average weight loss

[Gacy]

what has been everyones average weight loss on a thru hike I am a bigger guy about 6'2 300 lbs and was wondering what I could expect on this adventure. now obviously I am not going on this hike only for weight loss but it is definetly an added bonus.

[hungryhowie]

I met a fellow in PA who'd hiked the year before to lose weight (not his only reason either, but certainly one reason). He told me that at the beginning of his hike he was 200 pounds overweight, and during the hike he lost nearly 100 pounds. He came out to hike through the next summer hoping to lose an additional 50 and had already lost 15 of that.

I was (and still am to some degree) a lanky kind of guy @ 5'11" and 145 pounds at the beginning of the hike. I lost 25 pounds in the first 170 miles and was absolutely stunned when I saw myself in a mirror. I decided I needed to eat more protein and eventually gained 15 of those pounds back in muscle mass. After getting off of the trail, I gained the 10 pounds right back. The next summer I hiked the Long Trail in Vermont and lost the 10 pounds within a week on the trail, but stayed level for the rest of the hike. After getting off of the trail, the 10 pounds came back again.

Looks like I need to hike again, cause I've gained about 20 pounds in the last 4 years...

-howie

[Kerosene]

The amount of weight lost varies quite a bit by person, gender, and body type. In addition, the more out-of-shape you are at the start, the harder it will be for your body to adjust to the rigors without something going wrong and forcing you off-trail. Unless you're an athlete, you're probably on the order of 80-100 pounds overweight. You'll feel a lot better if you can lose 10-20 pounds before you start next March. If you can keep walking for 4+ months, then I wouldn't be surprised if you got down to the 200-225 range. As Howie notes though, the hard part will be to keep it off once you stop burning 5000+ calories a day.

[The Hog]

I was reasonably fit and slender to start with, and ate like, well...a hog during my thru hike, and ended up GAINING one pound. For me, hiking was an excuse to indulge in gluttony. I ate for 3 solid hours at Country Cooking. In Gorham, NH, I ate ten tacos followed by two large bowls of popcorn. In the twenty years since, I've jogged, cross country skied, hiked, and generally stayed fit, and my weight is virtually unchanged.

[Pooja Blue]

I started at 238 and ended at 193. Still loosing back at home now, too, but I'm still very active.

[Peaks]

If you want answers like this, your best guide is Roland Mueser's book "Long Distance Hiking." It's a survey of 1898 thru-hikers.

For weight loss, he published the following table:

Men Start Finish

Lightest 115 110
Average 166 150
Heviest 250 200

[Footslogger]

I'm 5'10" and weighed 178 when I started.

I lost 30 lbs from Springer to Harpers. Pretty much levelled off after that. I was carrying a lot of weight in my pack when I first started which I think played a bug role in how hard I had to work to do the miles. Later on I dropped about 20 lbs in total pack weight and I was in better shape so I was able to pretty much keep up with the calorie burn.

'Slogger
AT 2003

[LIhikers]

Hey, this thread gives me an idea! My doctor always tells me I should loose some weight. In that case, I wonder if a thru hike could be considered a medical expense and deducted from my taxes? I can just hear me expalining it to some IRS agent right now....." I tried every diet I could think of and didn't loose any weight. This thru hike was a last resort before surgery"... lol :D

[hikerjohnd]

As my lawyer (also my wife) explains it, just get your MD to prescribe a thru-hike and you're golden!

[Spirit Walker]

The amount you lose depends mostly on how much you have to lose. Thin people tend not to lose a lot and may even gain as they develop more muscle. Very heavy people can lose most of their extra weight. We met a pilot on the trail who had to lose 50 pounds in order to be flightworthy. At that point he had lost about 30 pounds. A lot of men lose a lot in the first couple of months, but then they either learn how to eat more or their bodies get more efficient and so their metabolism slows down so they don't starve to death. Women generally don't lose much weight, unless they have a lot to lose as their bodies become 'efficient' much more quickly - e.g. their metabolism slows down sooner.

Trouble is, most thruhikers regain the weight quickly after they get off the trail. Partly it is that you are so used to eating anything you want that it is hard to stop, partly it is because of the slowed down metabolism that happens after a few months. When you are used to walking 15-20 miles every day, the body has a hard time readjusting to little or no exercise. Go to the Gathering - it is pretty obvious who is just off the trail and who hiked a few years back.

[Footslogger]

Trouble is, most thruhikers regain the weight quickly after they get off the trail. Partly it is that you are so used to eating anything you want that it is hard to stop, partly it is because of the slowed down metabolism that happens after a few months. When you are used to walking 15-20 miles every day, the body has a hard time readjusting to little or no exercise. Go to the Gathering - it is pretty obvious who is just off the trail and who hiked a few years back.============================================= =
Amen brother ...

I've regained every ounce and then some. Of course, just going through the holidays didn't help.

'Slogger
AT 2003

[rocket04]

Women generally don't lose much weight, unless they have a lot to lose as their bodies become 'efficient' much more quickly - e.g. their metabolism slows down sooner. I heard about that. Seems a lot of women who do the trail go expecting they'll lose a lot of weight and come out very disappointed. So adjust your expectations accordingly.

[Footslogger]

I heard about that. Seems a lot of women who do the trail go expecting they'll lose a lot of weight and come out very disappointed. So adjust your expectations accordingly.=
=====================================
I once read a quote about the difference in weight loss among men and women thru-hikers. According to that quote, the average man comes out looking like a concentration camp survivor and the average woman comes out looking like an aerobics instructor.

'Slogger
AT 2003

[rocket04]

I once read a quote about the difference in weight loss among men and women thru-hikers. According to that quote, the average man comes out looking like a concentration camp survivor and the average woman comes out looking like an aerobics instructor. I guess they should be happy, I'd prefer the latter...

[The Old Fhart]

Footslogger-"I once read a quote about the difference in weight loss among men and women thru-hikers. According to that quote, the average man comes out looking like a concentration camp survivor and the average woman comes out looking like an aerobics instructor." A woman I hiked with once said she hoped to lose some weight on the trail but she lost it in all the wrong places and truely became one of the guys. :)