Health

When we head out on our backpacking trips we usually make our own food rather than buy pre-packaged products (you can find some of our recipes here). Given our preferred diet (vegan), a couple of food intolerances, and the fact that we don't have a limitless budget, it really is the best option for us. Our family can eat out for the same price as it costs us to buy a round of freeze-dried meals - not exactly economical! I am also not a fan of all the waste generated by most backpacker meals, there has got to be a better way to package those things.

Last weekend's backpacking trip included a few product tests,
including minimalist footwear for my upcomig series on BackpackingLight
and some trail food from Outdoor Herbivore on my Bushcooker LT III.

Occasionally however we will splurge. The last time we went for a splurge I looked around for something healthy but almost went into shock when I saw the price tags. In the end we had to compromise considerably on our usual healthy fare to keep things on a reasonable budget.

About a month ago I met Kim and her cool new company on Twitter: Outdoor Herbivore - a vegetarian camp food company based out of North Carolina. After perusing her website for a few minutes I quickly decided that next time I buy backpacking food, this is where I am going to get it.

Outdoor Herbivore makes vegetarian and vegan meals using whole foods, whole grains, and no artificial flavorings or preservatives. Most of their ingredients are organic, they use much less packaging than the big companies, and to top it all off their prices are very reasonable. The last time I looked at Backpackers Pantry organic meals they cost almost $8 - $10 each for about 300 calories of food and way too many ingredients. Outdoor Herbivore meals are priced in the $5 - $6 range, have around 600 calories each (depending on the meal) and much better ingredients.

I asked Kim if she would be interested in sending us a sample for review and she agreed. Next came our requirements: we preferred vegan and wanted something both wheat and corn free. For most backpacking food companies there are exactly zero items on the menu that would qualify. For Outdoor Herbivore it was no problem, we were sent three meals that met our requirements, and I am sure there are many more that would qualify. Note: their food is processed in a facility that processes wheat, soy and nuts, so if you are really allergic to one of those, you may need to look elsewhere.

Lickety-Split Lentils - This one was our family's favorite of the two entrees we tested.
It has a little bite and tons of flavor accented by crunchy peanuts. Delicious!

Naked Freckle Burrito - A multi-purpose meal, this one is designed to be eaten
as either a soup (just add extra water), a filling for a tortilla, or on it's own.
Although not as flavorful as the lentils, it was yummy and filling.

Apple Quinoa Oatmeal - This one is perfect for breakfast, although we found it
works equally well for dessert. Absolutely delicious, with big chunks of apple,
and whole grains.

We like the packaging - the meals come in little ziploc-style bags that can be cleaned and re-used (if you are into that sort of thing). Cooking was easy too. Of the three meals we tried all that was required was to boil water, add the package contents, stir, and let sit for 10 minutes.

In addition to creating great food Outdoor Herbivore has some other products and services for long distance hikers. They sell a sprouting kit that allows hikers to make bean sprouts and greens while on the trail. While not practical for shorter durations, these kits make sense for longer trips and thru-hikes allowing more options for fresh vegetable matter. As a service they will ship food to over 100 locations along the AT, and they offer discounts for large orders.

And the verdict is...

A unanimous 5 thumbs-up for Outdoor Herbivore from our discerning backpackers!
Our entire family really enjoyed these meals. Believe me, finding food that
everyone can agree on can be a challenge, but nobody in our family disliked any of
the samples we tried.

Win Your Next Backpacking Meal!

Outdoor Herbivore has offered to supply one backpacker with their next meal for free. All you have to do to qualify is leave a comment. The cut-off date for comments will be midnight on Sunday August 15th. We will then randomly pick one lucky winner and send them a free meal!

Update 17/08/10: Congratulations to Kate who was selected as our winner! Enjoy your meal, and stop  afterwards to let us know what you thought of it!

At some point in my younger years I decided to make a commitment to life-long fitness. Although I have found my underlying motivations have changed over time, the good news is that the commitment is still there. These days my motivation is fueled by being a father: I want to adventure with my children as they get older, not just be relegated to the sidelines wishing to have my youth back. I also want to be able to LIVE my life, not just exist in a state of constant sickness and steady decline as seems to increasingly be the norm in our modern society.

My original strategy for fitness revolved around traditional weight training and some form of cardio (walking, cylcling, running, etc.). In order to balance fitness with family life I made sure that all activities could be done close to home and inexpensively. I reasoned that if I coudn't do it easily, then I wouldn't do it consistently. To be able to weight train consistently I gradually built up a home gym. To keep things accessible and inexpensive, I slowly dropped activities that required going to special places (i.e. rock climbing, kayaking) or spending lots of money (i.e. golf, downhill skiing).

As time has passed, I have started to adopt another philosophy that is shaping the way I view fitness: simplicity. Over the last few years, my wife and I have been striving to simplify our life. We find that when our life gets simpler there is a subsequent increase in quality, mostly because it allows us to spend more time on things that are important, and less time maintaining complexity (or "stuff"). We still have a long way to go - it is a process that can take a lot of time - but we have found that the results are well worth it. For myself, the latest phase of this process has been the search for a simpler fitness routine. My criteria for a fitness regimen are:

• It needs to be do-able any time, anywhere, in any season.

• It needs to have minimal equipment requirements.

• It needs to be scalable with lots of room to grow.

• It needs to be safe, health promoting, and effective.

• It needs to be interesting, and fun.

Somewhere along the way while doing my series on minimalist footwear and researching fitness philosophies/systems (like MovNat), I met a fellow blogger and minimalist footwear proponent John Sifferman. Incidentally, John also happens to be a personal trainer. When I posed my question to him, his response was to look at Circular Strength Training (CST). A little more investigation of John's website soon revealed to me that he happens to be a huge proponent of that training system. I hadn't heard of CST before, but after a little more research I began to realize that he may be on to something. CST is a fitness system based on three "wings": Joint mobility (Intu-Flow), yoga (Prasara Body-Flow Yoga), and strength training using Clubbells. It seems to have gained quite a following in the martial arts world, and is also being adopted by sports teams, law enforcement, military, and others.

As of last week, I have decided to take the plunge. I ordered the starter package for Intu-Flow, and am in the process of selling my room full of weight training equipment. This feels like a huge leap of faith for me, especially since I have been indoctrinated for so long believing that barbells and dumbbells were the "only true way" to build quality muscle. I am also feeling a certain satisfaction by freeing myself from all of the equipment requirements I used to have. It is almost like I was shackled to the weights, and unable to break free. Now I have renewed enthusiasm and the anticipation for learning something new.

In addition to CST I have also started to run regularly again. This time I am doing things differently (as opposed to my early days of running, prior to my discovery of minimal footwear). I am doing it barefoot and with minimalist footwear, and I am trying to run on trails as much as possible. I am finding the combination of trails and barefoot/minimal is absolutely wonderful. It is great for developing and strengthening my feet and legs, and it is great for my spirit that loves being surrounded by nature. I should have started doing this a long time ago!

How do you keep clean in the backcountry? My wife (Renee) has been making all of our own soap now for the past year-and-a-half. She has recipes for everything from hand soap, to laundry soap, to dishwasher soap, and everything else in-between. We originally started this venture due to the fact that I have very sensitive skin and we were also getting concerned about all of the chemicals that are being put in beauty products these days. It turns out that homemade soap actually has quite a lot going for it:

Winter Woods Soap

• Made with natural ingredients: There are no dyes, artificial fragrances and colors, or toxins with unknown long-term harmful effects. The only known long-term effect of using natural soap is cleanliness!

• Safer for the enviornment: Biodegradable. Less packaging. No detergents, chemicals, or other nasties that cause fish to birth young with three heads. You should still be responsible when disposing of your suds in the backcountry however, making sure to keep our water sources as clean as possible.

• Effective: We have a friend who is a mechanic. He says that he has never found a soap that get's his hands cleaner that the homemade bar we gave him. Our experience has shown that natural soap is more effective at eliminating body-odor than commercial soaps with strong perfumes.

• Multi-purpose: Use it to wash your body, your hair, your dishes, or your clothes. You could even brush your teeth with it if you can put up with a soapy taste in your mouth.

• Locally made: Support local businesses. You can always find locally-made homemade soap. Better yet, if you are crafty, you can learn to make it yourself.

• Free: You can get it for free. Actually, normally it costs money, but not if you are one of the lucky ones this week. I have two bars of our Winter Woods flavor (don't try eating it though) homemade soap to give away so you can try it yourself. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post before the end of the day on Sunday April 12th. I will make the drawing for the winners next week. Tell all your friends... or maybe on second thought, that would reduce your chances of winning... oh well, do whatever you want.

Update: And the winners are... Robert and Pamela! Congratulations! I just sent you an email message asking for your mailing address, if for some reason you didn't get it, please get ahold of us using the Contact page. Enjoy!