When does it go back to normal after you get off the trail? Does anyone know?
please e-mail me at my address: lilredrdnhood2003@yahoo.com
random hungry person
Your appetite AFTER the trail
system
#2
Shoot fire! I met Pork Chop in northern New Hampshire last year and he lost over 50 lbs- so his name became flyinā Pork Chopā¦
I lost 41 lbs. hiking the A.T. and exactly one year later- I am looing like a small turkey again! I wonder if Pork Chop is still āflyināā
Spanky ME-NY, .02, NY-NJ,'03, FNST '03
Spanky
system
#3
my strongest appetite was for long distance hiking. no matter what i do in the real world i canāt seem to suppress it.
wise owl
system
#5
I ate everything in sight for weeks. Lost only 8lbs and gained it all back in six months. Now Iām three pounds under my post hike weight at a blistering muscular 165. Woohoo! Lean mean hikinā machine.
Bushwhack
system
#6
Best is to set a deadline: āI can eat what I want until XX, (a week or two after your hike) then I have to be careful again.ā
Reality is, when you are no longer hiking the big miles, your metabolism slows down, way down, and even eating ānormallyā no longer will keep the weight off. I know a lot of heavy long distance hikers. Every hike Iāve been on has resulted in long term weight gain (though I do lose weight and get strong while on the trail).
Ginny
system
#7
I just got back from my 1100 mile hike about two weeks ago. I actually GAINED 10 pounds during my hike (hopefully all muscle) and Iāve been losing weight since I got back (probably because Iām losing my muscle now). My appetite was out of control while I was hiking but it went down pretty quick when I got back. Its almost back to ānormalā (which is still hungry all the time for me) now.:cheers
Windtalker
system
#8
On my '94 thru hike I lost 13 pounds then gained back about 18 and held steady. In 1997 I hiked the JMT then the Wonderland Trail back-to-back. Lost a few pounds. Within two and a half years I gained 40 pounds, also quit working two jobs. Iāve since lost 10 or 15 and am holding steady at about 165. Recently got married so who knows what will happen now. Not much time to hike anymore either.
Bohemian
system
#9
I think it depends on how malnutristed you got on the trail. If you couldnāt get enough ever to eat by the end of your hike and were constantly hungry, then it going to take a long time, like several months for your appetite to slow down. You will probably put back on some of the weight that you lost. On the other hand, if you kept your calorie intake up while on your hike, then itās fairly easy to curb the huge appetite. I know that on my first long distance hike, I got fairly scrany. After this hike, I continued to eat like a teenager for months and put back some of the weight. On my second long distance hike, I tried to eat better and more. Thus, I did not get a thin. Afterwards, it was much easier to taper down.
If you go to the ALDHA Gathering and look around, itās hard to imagine that most of the people there were actually in shape at one time to hike the trail. Itās hard to keep that thin and trim look.
Peaks
system
#10
I was totally starving by the end of the trail. I came home and pretty much ate everything in sight for like two or three weeks, but then my body got back to normal. I never really lost weight on the hike until the end when I messed up and didnāt bring enough food into the 100 mile wilderness. I think the big appetite is a fun souvenir to take back to the āreal worldā. Like most people are really impressed when a 115 lb girl can eat a whole pizza. I was kinda into that. It was nice when my appetite calmed down though, cuz it was kinda a pain to be hungry all the time. Like it was really distracting. For the first two weeks home, all I could think about was eating.
Jessie