Bulking up?

[Zia]

I am very concerned about losing too much weight. I am a lean 6'1" and 165 and if I am going to walk 20+ miles a day I'll need to eat two pound of food a day, I guess. I've done some calculations. At 32 oz of food times 150 cal per oz. that equal 4800 cal. Divided by 20 miles equals 240 cal. per mile. I don't no if that is enough. I've heard hikers burn upwards of 6000 cal. a day. If that is the case I will loose a couple of pounds a week or 20-40 pounds over the 2000 + miles I intend to hike this year. My wife thinks I need to gain weight before I leave the 22 of March, but this is difficult because I've been hiking daily with my 20lb pack to get ready and to make matters worse i am a vegan. Any thoughts?

[Slo-go'en]

Eat lots of peanuts and other fatty food. Consider becoming a meat eater while on the trail. Its gonna be hard to resist a big, fat burger when you hit a town.

Hard not to loose weight on a thru. Men loose more weight than woman (which really pisses them off!). Most thru hikers are little more than backpacks with legs by the time they get to Maine. Bulking up before you leave will help for a little while.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Even if you put on some weight before leaving, you'll likely lose it quickly and wind up at the same weight eventually anyway, say about 2 months into your thru-hike. Years ago a woman named Karen Lutz, I believe she is now ATC's director of mid-atlantic region) did a masters thesis on the caloric needs of AT thru-hikers, gathered a lot of data from hikers about their weight and food/caloric intake and basically came to the conclusion that it is very difficult to carry enough food to maintain body weight. Even with supplementing it by eating lots of food in towns, most lost a lot in the beginning and then either plateaued or even kept losing weight slowly. The unhealthy part was that they continued to lose not just fat but also lean muscle, mostly in the upper body. Most thru-hikers lose quite a bit of weight and belt inches by the end.

Gorging in towns can help here. Eat lots of EVERYTHING, but especially those things you don't eat while actually on the trail. When you don't have to carry it--it's simply more efficient. The current wisdom is to take advantage of lots of fruit, fresh vegetables, meat for meat eaters, etc as most eat plenty of noodles, rice, and potatoes while on the trail.

For a vegan the difficulty will likely be even somewhat greater, mostly due to preferred food availability in small towns, restaurants, etc.

[Tinker]

Add your favorite oil to just about everything you eat. That will help with keeping your weight and energy up while on the trail.

[sticks&stones]

Heck I guess you can pound the food to you now and maybe bulk up some, but it's my guess that once you start hiking the bulking up you did for 7 weeks won't benefit you for long. Eventually you'll shed the bulk and it probably won't take long, nothing wrong with a little bulk coming out of the gate, but it won't relieve you of what might ultimately become a problem down the trail.
I hiked really close to vegan myself, as a vegetarian who didnt eat eggs or cheese, and it was rarely a problem for me to keep fed. But that was me and that was my metabolism, who knows what you'll go thru. If your pulling 20's at least the places to re-up might come a little sooner than later. It's my guess you'll be eating a lot. I think you might have to figure out how much and when once your actually on trail.

[Jack Tarlin]

Bulking up beforehand is probably not such a hot idea, as you want to start the Trail in as good shape as possible. Starting out overweight will only make things harder for you.

You will indeed lose weight during your hike, and maybe a lot, but it's not something you need to worry about overmuch.

For one thing, whatever you lose, you'll likely gain it all back by Christmas!

[mountain squid]

My wife thinks I need to gain weight before I leave the 22 of March. Any thoughts?

Personally, I would never suggest 'bulking up' before a long distance hike. What happens if, after a week on the trail, you have to get off for whatever reason? You will be left with the 'bulk' without the daily activity to get rid of it.

I am about the same size as yourself. By the time I got to NJ, I had lost about 30# and definetely did not have the energy I needed for the upcoming mountains. Eat as much as you can in towns and then a little more.

See you on the trail,
mt squid

[Kanati]

I am very concerned about losing too much weight. I am a lean 6'1" and 165 and if I am going to walk 20+ miles a day I'll need to eat two pound of food a day, I guess. I've done some calculations. At 32 oz of food times 150 cal per oz. that equal 4800 cal. Divided by 20 miles equals 240 cal. per mile. I don't no if that is enough. I've heard hikers burn upwards of 6000 cal. a day. If that is the case I will loose a couple of pounds a week or 20-40 pounds over the 2000 + miles I intend to hike this year. My wife thinks I need to gain weight before I leave the 22 of March, but this is difficult because I've been hiking daily with my 20lb pack to get ready and to make matters worse i am a vegan. Any thoughts?

I was hoping to build some of those big hiker calf's like Wildcat has but I just got skinnyer.

[The Professor]

I went from 180 lbs to 135 at my lowest. I'm 5'8". After a year off the trail I'm finally back to 180. At 135 I did look like a gulag survivor; at 180 I'm showing that I'm middle aged. I'd rather stay between 155-165 lbs, but I'd better get off my lazy but to do that.

If I were starting skinny I would bulk up. During my hike I lost not only most of my bodyfat, but muscle in my upper body.

You cannt keep up with the calorie deprivation while on the trail. The only hope is to binge while in towns, on the most calorie-dense, fattening foods you can find. I recommend taking a multi-vitamin while on the trail also.

[garlic08]

I have about the same metabolism, never could gain weight for the life of me. On the long trails, I would burn off several pounds of upper body muscle mass, the stuff I wasn't using. I comes back with hard work. At some point, for me about 800 to 1000 miles into a hike, you get a hunger that's very hard to satisfy and you learn to eat more when you can. I'm also vegetarian at home, but on the trail I can't resist good greasy fried fish and chips. I've never craved a burger.

I think how much you burn depends on how much you're carrying, too. There's a huge difference between hiking with a 20 pound pack and 40 pound pack. I've found with a light load and light shoes, my caloric needs aren't that great. Two pounds per day is plenty for 20 mile days.

I never built up calf muscles, either. Just got lean and stringy.

[RockStar]

If you're worried about it, I like to drink protein shakes with breakfast. I noticed a few other hikers doing so. .02

[Goose Catcher]

2 pounds of food means 2 pounds in your pack. It doesn't give an idea of the nutritional/caloric content. It may not be calorie dense enough that in a week you will be catabolic and be losing weight. Or it could be so calorie dense that you are actually gaining weight.

What you want is the calorie content of the food you are bringing.
1 gram of carbohydrate equals 4 calories.
1 gram of protein equals 4 calories.
1 gram of fats equals 9 calories.

Approximately 3500 calories equals 1 pound of body fat. If you are in a deficit of 500 calories per day, you would lose 1 pound of body fat in a week.

Those 32oz of food you are bringing could be all carbohydrates leading to 3600 calories. Or it could be all fats leading to 8100 calories. Now the 32oz of carbs at 3600 calories may be appropriate for your hiking style and metabolic rate, but in the case that it isn't, you will begin to lose weight. If you need more calories, add more fatty foods such as nuts, seeds, oils, avacados or even Odwalla GoMega bars.

So what am I getting to? You have to look at the calorie content of the food you are bringing, not just the weight.

It also may be a good idea to bulk up as much as you can prior to leaving. Although any weight you gain will be fat weight and not lean body mass, this extra weight can provide a buffer if your caloric needs aren't met and give you time to get it sorted out.


Hope this helps, I am leaner than you and know of the stresses it may cause.

[SkinnyT]

Protien shakes for breakfast and dinner.

[Fire Ball]

I'm with Skinny T. I supplement my carb-rich diet with protein shakes for breakfast and dinner and a couple of protein bars during the day. This regime works for me as I loose no more than 10 pounds on my 2000+ mile hikes.

[take-a-knee]

I'm with Skinny T. I supplement my carb-rich diet with protein shakes for breakfast and dinner and a couple of protein bars during the day. This regime works for me as I loose no more than 10 pounds on my 2000+ mile hikes.

Excellent advice, protein powder in isolate form (it is a bit more expensive), I like the Prolab brand, mixes more easily and is more bioavailable.

[SGT Rock]

I went on a cookies and banna split diet plan a couple of weeks prior to starting. Since I left in January I wanted some extra body fat I didn't have at the time - of course I was probably under 10% body fat before I started.

[dradius]

+1 for drink mixes. REI sells strawberry and banana flavored powdered mixes that are not bad and are vegan.

[JAK]

Healthy Vegan Prick.

Seriously though, you are definitely doing the right thing by focusing on exercise rather than weight. Burn as much calories as you can each day by hiking, and eat as much as you can, but don't worry if you don't bulk up. You might even lose some weight. At 6'1" 165# your body might be 10% fat, but it might be 20%. Anything from 140 pounds to 189 pounds is supposedly normal weight for 6'1", depending on how much muscle mass you have, and how heavy your bones are. Maybe watch your waistline measurement, and pinch tests. If you really feel your losing too much take a day off and eat more, same as you should on your hike.

Hiking 20 miles a day burns alot more fat than running 20 miles a day, so you will likely need to add more vegetable oils into your vegan diet. For carbs and protiens I presume you are already drinking alot of soy milk, and eating alot of legumes/grains for complete protiens. Your digestive tract might need some time to adjust to higher intakes of legumes/grains. Try and match the protien/carb/fat consumption to what you are burning, which at 20 miles a day will be higher in fat, but you still need lots of protien and carbs.

Something like...
For every 1000 kcal burned...
~ 10% protien = ~ 20g to 25g of protien
~ 35% to 55% fats = ~ 40g to 60g of fats
~ 35% to 55% carb = ~ 90g to 135g of carbs

Carrying less body weight and a lighter pack will help also. A 135 pound person carrying 15 pounds can cover 20 miles on the same number of calories as a 175 pound person carrying 25 pounds and covering only 15 miles; or a 220 pound person carrying 30 pounds covering only 12 miles.

If I was 6'1" I might stop and eat for a day or two if I got down to 135 pounds, but I wouldn't be too worried about it as long as I was healthy.

[wrongway_08]

Dont worry about bulking up before hand.

I ate 8,000 calories while in trail towns towards the last 2 months of my hike. I started out at 175, ended at 130.

its simple... eat all the time, when in town stops .... pig out while in town. Dont wait till you start loosing weight, just start the trail eating more then you think is needed.

It took me about a month and a half to start putting weight back on after finishing the hike. I'm now up to 167, almost 4.5 months later.

[John B]

Where did the 6,000 calorie/day figure come from? Just curious because it is generally recognized that running a marathon (24.2 miles) burns about 2,400 calories for a 150 lbs person at moderate pace. There are many cites for that figure, but this one is typical:
http://running-marathons-races.suite...nd_weight_loss

This one is a bit more science-y, so to speak, and is drawn partially from an article published in a refereed medical journal:
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/...8402-0,00.html

Here is a site where you can calculate calories burned based on weight, speed, and duration. Even for a fat slob like me (210 lbs) running at 6 mph constantly for 4 hours, I'd burn 3,600 calories.
http://www.runtheplanet.com/resource...riecounter.asp

Is there any evidence for the 6,000 calories per day figure?