Losing weight on AT

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#1

I am starting a thru-hike next year and am 5’10" and 275 pounds, a bit overweight. I was wondering how much weight I can expect to lose if I actually finish a thru-hike? would I be skinny or just thinner than before.

Jim Sanders

#2

I was about 15 pounds overweight in 2003. It seems like I lost the fat (my gut) in about 4-6 weeks. I continued to lose more weight, but at a much slower pace. I’m thinking it was fat converting to muscle (is that possible?) I’m not sure about at finish but the most I lost was around 20-25 lbs.

Someone out there will know what the averages are for male and female.

A good point is whether you (or others) will be able to keep off the weight after returning. I really tried and I wasn’t able. For six months you will have eayen whatever you want. When you get back you have to change such habits. At least I guess you should.

jaws

#3

I’m trying to put on about 20 lbs. or so, since I expect pretty significant weight loss. I’m 6’1", and about 165 lbs. I’ve always lost weight way too easily, so hopefully at the end of my hike I’m not too far below where I’m at now.

Josh

#4

Hi Jim,

I just had a couple of thoughts on losing weight while out on the trail. I would strongly suggest that you start getting in shape before you step on the trail. I believe it would make your experience a lot more enjoyable when you start climbing those Georgia mountains that have zero switchbacks. The less weight you carry, the less stress you are going to encounter.

There is also a book out there that contains all types of data concerning the average number of miles hiked per day, number or rest days and average weight loss.

Hope this helps and good luck with your hike,

Crockett

Crockett

#5

Ah, the memories of eating anything I wanted and still being a lean, mean walking machine… yummmm, milkshakes…

You are smart to be concerned about weight. The worry isn’t how much you’ll lose should you complete, however, but whether you can keep enough on your frame to make it through VT, NH and Maine energy-wise. If you seriously don’t feel like climbing the next mountain, thruhiking doesn’t seem so fun.

Guys tend to lose weight quicker, and more significantly than the women, although that is not a hard and fast rule. I know a few women who ended up as drawn, exhausted and lean as some of the men at the end.

In my case, as a female, my weight was normal at Springer and I gained 8 pounds by Katahdin. I can only assume that was muscle because all sorts of female parts were diminished (except for cellulite, dammit!) and when I returned home, clothes I’d worn in high school hung on me.

My weight has returned to its post-hike norm, a little less than upon finishing. But I’m not exercising 10 hours a day carring a pack up and down mountains either, so you’ve got to figure my ratio of muscle to fat has gone back to that of Normal America.

I really had to follow a high-protein, high-vegetable, low-fat diet strictly in the months following my return. I know I would have balloned otherwise, because my internal furnaces were screaming “starvation mode!”

It’s useful to add in a fat source on top of your normal rations. It’s an efficient soure of calories, weight-wise. I did see guys putting squeeze margerine on everything which I think would be pretty nasty - check for hydrogenized trans fats if you opt for that. Something like Smart Balance is healthier.

Howerever, I have to admit, I carried butter sticks with me when it was cold. I’d toss a goodly chunk into my oatmeal, or mashed potatoes…mmmm, butter…
In summer when butter melted, I switched to carrying a small plastic bottle of olive oil, and added a dollop to supper - pasta, potatoes, stovetop stuffing, whatever. I couldn’t tast it and the calories were needed to climb tomorow’s mountains.

I also noticed my absolute hunger for carbs skyrocketing about half-way though. I began carring fresh-baked loaves of bread out of town with me, and cheese. Often, this was breakfast. A bagel and a packet of tuna, chased by a Snickers not only made a good lunch but actually held hunger at bay until I stopped for supper. I can only asume I’d hit upon the right combo.

yummmm, Snickers…

Jim, I agree with the advice to do something to get in shape for the early part of the hike. Those Ga and NC mountains are tough for the NOBO! People drop out like crazy before Damascus because of the shock to their system. Do something esp. that will make your knees very, very strong. All those supporting muscles.

Best of luck, and have a terrific journey. You’ll have lifetime memories and friends.
And, you’ll never be the same.

Jan LiteShoe

#6

I found by hiking the Georgia Mtns. I lost quite a bit of weight and my knees did indeed get stronger. But by me being so out of shape I needed to take many breaks and I do mean breaks I stopped in Neels gap for extra lay over, Franklin, Blue Berry patch,. Hell, I had more zero days than a Weekend hiker. I believe I had 20 zero days in two months, a). I was not in a hurry, . b). I planned extra long hike…c). I enjoyed myself at this leisurally pace…
I wonder what ever happened to " Not Guilty" I think he started at a wopping 340 lbs and he also took many zero days, last time I saw him he was in Damascus and he had lost close to 75 lbs… enjoy your hike - YOUR hike!!

1\4 of the way

#7

I second the suggestion that you try to get a little fit before starting.

If you want to keep the weight off I would recommend hitting the gym when you get back. I believe that a lot of hikers actually lose muscle mass, especially in the upper body. I gained alot of weight when I got back from my hike partially because my knee was too sore to hike or run but I think alot of it had to do with loss of muscle. I’ve recently hit the gym and am slowly rebuilding.

jalanjalan

#8

Jim, the good news is: if you are carrying around 275lb then you have plenty of muscle. Try losing at least your pack- weight before you head out…then it will be like hikings without a pack. Good luck

Cj

#9

Jim, I weighed 345lbs when I started my thru. I lost 40 lbs in the first 50 days, 60 lbs total by Harpers Ferry and 80 lbs total by Katahdin. So I kept losing weight even though the rate of weight loss declined.

Big Red

#10

I lost 60 pounds - which means that when I finished I weighed 25 pounds less while wearing my 35# pack, than I did with my pack off at Amicalola Falls SP.

Jeffrey Hunter

#11

I was an average 165 before I started and packed on 15 more before I left but that was all taco bell and such so it burned fast. I started the trail at 178 and by the first 6 weeks I had lost 28 pounds. I think I evened out and stayed around 145-150 until the end. Shortly after returning I was back to 160-165. the sore knees make it easy to not move. If you are over weight, you won’t be at all by the end of the trip.

Captain Patagonia

#12

I heard females put on more weight than they lose is that true? I guess it probably depends on how much muscle/fat you have when you start out right? But I know I read some stat somewhere tht said most males (I can’t remember the percentage) lose weight.

Emily

#13

I usually only lose about five to ten pounds, but my body shape changes a lot. It gets much tighter/stronger. Women have the famine response much sooner than men. When the output is so much greater than the input, the metabolism slows down. This is why extreme diets don’t work. With women on the trail, the slowdown happens fairly quickly. For men, it takes longer. My husband will lose a lot of weight quickly, then it slows, then stops, then the weight will slowly come back again. Of course, that is usually because we are eating so much. Starting out we eat about a pound a day. After five months, it’s closer to two pounds a day, because we are so hungry all the time.

My husband usually loses 35-55 lbs. On the CDT in central Colorado he weighed less than he did in high school and looked like a concentration camp survivor. We ended up in force feeding mode every time we hit town. In two days in town we would eat a gallon or more of ice cream on top of everything else we ate. After a while, it wasn’t even fun. Somewhere in Colorado, he finally stopped losing and by the end of the trail had regained about 10 lbs. Good thing.

Ginny

#14

I totally agree with Genny about weight loss in women and the famine aspect. I too lose only 10 - 15 lbs but look ‘different’, not just thinner. I also try to mix dehydrated kale, spinach, collards - any leafy green veggies into any trail meal and I carry a multi daily vitamin. Needless to say dehydrated greens weigh hardly anything and can be crushed to powder. But -ohh - the nutrients are big!!!

jules

#15

I lost 25 lbs. on my thru and was a little underweight when I started, so losing 35 wouldn’t be out of the question, depending on how overweight you are at the start and how heavy your pack is.

And remember that proper nutrition is very important, even more so then getting enough calories per day. Be sure to get eat those dark greens for their iron. Hiking out a serving or two of broccoli helped me out a lot.

0101

#16

Dear Jim,

People who begin walking two miles a day, without changing anything else about how they live, have come to discover that they lose 100 pounds in a year with this amount of exercise, without changing their lives in any other way. When I say walking, I mean walking, and not hiking. I mean people living in civilization, going to work, sleeping at home at night.

I myself discovered this quite by accident. I had a lingering cold, needed something easy to do, so started up with the easiest possible activiity, which is walking.

My experience may be of particular interest to you, because our statistics were similar. That is, you are 5’10 and 275 pounds; I was 5’ 11" and 234 pounds.

The long and the short of it, for me, was this: After starting out walking for an hour, 4-5 times per week; I eventually settled in to walking 18 miles a week, in the form of a 3 mile walk (1 hour), a 6 mile walk (2 hours), and a 9 mile walk (3 hours). The end result for me was a 40 pound loss in 4 months. This translates to 10 pounds per month, and would project out to 120 pounds per year. Given this personal experience, it seems to me reasonable that 2 miles per day, or 14 miles per week, would yield 100 pounds per year or thereabouts.

By the way, how fast you walk (or run) makes no difference. Calorically, a mile is a mile, no matter how fast you cover it.

Now lets look at your proposed through-hike. A six month hike of 180 days means you hike 12 miles a day, every day, to cover the 2,160 miles of the Appalachian Trail (ie, 2,160 miles divided by 180 days equals 12 miles per day). That’s 84 miles per week, which is 4.67 times the amount I walked weekly to lose 10 pounds per month. Therefore, logicially, walking 12 miles per day every day, you might lose 46.7 pounds per month. People will take issue with these figures of course, I expect that, and you may not want to lose weight that fast, but we begin to see what might be possible.

If I were you, at your weight and height, I would not attempt walking 12 miles per day, every day. Rather, I would start out at 3-5 miles miles a day and never walk more than seemed comfortable, made it fun, and left you at the end of each day looking forward to hiking again the next. And if the miles needed to be less, so be it. For you, I think the goal should be to take your six months, walk 5 days a week, at 3-5 miles per day (AND 2 MILES A DAY IF THAT’S WHAT FELT COMFORTABLE) and see where that leads you.

Alphonse Deluxe

Alphonse Deluxe

#17

Dear Jim,

In preparation for yoour hike, I would suggest you start walking now, 4-5 times per week, for 20 minutes or whatever is possible for you. Then, work up to 40 minutes, then 60 minutes, then beyond.

The average person walks 3.0 miles per hour, so 40 minutes is your basic 2.0 mile walk.

Walking several times a day is also good.

Alphonse Deluxe.

Alphonse Deluxe

#18

The men at Harper’s Ferry often look skinny and weak while the women look more solid and strong. I would even bet that women thru-hikers pound for pound are stronger then most men thru-hikers are by Harper’s Ferry.

Dave Blizzard

#19

To add to Dave’s comment. Our saying in 02 was that by the end of the hike, all the men looked like POWs,while all the women looked like they could kick butt!!

Virginian

#20

On another note, I found that a good reality check to test your condition is to take your full pack and try to step from the ground onto the tailgate of a pickuptruck.

Virginian