Expected Weight Loss
When someone starts a thru hike whats the inital weight loss expected in say oh....40 days on the trail??
I gained 15 pounds on the trail.
Don't take anything I say seriously... I certainly don't.
I think I lost about 15 lbs.. and continued to lose after that..
I lost a few pounds in the first few weeks then started gaining it back in VA. At 40 days I was a little heavier than at the start. Then I lost it again in New England. It all depends on the trail difficulty and access to food and if you're overweight to start with and if you stay healthy and....
Starting weight 155, ending weight 155, average 20+ miles per day, cookless diet, about 3500 calories per day.
Last edited by garlic08; 02-19-2009 at 12:02. Reason: Added statistics
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
In 67 days of hiking from Amicalola to a little bit into Maryland, I lost about 20 pounds. I didn't weigh myself at any other time.
These kind of threads would be most useful if people listed their star weights and end weights along with an average number of miles hiked daily and also a brief mention of what kind of diet you followed.
Good idea. I added statistics to my post above.Originally Posted by catfishrivers
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
I maintained my origional weight of 160 it fluxulated some but not enough to notice gained alot of calf mussle but the calorie intake of mostly beer an romens keep me ALIVE . Also the thru hikers hand book just came out at my local outdoor store (Enviorneers).. Peace an safe hiking all..
Wow, some of you gained weight?I've never gained on a hike but I've always gained it right back!
1/2 the reason I want to hike is to LOSE weight! (Well, not 1/2. Maybe 1/8. 1/2 is alot.)
My wife & I started out not really needing to lose weight. I weighed 160 before and got down to probably 145 until I found ways to eat better. I finished around 160 because I learned to eat better along the way.
Yep... started at 140, ended at 155. And now I'm a stable 170, ten years later.Wow, some of you gained weight?
1/2 the reason I want to hike is to LOSE weight! (Well, not 1/2. Maybe 1/8. 1/2 is alot.)
Don't take anything I say seriously... I certainly don't.
It really depends on how much fat you're carrying on you. People who are thin to begin with generally don't lose much, if any, weight and may actually gain some as their legs develop more muscle (though their upper bodies generally lose muscle, so it's sometimes a wash). Men with 40-50 lbs to lose will generally lose it, but then, as others have said, they start eating significantly more food so they don't get too thin. (If you aren't eating enough calories, your body will start using muscles for energy. Then you run out of steam and end up going home.) My husband always loses a lot of weight quickly, but then turns into an eating machine about halfway up the trail so that he can keep hiking. Towns mean forced feeding - not entirely a bad thing.
Women generally don't lose weight the way men do. Our bodies are more efficient at recognizing a famine situation and slowing down the metabolism when there aren't enough calories to sustain activity. Some will lose 10 or 20 lbs, most will only lose 5 or so. However, the shape will change considerably.
People who eat a more healthy diet don't seem to lose as much weight as those of us eating mac n cheese and Little Debbies.
My boyfriend started his thru at 220 and ended at 157--he lost all of that weight by PA. At 40 days, I'd say he had already lost 15-20 lbs. I started at 165 and ended at 135. I didn't start losing it much at all until New Jersey or so and lost weight rapidly until the end. At 40 days I had lost less than 5 lbs. We both ate whatever we could get our hands on, as much as possible. Most girls either experience little weight loss at all, or it takes a while for it to kick in. And for guys, from what I've seen is the ones who are already skinny or little body fat gain a little weight or stay the same. Guys who have quite a bit of weight to lose seem to lose it rapidly. Guys who are somewhere in between could go either way, and every person has a different experience.
Steadily gained 15 pounds the whole time, then lost 7 in my first 3 weeks back...depends on your shape when you start...
Started at 240lbs, weighed 190lbs by Damascus. Didn't lose anymore weight (other than when I got lyme disease, but I gained it back).
I was carrying a heavy load so my intial mileage (until Damascus) was low -- ~9.4 miles per day. However, it's also low because of the zero days I took (I like zero days), I did many days over that average.
Departed Amicalola on March 17th arrived Damascus May 5th = 50 days.
50lbs in 50 days.
Oh yeah...I left off the numbers...5`11...148 to start...153 Manchester Center...156 Mayor's house (NY)...159 Harpers...163 to finish...155 2.5 months later
Six weeks. I lost probably 10lbs. Depends on your starting weight. Your system is getting into high gear about then. But I lost 10 lbs in two weeks in Maine - our food supply wasn't good and we were doing 20 mile days. Lost 30 lbs total on the hike. My son lost 50 lbs.
It depends on the individual. On one extreme, you can't lose fat if you don't have it. On another extreme, you can only burn as much fat as you have the ability and desire to do the work. I would say a good estimate though would be that everyone has the potential to burn all of their excess body fat in 40 days, up to a maximum of, say, 15-20 pounds, but they would have to be pretty fit to do that, and they would have to have the fat to lose also. By excess body fat I mean anything beyond say 10% of your lean body mass.
As a very rough estimate, a person can lose up to 0.1 pounds of body weight for each hour of hiking, but not sustainably, so perhaps half that sustainably over 40 days, assuming they are fit and healthy enough, and have the fat to lose, which is a bit of a contradiction but not really.
It depends on a lot of issues, are you doing exercise? do you take Diet pills?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
