Is weight gain the dirty little secret of thru-hiking?

[Ravennessa]

I haven't read it all but if someone else ahs posted my appologues... its like jojo dieting..
When you starve the body for a longer period of time the body will put on extra pounds after in case you get something similar happening again... Hence why women that are on and off dieting often shed the pounds and then gain more again...

and the older you get.... the harder to get rid of them...
I can vouch for it as a woman at 230 lbs.... Im lucky though Im massive so its not all fat Im heavier than average even when skinny at 180 lbs being a size 8.. but Id be guessing that its the same effect...

[StormBird]

great articles! It definitely sheds some light on what I have been experiencing in the last 4 months since I finished my thru. I guess I am going to hit weight training pretty hard from now on and load up on my carbs through veggies instead of the normal staples. Thanks for the info guys!

[fredmugs]

I have never been on the trail for 3 weeks or more so I have never experienced thru hiker hunger. When I talk to thru's or read their journals the crap that they eat amazes me.

I'm no dietician but I think one of the worst things you can do is continuously spike your blood sugar levels. Eating a half gallon of ice cream to me sounds incredibly stupid. I would imagine that eating high fat worthless calories every time you get to a town has got to take it's toll on you over time.

I remember rolling into the Bears Den hostel and getting the hiker special. The pizza was horrible enough but then when I saw that a pint of Ben and Jerry's has 56g of fat I was shocked. If they truly cared about people they would stop making their products.

I'm doing a Biggest Loser contest right now. I'm eating 1,500 calories or less a day with no more than 35g of fat and 100g of net carbs. I'm also buring 600 - 900 calories a day exercising. I have done this every day since the super bowl. The weight is coming off like crazy and I'm not hungry. Normally I try to weigh 195 in the summer and I'm currently at 187. 25 years ago when I got out of the Marine Corps I weighed 182.

BTW - one grapefruit has 25g of carbs and a very hugh sugar content. Eating all the grapefruit you want is probably a bad thing.

[sbhikes]

It is amazing how much you need to eat when hiking 20-30 miles a day. Here's what I ate after a few months on the trail and after a section that included my longest day, 36 miles.

At Timberline Lodge I ate:
2 cups of yogurt
fruit salad
bowl of granola, maybe two
Belgian waffle with berries and whipped cream
small croissant
other small pastries
some kind of cheesy potato casserole
bacon
about 7 cups of coffee
I only stopped because I couldn't slouch in my chair anymore.

I skipped lunch that day but ate dinner. Was quite hungry. I may have also had a pint of ice cream that day, but I wouldn't call that lunch.

Hummingbird was a woman running the PCT, doing 45-55 miles a day. After her first 60 miler, to celebrate she and a friend both ate:
- a big ice cream
- then a full dinner
- then another big ice cream
- a second full dinner
- another big ice cream.

My friend says they could have continued like that all night but eventually restaurants close and people get sleepy. Hummingbird probably weighed about 100lbs!

I honestly did not believe that hiker hunger would affect me. I thought it was just young men being young men. I had always lost my appetite while backpacking. But somewhere around 300 miles or so I had absolutely no energy on the trail and absent-mindedly I ate my entire week's ration of trail mix in one sitting. Suddenly I felt a lot better. That's when I realized I really needed to eat. Then the hunger began.

It became like a grave responsibility to eat as much as possible in town so I could make it through the next section of trail. And then I'd run through the next section of trail fast enough not to run out of food. I didn't go overboard on pizza and ice cream. I did the pint of ice cream trick only twice. I never once ate any pizza on my 2 hikes. In Ashland I ate an entire platter of meat at the Indian restaurant. Lots of times I'd get a big salad. I favored real food over junk food in town. But I did eat a lot of food and I did start making my choices for what food to carry based on calories primarily. The more calories per item the better, and that naturally favors food with more fat.

I am convinced there is no healthy food for the trail. Dehydrated food is not as healthy as fresh. I cannot see what difference there is between fig newtons (cookies) and oatmeal. A great deal of food eaten on the trail is the same as food eaten at home such as pasta, tuna, crackers, hummus, cheese, peanut butter (I even brought the natural style.)

That's all during the hike, though. Afterward it is back to normal life again. It was really hard after my first big section to curb my raving hunger. The second time my body weight had already started creeping up while on the trail. It was an easy switch to stop eating like a hiker. But the gnawing hunger took almost a year to be completely gone. I think I could easily backpack now with pasta dinners that only fill my pot 1/3 up instead of to the brim and I'd probably lose my appetite again like I used to.

[Tilly]

I have never been on the trail for 3 weeks or more so I have never experienced thru hiker hunger. When I talk to thru's or read their journals the crap that they eat amazes me.

I'm no dietician but I think one of the worst things you can do is continuously spike your blood sugar levels. Eating a half gallon of ice cream to me sounds incredibly stupid. I would imagine that eating high fat worthless calories every time you get to a town has got to take it's toll on you over time.

I remember rolling into the Bears Den hostel and getting the hiker special. The pizza was horrible enough but then when I saw that a pint of Ben and Jerry's has 56g of fat I was shocked. If they truly cared about people they would stop making their products.

I'm doing a Biggest Loser contest right now. I'm eating 1,500 calories or less a day with no more than 35g of fat and 100g of net carbs. I'm also buring 600 - 900 calories a day exercising. I have done this every day since the super bowl. The weight is coming off like crazy and I'm not hungry. Normally I try to weigh 195 in the summer and I'm currently at 187. 25 years ago when I got out of the Marine Corps I weighed 182.

Before I thru'd I kind of thought the same thing, too. If I only knew the amount of crap that I would be eating on the trail! Oh my.

Unfortunately crap food is the best hiker fuel. If I'm out for a few days or weeks, I have plenty of reserves. But once I'm on the trail for 10-12 hours a day, eating about 3 or 4 thousand calories of flat out crap food gave me great energy. That kind of exercise day in and day out, yeah, you're going to use all the simple sugar you put in your body.

I remember coming into Waynesboro after 8 days on the trail. I was STARVING. I was so horribly hungry. I wanted to go to McDonalds. The night before I was possibly fantasizing about eating at McDonald's.(I normally eat at fast food establishment maybe once a year, and I haven't eaten a meal at McDonald's in years, even.) I probably ate about 4 egg/cheese muffins, about 3 cups of coffee with plenty of sugar and cream, 6 six hashbrowns, and a large milkshake. You get the idea. I heard some one say in disgust..."How does someone so skinny eat so much food?"

Your hunger levels just change. The base of what I ate in town and on the trail was "healthy" in relative terms, but I had to supplement with lots and lots of ice cream. I was one of those 'stupid' people that ate probably a gallon of ice cream in every town...every day. If you're hiking every day, you will be in a caloric deficit by day 2 of your day out of town. I doubt that I'd be sustained with only a salad and the equivalent of a skinless chicken breat (I don't eat much meat.) Also, you need the fat. And the carbs. And the protein. You need it in huge amounts.

Now thinking about it, I don't even want to mention what I ate at Cowboy's on my way out of Damascus. Or even calculate how many pints of Ben & Jerry's, quarts of Breyer's, or boxes of Klondike Bars I ate over the course of the hike.

I weigh the same as I did before I left. No way could I maintain an underweight hiker frame in the regular world. And no way could I eat what I eat at home one the trail. I would starve.

[T-Dubs]

I'm eating 1,500 calories or less a day with no more than 35g of fat and 100g of net carbs.

I'm going to guess the lowering your carb intake is playing a major role in your success. The graphic from MDA shows his research into weight loss (scroll down the page a bit). It looks like you are right there...keep up the good work! Your success is a motivation to others!

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dial-in-your-carb-count/

[weary]

It's not really a secret, just a fact. Most of us eat more than we need for good health, and exercise less. I doubt if hiking does anything harmful to most metabolisms. At least I've seen no convincing evidence that it does.

[DapperD]

Before I thru'd I kind of thought the same thing, too. If I only knew the amount of crap that I would be eating on the trail! Oh my.

Unfortunately crap food is the best hiker fuel. If I'm out for a few days or weeks, I have plenty of reserves. But once I'm on the trail for 10-12 hours a day, eating about 3 or 4 thousand calories of flat out crap food gave me great energy. That kind of exercise day in and day out, yeah, you're going to use all the simple sugar you put in your body.

I remember coming into Waynesboro after 8 days on the trail. I was STARVING. I was so horribly hungry. I wanted to go to McDonalds. The night before I was possibly fantasizing about eating at McDonald's.(I normally eat at fast food establishment maybe once a year, and I haven't eaten a meal at McDonald's in years, even.) I probably ate about 4 egg/cheese muffins, about 3 cups of coffee with plenty of sugar and cream, 6 six hashbrowns, and a large milkshake. You get the idea. I heard some one say in disgust..."How does someone so skinny eat so much food?"

Your hunger levels just change. The base of what I ate in town and on the trail was "healthy" in relative terms, but I had to supplement with lots and lots of ice cream. I was one of those 'stupid' people that ate probably a gallon of ice cream in every town...every day. If you're hiking every day, you will be in a caloric deficit by day 2 of your day out of town. I doubt that I'd be sustained with only a salad and the equivalent of a skinless chicken breat (I don't eat much meat.) Also, you need the fat. And the carbs. And the protein. You need it in huge amounts.

Now thinking about it, I don't even want to mention what I ate at Cowboy's on my way out of Damascus. Or even calculate how many pints of Ben & Jerry's, quarts of Breyer's, or boxes of Klondike Bars I ate over the course of the hike.

I weigh the same as I did before I left. No way could I maintain an underweight hiker frame in the regular world. And no way could I eat what I eat at home one the trail. I would starve.

I have not thru hiked but I have held physical jobs where I would be working lifting and moving all day long in the cold for months on end, and I don't mean just a little but really going non stop. If one attempts to eat very little or diet you will just basically burn out with no energy. During something as grueling as a thru-hike, you can probably eat the most fattening and sugar laden foods around and have no problem doing so (unless you have certain medical problems or issues). And also one thing that may not have been mentioned, is the fact that the body many times will crave what it is lacking and for what it needs. Ice cream, pizza, cheeseburgers, etc...all have much needed fats and proteins. Cakes, pies, sweets, etc...all have that much needed fats and sugars the body craves to give it the energy necessary to keep going and making progress. This is why being at home and watching ones food intake to avoid weight gain is simply not practical, needed, or wise to do for most who are undertaking such an arduous journey. I do believe though that attempting to include as many healthy foods such as fresh vegetables and fruits, etc...that one can get while doing their hikes is still wise to do, just for the nutrients and fiber that these foods provide.

[fredmugs]

I'm going to guess the lowering your carb intake is playing a major role in your success. The graphic from MDA shows his research into weight loss (scroll down the page a bit). It looks like you are right there...keep up the good work! Your success is a motivation to others!

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dial-in-your-carb-count/

Awesome article - since I agree with it!

I've done a few 150+ mile hikes where I am doing 20 a day. For these hikes I eat the following:

Ziplock sandwich baggie of trail mix
Ziplock sandwich baggie of summer sausage
Snickers bar
MetRx Big 100 Meal Replacement bar
Some type of dehydrated meal.

I'm pretty sure that's less than 3,000 calories and pretty low on the carbs. I never get hungry but then again we're only talking about 7 days or so at a time.

Here's my Waynesboro experience. I was hiking from Waynesboro to Daleville where my car was parked. It was in the middle of a severe drought and I got competely dehydrated and was suffering from heat exhaustion. I was maybe eating 1,000 calories a day and when someone commented that I was forcing myself to eat I knew it was time to get off the trail. On my off the trail I met another hiker who also needed to get off and after hitching back to my car we drove to Waynesboro. By the time I drove back there I felt better and we hit the chinese buffet. After 4 over flowing plates of food we left because we were tired of eating - not because we were full. I'm guessing that's what thru-hiker hunger is like.