I had many fewer headaches (migraine-type) while hiking.
My knees never recovered completely.
I also lost a lot of weight--20 years' worth--but it all came back plus another ten pounds.
Piper, I agree with most of what you say, but not all of your last post.
I argue against your opinion that instant potatoes are not nutritious. Wikipedia says (so it must be right!) that "instant potatoes are substantially similar to fresh mashed potatoes in their nutritional qualities". They don't process all the good stuff out. Potatoes contain complex carbohydrates, fiber and minerals. To compare potatoes to cookies is just not right. I eat them a lot, and I don't get the sugar buzz I get from cookies or candy.
And don't immediately discount instant oats. They're exactly the same as rolled oats, except cut finer before the parboil/steaming process. Anything made with a substantial proportion of instant oats is better than poptarts.
I agree that any granola cereal that comes out of a box is a good thing to stay away from. I don't understand why anyone buys that stuff--it's so easy to make your own muesli (uncooked oats). No sugar other than from dried fruit, no fat other than from nuts, no added sodium.
I definitely agree with you on the hummus. Some of my most memorable backcountry meals have been hummus on Wheat Thins--memorable mainly because it's so rare without maildrop support. If you ever get out to hike the AT, about the only place on the Trail you'll find it is the Co-op in Hanover.
I agree with your premise that the heathiest food isn't as easily available. But that's not saying it's unavailable, or any more expensive. It takes a little work and there are trade-offs, like carrying a light tarp and having to work a little more to make a comfortable camp.
"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
Thruhiking the AT did goods and bad things for me. I started smoking tobacco again on the trail (Fontana Dam), I have never drank as much as I did while thruhiking, I lost about 25 pounds only to gain it all back after the trail. The best thing the trail did for me was that it gave me 4 months of 'quality' time with my soon to be wife. Best gift of all!
I had a case of bronchitis right before a section hike. I was on prescription anti-biotic but was still coughing and my lungs were all gurggly. I was concerned that it would effect my hike. Within an hour after leaving Pearisburg, my cough stopped and my breathing cleared. Whether it was the medication kicking in, the benefit of good western Virginia mountian air or another case of AT "trail magic", I don't know, but I felt great the rest of the way.Originally Posted by max patch
That bacon is now a viable trail food is a revelation!
GA -> ME
'86 -> '89
As you (the OP) can see a lot of people gain the weight back real quick after a long-distance hike. Health is something you got to always work at and it's hard work -- if it were easy there wouldn't be so many fat hikers. For me the hardest part of staying fit is the boredom over time. You got to mix it up and make it interesting, but even when you do that there will be times -- long periods of time -- in which you just got to go on pure will power.
And the same can be said for diet...
g
Well put, It is a struggle to stay in shape-not impossible though. The boredom of working out is the hardest for me, not the actual working out, I actually enjoy it. But Like John said mix it up.
HiKen2011
Just FYI: I have not read the other posts prior to posting this and I'm 39.
I felt soooo much better when I finished hiking. I just wish would have kept it up as now I am in worse shape than I was before my AT hike.
It took a few months to start seeing the effects; maybe 3-4? But without maintenance after a long hike, most gain their weight back. I have genetics working against me as well.
I am currently in the preliminary stages of a plan to get me back to my post-hike weight and stay there.
Perceptions and beliefs about nutrition, food, and what constitutes a healthy lifestyle can be as controversial as religion and politics.
DO NOT fall into the mistaken assumption that because a thru-hiker needs a greater number of cals. it's OK to consume mass amounts of junk food! I don't believe that! Junk in Junk out!
Making healthier food choices on an AT thru-hike DOES NOTequate with being harder to prepare, higher costs, harder to find, weigh more, are less calorie dense, etc.
Max Patch got it absolutely correct, "hikers can eat healthy if they want to. Most choose not to." Largely, because of convenience, comfort, and not understanding how eating healthier can be achieved hikers, people in general, make excuses for treating their bodies and minds like garbage dumps by consuming garbage.Then they make excuses for doing it!
Since I too have an eye on trail budget, time to prepare food(mostly dinner), trailfood wt carried, availability of trailfood while on a thru-hike etc, like Garlic I've also done the math. I save money and trail time and eat a higher number of cals and eat more nutritionally dense/complete food all the while lowering my trailfood wt carried with healthier trailfood choices. It's really not hard!
With some care and knowledge, a hiker can eat well on a budget. But it's the same nutritional problem most people in US culture are faced with at home--every time you turn around you're barraged with ready-to-eat, poor-quality food that's practically shoved in your face. Yes, it's easier and more immediately gratifying to unwrap a Snickers than to open bags of oats, nuts, and dried fruit, get out a spoon, and sit down somewhere to eat something real. - Garlic
Well said!
I also agree with John Gault. Folks in the poverty range are not overweight or unhealthy just because they don't have the money for healthier food or to live a healthier lifestyle. They are that way for a variety of reasons. Poorer folks tend to be less educated so they tend to make poorer choices in general, that includes the types and amts of food they eat. I think it's a fallacy to believe one needs to be wealthy to eat healthier! Eating healthier begins when one understands(is educated in how to make healthier food choices, you are seeing plans implemented along these lines by poverty based help groups, both govt run and private, that seek to educate the poor on better/healthier food choices) and takes personal responsibility with the food choices being made! May seem like a harsh reality but I also agree with John Gault's statement -They're a victim of their wants, they have no control of thier desires.
I also agree with John Gault's statement - What it boils down to is a matter of priorities. If your health is not a high enough priority than go ahead and eat the crap that is quick and easy. From the growing percentages of those that die from cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and are obese in this country this is what most often do! - continue with their poor eating habits and lifestyles!
BTW, I have seen thru-hikers down 2 L bottles of soda. AND, THEN, afterward feel like ***** for the next 24 hrs! Talk about sugar crashes, lethargy, stomach cramps from corn syrup, wild glucose fluctuations, and being unable to be at your best! Soda is such poor food nutritionally. Soft drinks are anything but soft on your body and mind! Research it!
I also witnessed 4 AT thru-hikers take the 1/2 gal ice cream challenge. Two could not complete the task; one got nauseously sick. One puked right after downing the 1/2 gal of ice cream. The last felt like ***** for the next 2 days constantly expelling phlegm, feeling lethargic, violently nauseous, vomitting several times over the next 2 days. What are these signs telling you? To me, it says one is overwhelming their body with poison that the body can't readily digest so it's expelling the poison in anyway it can!
Junk is junk!
I also ditto the comments about dental health while out on the trail. It's something many do , including something I've been guilty of mysel in the past, ignore teeth and gums while hiking.
I gained all the weight I lost back and then some. Even though I walk to work every day (about 3.75 miles round trip) and then go for another walk after work most days. I think the hike messed up my metabolism. I tried running but it would just trigger my ferocious hiker hunger and then I would overeat for the next two days so I stopped running. But the walking hasn't been enough to keep the weight off.
My boyfriend has started to get arthritis this year. He's turning 60 in a few days. He hiked a few weeks on the PCT this year until he had an accident and had to get off the trail. He said that while he was hiking, the arthritis went away. No pain at all. He never felt better. It came back once he stopped hiking.
Some knew me as Piper, others as just Diane.
I hiked the PCT: Mexico to Mt. Shasta, 2008. Santa Barbara to Canada, 2009.
Post-hike weight gain and healthy eating
Wow! I can't believe the number of posts wherein people talk about all the weight they've gained after the hike! I've put on some weight in recent past, after someone I loved dearly died and I turned to food for comfort. I'm trying to get a handle on it now, and I hoped my hike would help, but now I'm worried about afterward. I also want to be mindful of eating healthfully while on the trail, and if there is a forum devoted specifically to that I hope someone will steer me in that direction. I'd also like any specific advice about healthy eating on the trail any of uoi would be willing to impart. Love the idea of hummus, dried fruits and nuts!
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