Maintaining Ketosis While Camping

Last weekend I went on a camping trip to the North Shore; for me it was primarily a “shake down” trip for new camping gear and experimenting with maintaining nutritional ketosis on a camping trip.

In short, I was successful. I emerged from the camping trip in a deeper state of ketosis than when I entered into the trip (based on keto stix). I could have been slightly dehydrated causing the keto stix to read a higher concentration of ketones, but at any rate I have never seen the stix turn to the darkest color possible before.

How did I do that?

Lots of cheese, some fish, limiting carbs. To get the cheese and fish we stopped off at Russ Kendall’s smokehouse.

For a base camping trip like this trip to Tettegouche carrying in cheese and fish works great. For a longer hiking trip with continuous high exertion, carrying in enough fat would be difficult; I think for a lighter weight meal plan for hiking I would look to use more Mountain House (lots of carbs) and then supplement my fat intake with powdered MCT oils, nut butters, and other more natural oils (coconut oil, olive oil, ….) — I will have to experiment with powdered MCT oils and to see what is the best/lightest system for hiking.

• Friday, April 7, 2017 (My Fitnesspal Diary Link)
  • Exercise:
    • Summary: Spent 4 hours in the car, cart in gear to campsite, setup campsite, firewood processing, a small bit of exploring around the baptism river and Tettegouche state park
    • Fitbit Metrics:
      • Steps: 19,096
      • 8.93 Miles
      • Cals Burnt: 4,234
      • 94 Active Mins
      • 52 Floors
  • Breakfast:
    • Schiff – Megared Krill Oil, 600 mg
    • Kirkland Signature – Chewable Vitamin C (500mg), 2 Tablet
    • 5 Eggs
    • Tillamook – Cheddar Cheese – Medium, 50 gram
  • Lunch
    • North Country Cheese – buffalo wing monteray jack, 4 oz
    • Kirkland Signature – Roasted and Salted Extra Crunchy Peanuts, 1.6 oz. (45 g)
  • Dinner
    • Smoked King Salmon, 6 oz
    • North Country Cheese – buffalo wing monteray jack, 3 oz
  • Snacks
    • North Country Cheese – buffalo wing monteray jack, 1 oz
    • Peanut Butter- Skippy – Extra Crunchy, 2 tbsp
  • Water: 4 Liters
• Saturday, April 8, 2017 (Myfitnesspal Diary Link)
  • Summary: Moderate bits of hiking; probably hit my VO2max a couple times and immediately rested or backed down to less intense exercise,
    • Fitbit Metrics:
    • • Steps: 24,654
    • • 11.47 Miles
      • Cals Burnt: 4,678
      • 157 Active Mins
      • 104 Floors
  • Breakfast:
    • Mountain House – Biscuits and Gravy, Freeze Dried, 2 cup
      • Comments: I love this stuff, though I think this meal is only approrpaite on days with high exertion; on a normal day this many carbs probably would throw me out of ketosis)
    • Schiff – Megared Krill Oil, 600 mg
    • Kirkland Signature – Chewable Vitamin C (500mg), 2 Tablet
  • Lunch:
    • Sven & Ole’s in Grand Marias
      • Usda – Beef, Prime Rib, 1 oz
      • Mayonnaise, 14 milliliter
      • Beef Broth, 0.25 cup
      • Cold Slaw, 1 cup
      • Pretzel Bun, 0.5 bun
  • Dinner:
    • (see snacks)
  • Snacks:
    • Premier Protein – Chocolate, 325 ml
    • Bent Paddle Brewing Co. – Bent Hop – Golden Ipa, 24 oz
    • Smoked King Salmon, 3 oz
  • Water:
    • 3 Liters
      • This seems exceptionally low to me, I suspect I didn’t log all of my water that I took in between hikes.
• Sunday, April 9, 2017 (My Fitnesspal Diary Link)
  • Summary: Tear down campsite, cart out gear, 3.5 hour drive back to the cities
  • Breakfast:
    • Skippy – Creamy Peanut Butter, 3.19 ounce
    • Schiff – Megared Krill Oil, 600 mg
    • Kirkland Signature – Chewable Vitamin C (500mg), 2 Tablets
  • Lunch:
    • No Lunch
  • Dinner:
    • Jimmy Dean – Turkey Sausage Links, 4 cooked links
    • Premier Protein – Chocolate, 325 ml
  • Snacks:
    • cheese – Curds, 4.5 oz
    • Beef Jerky (Home Made), 28 g
    • Fresh Rhubarb Pie, 1/8 pie
      • Went to Betty’s Pies, a destination on the north shore, known for their amazing pies.
  • Water: 3 Liters