Trek Dirty to Me: 74 days until the AT and I will miss this dad bod.

Once upon a time, a wee bit less than 5 years ago and after 5.5 months of intense Kung Fu training with former Shaolin monks in the mountains of the Henan Province of China, this was me:

Not a dad bod

Then I moved to Paris, where I learned how to make all the amazing dishes, pastries and breads one would expect to learn in the country of butter, bacon and all things glorious. I also studied wine for a year and took a solid stab at super-dining (doing full-menu meals at multiple restaurants in limited amounts of time). About a week ago, I looked like this:

Dad bod. Also, how about that burn?

While I was quite content with the few years that I took off from fitness and dedicated to croissants and foie gras, the lifestyle/dad bod was not going to be sustainable going into a 2,200 mile (3,540 km) hike up and down mountains (the equivalent of climbing Mt. Everest 16 times) on my way from Georgia to Maine. More specifically, my stats were:

Not quite endurance sport ready

So this would put me roughly around my peak weight/BMI in almost 20 years. My body and metabolism have historically been pretty content and supportive when I weigh in around 180lbs (82k). Thus, the 250lbs (113k) I was carrying before heading out to India has understandably freaked my body out. I’ve dealt with back and joint issues and the thought of carrying 70lbs (32k) of extra weight on the trail was by no means appealing.

Of course, weight loss for most is typically inevitable on long thru-hikes like the Appalachian Trail. Losing 30lbs or more over the course of the 4-6 month trek is not atypical. Hikers burn between 3,500-5,500kc a day and often resort to shoveling as much carb-rich junk food as possible, into their bodies. Some hikers even try to put on a bit of weight before thru-hiking in order to delay the inevitable “Hiker Hunger” that sets in within the first month or so.

I read somewhere (completely spacing where) that a thru-hiker will absolutely get fit on the trail, but why not get a jump on it if you can. So that’s what I am doing. I’ll be sharing my pre-April 1 fitness and nutrition plan over these next 74 days. I should make it clear that what works for me, will not and likely won’t work for you. I’ve been working with this body for almost 40 years and am very in tune with how to work with what I’ve got. But there are general principles that might help anyone.

So stay tuned as I bid this glorious dad bad adieu.

-AJ

L-R: Sheriff Dad Bod; Gingerican Dad Bod; God Dad Bod

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