Weight Gain Post hike

[One Half]

I know most people have a significant amount of weight loss during an extended backpacking trip. I'm wondering what happens to your weight post hike? Did you regain all your weight and then some? Regain only some to return to a "healthy" weight? Stayed thin and trim?

I'm very curious.

[Spirit Walker]

Most regain the lost weight pretty quickly. The problem is that you get used to being able to eat whatever you want, whenever you want. Most hiker diets are not very healthy and it can be difficult to say no to junk food after you have been gorging regularly. Even if you do immediately cut back on your intake, the change in activity levels will cause problems. Most thruhikers drop from 15+ miles a day to none, or at most a couple. The metabolism slows down immediately but the appetite doesn't. If you go to the Gathering and look around, you'll see this year's hikers are still emaciated - but last year's class look very different.

[garlic08]

Virtually every person I've encountered who lost considerable body weight on a hike regained that weight after the hike. They were also pretty miserable the first six weeks or more of the hike. Therefore, I conclude that a hike is lousy place to loose weight.

[BrianLe]

I gained it all back after the PCT in '08, but it took me months, really more than a year to gain it all back.

I finished my AT thru-hike just over a week ago, and all along the trail I was telling people "The hard part isn't getting to Katahdin, it's dialing back the hunger and having an exercise program to keep the weight down afterwards". And I still think that, in spades. I'm just starting to dial back the hunger/food intake (I briefly tried this early and uttely failed --- so-o-o hungry). I went for a modest bike ride today, I think I'll go for a short run tomorrow, trying to build cross-trained muscles up to not hurt weaker muscles with the parts that are in thru-hiker shape (!).

It's going to be hard, hard, hard to mix diet and exercise to keep the weight down and stay in good shape. Hopefully I'll at least do better than I did last time.

Complicating things slightly is that I won't mind gaining perhaps 15 pounds by June next year so that I don't start the CDT (SOBO I think, in June) with no body fat and hence thru-hiker hunger almost from the start. Having some body fat (yet being strong) isn't at all a bad idea. Especially starting out in the snow in Glacier National Park ...
Our ancestors evolved to be able to pack on extra pounds for a reason, after all!

[Tilly]

I gained it all back, probably within two months.

I was so happy to NOT have to eat the junk I was eating on the trail. I was very happy to eat my (more or less) healthy diet that I usually eat, so I came home and basically ate a normal amount of food right off the bat.

If anything, eating like you did on the trail on top of a drastic reduction in exercise is the last thing you want to do. I doubt that hiker's metabolisms are really that fast, it's just that you are doing an incredible amount of hard exercise for pretty much every waking minute of your day.

For the record, I started probably at about 122# (at 5'6") and my weight bottomed out at 105# in Virginia. I did gain a few pounds by the time I finished, I was probably at 110#. Contrary to popular wisdom, women do lose weight on the trail. I rolled my eyes every time some guy would say, "Oh, women don't lose any weight on a thruhike..." yea right.

I counted on weight gain when I came home. There is simply no way that I could ever maintain a 110# frame without basically starving...or hiking for 10-12 hours a day. Now I am basically what I was before I started.

[sbhikes]

I gained it all back. Maybe a few extra pounds, too. I hiked two years in a row, too, and it happened both times. It's really hard to keep it off. You come home and suddenly you aren't walking 20 miles a day anymore but you are still hungry. Even if you manage to restrain your eating, I truly believe my body at least thought it needed to store up fuel for the next time I punished it out on the trail. I tried going running to keep the weight off but running just made me SO hungry that I would eat too much and so running had the opposite effect. About all I could do was keep walking as much as I could and try not to eat too much but I can't say I had good results with that except for allowing the hunger to go away. At least if the weight comes back quickly at least the fitness stays high much longer. I can still do a 20 mile day first day out on the trail and a 25 mile day doesn't hurt too badly, either.

[JAK]

Its hard to stay active. Its also pretty amazing how little food it takes to maintain your weight when you are inactive and 50ish. Gotta stay active. 1000 kcal/day of activity, in addition to normal routine. That's what it takes just to stay norrmal. It's hard.

[10-K]

There is a connection between how active you are year round and what happens to your weight post hike.

If you're an active person and get enough exercise and eat halfway decent before and after you hike you'd be a lot less likely to blow up post hike.

Conversely, if you come off the couch and hike 2000 miles then get back on the couch after your hike you'll lose a lot and then gain it right back - and then some probably.

It's pretty simple really.

[mister krabs]

Its hard to stay active. Its also pretty amazing how little food it takes to maintain your weight when you are inactive and 50ish. Gotta stay active. 1000 kcal/day of activity, in addition to normal routine. That's what it takes just to stay norrmal. It's hard.

for me 1000 C is an hour of ass kicking bootcamp style workout or running. You ain't kidding it's hard.

[MattBuck30]

I went from 210lbs to 165lbs during my thru hike in 2008. I gained 10-20lbs back within 2-3 months after the hike, and I was back to 200-210lbs within 1 yr. It definitely comes back fast! There is just no comparison to "real life" and life on the trail. I found out that no matter how hard I tried, it is impossible to stay as active off the trail as when you are on it.

[sixhusbands]

There are several common factors why we do gain back the weight. They have been discussed on this thread...less activity, increased appetite and the junk food diet sustained on the trail. has anyone hiked the trail on a 'healthy diet plan"? I do realize that it would be costly and a lot of weight in the pack. But maybe a person who spent 4 to 5 months hiking and eating a proper diet would not have a dramatic after affect when the finished the trek. Just a theory ..lets get some feedback

[sbhikes]

I don't think the diet you consume during the hike has any bearing on what happens to your weight after the hike. What you did during the hike is in the past. Those calories were consumed and the energy has moved out into the land of entropy.

I recently did a small section on the PCT. Last year when I hiked this same section I had lost my weight and had the hiker hunger thing going and had even rested up for 4 days before tackling it. It took me 8 hours of steady climbing to get out of Belden and up to Frog Mountain, a 5000ft climb. This year, with all my weight back on, with only my daily walks as preparation, I climbed out of Belden in 5.5 hours.

I have experienced the same thing in other sections. I can only conclude that carrying a few extra pounds doesn't harm my fitness and if anything, what it takes to get thin wears me out too much.

[garlic08]

You're absolutely right about a good diet on the trail affecting your post-hike recovery. Several thru hikes have shown me this the hard way. My last hiking season was much easier on me than my first.

It is possible to eat well on the trail and it's not necessarily more expensive or heavier, but it is definitely harder. It's so easy to grab a pint of Ben & Jerrys, a bag of chips, and a handful of Snickers Bars. It's harder to find and eat fresh greens, fruit, and whole grains, but they are there, in every grocery store. That's actually a mirror of what's happening to make Americans as a nation obese--the availability of cheap processed food everywhere. (Remember when gas stations sold gas?)

My typical resupply is a box of rolled oats, a bag of walnuts, a bag of cashews, a bag of raisins, a box of crackers (my junk food weakness--Wheat Thins), a block of cheese, a stack of tortillas, a package of fig newtons, and one piece of fruit or fresh vegetable (carrot or celery) per day. Enough for 100 miles costs me about $30, or about $7 per day, and weighs less than 2 pounds per day. I don't think you can do much better in cost or weight on a junk food diet. My partner eats more processed and packaged food and he typically spends more than I do.

There was a recent thread on this in another forum, but I don't remember where it was.

[sbhikes]

I ate relatively healthy on my first hike compared to others, preferring salads when I got into town. I still gained the weight back even though my strategy when I got home was to eat as much as I wanted so long as it was peaches and grapefruit. My 2nd hike I ate mostly candy and cookies and gained the weight back, too even though my strategy was to grit my teeth through the hunger and starve.

[Tenderheart]

This thread is very interesting. For 25 years, I have run 35-65 miles per week and watched every fat gram that went into my mouth. During my thru hike, I ate pretty much anything and everything. When I returned home, I pigged out for maybe a week, but then started running and eating healthy again. I started to gain weight???? My theory is that my metabolism got so low from perceived starvation that my body packed on the pounds. It was a real struggle to stay slim. It has been ten years and my body still goes through cycles of gaining and losing weight even though my activity level and my healthy diet stay the same. Go figure.

[Mags]

It ain't easy to maintain post-trail fitness...but neither is hiking from GA to ME or MEX to CAN.

When I hit 35yo last year, I figured NOW was the time to commit to healthy lifestyle..not just on my very activity packed weekends..but during the week, too. I did not want to look like most the people I went to high school with. Easier to make the changes in my lifestyle now then 10, 15 or 20 yrs from now.


Oddly enough, I started eating a lot like my not-so-distant ancestors (guess they knew something??? :) )and making a point to exercise every 5-6 days a week as well.

And guess what? Not only is my hiking easier (25 MPD consistently right from the start? Done!), but I enjoy other activities more. My skiing has improved, my first forays into alpine climbing is going well and biking to and from work is actually enjoyable. And I look younger than my age, too! :D (So people at work claim..)

So yeah...it IS hard to maintain a good base...but well, anything worth achieving is usually hard. :)

[10-K]

My theory is that my metabolism got so low from perceived starvation that my body packed on the pounds. It was a real struggle to stay slim. It has been ten years and my body still goes through cycles of gaining and losing weight even though my activity level and my healthy diet stay the same. Go figure.

You just described my situation to a tee. I run 30-60 mpw and have for about 10 years and I watch what I eat.

After hiking 800 miles I had actually gained 8 lbs and I've gained 2 more above that even though I'm back to eating my pre-hike diet and resuming my previous activity level. In theory I should be going back to my pre-hike weight instead of going the other way.

I've been wondering how in the world this could happen and come to the exact same conclusion - within a certain range the body is going to do what the body is going to do.

I'm not terribly worried about it. Like sbhikes mentioned, I have not noticed any loss of speed or strength with the increased weight and the truth is, I'm still in a normal range for my height/weight (172 lbs / 6'2"). I'm quite confident I'm not on the road to obesity.

[takethisbread]

I lost 18 lbs on the first half of my hike, Feb-April of this year. By mid July I was heavier than before I left. I attribute it to pigging out on stuff I could not eat in woods.

Now I am leaving in a few weeks for the 2nd half, and I hope to lose it all again, but I will try to keep my self more in control when I return.

[mdbuckman]

I can't tell if this thread is encouraging or depressing.... I think I will ponder this over a pint of ben and jerry's....

[Lilred]

I got this article two years ago and have hung onto the link ever since.

http://cduane.net/WhyHikersGetFat.html

[Many Walks]

Lilred, great article...thanks for sharing!

[Blue Jay]

So yeah...it IS hard to maintain a good base...but well, anything worth achieving is usually hard. :)

You are very very smart to start at 35 because if you think it's hard at 35 you have to fight much harder in another decade. You also have to walk a fine line at 45/50 because too much WILL cause injury from which it is very hard to recover to your base line. LD hiking is one of the only ways and then the fight starts again.

[sbhikes]

I got this article two years ago and have hung onto the link ever since.

http://cduane.net/WhyHikersGetFat.html

Thank you for this. It makes sense. I wish I had the willpower to try this. Maybe I can.

[Badger2011]

Yeah unfortunately it does seem for most people that they gain the weight back, and some even more than they lost. There are a lot of theories on why this happens, ranging from post-trail hunger mechanisms, Set Point Theory, to altered gut microbiome.

I actually reached out to a doctor who practices integrative preventive medicine and performance medicine to get a better answer on why people put the lbs on after the trail and more importantly what they can do to prevent weight gain after the Appalachian Trail (http://zrdavis.com/appalachian-trail-nutrition-guide-7-tips-to-avoiding-post-trail-weight-gain).

I think you'll find the information helpful.

[ChinMusic]

I wonder if an appetite suppressant, starting right after a thru, would be in order.

[sbhikes]

I'm going to disagree with myself on some of the things I said earlier in this thread and also disagree with some of the article mentioned above.

Two years post-hike and I still could not lose the weight. I recovered the ability to exercise and the weight would not budge. Exercise only made me hungry and the less I ate or more I exercised the hungrier I got to the point where despite feeling like I was going to die from starvation or go absolutely crazy from hunger, I still was not losing any weight even though I was running 15 miles a week, hiking on weekends and eating dry salads all the time. So I did some research.

Long story short, the calories in/calories out theory is a big fat lie. It does not quite work that way. Overweight and obesity is a symptom of metabolic problems revolving mostly around insulin. Bad trail food destroys your metabolism (if it wasn't already on the way down from a typical American diet) and a low fat, high complex carb diet after the trail keeps it destroyed.

Here are some useful places to start looking for the answer.

http://garytaubes.com/
http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf - see the video at the bottom
http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/
http://www.archevore.com/get-started/

First DAY following the Diet Doctor's advice the gnawing hunger was gone. I went without lunch and wasn't hungry all day long. I have started to lose a little bit of weight even though I have not been able to keep up my usual level of exercise. The weight loss has not been impressive at all, but I attribute that to my broken metabolism and being a permimenopausal woman. I have also struggled with some mineral (potassium) deficiencies. Others show way more impressive results than me. Still, eating this way I have actually lost weight, not gained it, and have begun to feel human again.

[Thrasher]

I lost the weight I had gained, didn't take long. Probably because I got to eat real food instead of junk all the time and the loss of some muscle.
Since I'm not hiking, milkshake pop tarts just sound gross.

[Spirit Walker]

Diane - have you had your thyroid checked? When I was at a stage where I couldn't lose weight, no matter what my activity level, I told my doctor something was wrong. She blew me off. Second doctor did the same thing. Third doctor asked, "Does low thyroid run in your family?" "Yes, my mother was on medication." He tested me with 2 different blood tests (one that is more sensitive than the one usually used.) Turned out I was quite low. So I started on meds and began to lose weight. I was about your age, which is when a lot of metabolic issues like thyroid and diabetes begin to appear.

[sbhikes]

They've been testing my thyroid since I was 16. I've decided to take an iodine supplement for a few days and see if there's a change. It doesn't change the outcome of the rest of my metabolic problems: the constant hunger while trying to eat a low calorie diet, the gaining weight even before my hike was over, the fat accumulating in my abdomen, the inability to exercise my way out of weight gain. These are all common occurences to someone who is becoming insulin resistant from a lifetime of eating "healthy" whole grains.

[quilteresq]

Very interesting article. I haven't hiked the AT, but I did a 3300 bike ride for my 50th birthday - Portland, OR to Traverse City, MI. I had virtually the same thing happen to me - it was one of the worst winters of my life in terms of my health - and I gained back all the weight I lost in fairly short order. I've since lost it - I now weigh about what I did when ended my bike ride. Looking at all of this, I think I'll try to lose another 10 lbs before I try the AT.

[quilteresq]

Very interesting article. I haven't hiked the AT, but I did a 3300 bike ride for my 50th birthday - Portland, OR to Traverse City, MI. I had virtually the same thing happen to me - it was one of the worst winters of my life in terms of my health - and I gained back all the weight I lost in fairly short order. I've since lost it - I now weigh about what I did when ended my bike ride. Looking at all of this, I think I'll try to lose another 10 lbs before I try the AT.

Whoops - the article posted by Lilred.

[Mountain Mike]

Damn hard thread to read as I have a chicken baking in the stove! I found I ate more after my AT hike than PCT. I think part of reason I had a better diet on PCT that met my needs. When a friend I hiked with on AT picked me up on PCT to spend a few days R & R with him in Seattle he was amazed at shape I was in. He recalled how gaunt we looked at that time on AT & how healthy I looked on PCT.

[LDog]

I just saw this link article the other day On how to avoid post hike weight gain. The writer corresponded with Dr. Nathan Daley, MD, MPH. Dr. Daley practices integrative preventive medicine and performance medicine. Besides the issue of hiking for months with a a caloric deficit, and post-trail over=compensation of eating comfort foods, the Doctor suggests that:

"the hiker’s satiety feedback mechanisms are loosened on the trail where hunger is more constant and the opportunity to take in extra calories is always welcome. The sudden shift back to a normal diet occurs before satiety mechanisms are tightened and over consumption results. The ultimate outcome of all this is weight gain of mostly body fat."

"foods consumed on-trail may have the potential to alter gut bacteria (microbiome) toward a pattern which favors a higher body fat percentage. These foods include more starchy and sweet foods (high in glycemic index/load) such as energy bars, dried fruit, granola, crakers, candy bars, sweets. These foods select bacteria which thrive on high glycemic foods and tend to promote storage as fat (for unknown reasons)."

So, you come off the trail with your mind and body predisposed to producing body fat. He recommends both on-trail and post-trail strategies to reduce the impact. Reduce on trail consumption of high glycemic foods, and increase protein. Continue such a diet post trail, avoiding the urges to eat pizza and big fat burgers, keep your level of physical activity up, and take supplements like fiber, fish oil, probiotics and protein supplements ...

Just the highlights, the rest of the story is here:

http://zrdavis.com/appalachian-trail-nutrition-guide-7-tips-to-avoiding-post-trail-weight-gain/
(http://zrdavis.com/appalachian-trail-nutrition-guide-7-tips-to-avoiding-post-trail-weight-gain/)

[Papa D]

When I thru hiked at age 18, I started out at about 150 pounds and got down to about 133 which was pretty scary skinny - I do a lot of long sections - 200 miles or so (in 2 week trips) in my quest to re-hike the trail. I'm also a runner and stay pretty lean. I usually start a section about 153-154 pounds and finish it at about 146-147 pounds - so I drop about 3 pounds per 100 miles. Two years ago, I hiked the Long Trail in Vermont and started at about 152 pounds and finished at about 145 pounds so, this is about right - I think that I would level off to about a pound loss per 100 miles after a while -- because I run a lot when I'm not on the trail, I guess I never get over about 155 pounds - I'd start feeling too much like a slob. FYI, I'm only 5'8 tall.

[Pedaling Fool]

I'm curious. Of all the people that had problems gaining weight after a thru, did you not do anything in the form of physical activity?

I've heard of people that say that a thru-hike alters the body's metabolism for the worse. I disagree, I'd say it alters it for the best, it's much more efficient after a thru-hike, the problem (I believe) is that people either don't keep an active lifestyle and/or go back to their old habits of eating, i.e. when you feel hunger pains you put something in your mouth. Our bodies evolved being hungry for periods of time, so feeding it everytime you feel hungry reduces the body's efficiency and puts on the pounds. It's that simple and was probably my biggest epiphany on the trail.

[birdygal]

I could see where gaining weight would be easy for the same reason staying on a diet for along stretch you body slows its metabolism and goes into in a starvation mode. Even eating normally would make you gain weight

[bamboo bob]

Lost 45 pounds and gained it back again. but at the rate of 1.5 pounds a month. Didn't really notice . I wanted 20 back but got it all.

[Blissful]

Damn hard thread to read as I have a chicken baking in the stove! I found I ate more after my AT hike than PCT. I think part of reason I had a better diet on PCT that met my needs. When a friend I hiked with on AT picked me up on PCT to spend a few days R & R with him in Seattle he was amazed at shape I was in. He recalled how gaunt we looked at that time on AT & how healthy I looked on PCT.

That's because AT hikers eat crap. Ramen and potatoes and candy bars.

If hikers strive for a better diet on the hike, they will also do better after the hike.

[Blissful]

Need to stay active (like running) eat whole grains and cut sugar.

[Janeway]

This is all good food for thought. Pun intended. This has been a concern for me, but I'm sure things will work out, especially with this info to keep in mind. I just lost 70 lbs on Optifast (a very low calorie medically supervised diet) in preparation for my 2012 NOBO Thru Hike. I've been a yo-yo dieter all my life with the expected gain it all back plus 10-20 pounds. So, yeah, I'm worried. Right now I'm going to weekly sustaining group meetings and aim for 1300-1700 calories, basically balanced low fat, low cal, portion control. I write everything down and try to compute the calories, though veggies are tough. I'm thinking about my trail food and plan for 2200-2500 calories, though I guess I'll find out just how much I'll need to maintain 130-140 on my 59 year old, female, 5'3" body. But the big worry is when I'm done, how much danger I will be in for gaining it all back. I hope I can keep to high protein, healthy fats, grains, fruits and veggies in the 2200-2500 calorie range, avoiding the candy bars, ice cream (one of my particular trigger foods), greasy burgers, and all you can eat pizza fests in trail towns, so when I'm done I can just scale back the amounts to 1500-1700 calories, eating basically the same trail food (but with more fresh veggies and fruits). I also plan to hit my sustaining group meetings immediately on my return.

[LDog]

I'm thinking about my trail food and plan for 2200-2500 calories, though I guess I'll find out just how much I'll need to maintain 130-140 on my 59 year old, female, 5'3" body.

All kinds of info out there on what thru-hikers burn, but it's easily in the 5000-6500 calories per day range depending on all kinds of factors. You didn't mention your weight, but just for a point of reference, one calculation for a 59 yo, 63", 150lb woman, carrying a 35lb pack and hiking 8hrs/day (not including breaks) burns 6260 lbs/day ... The problem is, we just can't really pack enough food to sustain that, so we hike with a significant calorie deficit and try to make up for it in town.

The reason most hikers crave pizza and burgers in town is that they gorge on cheap carbs, and don't get sufficient fats and protein while hiking. I would think a joint with an all-you-can-eat salad bar, and a good burger would be a choice stop in town!

A lot of food with a high calorie to weight ratio also provide healthy fats and protein. Olive oil tops the calories per ounce list, and can be added to most anything to increase calories, and is a good fat source. Nuts are up there in the calories to weight ratio, and are high in fats and proteins. Walnuts and almonds are pretty good food, considered along with cranberries and blueberries as good recovery foods, and can be mixed for an easy snack to consume while hiking. Peanut butter is way up there. Smear it on a whole-grain flatbread cracker or tortilla, eat spoonfuls out of the jar, add it to ramen with some dehydrated veggies, and a few spices to get a quick, decent dinner with a thai taste profile. Whole fat powdered milk is up there. Use it in morning coffee, and add it along with some soy protein powder to cereal... Foil packs of tuna are heavy, but are a source of both good oils and protein. Chicken in foil packs is a little harder to find, and are heavy, but would be good for one night a week. I like Santa Fe instant black beans. Quinoa is an excellent grain with high protein. OvaEasy dried eggs aren't bad. A good hard cheddar packs ok. Sardines are heavy, and have problematic packaging, but might be good once in a while. Some swear by textured vegetable protein (TVP) as a light way to get more protein in their diet.

The trick is to find the right balance of these with easy to make carbs that are low in the glycemic index ... Ramen, couscous, instant potatoes, noodles and minute rice are really easy to prepare on the trail, and whole grain versions are going to be hard to find in resupply points along the trail. Of course, on the trail, we are *not* dieting, and we do need to address the caloric deficit we impose on ourselves by doing this. Certainly starving and binging is not the best option. But, by adding more fat and protein-laden foods to our food bags, perhaps we can subsist on a somewhat lower intake of starchy carbs.

[LDog]

Yeah unfortunately it does seem for most people that they gain the weight back, and some even more than they lost. There are a lot of theories on why this happens, ranging from post-trail hunger mechanisms, Set Point Theory, to altered gut microbiome.

I actually reached out to a doctor who practices integrative preventive medicine and performance medicine to get a better answer on why people put the lbs on after the trail and more importantly what they can do to prevent weight gain after the Appalachian Trail (http://zrdavis.com/appalachian-trail-nutrition-guide-7-tips-to-avoiding-post-trail-weight-gain).

Funny. I quoted your article after finding it in my reader completely unaware that you are here, and that you had already posted it ... DOH!

I'm trying to take the on trail advice to heart, and suspect that addressing the need for greater caloric intake, while reducing high glycemic foods could be challenging.

Thanks for your research,

[Janeway]

All kinds of info out there on what thru-hikers burn, but it's easily in the 5000-6500 calories per day range depending on all kinds of factors. You didn't mention your weight, but just for a point of reference, one calculation for a 59 yo, 63", 150lb woman, carrying a 35lb pack and hiking 8hrs/day (not including breaks) burns 6260 lbs/day ... The problem is, we just can't really pack enough food to sustain that, so we hike with a significant calorie deficit and try to make up for it in town.

Thanks for that calculation. I was trying to figure out what I was going to need. Right now, still 59, 136 lbs, 5'3. I really don't want to go under 135 on the trail and for now pretty much maintain 136.

The trick is to find the right balance of these with easy to make carbs that are low in the glycemic index ... Ramen, couscous, instant potatoes, noodles and minute rice are really easy to prepare on the trail, and whole grain versions are going to be hard to find in resupply points along the trail. Of course, on the trail, we are *not* dieting, and we do need to address the caloric deficit we impose on ourselves by doing this. Certainly starving and binging is not the best option. But, by adding more fat and protein-laden foods to our food bags, perhaps we can subsist on a somewhat lower intake of starchy carbs.

I think you're right on the money and that's what I'll aim for in my food planning.

[quilteresq]

I got this article two years ago and have hung onto the link ever since.

http://cduane.net/WhyHikersGetFat.html

This is actually encouraging - I've been on the Zone diet before and lost enough weight to lower my HbA1C to fairly acceptable levels. I was planning on eating as much as I can using the Zone diet on the trail, and definitely going on it post-hike. I hope it works.

[LDog]

I just finished reading Mike McClelland's "Ultralight Backpacking Tips." I highly recommend it in general, but specific to this thread, he has a great section on calculating food needs based on the NOLS concept of pounds per person per day (PPPPD). He goes into great depth on how temperature, leval of effort and how many days one is hiking affects your body's needs. He's a vegetarian and gets into his "Groovy Macrobiotic" diet for trekking that gets into nutritional needs. A lot of it is for treks in which he can prepare stuff ahead of time - special sauces and mixes he uses - that we are unlikely to be able to do well during a thru where we are resupplying in trail towns, but there is a lot that can be gleaned from it that could be applied very well.

I found it to be one of those spooky, wonderful instances of synchronicity that those were the next chapters I read during this discussion ... It's available both in print and for Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/Ultralight-Backpackin-Tips-Inexpensive-Lightweight/dp/0762763841/ (http://www.amazon.com/Ultralight-Backpackin-Tips-Inexpensive-Lightweight/dp/0762763841/)

[Bronk]

I lost about 50 pounds on an 850 mile 4 month hike. I gained back about half of that within about 3 months or so. The rest trickled back a few pounds at a time over the next 6 years or so. Before my hike I had a desk job...afterwards for 3 years I had jobs where I was on my feet all day. Now I'm back to a desk job and have put on more weight.

[One Half]

I got this article two years ago and have hung onto the link ever since.

http://cduane.net/WhyHikersGetFat.html

good article. Thanks.