Abso-freaking-lutely.
But, there is a caveat: what you eat on the trail is just as important as how much you eat. Don't get me wrong, indulging will be awesome (and necessary for mental well-being, cause who wants to be completely regimented when having a good time is also a crucial goal?) but, as with most of life's pleasures, moderation is key.
After walking 100 miles in a week, damn straight I want to eat and enjoy a fat, sloppy burger! But I have to remember that that burger is a carrot--a carrot dangling at the end of a series of many miles of mostly good eating decisions.
What do I mean by mostly good? I'm referring to eating with goals in mind. In the same way that psychological challenges on the trail need to be paced with long and short-term goals, so too do the food challenges. I'll be writing a detailed nutrition post at a later time, but the general approach is to eat high-energy, fast acting foods while mobile, with well balanced foods (proper carb-to-protein ratios) reserved for times of rest and recovery--whether those be entire rest days or the inevitable periods throughout the day where we have to stall our journey.
It's easy to eat calories, but eating the right calories will make the difference between having the physical and mental energy to take another step or succumbing to exhaustion and lethargy. Moreover, what we eat during the trail will carry over to how our body processes food after the trail. Post-trail weight gain is a reality that can't be ignored (even for continually active people), but it can be avoided and managed with proper pacing on the trail.
Now again, to reiterate an earlier point, Callie and I want to and plan to indulge, but only as a way to reward ourselves for tackling our physical, mental, and dietary challenges, as well as a way to incentivize further advancement on the trail. Because, after all, how much more appetizing would that carrot dangling just out or reach be if it were earned . . . and also a burger?
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