Trek Dirty to Me: 51 days until I climb every mountain and ford every stream, and the body rebuild is on track.

I have officially been training for my upcoming thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail for six weeks now. I still have six weeks left before I take those first steps up the approach trail to Springer Mountain on April 1, but I wanted to give an update on my progress and offer a little more detail on what my current plan looks like. I talk about some of my motivations to lose weight and to build strength in previous posts accessible by clicking here and by clicking here.

So on to business. This was me roughly 6 weeks ago.

FYI, I am not sticking out my stomach. This is a neutral pose. I have an extremely high ribcage.

And now. Still neutral pose. I can suck that bad boy into my spine if I want to.

How about that burn…? Yeah…still a ginger somewhere in there.

Still not sucking in.

So the first set of photos was actually after a few days of training, so not quite a proper representation of the 250lbs (113.4kgs) I weighed on Christmas Day. I now am at 218lbs (99kgs) as of today, February 9. For the first time in years, I am feeling more like myself. I’m stronger. My knees are happier, and, most importantly, I’m pain free! My muscle gains have been the driving force behind everything, and my core is as strong as it has ever been.

So what did I do for the 6 weeks between bathroom selfie photo shoots?

I noted this in my previous training update, so if there are any changes, I will mark them in brackets .

My approach is as follows, and, once again, this works for me and I do not necessarily recommend it to others. I know my body well. It can certainly be adapted, but please listen to your body and your medical professionals.

1. Intermittent fasting. I use the free Zero app on my iPhone and it is awesome, answers any questions about fasting, and helps you track the entire process. I initially started with fasting 16 hours a day and eating in an 8-hour window. After a week, I started experimenting with 18-hour fasts and a 6-hour eating window. Since the end of the second week, I have alternated semi-regularly between 18-hour and 20-hour fasts. {I am now only doing 20-hour fasts and ideally eating when I break my fast and again right at the end of the 4-hour window}

2. HIgh-protein, low-carbohydrate diet with minimal calorie restrictions. Because of the fasting, I eat only 1-2 meals a day. When I have a meal, it is a lean meat (typically chicken), a giant portion of vegetables, and sometimes lentils to add slow-burning carbohydrates. I snack on cashews during my eating window. All of these are extremely affordable in Goa, and I spend about $5 a day on food. I need to make it clear that I eat until I am full. That involves a lot of protein and a lot of vegetables. While I do still have a calorie deficit due to my training and relative fitness, I typically take in almost 2000 calories a day with no sugar or starch in that mix. Typically, breakfast is an omelette, bacon and chicken sausage. Lunch/Dinner is a giant chicken skewer, veggie skewer and a salad. I give myself a cheat meal every week to spike my insulin. I’m rarely hungry during my fast.

3. Last meal by 5pm.

4. Drink only water. {adding squeezed lemon or lime juice now} Loving the Dry January (and possibly February/March) detox. {still no beverages other than water. Most likely going to ride out at least the rest of February with just water consumption.}

5. No smoking or vaping products. It’s nice to be able to breath again and not hack up a lung in the morning.

6. Low-impact cardio like walking, swimming and water aerobics (yes…water aerobics). Various workouts adapted from The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss using an inflatable ball, yoga mat and a sand bag that can be used as a {30lb or 11.5kg} kettle bell. Sand gathered from the beach 30 seconds away. {I do many short kettle bell sessions that I find on YouTube. Men’s Health and, surprisingly, actor Jack Black’s YouTube have excellent kettle bell workouts. I also have been using my ‘perfect pushup’ grips and have worked my way up from about 60 to 200 pushups every other day. I have found the key for me is not doing anything that makes me bored. If I feel like swimming, I swim. If I want to do squats, I do squats. I keep my heart rate up and I do many small workouts throughout the day in between writing or research or other prep work. In the graphs below, you can see that my average workouts hover around one hour and fifteen minutes. Consider that the bulk of that time is a 30-60 minute swim or pool bounce, or a long walk. The actual kettle bell, core and pushup work is quite short and intense.}

Many mini-workouts on this particular day. This is pretty typical and usually culminate around when I wake up in the morning and before I write in the evening.

Last week. I took a zero day on Sunday. Monday hadn’t fully recorded yet.

My typical breakfast.

Over the month, workouts remained relatively short.

My typical lunch/dinner.

So things are definitely on-track. I have roughly three more weeks of training here in India and then a little less than four weeks in Indianapolis before I head to Atlanta, Georgia to start the trail. I’m on track to lose the fat and build the muscle needed to comfortably endure a very uncomfortable undertaking of a hike. Everything that I do now is focused, first and foremost, on injury prevention and injury proofing my body. I can’t have another calf tear that comes out of nowhere on the AT, or my hike and this project will likely be over.

-AJ

---