Maggie's Farm

I do this often and I lose weight even though I don't restrict my intake and I eat a lot of high calorie junk food when I'm hiking. In a week or two of hiking 5-10 miles a day I lose 4-8 lbs. And the weight stays off for months afterwards. I do gain it back because I eat 4 meals a day and my last meal is 100% junk food (candy, nuts, popcorn, chips, cookies, etc. I feel confident that if I wanted to lose weight, that is make my goal to lose 20 lbs by hiking for 4 weeks, I could do that. And this is in spite of the fact that my weight is normal and about where I want it to be. All that I would need to do is eat three good/average meals a day and hike my usual 5-10 miles a day. I can't speak to other people's experience on this but it will absolutely work for me. I have never been overweight so I don't have any experience in going from 300 lbs to 200 lbs but I see no reason why it wouldn't work.

Good comment.

I think it is a well intended observation but lacks that unusual experience of being a long distance hiker. If you walk in the evenings like a lot of folks do or you walk a lot at your work you tend to think you walk a lot. And you probably do. But what you have to do to understand the difference is put on a pack (doesn't have to be heavy) and head out on a 10 mile round trip hike or it could be 10-15 miles one way. Then get up the next day and do it again, and again, and again until your blisters heal, your feet harden and your shoes wear out. I can almost guarantee you that if you are 20-50 lbs overweight and you do this for three months that at the end of this your weight will be in the normal range.

On a very related subject this is true for running too. Some posts and comments on here seem to diminish the value of running/jogging. If you decide to take up running and do it faithfully (that can be every day or five days a week) and work up to where you can run 3-5 miles or more you will lose weight and reach a "normal" or average weight and stay at that weight.

Having done both of these things all my life I can tell you it is more than simply burning up calories. There is something else too, a physiological change where your body becomes more efficient and works at a heightened level. By that I mean that even if you quit running/walking long distances for a week or a month you don't have a weight gain. You do lose a little of your fitness but it can be gotten back much quicker when you begin running again. After running 3-5-7 miles a day for 5-6 days a week for 2-5 years your body changes, you have created a more efficient cardiopulmonary system that doesn't just go away. You pump more blood and can deliver more oxygen and energy to your muscles and organs. You can store my glycogen in your muscles which means less stored as fat. and your energy level is higher so even when not intentionally exercising you are using your muscles more than a sedentary person does. Everything has changed and it is all a result of continuous long hours of daily aerobic exercise. It forces your blood vessels to become larger and your heart and lungs becomes larger and these physical changes don't just go away.