I just returned from a two-night backpacking trip on the coast of Lake Michigan and happily ate "ketogenic" or fat-burning foods the entire trip. I used to backpack frequently before I had kids but that was over 10 years ago when I was eating more carb-based meals such as rice and beans. To prepare my grocery list for the trip, I did a little online reading before I packed our food. I was surprised to see the number of people blogging about eating pemmican and granted, two days was a very short trip compared to most, but I was happy to put together some alternatives. Here are a couple pics of what we packed in. Breakfast was hard-boiled eggs (made beforehand) with summer sausage and pre-cut veggies. Dinner was a pepperoni I purchased at the Willy Street Coop with garlic, onions, olive oil, and re-hydrated mushrooms. Lunches and snacks were beef jerky, seaweed snacks, nuts, hard goat cheese, cut veggies, other cured meats, and electrolyte powder (plus Baja Gold salt, of course!).
I started strictly following a ketogenic diet five weeks ago. For me, this meant I eliminated fruits, very starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes, and grains. I emphasize vegetables, animal proteins and fats. I have been very pleased that it has helped my low blood sugar issues and I no longer need to snack every few hours in order to be active or stay focused. I am sleeping even more soundly than before, too. It took me a couple of weeks of being on the diet in order to measure trace ketones in the urine. This is a good sign that I am burning a healthy level of fat reserves for fuel plus the energy from what I am eating of course.