Chapter 5 Excerpt
Eat Well, Walk Hard, and Sleep Soundly
Six out of seven of the Principles I learned during my trek have to do with the mind, whereas only one has to do with the body. It reminds me of what Yogi Berra said about baseball:
Baseball is 90 percent mental, the other half is physical.—Yogi Berra
This chapter is about taking care of your body. For how can you really squeeze the most out of life if you are so unhealthy that you are abnormally prone to diseases and are unable to do physical tasks you should otherwise be able to do? This chapter explores the brain-body connection and how improving your health can lift your spirits. It shows the practical steps one should take to follow this Principle.
During my last thru-hike I thought of a brilliant way to put Weight Watchers out of business. It’s called Club Pilgrim, where you can eat all you want, no restrictions, and you are still guaranteed to lose weight! In fact, you will end up at or below your recommended body fat level. What’s the catch? Just walk over 2,000 miles in five months or less.
OK, maybe it wouldn’t sell.
However, consider the master’s thesis of thru-hiker Karen Lutz. Her 1982 study of hiker nutrition found that thru-hikers simply cannot carry as much food as they burn—some 4,000 to 6,000 calories per day. No wonder Club Pilgrim is such an effective weight-loss plan. It’s like making someone run marathons, but not letting them stock up their fridge.
The amount of weight hikers lose varies drastically, but they almost all reach their optimal weight. The average thru-hiker loses 23 pounds in body weight and secretes more than 400 liters of sweat. A thru-hiker will generally expend about 400,000 calories and consume 450 liters of water. According to Roland Mueser, a thru-hiker and Harvard trained physicist who researched this issue, heavier hikers tend to lose both more weight and a greater percentage of their body weight than thinner hikers. Another finding: women lose less weight than men, possibly because they build more muscle on the trail relative to men, but also because their bodies retain more fat than men. Sorry ladies.
Finally, the constant calorie deficit can cause problems for thru-hikers who were at their ideal weight or underweight to start. They may experience excessive weight loss, loss of muscle mass, and malnutrition. The fascinating lesson is that all thru-hikers attain their optimal weight regardless of what they eat. How many diets can claim that? Finally, there’s a diet that’s even more decadent than the Atkins Diet!
The lesson of thru-hiking is simple math: we lost weight because we expended more calories than we took in. It’s the secret to weight loss that we can apply to our every day lives.
Next—Read the Chapter 6 excerpt