Date: 2010-02-09
To: How much weight will you lose?
Miles today: 0.0

The news reported a story a year ago that an estimated 300,000 American¢s will die that year from sitting too much. And you thought trekking off into the woods was dangerous? In addition to my two 2000-Miler patches sewn on my backpack, I also have the Boy Scout Hiking merit badge that I earned with my youngest nephew. In the process of doing a few tens and a twenty, I pulled out these big, soft, chocolate chunk cookies and handed one to Trevor as a surprise/motivation. That¢s when I said, ¢hiking is a good thing to do when you like chocolate chunk cookies.¢ Somehow, despite inheriting my Mothers memory, I remembered the essence of that cleaver quip when I got home, ¢Hike If You Like Cookies.¢ ¢ sounded like a good title for a book. Another good title for a book would be¢¦hmm¢¦ ¢We¢re Off To See The Wilderness, The Wonderful Wilderness of Awes.¢ Certainly a book called ¢Sit On Your Ass And Eat Cookies¢ wouldn¢t have as fresh an edge since that¢s what many already have mastered.Eating, the joy of eating and the ecstasy of eating sweet lovelies stuffed with sugar and calories, carbs and objects containing big slaps of milk chocolate, white chocolate or dark chocolate and devouring it whenever whim hits you is one of life¢s truly great pleasures. Sadly, the effort of lifting ones torso off the sofa to visit the cookie jar is the source of some individuals entire exercise program like those new celebrity icons of The Biggest Loser show (which I¢m fond of for facing their inner foes). Wouldn¢t it be lovely if the delicacies of the bakeshop were also the most slimming? But alas, such is the curse of the culinary world.Before you think I¢m above weight gain, I am the poster child for post hike expansion. I will never be skinny. There I said it, moving on. But I do love being fit, 2000 mile fit. This past summer/fall I started my first ever marathon training. Having never considered myself a runner, but rather a walker, I did discover the joy of running. A joy that is parallel to making big miles on the trail once your body and lungs adjusts and the muscles build. Knocking out a seven-mile run became a matter-of-fact event just like twelve miles before lunch will become for this years class of ¢Ten¢ers¢. Despite my propensity for gaining size, I also have a propensity for rapid size loss. I truly love the results of thru-hiking for this reason as well as all the more natural ones.In 2004, I lost 48 pounds on the AT by the time I posed for my summit photo. (It might have actually been 52 lbs, since I didn¢t weigh in until I got back home days later?) In 2006, it was about 40 pounds, but I did have a month long food fest while recovering from a broken wrist. I love soft chocolate chunk cookies, but I hate a chunky waistline and hate the word Dieting even more. For those of us in midlife boredom, the battle of the bulge is as fierce as anything fought in 1944, (well, maybe, sort of, not). This season however, I start fairly fit due to that marathon training. The body somehow knows that if it experiences prolonged, low to moderate activity, (notice I did not say exercise) then it knows to go after the fat in our wobbly waddle. Experts call this ¢Fat Burning.¢ Do you know what low to moderate activity for a long period of time is also called? Thru-hiking! If our activity is high energy, the body goes after the sugars. In one of the truly great gestures in the Grand Plan of Life, deliciously delectable baked goods and walking happen to be universal opposites. So they cancel each other out ¢ sort of like the marriages of many men and women apparently.Feel a craving coming on? Why not run down to the store and get a fabulously rich, double chocolate cake and then head to the hills ¢ Just you, the trees and bees, and that marvelously decadent double orgasmic chocolate cake and some hiking shoes. Let¢s face it; Trail Mix is just awful stuff, and why the hell would anyone eat something called Gorp? Then again, I did once eat Haggis. Unfair in all this is how women never seem to lose as much as the men do, then women seem to be more weight conscious in life and start with smaller tires. If you start the trail carrying more than your fair share of cityness, then you¢ll be a big loser (of pounds that is). You¢ll become everything the contestants of The Biggest Loser try to become only without 15 million watching your every whimper ¢ Unless of course you¢re keeping a Trailjournal. If you start the trail more fit, your weight loss will be minimal.Additionally, the amount of weight lost will also hinge heavily on your pace. If you get up early, hike continuously throughout the day, you¢re going burn more cityness than, say, a lollygagger. If you have 30 zero days before making Harpers Ferry, chances are you¢re not going to lose very much.I do have a tip for those who make New Hampshire and especially Maine in regards to eating. By my own observations and those I discussed this with, every single chance you¢ve got to swing into a town to load up on extra food will be a good strategy. At this point in the journey, the body is getting really beat down. Getting big hearty town food helps replenish your strength both physically and mental outlook. Dropping into Gorham, Andover, Stratton, Rangeley, Monson and White House Landing in the Hundred Mile Wilderness, have all proven beneficial in years past¢ just something to store in the memory bank.A good exit point in Millinocket is naturally something with the word cafe in the title: AT Lodge & Cafe or is it the AT Cafe & Lodge, is my recommendation.The illustration was drawn in 2004 on my first AT hike ¢ sort of timeless, don¢t you think?