More on Diet

So hikers eat the same foods over and over again. Next time you're at the grocery store, try shopping like a hiker: Nothing perishable, nothing bulky, nothing heavy, nothing that requires a refrigerator, freezer, microwave, oven, or toaster. If it's more than one serving its packaging has to be resealable. And nothing that can get "smushed". What you're left with is the diet of a diabetic: cookie, chips, peanut butter. Which is reinforced by the fact that some of your "grocery stores" are just gas stations with gas station food anyway. Once you've bought it all, carry every scrap with you for the next week, including all the trash, even from the first meal (unless you smartly eat a bunch of food in the parking lot). As I've mentioned you burn about 3xit the average daily calorie intake, so hikers often have the appetite of a stoned anorexic.

Men typically lose about 20-30 lbs on a thru hike. My favorite part of preparing for this trip was the couple weeks leading up to my hike where I...sat around and gained 20 lbs. The day I started was the most I've ever weighed in my life (195 lbs). At one point in this hike I had lost as many as 35 lbs (down to 160) but I've gained about 10 lbs in the last month or so and overall I'm about 5 lbs less than what I weighed 6 months ago (and in the middle of the range I've been in for a few years, between 165-180.

Men hold excess weight around their belly (apple-shaped), and that fat gets burned away in a hike. But your abs aren't really used hiking, so the only 6-packs you'll find on hikers are preexisting ones. Women, on the other hand, do not lose any weight. They gain a little if anything. This is because women tend to hold excess weight in their butt, hips, and thighs (pear-shaped). And those muscles ARE used in hiking, so fat is not just cut away but turned into muscle, which is of course denser. This is all just my theory, and there are exceptions. One of my fellow (male) hikers has lost over 50 lbs, while another (male) has miraculously gained about 15 lbs. But my appetite has somewhat settled down (Half Gallon Challenge Notwithstanding) since the beginning, as this caloric intake and consumption rate has long become my body's norm.

Anyone who thinks a thru hiker eats a very organic diet is mistaken. We are stuck with far too many processed foods, out of geographic isolation and caloric need.

Some Typical Meals:

1) Generic Captain Crunch and Nutella in a Tortilla.

2) Smushed Bananas and Peanut Butter, on Smushed Bread.

3) Chia Seeds, Lentils, and Peanut Butter.

4) Half a Gallon of Ice Cream.

I recommend absolutely none of these meals.