[pct-l] Weight loss on the trail

[Bruno Barrera Yever]

Thanks everyone for the great replies! It has been very reassuring and
informative.

I will try to gain some weight before April, but I'm not as worried as I
was a few days ago.

On Tue, Dec 27, 2011 at 5:18 PM, jamie szewczyk <jamieszew723 at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hey Bruno!
>
> It seems you are getting some great replies to your questions.  I wanted
> to help as I just hiked 1000 miles of the trail this year.  It was my first
> long hike and I am planning on returning in 2012 to where I left off.  I'm
> so excited.
>
> You want to get in shape for the trail.  I did not physically prep for the
> trail, except for going on the treadmill 5 miles here and there to test out
> different shoes.  Regarding your health on the trail, you should be mainly
> concerned with your feet, ankles, and knees.
>
> Make sure you have good shoes and have tried them out because foot issues
> could put you off the trail for a while.  Some people may never have had
> problems with their feet, ankles or knees prior to the trail because who
> normally walks all day every day with weight on their back.  It would be
> good to do the proper exercises to build the muscles in your legs to
> hopefully protect yourself from injuring them on the trail.  I actually
> experienced my first huge blisters on my feet ever on day 2.  I was
> carrying 70 pounds though. I had to reduce my weight.  You will probably do
> the same.  I didn't have a problem with my ankles but I hiked with people
> who did.  I did end up having severe issues with my knees.  It put me off
> the trail eventually since I didn't have insurance or money for the
> cortizone shot that probably would have kept me going.
>
> I found from talking to people while on the trail that the average weight
> loss is around 20-30 pounds.  That is mostly people who have a little
> weight to lose.  The average to skinny person just loses some weight in the
> high Sierras but gain it back after.  The high passes are no joke.  Most
> burn more than they can eat.  I had problems in high altitude.  It made me
> a little nauseous and had to force feed myself when I was above 8 or 9000
> feet.
>
> One tip to maintaining weight is to make sure you pack food that you will
> actually eat.  Don't just pack it because it is high in calories. I had
> very specific cravings especially by the Sierras and couldn't eat anything
> sweet in my food bag or I would gag.
>
> Some recommendations are to eat well in the morning and even make a shake
> for energy and calories---I learned this from my hiking partner.  The shake
> consisted of----water, oatmeal or wheat germ, breakfast essentials
> chocolate shake, and peanut butter.  Eventually, we realized we should add
> more fun things in there like instant coffee packets and creamer packets!
> When we got to the top of passes when there was snow we would treat
> ourselves to frappaccinos consisting of snow or ice (not really recommended
> due to that potentially dangerous pink algae on snow), breakfast essentials
> chocolate shake or hot chocolate powder, instant (or french pressed)
> coffee, creamer and sugar.  That was amazing!
>
> Another thing you will hear everyone recommend is to add olive oil and
> Parmesan cheese to every dish you eat to add calories.  It also makes the
> dish taste better!  Easy Mac with pepperoni and Parmesan cheese was my
> favorite meal on the trail.  I didn't pack the olive oil because I was
> afraid of the potential mess but most people did.
>
> I had a few more favorite snacks.  In the first part of the trip it was
> peanut butter straight with actual honey poured into jar. I kept it in my
> hip belt pocket! My body was burning so many calories that the peanut
> butter went down like water.  I also enjoyed Snickers bars dunked into
> peanut butter.  Another favorite also revolved around peanut butter but
> will sound funny to you maybe.  I packed out Betty Crockers Cream Cheese
> Frosting quite a few times.  It was passed around many a circle and mixed
> with peanut butter.  Sometimes we used spoons and sometimes we were so
> hungry we just stuck our fingers in there!  Also not recommended!
>
> Otherwise,  regarding your questions about prep, I wouldn't worry too
> terribly much.  I was not in shape, my food box food choices weren't up to
> par, and my knees were shot in the end.  All in all, I was happy with every
> challenge the trail gave me.  I ended up losing 20 pounds, getting in the
> best shape of my life, bought new food in town to satisfy my crazy appetite
> and am planning on making up the miles I missed due to my knees.  An
> amazing thing you learn is to adapt no matter what and also gain strong
> determination to not let it ruin your spirit.  I kept telling myself how
> lucky I was to be on the trail.  I was hiking not just for myself but for
> everyone else that aspires to hike the trail.  Good luck!
>
> Kitchen Sink
>
>
>
Thanks again for all the advice!
-- 
Bruno Barrera Yever
http://www.untechoparamipais.org/mexico/
http://www.ubuntumexico.org
http://cruzrojadf.org/