Lighten Your Heaviest Gear: You!

Now don't get me wrong Im not saying calories don't count. Sure if you eat enough veggies and fruit ( especially fruit) you can gain weight. But we are talking about pretty over the top amounts that don't really apply much to the real world.
What Im saying is that different calories are metabolized differently by the body. In other words, your body wants to store carbs as fat while it dose not really want to store fat as fat. So it has preferences, this is why as I said, farm animals are feed grains to fatten them up and not butter.
Sugar and refined carbs are the worst in this regard and its why you will gain weight so easily with them. Sure part of it is that fiber and fat make you feel full and so you eat less but its a double whammy of eating lots of calories that don't fill you up and eating calories that are preferentially stored as fat. So, if you want to lose weight you should avoid bad calories first and foremost as calorie counting is complete guess work and you can never know just how much you are burning compared to how much you are eating.

"What Im saying is that different calories are metabolized differently by the body. In other words, your body wants to store carbs as fat while it dose not really want to store fat as fat. So it has preferences, this is why as I said, farm animals are feed grains to fatten them up and not butter. "

I quick google suggests cows are actually fed fat and the reliance primarily on grain has to do with a calorie/$ calculation. http://www.livestocktrail.uiuc.edu/dairynet/paperDisplay.cfm?ContentID=246

"In other words, your body wants to store carbs as fat while it dose not really want to store fat as fat."

Do you have a source for this claim?

"So, if you want to lose weight you should avoid bad calories first and foremost as calorie counting is complete guess work and you can never know just how much you are burning compared to how much you are eating."

I disagree. I think it's vital to know how much you eat. I was shocked the the first time I weighed the food I was preparing and found I was eating about 2500 calories per day. No wonder I was so fat (230 at the time). Eat one extra banana a day at 100 calories over what you need and you will gain 1/2 lb per week and 25 lbs per year. That's a fairly small difference that adds up quickly.

I weighed my food for about a month. At that point I had an understanding of what a serving of steak, fish, or rice looked like and I could keep track of my intake with out the extra bother. I also quickly realized that it was nearly impossible to eat a sufficient quantity of vegetables for it to be significant in the calorie calculation.

We weigh every bit of gear that goes into our pack to get the most efficient system. I am surprised at the suggestion that we don't need to do the same for what goes into our bodies.

Another google got me this study: (http://lancaster.unl.edu/food/fta-s07.shtml)

"Wansink’s studies showed people drank an average of 25 to 30 percent more from short, wide tumblers than from tall, skinny glasses. The same amount of juice in a tall, skinny glass looks as if the glass is fuller than it does in the short, wide glass. "

It's these kind of misconceptions that lead many to overeat with out being aware of the difference.

Ok so this article is suggesting that the super low fat diets were failures. I agree. But I don't see the science to support Atkins style low carb diets as a panacea. For example this from the mayo clinic:

"The reality: Most people can lose weight on almost any diet plan that restricts calories — at least in the short term. Over the long term, though, studies show that low-carb diets like Atkins are no more effective than are standard high-carbohydrate diets and that most people regain the weight they lost regardless of diet plan. However, studies have shown that people who continued to follow diet plans such as Atkins for two years did lose an average of nearly 9 pounds (4.1 kilograms) overall. Some studies suggest that it's not cutting carbs that leads to weight loss with Atkins. Instead, you may shed pounds because your food choices are limited and you eat less since the extra protein and fat keep you feeling full longer. The bottom line is that to lose weight you must reduce the calories you take in and increase the calories you burn."

Consider cultures around the world. There are the rice eating Chinese, Japanese and south Indians, the heavily fat and protein eating Inuit, the meat and bread eating Moghuls. There is a great deal of variety in the types of foods people eat and the ratios of fat, protein and carbs in their diets. All of these traditional cultures were healthy enough to survive for thousands of years. That suggests to me that there is no magic formula for what makes a healthy diet.

Heavily processed foods on the other hand are relatively new and as such are questionable. You can track the spread of high levels of obesity around the globe by the spread of McDonalds. Just coincidence?

I'd liek a follow up article discussing just where hikers should focus their muscle and workouts. Just getting in shape might mean too much weight in the pectorals or biceps. If we really want to go lightweight, shouldn't we be focusing on the right muscle groups and not just doing a P90X workout?

How much extra weight do we carry in muscle?

Chris,
I know you were doing p90x. How is the aftermath? A few friends of mine were not able to maintain the gains they made in their fitness or the loss in weight. Did you adhere to the diet? It looks like a good program I'm going to start in the next few weeks. Back to topic. Sorry.

I really enjoyed this article and comments. The article affirms the program I followed successfully to reach the weight and energy level I want.

I consume a balance of calories and do a variety of moderate exercises – the favourite is walking to work with a small pack everyday. For me it was simply a change to a simpler, lighter lifestyle.

I am in my sixties and younger people seem impressed with my energy level, strength and endurance, especially walking up and down the back hills and snow shoeing. For those "heavy weight" hikers, here is the website encouraged me. http://caloriecount.about.com/

In case anyone is interested — there is only one "o" in lose. OK, carry on…

Thank you Jeremy for writing this article on a very important topic. This article has some very valid points and excellent advice, and in some ways I like the comparison to UL backpacking. But, your body is not a backpack, it is a body.

"Eliminate Everything You Don't Need"

How about: "Moderate or Alter Less-Nutritious Foods"

For example:
The article mentions avoiding ground beef. OK fine I don't eat a lot of ground beef. But you can definitely go to the grocery store and buy ground beef that is 94% lean, make your patty a reasonable size (not 1/2 pound), wipe off any extra grease, add that with a low-fat mozzarella, and pile it high with all sorts of veggies. Did you "eliminate" something potentially harmful from your diet? Nope. Did you have a delicious and healthy meal? Yep. You don't need to be a devout food monk to lose weight. You could I guess, but that doesn't sound like much fun to me.

Backpacks don't have desire for gear like the human mouth does for food.

Gabe: Insightful and fair points.

One can take an analogy too far to make a point. Although backpacks don't have a desire for gear, people seem to crave gear in ways that are at least sometimes analogous to the way they view food – holding on to bad habits out of fear of going without, etc. Anyway, I realize it's not a perfect analogy, but I thought it still one that could resonate with this group of readers.

Regarding moderation, I have taken it case by case in deciding when to do without entirely and when to moderate. With certain foods I have been successful at moderation. With others, I have not, and have instead decided I just don't need/want them in my life. Figuring out which is which is an ongoing experiment. Some foods are difficult choices because, in moderation, they have nutritional benefits and/or provide fulfillment. Other food, like pure junk food, is difficult not because of any nutritional benefits, but because of our evolutionary predilection to love it.

Also, I didn't intend to recommend monastic asceticism. To the contrary, I have found that eliminating unnecessary or unhealthful food we unthinkingly include too much of in too many meals has, in addition to the physical benefits of weighing less, opened up a world of opportunity and flavors I didn't even know existed. And that is where I had hoped the analogy would resonate the most. Traditional backpackers see us as depriving ourselves, but we'd disagree.

Thanks again for your comment.

To the person who commented about P90X not necessarily working the right muscle groups… and perhaps giving you too much weight in the pecs / biceps… I suggest you check out the program. The TV Commercial makes it looks like it's all about bulk… because that's what sells. But the program itself is extremely well rounded! There are 12 DVDs and only half of them are strength training. The other half of the program is abs, core, cardio, plyometics, yoga and stretching. It's extremely well thought out and well-rounded. Great for any athlete I would say. I've done it and it's a great program. And I did NOT end up looking big and bulky in the slightest. Not at all. Just lean and strong.

The P90x thing is fine and all , but you can just save your money and do 20 min. of basic exercises like pushs-ups, chin ups, jump rope ect. I'm a big fan of interval training. Just lower the rest periods between sets as you get stronger/ better cardio and increase the intensity. Start with 10 mins and work your way up to 20 as you get in shape.
The only real criticism I have of P90X is the length of time the workouts are. 40 min is a little too long. Sorter more intense workouts are more efficient the same way 15 min of jump rope is better than 30 min of jogging..

Brian, have you checked out crossfit.com? Their workouts sound very much like what you describe. They also have a forum for healthy diet. Lots of people in to Taubes, zone, paleo etc.