Fasting while hiking | Everything you need to know

In this article I will discuss fasting while hiking. Let’s start with one of the most asked questions about this topic: Is fasting while hiking a good idea? Fasting while hiking can be a great experience, but it can also be a very bad idea. It all depends on what type of hike you will be doing, what type of diet you will be following and how your body responds to these things.

Remember, everybody is different, and bodies might react differently. It’s not because somebody else had a great experience with a 14 day hiking trip while water fasting that you will too. If you are considering a combination of fasting and hiking, this is the best advice I can give you: Listen to your body.

Especially on technical, dangerous and remote hiking trips, you should not be testing your limits!

 

Is fasting while hiking a good idea?

I already gave you the short answer. Now, let’s go a bit more in-depth.

Fasting while hiking can definitely be good for your body. It makes your fast a lot more effective because you burn a lot of calories while hiking.

However, as I said before, it all depends on the type of fast your are doing. And, more importantly, whether or not you actually listen to your body.

Also, extreme hiking trips and extreme types of fasting don’t mix too well. So don’t overdo it and always have a backup plan. In the end, I would say fasting while hiking is indeed a good idea as long as you are properly prepared.

In order to be prepared, I would recommend reading the section about the type of fast you are considering.

 

Build muscle and burn fat while hiking

The dream is always to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. Some people claim it’s impossible, others claim it’s the way to go. When we talk about building muscles while hiking, it’s not about gaining huge amounts of muscles. However, hiking is great for toning your muscles and really get a lot of definition.

If you are fasting while hiking, you probably care about your physical appearance. Therefore, it’s probably a goof idea to try and build muscles while you burn fat.

This won’t be possible if you are going on a water diet, but if you are on a milder diet, this can be done. The main focus is to eat enough protein.

A great way top increase toning of the muscles is to use trekking poles. Not only will it help with building muscles, it will also help your burn more calories, even up to 20% more.

If you are interested in buying trekking poles, my go-to recommendation are the trailbuddy trekking poles. They are pretty cheap and have great quality!

In case you really care about building muscle while hiking, you should probably take a look at the following article: Build muscle while hiking. Toning muscle while fasting and hiking is just a great combination if you do it the right way!

 

Intermittent fasting while hiking

If you don’t know what intermittent fasting is, you can find a pretty good overview in this beginner guide to intermittent fasting.

One of my favourite types of fasting while hiking is intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting is a type of fasting where you only eat within an X hour window per day. The most common method is to eat within an 8 hour window and then don’t eat (or drink drinks with calories in them) for the next 16 hours. The most popular way of doing this is to “just” skip breakfast and don’t snack.

Yes, you can still drink coffee and tea within those 16 hours, but you cannot add any sugar or milk!

The great thing about this type of diet is that you can ease in to it. For example, you could start with a 12 hour window – which is pretty easy to do. You can just eat breakfast at 10am and make sure to finish dinner before 18pm.

The next day you could try to make the “eating-window” smaller. You could try not eating for 14 hours, if you are feeling good, you could try 18 hours.

All in all, intermittent fasting is great because it is very effective, but it doesn’t come with a lot of risks (as long as you listen to your body). It’s also a type of fasting that you don’t have to do for multiple days in order to be effective.

 

Keto diet while hiking

Not familiar with keto diet? Learn all about it in this article: beginner guide to a keto diet.

Keto fasting while hiking is also a solid option to lose some weight. My only real comment about this diet is that it would be recommended to already be in a state of ketosis before you start hiking.

Keto is a diet where you completely cut all types of carbs. Instead of using carbs as your main fuel source, you will use fat as a main fuel source. Once your body is connected to this “new fuel source” you shouldn’t feel a lot weaker or anything. However, in the transition period, you will feel very tired and weak. It will take around 2-4 days before your body reaches a state of ketosis.

The bottom line is, keto diet can be great for hiking on one condition: your body should already be in a state of ketosis before you start your hiking trip.

If you are planning a multiday hiking trip in a very remote area, you should now that it’s a lot less convenient to live off a keto diet than a regular diet. Carbs are super easy to carry in your backpack (just think about brown rice, couscous, etc). Sources of fat and meat tend to spoil easier than carbs.

I would recommend bringing enough hard cheese and beef jerky!

 

Water fasting while hiking

A water fast is pretty straightforward, but you might not be familiar with all the benefits, learn more about it here: Water fasting.

Water fasting is basically the most extreme fast you can do. It includes a diet of water and water. Well, technically, you can drink anything that has no calories in it, but you can’t eat a thing.

Needless to say that there are some risks you should take into account when considering water fasting while hiking.

I would recommend this only to people who already have experience with water fasting and with hiking. Also, I would not try this out on technical/difficult hikes. The lack of energy might be the cause of a misstep, especially if you are not used to the combination of fasting and hiking.

Would I completely advice against hiking while water fasting? Probably not, but you should be well prepared and be willing to quit the fast if your body demands it. So don’t start your 7 day long and remote hiking trip without bringing any food.

At the very least you should bring some survival tabs as an emergency solution.

 

Low carb diet while hiking

Low carb diets are among the most popular diets. Plus, they have been around for years, in different formulas like the Atkins diet.

It’s pretty similar to the ketosis diet. Beef jerky and hard cheese are still your best friends. However, it’s less extreme, and you can still eat some carbs.

Low carb fasting while hiking can definitely be done. You can decide how extreme of a diet you want. If you feel like your body really needs a bit more carbohydrates, you could always add a bit more rice to your daily hiking diet.

It’s the perfect diet to try out on your next hiking trip. Once again, I would recommend easing in to it. Start by cutting a small amount of carbs, see whether or not you still feel healthy after that. If you do, you can take it to the next level and cut even more carbs.

 

Conclusion

There are plenty of benefits from fasting in combination with hiking.

Even Vogue said it:

The benefits of walking Hiking is ideal for reconnect with nature and becoming aware of its vastness, fragility and ecosystem. Walking is calming and gives you plenty of time to think, breathe and thus by extension, relax and rejuvenate.

However, you should be very aware of all the risks and be able to deal with them. The most important thing will be listening to your body. If you feel weak, tired and close to sick, you should probably add some more calories to your diet – or simply switch to a more varied diet. As long as you feel fit and healthy, there is no reason to stop fasting.

Bringing the right foods on your trip can be pretty hard because a lot of healthy food tends to spoil fast. One of the easiest way to deal with this is to buy dehydrated food, or better yet, dehydrate your own food. If you want to learn more about eating healthy on the trail and how preserve food on a multiday hiking trip, take a look at this article: Eating healthy on the trail.

Oh and if you would consider buying a food dehydrator, I would highly recommend the Excalibur 3926TB food dehydrator.

Also, if you are going on an extreme, technical and difficult hiking trip, I would highly recommend to skip the extreme fasting methods.