weight loss
so i know there is a weight loss associated with a thru hike, but after reading some threads in the forum, it seems that many gain back the weight. is this the norm?
pt
before washing your jeans shorts, pre-treat by throwing them away.
Some weight gain is inevitable ...the appetite lingers.
The amount is directly proportional to your level of activity following the hike.
'Slogger
The more I learn ...the more I realize I don't know.
Norm?
Don't know if it is the norm but I lost 60 pounds and was holding my own until my ex gave me the heave ho. I blame the last bit of slide back on my divorce LOL. Certainly have it all back now. Plan to do something about that later this year.
Hiked same year as Walking Home. I lost 55 pounds, my wife didn't throw me out but I still gained 45 to 50 of in back. Bought a whole new wardrobe the month I finished. Six months later I brought it to the thrift store as my pre-thru hike clothhes fit again.
[FONT="Arial Black"][/FONT]Don't fret the petty things, &
Don't pet the sweaty things[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][/FONT][I][/I]
(I'm moxie00 on my apple-moxie on my PC)
wow, why do ya'll think the weight came back? the eating of lotsa food after the hike, the appetite that lingers? the lack of walking 10 hours a day? i guess any combo of this would contribute. have you guys heard of anyone who kept the weight off? what was their secret?
before washing your jeans shorts, pre-treat by throwing them away.
I lost 60 but have gained it all back due to good cooking and a sedentary lifestlyle of driving around a lot..
Yes, I knew a couple who kept their weight loss and fitness gain. They had to go off trail because of an injury, but they immediately went to bicycles, cycling across the US. Then it was time to begin their hike again, and they were ready. The "norm," I fear, is to return to pre-hike and possibly more. I believe the reason is that we have lived in the dream world of being able to eat ANYTHING without gaining, and we think that will continue after we are back to the old routine. Intellectually we know better, but we are on a slide.--Kinnickinic
You never know just what you can do until you realize you absolutely have to do it.
--Salaun
Sometimes dat lobstah dip spoils ya knowOriginally Posted by WalkinHome
When I lost 55 pounds it was too much for my body to lose, By the time I hit New York my fat reserves were gone and I was putting squeeze margarine on everything I ate just to maintain what weight I had left. When I finished my wife said I looked like I spent the summer at a death camp. I wish I had just put on about 30 pounds but not walking 12-15 miles a day with 45-50 pounds on my back, living on a diet with more than 2500 calories a day, and driving a car again made it hard to control weight gain. I am back to within 10 pounds of my pre hike weight and while it is too much I am happy with my weight. It's my gut I am not real happy with.
Don't eat the yellow snow. O
thanks guys. one of the benifits of my hike i am looking forward to to is some weight loss. i did a 18 month experiemnt with a cubicle job and, well, let's say the extra 25 lbs is not pretty ( along with the loss of my sanity, social life). I'm kind of hoping to jump start myself back into a non-sedintary life style.
pt
before washing your jeans shorts, pre-treat by throwing them away.
1996 - started at 190 and finished at 190 on the AT
2001 - started at 230 and finsihed at 190 on the PCT
today at 200 ... need to hike, walk & bike more
lost 30-35lbs from 2 months of hiking last summer, gained it all back, but now I'm working out everday and its falling off again.
Gaiter
homepage.mac.com/thickredhair
web.mac.com/thickredhair/AT_Fall_07
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I'm thinking that age plays a huge role in the process. I turned 54 on the AT in 2003. Lost a total of 38 lbs by Harpers and then levelled off, never gaining/losing any more weight.
Got home and by December I was back at my starting weight. Granted I wasn't burning the types of calories I was on the trail, but I was pretty much "on the go" during those 3 months.
Good news for me though was last year in January I did make a conscientous effort to get my weight back under control. Started doing more walking and I eliminated sugar from my diet and cut WAY back on snacks, especially during the day. After 3 months I had lost about 26 lbs and I have been able to keep them off, give or take.
What concerns me now though is that I am 25 lbs lighter than I was when I started at Springer in March 2003. On my next distance hike will I lost another 38 lbs ...YIKES !!
'Slogger
The more I learn ...the more I realize I don't know.
I gained 15 lbs on the AT. Yep, gained. My guess is muscle weight combined with hiker appetite is what did it. I actually lost 5 lbs after I finished hiking, but put it back on soon after.
Don't take anything I say seriously... I certainly don't.
my weight stats...
1996 PCT hike age:26
started at 160ish finished around 135
2000 AT hike age:30
started at 165 finished around 140
2006 CDT hike age: 36
started at 170ish finished around 140
to date I have only gained about 5 pounds back, planning on getting a tattoo on my pelvis to celebrate the flat stomach and a reminder to stay away from large quantities of beer! Stay active! Effect change before it effects you!
Blister "Bitchen" Sister
There is no reason why you can't keep the weight off. It's like someone who has been on a diet and lost 50 lbs. It would be easy and quick to gain it all back if they went to their pre-diet eating and exercising. But if you maintain a weight for a period of time and continue eating healthy and exercising you will keep the weight off.
This is great news for me. I don't want to be confused with a trekking pole when I finish.
I must be in the minority
During my hike, I was very conscious of the weight loss phenomenon among men. I did everything in my power not to lose weight, and yet I too lost weight, although not nearly the huge numbers people are using. I started my hike around 165. In the first 7 weeks of my hike, I dropped about 10 pounds. I got injured at that point and was off the trail for about 3 1/2 weeks. When I returned to the trail, I was about 157. I finished at about 155. Now I'm back to about 167, about 8 months later.
I think if you are prepared for it, you can handle the rigors of the hike without significant weight loss. And further, if you do lose a ton of weight, there is a reason you gain it back; your body isn't designed to lose that much weight over that little time. It only makes sense that your body, as a means of self-preservation, would try to store excess energy at a much faster rate after your hike. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's my two cents.
Fat again...
I only lost maybe 10 lbs. on my thru-hike, but it was in all the right places. Except for the weird tan-lines, I was looking GOOD. What's depressing about it (for me anyway) was that I could never keep up that level of activity -- so after few happy weeks of daisy dukes and skimpy bikinis I was back to my usual relative flabbiness.
I think Stuco mentioned "continuing to eat healthy" and exercising, but I was certainly never eating healthy on the trail. I was eating entire strawberry rhubarb pies and burgers that weighed a full pound. And who has time to hike 15 miles a day in their real life? I guess my problem is that I don't really like exercising. Only hiking (and eating).
For people who lose substantial amounts of weight on a diet, after a period of time, year or more, 95% of them have gained back literally all of it, and some gain back more than they lost.
One of the reasons for the widespread obesity is likely this great difficulty in keeping the weight off.
Evidently, there are many who appear to view weight loss as a "cure". Instead, weight loss is the start of a whole new way of eating and living, if you intend to keep the weight off. It is a never ending struggle, unless you give up your former attitudes and habits of eating (and exercise).
Don't worry - you aren't at all compelled to be "forever thin".
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