Second Chance Hiker Takes on the PCT: 200 lbs Overweight

@T.S. Kobzol

I think you missed the point of that post. I am speaking for StephenD here, but as I understand his meaning, he is saying the videos and the channel are SecondChance's content to do with as he pleases. I think there is some implied meaning in the post as well. That implied meaning is we should all stop being critical and just enjoy the videos and the story. If you cannot do that or cannot add positive constructive discussion then do not post. Lastly, and FFS, you can't expect design studio quality videos while he's on the trail. Even if he has someone developing the videos for him, how well can he control the quality while he's on trail?

Let's not forget that SecondChance's first priority of this hike is to do it for himself. The fact that he is providing videos for others to enjoy is a secondary priority. Thus, he's allowed some wiggle room in video quality.

P.S. To all the people commenting about him being on trail while we're all not, please quit beating the dead horse.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Apollo117

P.S. To all the people commenting about him being on trail while we're all not, please quit beating the dead horse.

---

Wow, and I thought the real dead horse was all the stuff about "he's only gone X miles"

What I'm saying is we should be supportive and not disdainful - of him, or of grandmotherly hikers!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Time Zone

Wow, and I thought the real dead horse was all the stuff about "he's only gone X miles"

What I'm saying is we should be supportive and not disdainful - of him, or of grandmotherly hikers!

---

Ha! I forgot about those posts.

Sorry if my previous post was unclear. I started the post and then lost connection and had to write the post again. I originally intended to quote T.S.Kobzol, but forgot to quote during the second writing.

You and I agree about being supportive.

I beg to differ. I totally got the point of that post and I disagreed with it. But I chose to be cheeky rather than just turn it into an argumentative post. FWIW - it is perfectly OK to comment on pros and cons of his channel here in this thread. This isn't some kind of censored chinese version where everyone has to be a fanboy. And I actually like his channel and the way he does the hike. That doesn't mean I won't have this conversation with likeminded folks whiteblaze.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Apollo117

@T.S. Kobzol

I think you missed the point of that post. I am speaking for StephenD here, but as I understand his meaning, he is saying the videos and the channel are SecondChance's content to do with as he pleases. I think there is some implied meaning in the post as well. That implied meaning is we should all stop being critical and just enjoy the videos and the story. If you cannot do that or cannot add positive constructive discussion then do not post. Lastly, and FFS, you can't expect design studio quality videos while he's on the trail. Even if he has someone developing the videos for him, how well can he control the quality while he's on trail?

Let's not forget that SecondChance's first priority of this hike is to do it for himself. The fact that he is providing videos for others to enjoy is a secondary priority. Thus, he's allowed some wiggle room in video quality.

P.S. To all the people commenting about him being on trail while we're all not, please quit beating the dead horse.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T.S.Kobzol

I beg to differ. I totally got the point of that post and I disagreed with it. But I chose to be cheeky rather than just turn it into an argumentative post. FWIW - it is perfectly OK to comment on pros and cons of his channel here in this thread. This isn't some kind of censored chinese version where everyone has to be a fanboy. And I actually like his channel and the way he does the hike. That doesn't mean I won't have this conversation with likeminded folks whiteblaze.

---

Thank you for the explanation. I appreciate you clearing up your viewpoint. I understand discussing pros and cons. I misunderstood your earlier post or the delivery of the post. It seems you weren't being negative, but instead trying to start a discussion about how he could make the videos better. With that in mind, how do you suggest the videos could be better?

Well, all I've got to say about this entire situation is that he is out there hiking and we are simply...

It would be great if a discussion about this WhiteBlaze thread got started on his YouTube channel.

My vacation starts tomorrow morning and I got 7 days of hiking planned :-) yay!

But it is no match to having the time to do the PCT ... that's for sure. :-)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lonehiker

Well, all I've got to say about this entire situation is that he is out there hiking and we are simply...

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by T.S.Kobzol

My vacation starts tomorrow morning and I got 7 days of hiking planned :-) yay!

But it is no match to having the time to do the PCT ... that's for sure. :-)

---

I'm going on a seven day hike in Virginia in 16 days and.....considering the sorry shape i'm now, i would love to do ten miles a day at least.

I only have 3 weeks of AT trail experience but I find the first day out is very important to set you up for a good hike. My thought is the worse shape you are in the easier you want your first day(s) to be. If 10 mile days is your goal, give your self a day or two to get your bod to transition to a higher activity level, real trail legs take me 3-4 days to develop and at least a week to get to trail warrior status.
2 of my 3 outings were started with half days(rather than get up in the night to get to the trail early) and that left me enthusiastic to get my planned miles in and to start the full days feeling good instead of stressed.

I applied the same take it easy logic to the Roller Coaster in NoVa- broke it up into 2 days which gave me confidence that it would not be too hard to do. As it turned out, by then(day 6?) I had my trail legs and after hitting the shelter at 1pm I did chores including laundry only to realize at 4pm that I had bought into the Roller Coaster hype and if I hit the trail again I could have pizza etc at Bears Den hostel. So I had the option of taking it super easy in case it lived up to the hype, never felt pressured to push hard and in the end, made my miles and had my pizza too.

I have had the opposite happen too...plan a long day and then still had miles to do when my legs cramped. That was the worst experience I've had hiking because while I was in no danger and could have camped where I was, I knew I was not in trouble ONLY because it was nice weather and there was no danger. Fortunately it turned out a determined assault with electrolytes and greatly reduced pace got me to the shelter. That taught me to NOT push the envelope and to always try to err on the conservative side.

And that brings us to my biggest issue with the AT- too many places where you have to make "X" miles or 2x miles because you cant camp in between. I could probably do 20 miles days(for a short while at least) but that would put me in too many situations where anything going wrong is prevent making the required miles.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stephanD

I'm going on a seven day hike in Virginia in 16 days and.....considering the sorry shape i'm now, i would love to do ten miles a day at least.

---

Hey, I see dude's got another video up. You know, on HIS channel. Gosh, it's 24min long, though😯
I might watch it, anyway. Maybe while I eat or something...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Crossup

I only have 3 weeks of AT trail experience but I find the first day out is very important to set you up for a good hike. My thought is the worse shape you are in the easier you want your first day(s) to be. If 10 mile days is your goal, give your self a day or two to get your bod to transition to a higher activity level, real trail legs take me 3-4 days to develop and at least a week to get to trail warrior status.
2 of my 3 outings were started with half days(rather than get up in the night to get to the trail early) and that left me enthusiastic to get my planned miles in and to start the full days feeling good instead of stressed.

I applied the same take it easy logic to the Roller Coaster in NoVa- broke it up into 2 days which gave me confidence that it would not be too hard to do. As it turned out, by then(day 6?) I had my trail legs and after hitting the shelter at 1pm I did chores including laundry only to realize at 4pm that I had bought into the Roller Coaster hype and if I hit the trail again I could have pizza etc at Bears Den hostel. So I had the option of taking it super easy in case it lived up to the hype, never felt pressured to push hard and in the end, made my miles and had my pizza too.

I have had the opposite happen too...plan a long day and then still had miles to do when my legs cramped. That was the worst experience I've had hiking because while I was in no danger and could have camped where I was, I knew I was not in trouble ONLY because it was nice weather and there was no danger. Fortunately it turned out a determined assault with electrolytes and greatly reduced pace got me to the shelter. That taught me to NOT push the envelope and to always try to err on the conservative side.

And that brings us to my biggest issue with the AT- too many places where you have to make "X" miles or 2x miles because you cant camp in between. I could probably do 20 miles days(for a short while at least) but that would put me in too many situations where anything going wrong is prevent making the required miles.

---

My hikes always change physically on day 4. First 3 days are full of sore muscles, dehydration, tired. Then on day 4 its like it all goes away and feels a lot more like "smooth sailing"

All I am seeing are euphoric cheerleaders for "second chance". He would be an easy target if folks wanted to be critical, but what would be the point? The vast majority of Americans are on a similar diet resulting in similar effects; he's lucky that he didn't have a typical doctor put him on a lot of meds for his "condition", probably a little young for that.

I hope he comes through with flying colors and starts eating healthier. I am an original healthnut as I believe any health condition can be healed if you give your body the basic natural and herbal foods to get well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by greenmtnboy

All I am seeing are euphoric cheerleaders for "second chance". He would be an easy target if folks wanted to be critical, but what would be the point? The vast majority of Americans are on a similar diet resulting in similar effects; he's lucky that he didn't have a typical doctor put him on a lot of meds for his "condition", probably a little young for that.

I hope he comes through with flying colors and starts eating healthier. I am an original healthnut as I believe any health condition can be healed if you give your body the basic natural and herbal foods to get well.

---

-any- health condition?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by greenmtnboy

All I am seeing are euphoric cheerleaders for "second chance". He would be an easy target if folks wanted to be critical, but what would be the point? The vast majority of Americans are on a similar diet resulting in similar effects; he's lucky that he didn't have a typical doctor put him on a lot of meds for his "condition", probably a little young for that.

I hope he comes through with flying colors and starts eating healthier. I am an original healthnut as I believe any health condition can be healed if you give your body the basic natural and herbal foods to get well.

---

The fact that he's willing to put himself out there, is already admirable. when he started his hike, he was what is referred to in medicine as "morbidly obese". and he could barely walk a few miles a day. now he can hike, i think, about 10 miles a day. regardless how he finish, he is an inspiration to many people, not just the overweight.

Based on the “meal” that concludes his latest video, he has not changed his dietary habits.
Just an honest observation.
Wayne

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Venchka

Based on the “meal” that concludes his latest video, he has not changed his dietary habits.
Just an honest observation.
Wayne

---

He is not the first hiker who has dreamed about giant hamburgers smothered with bacon and cheese, and he will not be the last. The real test will be what he does when he gets home.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CalebJ

-any- health condition?

---

No, but have spoken to people who had excellent results with various remedies, chia kombucha for Crohns, green tea extract for brain cancer; cranberry juice and milk thistle for hepatitis C. Obesity has a lot of diets that have worked, Second Chance said he tried many of them. I hope he feels so good with all the exercise and hiking that he will take better care of himself in the future.

Lost me less than 2 minutes in, talking about pooping his pants and stuff.
But his diet on trail and at his current weight don't mean much.
At this point, his basal metabolic rate alone is probably higher than what I'd budget calorie-wise for my entire daily intake on a weeklong trip, and he burns a lot more calories while hiking, too.
I'm interested in the weight loss aspect, and curious what kind of diet would work best for him. The "rules" I'd apply to myself wouldn't work for someone that size, though.

He said that he had lost 35 pounds in 28 days of hiking. Actually 35 calendar days since he left the Border in Campo.
Wayne