Part of Mark Verber's Outdoor Web
While I am not a fanatic about it, I tend to think there is some merit behind Barry Sear's Zone Diet and related diets. There was a nice article in the NYT about the scientific evidence that a low carb diet is healthy. A simple summary of the Zone diet is that you should take 40% of your calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 30% from fat. Of course, the energy properties vary, so to simplify things the Zone talks about blocks: 3g is a block of fat, 7g is a block of protein, 9g is a block carbohydrates (ideally complex whole grains, rather than sugar). During each meal you are suppose to eat an equal number of blocks of fat, carbohydrates, and protein. This is very close to the classic diet recommended for diabetics. The number of blocks depends on your lean body mass and your activity level. I found that using the "athletic" activities level gets me to the right amount of food for 15-25 miles days with reasonable elevation changes (2000-6000ft). If you want to try and calculate how many calories you will burn check out Fitresource. The nice people at FitnessLogs also list the recommended Calorie Coefficients.
My typical three season menu weights 18-22oz and packs around 1800-2200Kcal. I should note that I have some fat supplies built into my body which I like to reduce on my trips (e.g. I like to lose a bit of weight... typically 1-2lbs on a week trip). I don't vary what I take a lot. Sure, I like gourmet meals at home, but when I am on the trail I am willing to eat more or less the same thing multiple days if the food is light and presents little hassle to make and cleanup. I typically pack my hot meals in zip-lock bag. I boil water, pour the water into the zip-lock bag, and then let the food simmer inside a home made bag cozy. My typical three season meals are:
As it gets colder I end up carrying more food (you burn food faster to stay warm). On cooler trips I take 2500Kcal, and even more in the dead of winter.
When the weather gets hot, I often find my appetite will often drop off. At home I known to suggest ice cream for dinner which doesn't go over so well with the family. When I expect a trip to be hot I typically bring no cook foods because I know I won't be motivated to cook or eat. I will typically shoot for less "heavy" (e..g.hard to digest" food), so the ratio of fat and protein to carbs goes down, increase the amount of fresh fruit I take, make sure I have ginger and lemon flavors things (seems to help restore my appetite), and often bring powdered Endure shakes or a lemon flavored sports drink powder.
For longer trips, especially when constrained by the use of bear canisters, it is important to know how to pack bear canisters.
Note: folks who do the long trails (like the PCT) will find that after a few weeks or maybe a month or two they will have burned off all their excess fat. Once that is happens, most hikers find themselves eating significantly more than they expect (more like 4000-5000Kcal).
My preference is to eliminate food preparation so I can get the day started quickly with minimal hassle and don't have to unpack cooking gear. No mess breakfasts include:
Many people like a hot breakfast to get them going in the morning. The single serving packets of oatmeal are actually big enough that you can add water to the packet, avoiding getting a cup or bowl dirty.
Of course if you are at a trailhead and have a cooler you can do all sorts of things such as:
In general I don't do a big lunch... but eat smaller snacks through out the day's hiking. In order of my likelihood of using:
For more ideas take a look at articles The Backcountry Cupboard, Freezer Bag Cooking, the book Backcountry Cooking From Pack to Plate in 10 Minutes by Dorcas Miller, and some notes about Drying Sauces. Also be sure to check out Pack Light, Eat Right by B. Braaten. If you are tired or raiding your local fast food joints for single serving condiments and other meal enhancers, check out minimus.biz. There is a article with an table of calories to weight for various foods which you might find useful. You might also what to try some of the ideas in Vegetarian Cooking for backpacking.