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BonBon
08-25-2016, 07:56
Prevention reached out to me to do an article because of my age and weight I guess when I started the trail. Here it is. It is mostly accurate, some stuff I didn't really like. I thought the hike itself was the cool thing, but that has been written so many times. Their focus was on weight, mid life crisis, stress in my life etc. Still- here it is. (http://media.wix.com/ugd/0e6b57_c90949ea77bf4b3abfd5bb52f24d7b88.pdf)

gsingjane
08-25-2016, 08:24
Nice article - fun reading! Thanks for posting and congrats on your accomplishment!

Jane

Ktaadn
08-25-2016, 09:55
I think the title is pretty misleading. Seems like you are being a little hard on yourself. Sure, the article mentions the weight gain and loss, but it covers so much more. This is actually the most enjoyable magazine article that I have ever read about a thru hike.

Congratulations on finishing the hike, losing the weight, and finding a happier you.

Thanks for sharing.

hikernutcasey
08-25-2016, 10:03
Very nice! Congrats on your accomplishments!

cmoulder
08-25-2016, 10:24
I think the title is pretty misleading. Seems like you are being a little hard on yourself. Sure, the article mentions the weight gain and loss, but it covers so much more. This is actually the most enjoyable magazine article that I have ever read about a thru hike.

Congratulations on finishing the hike, losing the weight, and finding a happier you.

Thanks for sharing.

+1

Well done and, indeed, so much more than just the weight loss, which in itself is a side effect of a much more important mental shift and re-awakening.

And I didn't know 'they' moved Neels Gap to Maine. Learn something new every day! :)

DuneElliot
08-25-2016, 10:48
Great read. I read your blog so it was familiar but I think it was well done.

stewey
08-25-2016, 10:54
Thank you for sharing - very inspirational.

Jeff

Okie Dokie
08-25-2016, 10:56
Congratulations!

Enjoyable reading...I felt that old familiar "dampness" just looking at the fog hanging in the opening picture !

saltysack
08-25-2016, 11:58
+1

Well done and, indeed, so much more than just the weight loss, which in itself is a side effect of a much more important mental shift and re-awakening.

And I didn't know 'they' moved Neels Gap to Maine. Learn something new every day! :)

+2...congrats!! Loved it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

becfoot
08-25-2016, 12:28
Thanks for sharing your journey!!!!!!

FreeGoldRush
08-25-2016, 13:48
The gear they describe in the article shows a multi tool. Did you really take a multi tool with you? I've not done my thru hike yet but hear that those are some of the first items to be dropped of at mile 31. :)


Prevention reached out to me to do an article because of my age and weight I guess when I started the trail. Here it is. It is mostly accurate, some stuff I didn't really like. I thought the hike itself was the cool thing, but that has been written so many times. Their focus was on weight, mid life crisis, stress in my life etc. Still- here it is. (http://media.wix.com/ugd/0e6b57_c90949ea77bf4b3abfd5bb52f24d7b88.pdf)

Leo L.
08-25-2016, 14:22
Great reading, thanks for sharing!

Maineiac64
08-25-2016, 15:20
Wow congrats, you're amazing!

daddytwosticks
08-25-2016, 16:06
Congratulations on your accomplishment! Great article. :)

Binjali
08-25-2016, 16:10
Congratulations! Thanks for posting the article, I thought it was quite good. I was also sometimes upset with myself in the Whites, and the 100 Mile Wilderness, that I didn't seem to be as proficient a hiker as 1500+ miles should have made me.

imscotty
08-25-2016, 17:01
Thank you for sharing your story, an interesting read. Congrats on your accomplishments!

Ardency
08-25-2016, 19:07
BonBon,
Your trail journal was so honest and inspiring. I am glad that, through this article, others will hear your story and learn of your philanthropy. Best wishes!

Old Grouse
08-25-2016, 19:11
BonBon,
Your trail journal was so honest and inspiring. I am glad that, through this article, others will hear your story and learn of your philanthropy. Best wishes!

+1. Bon Bon, yours was one of my favorite trail journals this year.

Malto
08-25-2016, 20:44
Prevention reached out to me to do an article because of my age and weight I guess when I started the trail. Here it is. It is mostly accurate, some stuff I didn't really like. I thought the hike itself was the cool thing, but that has been written so many times. Their focus was on weight, mid life crisis, stress in my life etc. Still- here it is. (http://media.wix.com/ugd/0e6b57_c90949ea77bf4b3abfd5bb52f24d7b88.pdf)

Agree with others, this is far more than a "fat story". It is one of the better stories that partially captures the joy of living in the moment on the trail. Well done in communicating that aspect.

Dan Roper
08-25-2016, 21:23
Karet, the article is excellent. That writer knows how to write. To me, as a reader, it just struck me as "real AT" and a "real person." I didn't sense that there was anything melodramatic or that it focused too much on anything. It's just a good story.

P.S. I'm a magazine editor and publisher. This is my business. If I had received an article of this quality from a freelance writer, I would've been ecstatic.

BonBon
08-25-2016, 22:00
The gear they describe in the article shows a multi tool. Did you really take a multi tool with you? I've not done my thru hike yet but hear that those are some of the first items to be dropped of at mile 31. :)
I didn't take any of that stuff. They wanted me to pose with a stainless steel water jug that weighed 4 pounds empty and I said no- I would be laughed out of the hiking community! But I think some of that stuff they showed is nice for shorter hikes.

rocketsocks
08-25-2016, 22:00
Pretty cool 'ere Bon Bon!

BonBon
08-25-2016, 22:21
http://www.stevefriedman.net/stories/
He is pretty great- he wrote Scott Jureks story and a few other books and writes often for outdoor magazines. Ill pass on your compliment!
It was embarrassing at first because he sort of figured me out- and the weight, the binge watching netflix etc- and all that stuff. Telling your own story sounds very different than somebody telling your story. So initially I reacted to it. i like it now-especially since you guys like it.This is a tough room....

jgillam
08-25-2016, 23:00
Wonderful story, thank you for sharing. I appreciated the human elements of it. The stress, fear , self-doubt and worry that plague most of us. I applause you for letting go and doing the trail for yourself...congratulations.

Don H
08-26-2016, 07:57
Great story, thanks for sharing. Your story discusses more of the mental aspect of thru-hiking than most.
Congratulations on finishing.

John B
08-26-2016, 08:34
Prevention reached out to me to do an article because of my age and weight I guess when I started the trail. Here it is. It is mostly accurate, some stuff I didn't really like. I thought the hike itself was the cool thing, but that has been written so many times. Their focus was on weight, mid life crisis, stress in my life etc. Still- here it is. (http://media.wix.com/ugd/0e6b57_c90949ea77bf4b3abfd5bb52f24d7b88.pdf)

Good grief, am I the only one who can access the link? This is what I get when I click:

This site can’t be reachedmedia.wix.com’s server DNS address could not be found.
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

Diamondlil
08-26-2016, 09:14
BonBon
Thank you so much for sharing.
Great article. You really captured the daily, everything, that is experienced on the trail. I too felt all these things, thanks for the refresher.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

rhjanes
08-26-2016, 10:18
Thanks for the link, good read!

hobbs
08-26-2016, 10:45
I read it last night..It was good..Congrat's on the thru hike...

Mags
08-26-2016, 11:29
media.wix.com’s server DNS address could not be found.
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

Try these steps. Sounds like you have a cache issue.

https://www.wiknix.com/how-to-fix-dns_probe_finished_nxdomain-in-chrome/

Step 2 (the ipconfig commands) in particular is my guess.
If you run OS X, use these steps https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202516

Finally, a good site to narrow down if it is your connection or the website itself is this one...

http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/

Jebo
08-26-2016, 11:49
BonBon, loved following your journal while you hiked and thoroughly enjoyed this article. You convey so well the mystical parts of the trail that are hard to describe, while never leaving out the mud, rocks and sweat. Only thing I missed in the article was mention of your lightening strike!

RockDoc
08-26-2016, 15:55
I've lost weight on the AT too, sure, most all of us have.

But I'd rather not see it portrayed as a place where obese people should start hiking to lose weight. It is wiser and safer to lose the weight first, and THEN exercise. We are at high risk for foot, leg, and hip problems when we hit the trail heavy, adding a heavy pack. And if you do this later in life, like in your 50's-60's, it can take a long time to heal.

For every one story like this one there are perhaps hundreds of miserable, painful failures often at or before Neels Gap.

So I'm happy for you, but I think the article does a disservice to readers.

John B
08-26-2016, 17:49
BonBon, what a great story! Really a joy to read. I wish you continued success in all of your endeavors!

Another Kevin
08-26-2016, 19:02
But I'd rather not see it portrayed as a place where obese people should start hiking to lose weight. It is wiser and safer to lose the weight first, and THEN exercise. We are at high risk for foot, leg, and hip problems when we hit the trail heavy, adding a heavy pack. And if you do this later in life, like in your 50's-60's, it can take a long time to heal.

I know you're a doctor, but you're not my doctor, so I'm going to feel free to disregard your advice. ;)

I have a weight problem - when life keeps me off the trail (as it has for about a year now).

I never have a weight problem when I'm hiking regularly. When I took up hiking again in my fifties after too many years away from it, I lost about forty pounds in a couple of years, without any other lifestyle modifications. Some people (at least me!) need to be active to keep the pork under control. If you tell me not to hike until I've lost weight, the weight ain't never going to come off. Hiking is about the only strenuous exercise that I can stand.

I know that I'm risking injury by going back to the trail from the couch. I'd be risking worse by not going back at all.

I'm starting slow again. I've done a couple of 6-8 mile day trips in the last couple of weeks with no ill effects. (The "three miles with a backpack" mentioned in the article is something that I do every day.) Next will be to try to do either another short miler but on an actual mountain, or else a short backpack. It'll actually be hard to hold myself back, but I know that if I don't, it'll be asking for trouble. It'll probably take me another year to get to the condition I was in a year ago when I started a 137-mile, two-week hike in the Adirondacks. I started carefully on that one, too, planning 8-10 mile days. In the field, I found myself doing the odd 15 or two... because by the end of the trip, I was hiking stronger than I had imagined I could.

When I asked my doctor about that trip while it was in the planning stage, he told me ... that he was envious. :)

BonBon started slow, too - the article tells about 3-mile trips, then 3-mile trips with a pack, then .... up to 13 miles per day on flat ground. (A pity she didn't have mountains available, but we have to play the hand we're dealt.) She might have still been heavy, but she was conditioned for her weight.

I think she did just fine. (Congratulations, BonBon!) Was she prudent? If everyone were prudent, nobody would thru-hike, ever.

BonBon
08-26-2016, 22:28
I've lost weight on the AT too, sure, most all of us have.

But I'd rather not see it portrayed as a place where obese people should start hiking to lose weight. It is wiser and safer to lose the weight first, and THEN exercise. We are at high risk for foot, leg, and hip problems when we hit the trail heavy, adding a heavy pack. And if you do this later in life, like in your 50's-60's, it can take a long time to heal.

For every one story like this one there are perhaps hundreds of miserable, painful failures often at or before Neels Gap.

So I'm happy for you, but I think the article does a disservice to readers.

I saw lots of thin and fit people leave the trail miserable and in pain at or before Neel Gap. The challenge of the AT is much more than a physical challenge. I could not disagree with you more about losing weight first-THEN exercise. Exercise helps you lose weight and is healthy. Just dieting without exercise is not healthy. While being in terrific shape at the beginning is preferable, that is not the reality I witnessed along the trail. There were many people who could (and did) lose a few pounds hiking- as well as a woman hiking with only one leg, and people in their 70s and women alone etc. and lots of other folks who were probably strongly advised NOT to hike the trail. Barriers are broken and people find out what they can and can't do because they TRY. And if a fat person quits, they join the ranks of thousands of thin people who did also. You can disagree with what I did, but to say it is a disservice seems a little harsh. People can decide for themselves and try for themselves.

doodlebug
08-26-2016, 23:48
very nice im only a sec hiker but i dream of a 2017 attempt and i do know about thinking about the trail and all the hikers i have meet it changes you and i think about the trail every day happy trails

colorado_rob
08-27-2016, 07:41
I know you're a doctor, but you're not my doctor, so I'm going to feel free to disregard your advice.Well said!

That Rockdoc negative-nilly is a doc? Well, if he's a doc, then I'm a rocket scientist. In any case, he (she?) sure needs some math education; saying only 3% of overweight people are successful in starting the AT is ridiculous (one in hundreds - approx. 3%, right?). Having seen tons and tons (no pun intended) of overweight people start the trail, a good friend included, and be very successful on the trail means to me that the odds are pretty decent, maybe only slightly worse than those starting "in shape" (which I didn't really se many of). Perhaps the injury rate is higher for very overweight/out-of-shape people, but so what? Hike on.

Well done, bonbon! I can see elements in the story, however, that are a tad annoying, but that's media for you.

PCT next?

BonBon
08-27-2016, 08:12
Good grief, am I the only one who can access the link? This is what I get when I click:

This site can’t be reached

media.wix.com’s server DNS address could not be found.
DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN

You can try www.bigbigwalk.com (http://www.bigbigwalk.com)- then click directly on the homepage

cmoulder
08-27-2016, 08:50
It is wiser and safer to lose the weight first, and THEN exercise.

LOL

May the Space Fairies save us from internet 'doctors'. :rolleyes:

rocketsocks
08-27-2016, 12:20
I've lost weight on the AT too, sure, most all of us have.

But I'd rather not see it portrayed as a place where obese people should start hiking to lose weight. It is wiser and safer to lose the weight first, and THEN exercise. We are at high risk for foot, leg, and hip problems when we hit the trail heavy, adding a heavy pack. And if you do this later in life, like in your 50's-60's, it can take a long time to heal.

For every one story like this one there are perhaps hundreds of miserable, painful failures often at or before Neels Gap.

So I'm happy for you, but I think the article does a disservice to readers.but for your ending summation, I think your points are fair, but that's what makes this story that much more exceptional...she not only beat the odds, she kicked it's ass and sent it on its way!

futureatwalker
08-27-2016, 16:56
Congratulations on the your hike. I really liked the article. Great photo of you and your friends!

peakbagger
08-27-2016, 17:57
Great story. I expect that slackpacking for several days really helped getting you in good shape for the rest of the hike. I expect a lot of folks burn out in the first two or three days that wouldn't have it they had used your approach.

GlitterHiker
08-27-2016, 18:42
What a great story! Congratulations on all of your achievements. Now I want to go back and read your trail journal!

twilightzone
08-27-2016, 19:22
Thanks for sharing, great story!

BonBon
08-27-2016, 21:32
Great story. I expect that slackpacking for several days really helped getting you in good shape for the rest of the hike. I expect a lot of folks burn out in the first two or three days that wouldn't have it they had used your approach.

Yes- that was the smartest decision I made-thanks to Katwalk. She had the idea and asked me if I wanted to join. Thats how we met. Katwalk and I carried about 20 pounds in our packs the first week- not quite slack packing but not a full pack either. We avoided over crowded campsites by staying at Blood Mountain Cabins. It was croweded at shelters and campsites, being the busiest start time of the season-and we really sort of eased into the hike. (Thinking marathon-not sprint) I really recommend this way of beginning, but you do have to save up for the shuttles. I blew 2 months budget in a week not realizing the cost of the shuttles.

MuddyWaters
08-28-2016, 10:00
I saw lots of thin and fit people leave the trail miserable and in pain at or before Neel Gap. The challenge of the AT is much more than a physical challenge. I could not disagree with you more about losing weight first-THEN exercise. Exercise helps you lose weight and is healthy. Just dieting without exercise is not healthy. While being in terrific shape at the beginning is preferable, that is not the reality I witnessed along the trail. There were many people who could (and did) lose a few pounds hiking- as well as a woman hiking with only one leg, and people in their 70s and women alone etc. and lots of other folks who were probably strongly advised NOT to hike the trail. Barriers are broken and people find out what they can and can't do because they TRY. And if a fat person quits, they join the ranks of thousands of thin people who did also. You can disagree with what I did, but to say it is a disservice seems a little harsh. People can decide for themselves and try for themselves.


+

Plenty of time for moderately overweight persons to get in shape on 6 mo hike.

I seen so many "normal" people injured between Ga and Va, I wouldnt say overweight are any more succeptible to injury on avg. Slower pace may work in their favor. Tendons and joints already accustomed to heavy load. Etc.

One group prone to repetitive motion injuries...is fit people with light packs. Big miles before bones and tendons can handle it.

dig4dirt
08-28-2016, 13:14
congrats on your big walk!

Enjoying your family afterwords had to be the icing on the cake.

Trillium
08-28-2016, 13:26
Congrats BonBon! Great adventure. Very inspiring.

Maydog
08-29-2016, 08:38
Attagirl! Way to go.

Lnj
08-29-2016, 15:40
Great article and very inspiring. Especially for another woman who is grotesquely overweight in comparison to what you were and still ve3ry ambitious about hiking. I have only done small sections (not of the AT yet, but that's the dream) and I can only manage very small mileage days (think 7ish) with a very heavy pack (40lbs.) because I'm a mom that has to pack everything that could possibly be needed. A couple of past shakedowns have taught me where I can drop some pack weight and still feel "covered" so I'm hoping my next section will be in the 35lbs range or even lower if I'm lucky.

Anyway, this was very inspirational. I am envious of your opportunity to do it and your family that was supportive of it. Atta Girl!!!!!!

cwinkle
08-31-2016, 00:26
Well written article and enjoyable read. Sounds like you had a great hike. Hopefully more to come.