Half Assed Fitness

Want to hear something funny?

Me. 

Consuming 3400 calories.

In one day.

I never thought I'd see the day but here I am, planning for this very thing.

We've got a hike planned for Saturday. A 16 mile backpacking trip and I'm planning out my meals. Actually, for the most part I'm planning liquid calories since I can't eat that much food. I just can't.

Here is a screenshot from Cronometer, an INVALUABLE tool for planning and monitoring your calories and nutrition. (not affiliated)

You'll notice that I still have some calories to spare as well as only replenishing 40% my daily allowance in fat. Hiking is an endurance sport which means you operate in the fat burning zone for the most part so in essence, this hike should result in some fat loss. Yay! I've got a few to shed right now. 

When we're going long term on the Appalachian Trail though, this will be something I'll need to correct.  It's very hard to consume enough calories on a thru hike to keep from losing too much weight but the more fat you consume, the more you have for fuel. It's really sort of the opposite of every single thing I've known to be true in the past but...the goals are different so the goalposts have moved!

I'm looking forward to this hike. I feel ready and I'm excited to try out the liquid diet as well as some other gear testing my husband I are planning. We've got ourselves a new tent that is 3 pounds lighter than our last one and he got a new sleeping bag so I'm going to test out his old one which is another 3 pounds lighter than my existing bag. That's a big difference!

Wish us luck!

Most of my life, my health and fitness goals have revolved around losing weight and getting into shape or getting stronger.

For this endeavor though, I have to adopt a completely different mindset. 

When hiking long distances and over strenuous terrain, you are being truly athletic. You are working your body longer and harder than it's used to and you need to feed and water it appropriately. I'm not used to this. I've only even eaten when hungry and not eaten when I'm hungry in order to reduce calories. I've never gotten into anything intensely enough to need to alter my food habits to fuel my activities but I witnessed it first hand on the first hike listed in my post How It Started.

I struggled on this hike and my husband got annoyed with me and threw a Clif bar at me and said "Eat this". I'll be darned if he wasn't correct. About 30 minutes after eating the Clif bar, I could feel my energy go up. It's the first time I've ever experienced food as fuel. I just assumed everyone else that ate along the trail was actually hungry. Several hikes in now, I can definitely see the improvements in my strength and stamina and it's not all from getting in better shape, a lot of it is approaching food differently.

One problem I do have though is my stomach absolutely does not enjoy eating when I'm working hard. Getting those Clif bars down while breathing hard and trying not to choke isn't fun. That and if I eat anything substantial, I get a stitch in my side. The idea of doing that for months at a time on the Appalachian Trail does not appeal to me. So I'm looking into alternatives. I'd much rather drink my calories, carbs, and proteins if I can. 

The good news is, this isn't a new problem. Apparently many people feel the same way so I'm finding some great resources.

The bad news is that liquid calories are heavy! I don't want to have to carry more weight, that's counter productive. More weight equals more calories burned which means more calories to carry and so on...

So, on to the research!

 First hike:

• 16.5 mile loop
  
• Moderate difficulty
• 1340 ft elevation
• Finished in 7.5 hours

This was the first exercise I'd had in about 3 years. We've been living on a tiny island in the Pacific doing nothing more than riding my bike to work 10 minutes each direction on flat ground.  I have a desk job and I was NOT in shape. 

The goal is to get into better shape gradually so that I don't die on the Appalachian Trail. This is the first hike my husband decided to drag me on. 

I made it. Barely. 

I didn't eat enough food to fuel myself and I drug my butt over the last few miles until we started going downhill gain.

Seriously, this should not have been my first hike. 

It probably took me 4 days of hot tub time, ibuprofen, ice, and stretching before I could walk around the house without gimping. 

Second hike:

• Backpacking trip out and back 9 miles (18 miles total)
• Moderate difficulty
• 1650 ft elevation
• Finished in 4.5 hours each day
• Pack weight 32 pounds

I did pretty good on this one. It's the first time I've carried a full pack in 20 years. 

The major improvement was that we got ourselves a set of trekking poles. What a life saver. It helps so much, especially on the uphills. 

I made sure to eat every hour or so so I was fully fueled this time, along with plenty of electrolytes and water. We also added a recovery drink at the end of the hike. This facilitates healing. 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein and a dash of caffeine as well.

Still, very sore for about 3 days.

Third hike:

• Day hike 6 miles out and back (12 miles total)
• Moderate difficulty
• 1340 ft elevation
• Finished in 6 hours

This seemed like a piece of cake compared to the last time with the trekking poles and proper nutrition. 

I made sure to add some stretching when we rested and decided I REALLY don't like eating as I'm trying gasping for breath on the uphills nor do I enjoy a full lunch. I'd rather just wait until I'm done to eat. This started my search for liquid calories vs solids. More to follow on that.

Fourth hike:

• Backpacking trip out and back 8 miles (16 miles total)
• Moderate difficulty
• 1750 ft elevation
• Finished in 4 hours each day
• Pack weight 30 pounds

 Vastly improved performance on this hike. It was dry this time so actually pretty pleasant. 

I did not have to take ibuprofen after this trip, I had started doing Pliability and did it again the day after for some really deep stretching. A little twinge of soreness in my legs but that's to be expected, especially considering this was the steepest trail we've done so far.

So, that's the beginning of my hiking career. 62.5 miles so far, only 2110 more to go if I was on the AT. 

Next up....Hiking is an Endurance Event

I've admitted before that I am a roller coaster ride when it comes to fitness and health. Well, the coaster is back on an upswing and this time it's a big one!

I'm going to document my latest fad; hiking...backpacking specifically.

Previously in life, I've done quite a bit of hiking and a small amount of backpacking. Hiking in 7 miles to a spot you can't reach by car and then staying for a few days and returning. Nothing serious by far.

That is changing. I'm now moving into the realm of hiking/backpacking athlete. We're planning to hike the Appalachian Trail. That means I need to get in shape (again) and I've been learning a ton about feuling my body, recovering, and equipment to make my life more enjoyable while we hike.

I'm having to modify some things as well. For instance, my body does not enjoy eating while on the move. Or eating when I am not hungry. Both of those things are necessary when doing an intense workout so I'll be going over my workarounds and sharing the results along the way.

Wish me luck!