Trek Dirty to Me: 66 days until I'm headed to AT Land, and it's time to explain the dad bod journey.

Well Dad Bod Winter is in full swing here in Goa, India. Quick background, I was meant to do some business here in India and that fell through. I had a non-refundable ticket and two months to kill, so I booked a hotel with a decent-looking pool and decided to take full advantage of the relatively inexpensive cost-of-living, weather, facilities, and food in an effort to rehab and rebuild my body. I talk about some of my motivations to lose weight in this previous post accessible by clicking here.

During a hike this past summer in Slovenia, a freak accident saw me tear my calf muscle. It surely didn’t help that I was halfway from nowhere and finished the hike on one leg. I was unable to put much of any weight on it for several days. A giant purple hematoma surfaced three days after the tear occurred. I walked with a limp, carrying my jury-rigged (after it self-destructed) Arc’Teryx Naos 55 backpack of 14 years. Here is a picture of the set up.

Dr. Mom told me to always travel with duct tape. Voila!

This rig, while ingenious (I know), was impossible to counterbalance and put immense added strain on my body. Combine that with a limp for a month, and I severely twisted my back to the point where I was basically incapable of walking, standing up from a seated position, and most movements that we often take for granted. This was now late October 2019 and I was to start my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in five months. Not looking good.

I can handle a lot of pain, and most folks around didn’t realize how much I was enduring. I eschew pain medication and very rarely touch even ibuprofen. Dr. Mom was able to shift everything back into place (she is a family physician and cranial osteopath), however it would be weeks before the spasming ceased. I carried pain with me into the start of 2020.

Needless to say, physical fitness takes a back seat when you struggle to sit up and move to the restroom. The weight marched on from its already comfortable starting point brought on by a whirlwind two-month food tour of central and eastern Europe.

On Christmas Day of 2019, I tipped the scales at 250lbs (113.5kg) - the heaviest I had been since my third year of university. Thankfully, the pain had finally started to dissipate, and I was able to incorporate some long walks before I left for India. Once arriving in India, I knew that I had to quickly resolve the remainder of my pain and make up for lost time in order to drop weight and gain muscle for my thru-hike.

So…finally…what did I decide to do and how is it going?

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.

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. Loving the Dry January (and possibly February/March) detox.

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 kettle bell. Sand gathered from the beach 30 seconds away.

This is a double breakfast. I’ve halved this now.

This is a double lunch. I was still trying to figure out their portions…

Results after 23 days of intermittent fasting and two weeks of working out?

I have shaved 19lbs (8.6kgs) off my base-weight. That’s 19lbs that I will not have to carry on my knees. Because of the significant muscle gain, that is also a lot more than 19lbs of fat and specifically cortisol that is not choking my internal organs and going to make my hike a hell of a lot easier.

My pain is gone. My lungs are happy and my resting heart rate is back down to elite athlete levels (around 50-60bpm). When charted out, this all looks pretty dramatic.

Weight loss since December 26, 2019

23 days fasting with Zero

August was a stressful month this last year.

My resting heart rate has benefited the most, and that will help immensely on the trail

So things are on-track. I have roughly five more weeks of training here in Goa and then about four weeks in Indianapolis before I hit 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.

One of my favorite workouts that I stumbled upon by sheer accident is what I call the “Dad Bod Bounce,” where I essentially bounce up and down on my toes or the balls of my feet in a pool for an hour. I not only strengthen my body against shin splints and other injuries down below, but I burn about 400 calories an hour. Which is fun. Here is the proof and a little demonstration to bid you adieu. #justbounce

-AJ

When you are almost 40 years old, your knees aren't quite what they used to be, you have a proper 'Dad Bod' and you are about to backpack 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail, you adapt your training regimen as needed. In this case, I present to you - The Bounce.

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