Can't people be hungry anymore?

[Gumbo4x4]

There's definitely no 1 master plan. We're all built a little different

 

[kirstenb1]

Speaking for myself only, having kids has made me such a "planner". For instance, dh and I would go to WDW with only a camera, and credit cards/cash in our pockets. No need for a big backpack for us, MWAHHahHah!!!

After having our butts kicked many times, by poor planning and miserable children, we pack water bottles, extra sunblock, snacks, water ponchos, etc, etc. Agghh!!! If we took the kids on a 6 hr hike, I'd definitely pack all of the above.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I ran into this on an elk hunt once. I got a lot further back, and a lot higher up than I'd realized. Almost had to spend the night in the woods and that wasn't at all the plan. Once I'd finally stumbled, fell, and crashed my way back down to the trail, it was a HARD 2-hour hike (all downhill) back to the truck.

Oh dear! Uhm. . .I'm adding a SECOND LED to my backpack now. You can't have too much light in the dark!

I know how it feels to the crashing bit. I've had that sinking feeling when I started sliding down a gravel and sand ridge and realized well, there's no stopping and how in the blankety blank blank am I getting back UP from where I fell from! And I've picked up ticks and fire ants and chiggers along the way, just to add insult to injury!

The fun part was getting back up the ridge - I started up the way I'd come down, got halfway up and put my whole arm into a fire ant bed! I let go and slid all the way back down the gravel/clay/sand ridge and just stood there, picking fire ants off myself for a few minutes until I decided I'd just have to break a new trail! I was only lost about an hour,. All's well that ends well! (Now I make sure to tell people "Here. This point in the map? Don't ever go right. Really. Seriously. Go left, for God's sake, go left.")

And then I went out with DH that night to NOLA!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I know how it feels to the crashing bit. I've had that sinking feeling when I started sliding down a gravel and sand ridge and realized well, there's no stopping and how in the blankety blank blank am I getting back UP from where I fell from! And I've picked up ticks and fire ants and chiggers along the way, just to add insult to injury!

The fun part was getting back up the ridge - I started up the way I'd come down, got halfway up and put my whole arm into a fire ant bed! I let go and slid all the way back down the gravel/clay/sand ridge and just stood there, picking fire ants off myself for a few minutes until I decided I'd just have to break a new trail! I was only lost about an hour,. All's well that ends well! (Now I make sure to tell people "Here. This point in the map? Don't ever go right. Really. Seriously. Go left, for God's sake, go left.")

And then I went out with DH that night to NOLA!

In my case, it was a North facing slope covered in snow. And for added fun, downed timber every 20-30 feet. Basically I slid at a high rate of speed until I hit a log. Get over log, repeat process over & over until the mountain ended. Oh and yeah, it was dark by this time Glad I didn't break my ankle or something. Nobody knew where I was, so it would have been a long hike out on a bum leg.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

:
I actually hate the examples in the OP though. I think they sound very judgmental. I think taking a snack for a hike is smart. And some people like to have a snack at the movies. So what? I'm not one of them, just because I think those snacks are expensive, lol.
I wonder what makes some people have 4 cats?

We don't want 5!

But you're right, and I did come off as quite judgemental, and I shouldn't have said it that way.

I still don't think I'm going to eat during a hike though. Of course, I usually wind up packing out several pairs of other people's discarded socks (you have to hike through creekbeds) and that is probably what kills my appetite!

 

[happygirl]

I would need a snack after that much exercise.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

In my case, it was a North facing slope covered in snow. And for added fun, downed timber every 20-30 feet. Basically I slid at a high rate of speed until I hit a log. Get over log, repeat process over & over until the mountain ended. Oh and yeah, it was dark by this time Glad I didn't break my ankle or something. Nobody knew where I was, so it would have been a long hike out on a bum leg.[/QUOTE]

Do you have a GPS app on your phone now? I use Trimble Outdoors Navigator. You can see trips on it, so if you don't come back, people can see where you stopped.

Yeah, no, I'll stick with 90 degree heat and 95% humidity instead of snow. Although, we have cranky snakes in our weather. . .hmm.. Mine wasn't quite that far, thankfully. I just had ticks.

You need to come to Louisiana - flat land hunting, LOL! I know I could get lost at the hunting club (I could get lost in brown paper sack that was marked with arrows.), but it would be an easy walk out!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Speaking for myself only, having kids has made me such a "planner". For instance, dh and I would go to WDW with only a camera, and credit cards/cash in our pockets. No need for a big backpack for us, MWAHHahHah!!!

After having our butts kicked many times, by poor planning and miserable children, we pack water bottles, extra sunblock, snacks, water ponchos, etc, etc. Agghh!!! If we took the kids on a 6 hr hike, I'd definitely pack all of the above.

For a hike with kids, I have two words: hydration packs. Fill 'em with ice, then pour water on top. Get the big ones to have enough to share, and make sure to remind everyone that YOU are toting in the water, so no whining! Never let them know the reason that the old person on the trip is so cool and collected is that she has her own AC on her back.

 

[Poohforyou]

I didn't take it as snarky! It was just so weird, this realization that we've become a people who have to have food with us everywhere all the time and that suggestions that maybe we don't and that maybe being a little hungry is okay get such vehemence (I wasn't referring to your post in any way).

And though, I'm NOT taking a protein bar for my backpack - do you know what those things DO in a hot bag? But I'll stick a piece of jerky and a piece of something with fast sugar in my bag now and leave it. Not for me, but I try to be a good hiker and stop to help people when I can (My bag has all sorts of errata in it!) so who knows, that might help someone some day.

There's a difference between choosing to go hungry when there is food around if needed and going off into the wilderness with nothing. I cycle quite a bit and routinely do 50+ miles. I wouldn't think of going without at least a sport gel in my jersey. Low blood sugar can hit very quickly and lead to dangerous consequences if not dealt with.

As for kids snacking, my dd13 has always been one to need to eat many times a day. She just can't eat enough at one time to sustain her very long. I'm like that as well.

 

[Buckalew11]

We don't want 5!

Oh but just wait, the next time you see a cute little kitten, you'll want one! I know...my sister used to have 4 cats. Now? 3 dogs and 5 cats!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

There's a difference between choosing to go hungry when there is food around if needed and going off into the wilderness with nothing. I cycle quite a bit and routinely do 50+ miles. I wouldn't think of going without at least a sport gel in my jersey. Low blood sugar can hit very quickly and lead to dangerous consequences if not dealt with.

As for kids snacking, my dd13 has always been one to need to eat many times a day. She just can't eat enough at one time to sustain her very long. I'm like that as well.

You have reactive hypoglycemia? I know that for a lot of people, it's just a sign of being in really good shape and how their body works, but that scares me. Years ago when I was training to try and hike a particular mountain (moved before I could go, sadly.) I had a couple of episodes of this. Scared the bejeebers out of me! Met with my doctor who explained it as being similar to my orthostatic hypotension and tried to pitch it as a good thing!

Uhmm. . .yeah. No. I am too lazy to suffer from either these days, but I'm seriously impressed by folks who get these things and just power on through it!

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Oh but just wait, the next time you see a cute little kitten, you'll want one! I know...my sister used to have 4 cats. Now? 3 dogs and 5 cats!

Oh no! I will THROW large sums of money at a rescue group to take it the next time I find an abandoned kitten somewhere! All the positions for cats have been filled at this establishment. There are no vacancies!

 

[disykat]

Why worry about the "we" at all. Focus on "you" and let everyone else just decide for themselves. It really isn't anyone else's business what I eat, and questioning a friend on a snack choice is the furthest thing from my mind. Why all of the judgement?

Seriously? Judgement? Why is it so taboo to discuss snacking habits? I don't get why people are so defensive on this thread.

I can snack with the best of them, and I don't feel judged by the OP. I agree with her overall point, just not which occasions "require" snacks.

 

[ironpig70]

What happens when your 6 hour hike turns to an overnighter?

A twisted ankle or a fall and you could be stuck out there.

Even if all goes as plan I am taking food on a 6 hour hike. Its 6 hours and about every 4 I need to eat especially if I am exerting myself.

 

[smitch425]

Seriously? Judgement? Why is it so taboo to discuss snacking habits? I don't get why people are so defensive on this thread.

I can snack with the best of them, and I don't feel judged by the OP. I agree with her overall point, just not which occasions "require" snacks.

I'm guessing you didn't read my subsequent comment. :

 

[sasywtch]

You know this is true, and a good way of looking at it, but why do we assume we have to eat everywhere we go? Why can't we go places and not eat/consume lots of calories?

I will admit, I probably don't eat at the functions you mention because I'm hungry. I'm eating because it's part of the activity.
Movies=popcorn
Hiking-we would stop at Subway, get a sandwich and some chips and halfway in our hike, we'd stop to rest, eat and then get going again. Sometimes we'd pack salami, crackers, fruit. It wasn't so much hunger, it was part of the activity. Same thing with baseball games and sunflower seeds.

 

[PaulaSB12]

I buy food at the cinema because its an evening out, I take a meal to work becaus I work a 12 hour shift so with the travel time to and from work it would be 13 hours without food.

 

[java]

We hike often. A 4 hour planned hike can easily turn into a6-8 hour hike based on conditions. We go with kids. You bet I bring snacks. It can help an 8 year old to carry on. We throw some granola bars and bananas in the bag along with water and hike. I never thought of it as being hungry or not. We are often hungry, but why not avoid it if you can? I was girl scout briefly, the one thing I learned was be prepared!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I don't understand this attitude at all.

People argue it's important to bring food in case you get lost. The rebuttal "I don't get lost" is, to be frank, arrogant. People get lost all of the time. It happens. You drop and break your compass, your maps get wet, your phone runs out of battery. Worse, you fall and break a bone, in which case, you know exactly where you are and still get back to civilization.

You bring food and water when you hike. It's just what you do.

 

[design_mom]

I see that you've commented that you realize your first post came off judgemental. I think your real question is not "why isn't it okay to be hungry anymore", it's "why does food have to be a central part of so many activities?"

I honestly don't know. I agree that there are a lot more things (sunday school, etc.) where there's a "snack" served... Personally, my kids hate sunday school and I think they offer the snack as a "bribe" to make it easier to get the kids to come. We just went because we "had to" and I'm sure my kids would go because they "had to" if there wasn't a snack served.

But, regarding the hiking incident, I do think you come off as judgmental and somewhat arrogant. You sound like an experienced hiker who is experienced in this particular park, with some "specialized equipment" (waterproof map, GPS-tracked hiking app, LED-lighted backpack, etc.) If you need all that stuff, then it sounds like this isn't a well-marked, well-maintained "nature walk"-style hiking trail. It sounds like a serious hike.

You acknowledge that your friend is not a serious hiker. I am not a serious hiker either. I've taken some long "hikes" in national parks and metro parks but they were all very well marked/maintained. I do not have any hiking equipment. I am not well versed in trail survival, but I've definitely heard the stories of hikers who had to be airlifted out of the woods because they fell down a hill and broke their ankle. And, even as a non-hiker, I've heard 1novascotian's advice to take food/water with you.

If I was going on a 4-6 hour hike. I probably would take something with me because it's better safe than sorry. I may or may not actually eat it during the hike. Also, I am not much of a snacker but, for me, 6 hours would be just about time for a meal. (I just counted it out in my head and I think I usually have about 5 hours between breakfast and lunch, and 6 between lunch and dinner. That's "cutting it close" on needing something, even on a regular day without extra exercise. And if I get hungry, I get grumpy... and that would kind of ruin a "fun hike." Better to carry something just in case.)

When teaching safe hiking practices, it is generally taught that it is important to bring easy to pack, snacks like protein bars. If something were to happen (ie: a broken ankle, or you get lost) and you end up back there for much more than the planned time, it is important to have some food with you.

I always pack food when I go hiking, not much but a bit just in case. Do I always eat it? no, but its better safe than sorry.

For this park: DH knows my hiking plan; I have my phone in an impact resistant case inside a ziploc baggie; I carry a good plastic compass; a waterproof topo map; and 3 or 4 print outs of the trails (and my route is available for DH to view from my GPS app in real time). Seriously, I would have to be unconscious not to be found before I starved to death and unconscious people don't eat. Water is what you need to be prepared for here, and that I've got covered. (Hydration pack with purifying tablets in a pocket.)

And no, this person has never done any serious or non-serious hiking.