by about 1:00 or 2:00 pm. Shower, laundry, then do a long lunch. Post lunch would be a siesta.

Here's where I deviated a bit from IF at home. As at home I do not eat after 3 pm.

On Camino I might have a small snack in the evening. like a banana, yoghurt etc.
Sometimes a beer or two and tapas.

But the key is.........IF was easy to do and fits nicely with Spanish meal times.

Currently on the Camino and I found that if I had meal times as recommended by Robo and avoided the late Pilgrim dinners, which usually involved too much food and too much wine to get a good night's sleep, not only did I sleep better but I felt fresher and lighter when walking the next morning.
Still of course eating and drinking too much, but doing it earlier in the day!

 

[MacMac]

The more vino tinto, the better I sleep. Might not apply for the others sharing the dorm

 

[Hey Jude]

The more vino tinto, the better I sleep. Might not apply for the others sharing the dorm

That was also the case for me when I was young(er) and now for some cruel reason it keeps me awake

 

[MacMac]

That was also the case for me when I was young(er) and now for some cruel reason it keeps me awake

Younger? You were already drinking as a minor? Lol!

 

[Doingit]

I'm interested to hear from those who have practised intermittent fasting on the Camino. Did you find a system that worked for you? What was your "eating window" and what were your challenges? How did you make it work for you? I'm trying to work out how to do this without negatively impacting the social aspect too much so I'm keen to hear first hand experiences. I imagine I would either need to miss breakfast stops or the evening pilgrim meal.

If you have tried IF on the Camino I would love to hear your thoughts.

(If you have not tried IF while on the Camino, please resist the urge to reply with negativity and knock my question, or question my reasons for wanting to do this. This question is for those who have tried it. Thank you.)

I have done IF on the camino. I started walking at 6 am for cool weather and walked until about 9 am where I would find a village and have breakfast. Rare were the albergues where I was which had breakfast. I had some lunch depending on the menu appealing or not it could be more or less important. Dinner was or light depending on lunch and what was proposed at albergue or not. Dinner always before 7 at latest. If was not as long as I would do at home but definitely possible.

 

[debbie r]

I found it was fine - no breakfast…. Just herbal teas /water till around 11ish maybe 12 then food as wanted and dinner by 7 when possible.. if a bit later just later starting to eat the next day. Thought it might impact on walking energy but didn’t - and didn’t bother me sitting with others while they ate!!

 

[Rita Flower]

@Flauna
Great question. Basically I did the same as @Robo - not as a pre plan but just as what worked best for my body - on the Via last autumn.
Breakfast- coffee and toast (mandatory) plus some or all of my own banana, yogurt, nuts.
Walking I need to eat every couple of hours so - one big snack of tinned fish (Spanish tinned tuna and pulpo is amazing - with all the oil) bit of bread and apple/pear. Plus little snacks of nuts, fruit, yogurt as needed.
Late lunch around 3 or 4 - just before the end of lunch time - three course menu del dia. Yum!!!!
If the evening nothing but occasionally a light snack if needed - fruit or yogurt or nuts.
I know others can walk on an empty stomach all day so the reverse timing can work as well.
Try out a few things and find out what works best for your body while walking X Km every day.

 

[Former member 108241]

Thank you eveyrone for your thoughts and first hand experience. So useful and interesting. Please keep the ideas coming, I'm learning a lot.

My experience is that doing IF isn't the problem but eating vegan!

@LTfit - doing it vegan would it be so hard but that is my ultimate goal. I have a ways to go though. Vegetarian for now. I gave up dairy milk 3 years ago but I can't let go of cheese. I'm a work in progress, I will get there. Thanks so much for your feedback!

 

[Former member 108241]

Didn’t really feel the need to snack during the day, or have a sense we were running out of energy. I rarely get out of zone 2 during the walking so I can mostly fuel myself from body fat.

I recently read Peter Attia's book "Outlive" and he talks a lot about Zone 2 training which is exertion at a point where you can still hold a conversation, but it's strained, translating to a pace between easy and moderate. In the context of the Camino, is this what Zone 2 looks like for you and have you noticed any tangible benefits other than reduced hunger because you're using your body fat for fuel?

You mentioned you're rarely out of Zone 2 - do you have a way to measure this or do you base it on the definition I paraphrased above?

 

[Anniesantiago]

If I don't eat breakfast until around 10 or so (I carry my own) and then stop by 2 to have a Menu del Dia - that's what works for me.

 

[Former member 108241]

If I don't eat breakfast until around 10 or so (I carry my own) and then stop by 2 to have a Menu del Dia - that's what works for me.

This sounds good, thank you!

 

[LTfit]

@LTfit - doing it vegan would it be so hard but that is my ultimate goal. I have a ways to go though. Vegetarian for now. I gave up dairy milk 3 years ago but I can't let go of cheese. I'm a work in progress, I will get there. Thanks so much for your feedback!

Letting go of cheese was actually much easier than I thought it would be!

 

[Louise Comacchio]

I'm interested to hear from those who have practised intermittent fasting on the Camino. Did you find a system that worked for you? What was your "eating window" and what were your challenges? How did you make it work for you? I'm trying to work out how to do this without negatively impacting the social aspect too much so I'm keen to hear first hand experiences. I imagine I would either need to miss breakfast stops or the evening pilgrim meal.

If you have tried IF on the Camino I would love to hear your thoughts.

(If you have not tried IF while on the Camino, please resist the urge to reply with negativity and knock my question, or question my reasons for wanting to do this. This question is for those who have tried it. Thank you.)

I have been doing IF for almost 3yrs, generally a 20/4 protocol, eating somewhere from 4pm onwards. I walked the Camino Frances in 2022. All my training was done in a fasted state, but I only walked 3 days in a row of 20+kms in training. I did wonder how my body would react/perform walking these distances for 5 weeks. I'm pleased to say I did fine. I would get up and just drink some water and head out. I had my first black coffee around 5kms, when available. I drank plenty of water and just kept walking hroughout the day and I felt great. I found I was doing more 16/8 as I'd eat something, and have a drink, when I got in and then eat dinner later. I tried breakfast once, it was Mothers Day back in Australia. I had bacon and eggs, delicious, but not so great for my gut. Thank heavens the villages are close together! IF is a flexible lifestyle. A handful of times I tried things outside my window because it fitted in with the moment, I wanted to support local people, or simply share a meal that was being offered to me. People started to notice that I wasn't eating breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between. I'm happy to say that at least 2 were going home to try it Long story short, I found it easy to maintain my IF lifestyle on the Camino.

 

[Former member 108241]

I have been doing IF for almost 3yrs, generally a 20/4 protocol, eating somewhere from 4pm onwards. I walked the Camino Frances in 2022. All my training was done in a fasted state, but I only walked 3 days in a row of 20+kms in training. I did wonder how my body would react/perform walking these distances for 5 weeks. I'm pleased to say I did fine. I would get up and just drink some water and head out. I had my first black coffee around 5kms, when available. I drank plenty of water and just kept walking hroughout the day and I felt great. I found I was doing more 16/8 as I'd eat something, and have a drink, when I got in and then eat dinner later. I tried breakfast once, it was Mothers Day back in Australia. I had bacon and eggs, delicious, but not so great for my gut. Thank heavens the villages are close together! IF is a flexible lifestyle. A handful of times I tried things outside my window because it fitted in with the moment, I wanted to support local people, or simply share a meal that was being offered to me. People started to notice that I wasn't eating breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between. I'm happy to say that at least 2 were going home to try it Long story short, I found it easy to maintain my IF lifestyle on the Camino.

I love to hear these stories, thank you for sharing! I imagined it would be impossible due to the social aspect and I can see that I would also want to support locals and change my window if it fitted with the moment as you elegantly put it. I'm open to being flexible. For the most part it sounds completely achievable. Thank you so much for your feedback!

 

[JabbaPapa]

Well there's intermittent fasting and then there's morning fasting.

The first should really refer to occasionally skipping eating for a day or longer ; the latter is more clear.

But a couple of things -- the benefits of fasting are several, but nutritionally and as far as muscle to fat ratio goes, it's by waking up in keto and then having one's physical activity in the morning and only afterward eating a lunch that you maximise the benefits ; it's how many body builders do it.

The proper trick to it, apparently, is to eat only in a specific ~midday to ~6PM window ; and inside that you simply eat what you need. Outside of that window, just stuff like water, tea, coffee -- and if it's the hot drinks, no sugar nor other sweeteners.

As to the Camino, I've only been able to practise intermittent fasting, as in the above definition, very rarely ; and then only ever on days after a more copious pilgrim menu than usual. I have had days with not that much food though ...

But morning fasting ? Yeah, that's doable.

 

[David Tallan]

I've been doing IF pretty consistently since I saw Robo's video on the topic when he posted it, keeping my eating between noon and 8 pm. But, to be honest, I'm ready to suspend it while on Camino.

 

[pjacobi]

Hiking can burn 1000's of calories per hour! If you don't immediately replace the salt and calories, you can become de-hydrated with low blood sugar requiring immediate medical attention. Hiking without food is a good way to end up in the hospital!

Always carry snacks such as hiker's GORP (Good Ol' Rasins and Peanuts) or your favorite salty/sweet mix of snack food. Practice on long hikes at home on how much water and food you need to carry.

Leave your fad diets at home.


-Paul

 

[Eric L]

I've been dieting since Jan 2022 in prep for my summer 2022 camino. Lost about 10 lbs and then another 10 walking the camino. But for this year, I still have significant reserves! So I figure I have all the energy I need, I just need a plan to avoid overeating. I don't practice specific IF, but I don't consider what I do in the morning to break a fast, so I'm doing IF generally eating one big meal a day, and some smaller snacks in the morning when I walk.. This year for my remaining 300 Camino Frances miles my IF/lower carb plan is:

1. Morning: Coffee (no milk) + 1 packet of 15ml C8 MCT Oil.
2. Walking: Coffee (no milk) anytime I stop, or sugar free electrolytes (I bring packets). Longer days, I'll eat some Jamon. If it's especially hot, I'll drink an Aquarius. If a restaurant can cook eggs, I'll order eggs as a treat. I may also eat a croissant.
3. Destination: Lunch/early dinner: A large low-carb meal, so I usually order off the regular menu to avoid empty carbs. People often ask, "How did you get a salad" and I respond, "Off of the menu"

I try to track the food I eat using an app on my phone, and I figure I eat 20-50g of carbs a day. I'll still eat the occasional "sugary" treat in a town but usually my body isn't craving food after walking 5-6 hours. I don't think the C8 MCT Oil breaks the fast, but you may need to train your digestion to tolerate that oil so not a good idea to try that unless you've proven it out in your own neighborhood.

 

[Stivandrer]

I have IF days where breakfast time is 10a.m.. My job is sleeping 24 hr watches, and going off in the morning, I often go through the morning on just a coffee and water...
On the camino I often have early waking up hours and will some days walk until I hit my 10 o´clock and the the first proper café, which usually seem to coincide...
That can be quite an experience, as time just seems to flow without the ballast of food in the belly.
There is no haste and if the sun shines, the flow seems endless.
If I need emergency sustenance, I have beef jerky tucked away somewhere....

 

[huima]

For me some level IF came naturally and felt good.

Wake up and drink water. Walk for 2-3 hours and then have a black coffee or light breakfast (con Leche and something small). Then light eating while hiking. Then on evening a proper eating.

No snacks or sweet drinks in the hike. Only water. Sports drinks are not required in low intensity sports like hiking.

I felt good when blood sugar was bit on low side.

Lost 4 kg on 1000km Frances (Finnisterra loop extra) and felt good. Lost plenty of power (2 chinups after the hike vs 10 before the hike)

Surprised how little one needs to eat to hike long days. Body adapts nicely.

One view of Camino is get rid of all the excess. I think addiction to eating is pretty common. (Like too much stuff in backpack, shopping, stuff, talking, socializing, thinking of risks, planning too much). We all have our own Camino but one view is trying to find oneself by getting rid of all excess.

 

[Former member 108241]

Hiking can burn 1000's of calories per hour! If you don't immediately replace the salt and calories, you can become de-hydrated with low blood sugar requiring immediate medical attention. Hiking without food is a good way to end up in the hospital!

Always carry snacks such as hiker's GORP (Good Ol' Rasins and Peanuts) or your favorite salty/sweet mix of snack food. Practice on long hikes at home on how much water and food you need to carry.

Leave your fad diets at home.


-Paul

No one said anything about hiking without food!

 

[Chizuru]

We did intermittent fasting on the whole of the Camino Frances in Sept/October of 2018. At first, we did it more by chance than deliberately because we didn't think that the Spanish breakfasts were really worth eating as they were mostly just bread and jam and my digestion doesn't do well with much bread, and we usually wanted to leave the accommodations very early before breakfast was even served as the days were very hot and we wanted to get our walking finished before the peak of the heat. We would walk until we came to a pub selling frittatas. We would purchase a fresh slice each and take it away with us to eat when we wanted. We would usually hold off until we were hungry which we found was around lunchtime. We would often gather with our Camino Family to have a sangria and some pinchos around 5 pm and then the Pilgrim dinner as soon as it was offered. If we were lucky, that would be 7 pm but it was sometimes 9 pm but that would still give us an eating window of around 8 hours if we ate the frittatas at 1 pm.
I usually find that I don't get hungry in the morning until I have eaten something and can hold out until an early dinner when I do the 5:2 fasting.
I will point out that despite doing intermittent fasting, not snacking, eating the pilgrim meal and having only one glass of sangria and one glass of wine with the meal and no bread, and walking for 43 days straight that I lost only 1 kg and my fat percentage dropped by only 2%. If you are thinking that intermittent fasting will result in good weight loss then you might be as disappointed as I was!

 

[Former member 108241]

We did intermittent fasting on the whole of the Camino Frances in Sept/October of 2018. At first, we did it more by chance than deliberately because we didn't think that the Spanish breakfasts were really worth eating as they were mostly just bread and jam and my digestion doesn't do well with much bread, and we usually wanted to leave the accommodations very early before breakfast was even served as the days were very hot and we wanted to get our walking finished before the peak of the heat. We would walk until we came to a pub selling frittatas. We would purchase a fresh slice each and take it away with us to eat when we wanted. We would usually hold off until we were hungry which we found was around lunchtime. We would often gather with our Camino Family to have a sangria and some pinchos around 5 pm and then the Pilgrim dinner as soon as it was offered. If we were lucky, that would be 7 pm but it was sometimes 9 pm but that would still give us an eating window of around 8 hours if we ate the frittatas at 1 pm.
I usually find that I don't get hungry in the morning until I have eaten something and can hold out until an early dinner when I do the 5:2 fasting.
I will point out that despite doing intermittent fasting, not snacking, eating the pilgrim meal and having only one glass of sangria and one glass of wine with the meal and no bread, and walking for 43 days straight that I lost only 1 kg and my fat percentage dropped by only 2%. If you are thinking that intermittent fasting will result in good weight loss then you might be as disappointed as I was!

Fantastic feedback thank you!

 

[Chizuru]

Hiking can burn 1000's of calories per hour! If you don't immediately replace the salt and calories, you can become de-hydrated with low blood sugar requiring immediate medical attention. Hiking without food is a good way to end up in the hospital!

Always carry snacks such as hiker's GORP (Good Ol' Rasins and Peanuts) or your favorite salty/sweet mix of snack food. Practice on long hikes at home on how much water and food you need to carry.

Leave your fad diets at home.


-Paul

As long as you keep up your fluids you really don't need to eat, and for some of us, hiking doesn't really burn many calories at all. No breakfast, no snacks while walking, a small frittata for lunch, one or two pinchos with a sangria at the end of the walking day, and a Pilgrim meal is more than enough to cancel out the calories lost in a 20 km strenuous hike.

 

[Chizuru]

I have experimented with IF (several 6 month periods) and found no impact (positive or negative) in my health or fitness when controlling for other variables.

Finishing CF route from SJPP in a couple of days… and ended up eating in an IF window. Most days we would start moving around 7am. Around 9am would have a small breakfast: typically the egg whites from hard boiled eggs + a tortilla. We would get a pilgrims lunch around 3 and skip dinner. Some days we didn’t feel like food until 12-1 in which can we eoulhave a modest lunch and fo a pilgrims meal at 7-8.

Didn’t really feel the need to snack during the day, or have a sense we were running out of energy. I rarely get out of zone 2 during the walking so I can mostly fuel myself from body fat.

Just remember that before 7:30 and between 3:30-8pm you might have Trouble finding a place open

Please eat the egg yolks as well as the egg whites. The yolks are so full of vitamins, especially ones that protect the eyes from macular degeneration. It has now been debunked that egg yolks are bad for cholesterol levels.

 

[Sirage]

Hiking can burn 1000's of calories per hour!

This does not seem to have any resemblance to any of the usual estimates of energy used by any mode of walking - the numbers I am familiar with are about 300 give or take for basic walking, and a modest extra for the usual undulations on most of the Caminos with a backpack.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Hiking can burn 1000's of calories per hour! If you don't immediately replace the salt and calories, you can become de-hydrated with low blood sugar requiring immediate medical attention. Hiking without food is a good way to end up in the hospital!

Always carry snacks such as hiker's GORP (Good Ol' Rasins and Peanuts) or your favorite salty/sweet mix of snack food. Practice on long hikes at home on how much water and food you need to carry.

Leave your fad diets at home.

Intermittent or morning fasting among those who practice them are not "fad diets", but they are disciplines.

And they they are disciplines that should be avoided by those to whom they would be non-beneficial, those for example having a so-called "fast metabolism".

People are not all the same, and there is no one-size-fits-all diet.

Breakfast varies between us from an absolute essential every morning for some to something best avoided by others.

And just personally, I only ever carry snacks on the Camino as a luxury -- I simply don't need them, though I understand that you do yourself. When I do carry food, it's lunch ; not snacks.

 

[David Tallan]

Then light eating while hiking. Then on evening a proper eating.

No snacks or sweet drinks in the hike. Only water.

I'm confused. First you say light eating while hiking, then you say no eating at all while hiking, only water. How can they both be true?

 

[David Tallan]

No one said anything about hiking without food!

No one except huima:

No snacks or sweet drinks in the hike. Only water.

 

[Former member 108241]

No one except huima:

Thanks. As the OP I probably should have responded with "My post on Intermittent Fasting isn't asking about how to hike without food".

 

[huima]

I'm confused. First you say light eating while hiking, then you say no eating at all while hiking, only water. How can they both be true?

I try to express this better.

During walkning. No snacks or sport drinks. Only water. Morning with wather.

Meals during walking breaks - light breakfast after 2-3 hour walk and something light on the afternoon. And then on the evening proper meal (menu del dia or pizza or something quite energy rich)

I do endurance sports and in endurance events one typically takes in carbohydrates constantly during the event. Hiking is so low intensity sports that body gets enough energy from fat burning.

I enjoyed this light feeling while walking. This does not suit for all. But I kind of lost appetite in the first 2 weeks. After that it got better.

And in total only 4 kg lost. Which is very little for 1000km and good light eating. I would have assumed much more.

 

[Sirage]

My take on food, having recently walked from Almeria to Ourense. A walk of some distance covering a range of physical and weather environments, and also differing "cultures" of bars and food which adds to the uncertainty of what is ahead.

At home I usually have my take on intermittent fasting but this had to be adapted to a Camino

I started with a policy of not carrying any food - just water often with electrolytes. I have often done this on other more modest walks, and also on my last extended bike ride of 2 months when I would ride for 80 +/- kms before eating (noting riding at a reasonable speed is more energy demanding than most walking days).

My intention was to start the day with 2 coffees and usually a tostada y jamon (or croissant if fresh). This of course needed to be adapted to where the bars were and if they were open before I started (usually around dawn or 30 minutes earlier), and some days coffee wasn't available for an hour or 3, and on some days not at all before I finished walking for the day (usually 5 or 6 hours) when I usually had my major meal during lunch time, with a focus on getting protein.

[side note: if your order carne con salsa sin frites sin huevo occasionally you get a large plate of carne ]

I never ate late at Spanish dinner time - around 6 I would have a light meal usually something from a "supermarket".

I adjusted my no-carry-food policy on about 3 days (out of 65 or so). I packed food on 3 extreme days which were longer and when there was no food enroute and I was likely to arrive too late for lunch and a low possibility of buying food later (eg Sundays).

That turned out to work well for me. Hunger or lack or energy was not a problem. The walk included quite a bit of climbing, for example in the stretch before Granada some days climbing up to look at the snow capped Sierra Nevada close by. Later along the Sanabres with more climbing on many days.

I went without eating for 24 hours from memory, on three 20 - 25 km days when the expected bars or shops did not exist, or their food was not to my dietary constraints or liking. Then walked the next day after a light breakfast.

On balance it worked out pretty well. A form of intermittent fasting and not carrying food was eminently practical for me and presumably can be for some other people.

 

[Robo]

Hiking can burn 1000's of calories per hour! If you don't immediately replace the salt and calories, you can become de-hydrated with low blood sugar requiring immediate medical attention. Hiking without food is a good way to end up in the hospital!

Always carry snacks such as hiker's GORP (Good Ol' Rasins and Peanuts) or your favorite salty/sweet mix of snack food. Practice on long hikes at home on how much water and food you need to carry.

Leave your fad diets at home.


-Paul

Do you have any references / research to support that?
All my reading seems to point to about 500 cal / hour.......