[pct-l] Weight gain and backpacking

[jm@bluebuzz.com (John Musielewicz)]

Its not unusual for overweight seditary people to loose weight in a
backpacking trip. They'll droip weight on a weekend trip. That is
normal because they have alot of fat to burn and are finally burning
the calories. They can commo0nly undereate and at the end of the pct
be quite fit. It is not abnormal for a thin person who is undereating
or eating the wrong foods to loose weight and continue to loose as
they go along. A person can easily last the length of the pct on a
starvation diet since it only takes 3-4 months and you are only hiking
about 20 to 25 miles a day at your own pace. You do become suseptible
to hypothermia and heat stroke though. However if you are a normally
thin fit active person who is already eating right the transistion
should be non existant. I weight 180 and am 6'2" and always put on
weight- 10 to 20 pounds in  muscle on a long backpacking trip. My
weight however doesn't change within the first couple hundred miles
(week and a half) or so then I start gaining. When I hiked the pct I
went from 160 to 190, my chest expanded two inches, my legs were like
iron and my back and stomach were strirated with muscle.