Is it difficult to maintain weight while thru-hiking the AT? I am interested in long distance backpacking but at 5'9"-5'10" and only weighing 135 I am a bit concerned about losing weight that I cannot afford to spare.

Obviously it is important to eat high calorie foods and good protein while on the trail but I have a feeling that even eating a lot won't be able to help me when I am hiking 20+ miles a day for months at a time.

Has anyone here been able to maintain their body weight and are there certain factors that affect weight on the trail?

Is it difficult to maintain weight while thru-hiking the AT? I am interested in long distance backpacking but at 5'9"-5'10" and only weighing 135 I am a bit concerned about losing weight that I cannot afford to spare.

Obviously it is important to eat high calorie foods and good protein while on the trail but I have a feeling that even eating a lot won't be able to help me when I am hiking 20+ miles a day for months at a time.

Has anyone here been able to maintain their body weight and are there certain factors that affect weight on the trail?

Male or female?
It's generally (but not always) true that men will burn up their body fat quickly and lose weight, and women gain muscle weight while losing fat. That was the case for me (female), thing fit great upon my return but I'd gained eight pounds of muscle. Another woman hiking near me looked like a skeleton, as did some (but not all) of the guys.

I ate extremely well in towns, usually a milkshake and bakery in there too, and did just fine. In the middle of the AT, you'll walk through or near many small towns, delis, hot dog stands, places to eat. It's near the end - Vermont onward, that I started to see folks really "leaning up". By Maine, some were struggling due to calorie deficit.

I started carrying whole bakery loaves of break out with me, and blocks of good, sharp New England cheddar. I craved carbs and fat, yet made sure I always had plenty of protein (pouch tuna/chicken/salmon/turkey, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, jerky, powdered milk, nuts, TVP).

Very thin people often maintain their weight; some even gain a few pounds as they gain muscle. The big weight loss is usually among those with the most to lose. You do need to eat - a lot - and calorie dense foods like nuts. Go for nutrition as much as you can, because when you're hiking, all you'll care about are calories. If you find that you are losing weight, spend more time in town so you can eat more ice cream, etc.

"thing fit great..."



Correction, left out a letter: "thingS fit great..."
My clothing fit well, was what I was trying to say.

It's a great question. Figure you're going to need 5000+ calories per day. You'll want lots of carbs (for quick energy) and protein (for long-term energy and patching your bones.) It's hard carrying enough calories without incurring a lot of weight in your food bag. Most folks pig out in towns, and for good reason. Trouble is, you end up feeling like a slug with a full belly, walking uphill, with a full pack, out of town. ;)

Fat has 9 calories per gram while protein and carbs have 4 calories per gram. So when you need more calories, add high fat items to your diet. Olive oil is a staple among hikers and adding it in liberal quantities enhances a lot of hikers' traditional meals.

While meat and eggs contain complete proteins, most vegetables contain incomplete proteins. You can compensate for this by using incomplete proteins that 'complete' each other. (http://www.bodyforlife2.com/incompletprotein.htm) For example, adding reconstituted dried beans to a corn tortilla completes the protein in both. Since most hikers rely heavily on dried veggies and grains, it is wise to learn what incomplete proteins compliment each other so you can plan to combine them in meals.

I use a lot of powdered milk and powder eggs in the dried meals I put together. Powder eggs taste awful by themselves, but add needed nutrition and body to sauces. We are section hikers - powder eggs will likely not be available to thru hikers unless they are doing mail drops.

We also take a host of vitamins and minerals every day. When hiking, we take two one-a-day vitamins (Centrum) every day. The reason is I know I'm putting my body under a lot of stress and the muscles are being torn down / rebuilt. I want my body to have everything it needs to rebuild a healthy me.

Thanks for the responses. I am a male BTW. Some of these options won't work for me as I am lactose interolerant(eating ice cream etc.) but I suppose I could bring powered soymilk instead of milk and eat soy ice cream instead(if I can find it).

I usually lose 5 to 10 lbs on a thru. I'm normally 5'11 and 150 lbs. Once i came off the trail at 140 and that was my lightest. don't worry, as long as you can afford to eat a LOT when you hit town. It makes it more fun.